Rewriting the MBR to start using the Windows 7 Partitions I have imaged on my external "My Book" USB HD

Question

I'm trying to use bootsect to create a bootable USB HD. I keep getting the error Could not map drive partitions to the associated volume device objects: Access Denied.

To give you some background on this. I deleted my OEM Partition on my Alienware M17xR2. I managed to use data recovery to get the files and recover the partitions but it still will not work, that's another situation I'm working on. Regardless the main problem is I figured if I'm gonna have to work on this I will need an eternal HD with Windows 7 on it to repair the damage from an outside source.

To put this as simple as possible I have 4 Partitions on my 2TB "My Book" USB HD. The first Partition is for simple storage the other 3 are backup images of Windows 7 partitions. I used 'MiniTool Partition Wizard Professional Edition' to create the copies on the eternal USB Drive. My dilemma is I want to bridge the gap here and rewrite the boot sector to boot those 3 Partitions from the F12 Boot selection window after Bios there for bypassing both of my HDDs I have on the laptop. I wish to keep my files as they are and only edit the bootsector to be able to either multi-boot all 3 OS's or just one if at all possible. Also if someone has the time and knowledge about repairing the OEM Partition feel free to comment as any help on that would be very much appreciated, but is not my main focus at the moment.

Answer 1

You can't simply edit the bootloader, add entries for Win7 partitions on your USB HDD and expect it to work. With the exception of Win8 Enterprise's Windows To Go feature, Windows does not allow installation to or booting from USB drives without jumping through hoops (requires the use of WAIK, ImageX, Sysprep and so on).

You haven't described the actual damage in detail (is the PC not booting? did you try Startup Repair from the DVD?), so all I can do is recommend that you use a WinPE-based Windows LiveCD (such as Hiren's BootCD) if you are desperately in need of a familiar Windows environment to run repairs from. As a bonus Hiren's BootCD by default probably includes apps that can help you with your task.

Answer 2

No I'm asking that myself. You said "you can't simply...expect it to work". What is the technical limitation that prevents that from happening? I'm curious.