installed winxp over windows 7

[ChronicMasterFader]

First time poster here. Need some help please. I had a lovely dell 1747 i7 system with windows 7 installed but decided I wanted to set myself up with the option to dual boot in xp. So I connected my external hard drive via my esata port and popped in my xp cd and installed to it. Now I can only boot to xp with the external connected. I can't boot to 7 at all. In xp "my computer" shows c : recovery d Fantom( my external hd to which i installed xp )and e: os ( which has my windows 7b installed on it.

I don't know what to do next. Xp disc management says windows 7 is my primary os (confusing).And I can't uninstall xp with administrative settings in safe mode.

I'm wondering if I format my external if windows 7 will automatically boot from my computers hard drive. Please advise.

Thanks in advance

Chronic

[bludgard]

Hello, Chronic.

I believe you have the option to recover to factory condition;

WARNING: When you restore the computer to the default factory configuration, all data on the C drive is deleted. Before performing this procedure, you should back up your personal files.

1. If your computer is running, Click Start > Restart
2. While the computer starts, press the F8 key, until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears
3. Using the ↓ Down Arrow , select Repair Your Computer and press Enter
4. Select your language and click Next
5. Log in as an Administrative user, and click OK
6. Click Dell Factory Image Restore from the System Recovery Options
7. From the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next
   
8. Click the check box that says: Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory
   condition
9. Click Next. Wait while your computer is restored to the default factory configuration
10. Once the restoration has completed, Click Finish

Source; Stolen from a site that spammed me.

Edit: I ussually recover a fudged system with a backup image. Happen to have one of those about?

Maybe some one will be along to offer assistance with repairing the MBR?

Another edit: Notice the Startup Repair and Restore options available in recovery console.

[Alan2273]

Repair Windows 7 MBR from e-How.

This is assuming you have a DVD of W7.

1

Insert Win 7 installation DVD and boot from DVD drive. While in some older systems you may have to change boot order through system BIOS, most newer systems allow booting from DVD without changing boot order by simply clicking on any key when prompted to doing so.

2

Choose your default "Language", "Time", and "keyboard Input" on the first window and click next.

3

You're now presented with 3 choices. Click on "Repair Your Computer" to gain access to the System Recovery window. Now choose "Command Prompt" in order to run the desired utility which is called "bootsect.exe". Bootsect is located inside the boot folder so change your directory to boot. Now run "bootsect /nt60 C:\" if you had Win 7 initially installed in the C partition. Alternatively, you can run "bootsect /nt60 SYS" or "bootsect /nt60 ALL" to repair the system partition or all partitions. Eject the DVD, and restart computer. Your computer should now boot Win 7 again.

[wisho0]

:D :P ;) very clear and detail, i see~~