windows 7 disk icon disapeared, cant boot

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lots of weirdness going on here, just bought 17" macbook pro (pre unibody). came installed with windows 7 and parallels. I also put macbunto on a USB flash drive hoping to have a triple boot unit.

the first thing that went bad was that the disk icon for windows 7 disappeared. holding down the option key only shows the mac drive. I've tried everything i can think of with the disk utility, it shows 2 partitions on the HDD but only info about the MAC partition.

I installed rEFit and got no joy with that either, when I restarted, it only showed the mac drive. but it did give a report here;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*** Report for internal hard disk ***

Current GPT partition table:
# Start LBA End LBA Type
1 40 409639 EFI System (FAT)
2 409640 976510983 Mac OS X HFS+

Current MBR partition table:
# A Start LBA End LBA Type
1 1 976773167 ee EFI Protective

MBR contents:
Boot Code: None

Partition at LBA 40:
Boot Code: None (Non-system disk message)
File System: FAT32
Listed in GPT as partition 1, type EFI System (FAT)

Partition at LBA 409640:
Boot Code: None
File System: HFS Extended (HFS+)
Listed in GPT as partition 2, type Mac OS X HFS+
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have no idea what any of this means maybe one of you who are smarter than me can figure it out.

I can access windows 7 through parallels but as far as I know that is the only way I can get to it.

Unfortunately I did not get system disks with my computer for snow leopard or win 7.
 
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Well no discs it is there illegally. Get the Parallels disc?
 
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unable to boot into windows

Well no discs it is there illegally. Get the Parallels disc?

everything else on the computer is registered and I have the serial numbers, just not parallels, and that will be coming as soon as the seller can find it. if not then I only have 8 days left on the trial version anyway so its a moot point. the software on my computer is legit. It is what came on the computer when I bought it. but that is not the point. the problem is the missing hdd windows icon under "devices" in my HD folder. and the fact that I can not boot into windows using the option key. even using rEFit. additionally my usb flash drive loaded with linux is not showing up at all as a bootable drive, in fact I haven't been able to get linux to run at all. but that is probably for another post.
 
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If you do not have the software discs it is not legit as you put it. The original owner has illegally copied the software.
 
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If you do not have the software discs it is not legit as you put it. The original owner has illegally copied the software.

so there is no possibility that some, if not all, of the software on my computer was downloaded and there were no disks in the first place? that the programs were upgrades from existing software and no disks were involved? am i just supposed to format my drive on the possibility that one or more programs may not be legit? and how am i supposed to know which ones are legit or not? its ridiculous and has nothing to do with my original question.
 

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Unfortunately I did not get system disks with my computer for snow leopard or win 7.

The point harry was making is a valid one. Unfortunately, many folks buy a used machine and do not receive the install disks nor any of the disks that pertain to the software which is on the machine.

Without the original disks and product keys, the software can not be validated as genuine. However, I'll leave that up to you and your conscience to resolve. You do need a set of install disks though to do any kind of trouble shooting or repairs to the hard drive if they're needed.

It's a good idea then to buy a Snow Leopard DVD ($29) from Apple or Best Buy. The Windows 7 DVD runs about $99 from NewEgg or Amazon. That's for the OEM system builder's version of Windows 7 Home Premium.
 
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The point harry was making is a valid one. Unfortunately, many folks buy a used machine and do not receive the install disks nor any of the disks that pertain to the software which is on the machine.

Without the original disks and product keys, the software can not be validated as genuine. However, I'll leave that up to you and your conscience to resolve. You do need a set of install disks though to do any kind of trouble shooting or repairs to the hard drive if they're needed.

It's a good idea then to buy a Snow Leopard DVD ($29) from Apple or Best Buy. The Windows 7 DVD runs about $99 from NewEgg or Amazon. That's for the OEM system builder's version of Windows 7 Home Premium.

i had planned to buy the snow leopard disk just for peace of mind though i thought that that there were some differences in the OEM and retail versions, but i could have heard wrong. I was thinking about loading snow leopard along with some of my more commonly used apps onto an express card ssd, and leaving the HD just for data. I have been reading up on the subject and some folks are claiming a huge boost in performance by doing that. of course snow leopard would also reside on my HD as a backup.
I don't mind spending 99.00 for a copy of win 7. but its back to my original post. I have win 7 on a partition on my hard drive but it does not show up, unless I go through parallels, I cant boot into it, there is no icon for it, and the disk utility acts like it isn't even there. I see one partition for macintosh HD in blue and a lot of white space underneath. its like there is an invisible partition on my HD, and win 7 is hiding in there.
 

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