Windows 7: Drive letters changed by Windows 7 now can't boot

I turned on my PC this morning and it took me to a start up repair option screen which I now can't get past. I've had this PC for 15 months and this is the first problem I've had. I have made no changes to the PC, so all I can think of is that somehow since closing last night and restarting today something has happened eith via a windows update or ...

I have noticed that the above repair option seems to be looking at D drive Which I haven't got. I just have one large C drive which contains the system and data.

You will tell I'm not overly familiar with the technical terms, but in a nutshell my PC won't boot and the repair tool is looking for the start up files in the wrong place (ie D)

Would really appreciate any help or advice to remedy the situation.

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

If you're happy working at the Command Prompt Window use this tut to repair your boot record and drive lettering:

Bootrec.exe Tool - How to Use in Windows Recovery Environment

Next, boot into safe mode and run the system file checker to see what that shows up:

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

Lastly, go back into safe mode and run a full anti-virus scan:

Malwarebytes is a good choice for this.

As you have Acer, there are two patitions on HD, Recovery & Windows. in the repair option D: will be Windows.

Press the F8 key repeatedly at boot up or use the Startup disk.

Try this:
Startup Repair
Note: You may need to do startup repair 3 to 4 times.
Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

Startup Repair Infinite Loop Recovery
System Recovery Options
System Restore


Did you make your ACER Recovery Disks?

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll give it a go, I'm not sure I'd call myself 'happy' with the command prompt interface but the instructions look clear, so will try it and let you know. Am rather puzzled as to what could cause it without any 'manual' intervention from me, the sole user...

You're welcome. It could be virus related so running a scan as well should find it if there is anything untoward.

I did try the recovery disks created when I bought the PC, but after 90 minutes I cancelled the process it didn't seem to be doing anything. Not sure how long it should take but felt 90 mins was long enough. I didn't however try the 3/4 times suggested, so will try that and report back. Thanks

You may need to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times with reboots from the Windows 7 Repair CD or Installation DVD so that it doesn't rely on possibly corrupt System files.

System Repair Disc - Create
Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

You can copy out your files using DVD/Repair CD: Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console
or using Paragon Rescue CD.

From the DVD/Repair CD Command line, also run manually: Disk Check and
SFC -SCANNOW Run in Command Prompt at Boot

If these fail, run Acer eRecovery from its partition (most stable method): Acer Support: Frequently Asked Questions list for Recovery media and Restoring a system to factory load

If this fails, wipe the HD of possibly corrupt code: SSD - HDD Optimize for Windows Reinstallation then run Factory Recovery Disks or locate a Windows 7 installation DVD for your version to clean reinstall with the Product Key on the COA sticker: Reinstalling Windows 7

After literaly hours and hours of trying to fix this the final solution was a full reinstall of the o/s, fortunately all files were recovered ok.

The problem for me was i couldn'y get into the command prompt screen any way i tried, so many of the recommends couldn't be used.

Thanks for the help and hopefully that's it for now.

One thing i did notice is that the problem occured after an overnight windows update, so careful...

Thanks, Tony

What was the problem with booting into the DVD Repair console or Repair CD? System Recovery Options

There is a command line in these options: