MBR damaged, partition unknown


  1. Posts : 12
    Win7 Prof x64
       #1

    MBR damaged, partition unknown


    Hi all,


    It happened all at once, I restarted my asus K52E with windows 7 x64 and a black page with a blinking underscore was shown, indicating a damaged mbr.

    The recovery partition is not accessible. I tried all the Win7 mbr recovery (with the command prompt of the win7 installation disk) but didn't work
    Moreover, I'm afraid of my data partition, because this one is the only not readable by the ubuntu live cd. I post here my HD partitions:
    ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting


    I explain:
    dev/sda1 is the asus recovery partition (cannot access it)
    dev/sda2 (C:\), is the ntfs win7 installation partition
    dev/sda5, is the ntfs data partition (I WANT TO RECOVER)

    please, how can I access the sda5 partition or boot my pc without hurting the files in the data partition ?
    Do you know any bootable SW?

    thank you,

    Fred
      My Computer

  2.    #2

    Follow these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot - Windows 7 Forums

    Did you have GRUB bootloader on the HD? This can corrupt Win7 beyond repair.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 12
    Win7 Prof x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    HTML Code:
    Did you have GRUB bootloader on the HD? This can corrupt Win7 beyond repair.
    No GRUB was installed.

    HTML Code:
    Follow these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot - Windows 7 Forums
    Thanks, I'll try all the steps and I'll report the results...
      My Computer


  4. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #4

    I would try the bootable CD of Partition Wizard (last entry on the webpage) to inspect what is wrong with that partition. With the same CD you can also try to fix the MBR.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 240
    Win 8 RP, Win 7, XP
       #5

    MiniTool Partition Recovery (Freeware) has helped me to recover lost partion - extended and logical. Quick and easy.

    If you can still see partitions than MBR is readable and correct at least in the part where partition information is stored.
    Last edited by boyans; 07 Apr 2012 at 20:50. Reason: add explanation for MBR
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 12
    Win7 Prof x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    solution


    I GOT IT!

    I followed the Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot :
    - no malware was found
    - mbr seemed to be intact
    ...but the Bootrec.exe with the /RebuildBcd command couldn't find any disk

    Finally, the Partition Wizard recovery CD helped me to set the partition ACTIVE (it wasn't) and rebuild the mbr.

    However, I struggled to find a way to use the tool without burning a CD (the famous "Bootable Flash Drive" well publicized, is not free!).
    So, if you ever need it, I strongly advise you to use the UNetbootin tool for windows and mount it on a usb key. It's faster and easier!

    Thank you
      My Computer

  7.    #7

    Thanks for reporting back, Fred, and glad it helped.

    This UNetbootin tool looks interesting for writing PW CD ISO to flash stick. Did you choose Linux from dropdown? Any other specific steps you took?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 12
    Win7 Prof x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    I found this: Steps to create a bootable USB drive partition manager .

    Actually, there's no need of a tutorial: it's quite easy to put the iso on the flash/usb and get a bootable usb drive using the windows version of UNetbootin.
      My Computer

  9.    #9

    It looks like any Linux bootable flash writer can work to write PW CD ISO to flash then since others have reported that Universal USB Installer also works, although I've not yet found out what they choose from it's dropdown. Perhaps nothing.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 12
    Win7 Prof x64
    Thread Starter
       #10

    actually, there's no dropdown.
    Unebootin supports two options:
    1. burn a linux distro
    2. burn any general ISO

    If you select the 2nd option, there's no dropdown, just the input filetype and the destination (removable or floppy)
      My Computer


 

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