Windows 7: Error accesing c drive

Hi



I have a problem with Windows 7 and the c drive. I will try to explain a little bit the situation:

I have a Dell xps l501x with a home edition windows 7 licence.

Since I prefer to use linux, I resized the Windows7 and create another partition for the linux distribution when I bought. So I had Windows 7 and linux (arch linux) working together for some months.

I barely used Windows 7 so I decided to use virtualbox to use windows7 (the raw device as a harddrive). And here started the problems, because I ended with a black screen and the mouse pointer in windows7 (the probably was due to a resolution problem)

After many months (as I said, I barely used it), yesterday I decided to fix the problem and I managed to do it. But now I have another problem that I don't know how to fix it (I'm not using virtualbox anymore).

When I start windows 7, the wallpaper is black with the infamous "compilation 7600" and many advice that "is not a genuine copy" (actually it is), and a lot of errors at start.

Trying to use the OS:
- Many application don't work. Even diskmgmt.msc doesn't work.
- I can't access C drive, if I tried prompts an error about permissions, even if I change the permissions I can't access. And If I try to see the properties all the values in the c drive are "0 bytes" (size, free space...). Regarding that, I can't download anything.

It seem the c drive is not recognized and I suppose that is the main problem.

If I boot with the option "Directory Services Restore Mode" I can acces to C and everything seems to work better. And in the properties the values are correct (the size, free space....) .

I don't know too much about windows7 so I will be glad if someone can give me any tips about how to fix this problem.


Sorry if my english is not perfect at all.

I would Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 following the steps in tutorial to get a perfect reinstall.

In the future use this method to Dual Boot - Windows 7 and Linux - Windows 7 Forums

You can also first try working through these Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.

It sounds like GRUB corruption of Windows 7 we saw regularly before GRUB2 was released. The only remedy then was to wipe the HD with Diskpart Clean Command before reinstall, using GRUB2 or Dual Boot Ubuntu with EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

Hi

I will reinstall but first I wanted to know if there is any other option. Actually, as I said, I barely use windows so I'm not in a hurry to solve the problem. And I hope that reinstall is not the only possible solution (at least I want to learn a little bit about how windows7 works and how to solve this problem)

I think the problem is not grub2, since windows7 was working perfectly with grub2 before I tried virtualbox (I mentioned in my post), actually grub2 points correctly to windows7 and the partitions are the same as when was working. I installed linux with windows many times so I'm not newbie doing that.

Thank you for your answer

Have you marked the Windows 7 partition Active to run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times?

Mark Partition Active