Windows 7: deleted 1 of 2 win7 partitions -> now wont boot

hey everyone!

i did a lot of research on this but have not found a solution to my problem so i hope you can help me out.



recently i had to assemble a new pc because my notebook died on me.
i put a new hdd and my notebook hdd into this system and installed Windows 7 on the new hdd.
but when booting i was always prompted to choose between the freshly installed Windows 7 and the Windows 7 on my notebook hdd partition. which was kinda annoying because the notebook Windows 7 partition did not work on my pc anyway. so i decided to format the notebook Windows 7 partition, which windows did not allow. so i felt smart, booted up linux from dvd and formatted the drive in linux.
i expected my pc to simply boot the Windows 7 installation that i installed for this pc but instead now he does not boot anything. i tried system repair with the Windows 7 dvd but he does not even find my Windows 7 partition. i'm kinda at a loss here. how can i make my pc boot my Windows 7 partition again?

i really really dont want to install the whole system again.

this sounds like your boot manager was on your primary drive presumably C: ?

and you have wiped that with the format, the fact that repair install cannot find the second partition presumably D: ? might be because the partition needs to be set as primary and active ?

In your situation I would download and burn a Partition Wizard bootable CD (free for home users) then boot to that cd allow files to load, select 1 for screen res, rightclick Windows 7 partition>Modify>Convert to Primary, then rightclick Windows 7>Modify>Set to Active, OK and apply ............

reeboot into your windows 7 DVD and using the repair install restore the boot manager to boot to your now active partition , you may have to run the windows 7 repair at least 3 times for it work ?

you should now be able to boot into your windows 7 install ?

If this works I suggest you then boot back into the Partition Wizard bootable CD and move your partition around or possibly shift your active partition to use all your drive space ?

let us know how it goes

Very good advise given. Also, as you have formatted the windows partition using Linux live cd, did you select Ntfs or ext3? If you don't select ntfs, windows won't recognize any other partition type.

If the above solution doesn't work, try marking your Windows partition as active, then running a startup repair from the DVD.

I would also have had the same problem if I had not done one thing.

That thing would be to disconnect all other drives except the one on which I want to install the OS. That means the bootloader will be installed in only that drive and not any other.

Then just select the boot priority in BIOS and you get that OS to boot.

Of course this will only work if you install the OS on separate HDDs and not seperate partitions on same HDD.

Cheers!

Please post back a screenshot of your full Disk management drive map, using SNipping tool in Start Menu, attach file using paper clip in reply box.

So far you have been advised to convert Windows 7 to primary, mark active, run startup repair, however we need to actually see the partition to know if it requires conversion, isn't already marked active and/or contains the System MBR already.

The tool to use is indeed free Partition Wizard bootable CD linked earlier, which screenshot will be useful as well as Disk Management drive map so we can advise you the steps with certainty.

wow, thanks for all the replies!
i'm going to try all the suggestions now.

unfortunately Partition Wizard bootable CD is not booting properly on my pc.
in normal mode i get a series of funny signs, in safe mode i get:
i already tried to mark the partition as activce using the ubuntu live cd.. but it could not be done
interestingly the last times i tried to get to system repair using the windows7 dvd it crashed on me during loading.. gonna try it again now using the win dvd

hmm.. now not even the windows 7 dvd will boot.. the "loading files" progress bar takes for ever to complete and once it is finished i get the message:
[quote]
windows failed to start. a recent hardware or software change might be the cause. to fix the problem: insert your windows installation disc... and so on..
file:\windwos\system32\boot\winload.exe
status: 0xc0000001
selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.
[\quote]
very mysterious... i have no idea why not even the win dvd will boot..

EDIT: ok finally i got startup repair to load. will try jonathan_king's suggestion

hmmmm.... I am no entirely sure, but I beleive your MBR has gone bust!

My suggestion is either get a USB drive installed with bootable DOS and run your HDD manufacturer's diagnostic utility OR get professional help i you think what I said before was a hassle!

But don't take just my word for it, wait for other replies as well!

What do you think guys n gals?

alright, i did it! thanks everyone.
i got it working with jonathan_king's method. had to use startup repair 2 times. phew.

thanks again!