Drives renamed, now Restore points unusable

Hi everyone,

I hope this thread is in the right area, and I'm posting this the right way!

Recently, my custom built computer has just gone kaput, where it will no longer boot up to windows.
To make a long story (2 weeks-long process) short, it kept giving the error that the boot drive couldn't be found.
I used the Windows installation disc to try to recover from a point in time before this trouble happened, and absolutely none of the restore points would work. They would restore, but at the last moment it would say that it didn't work. I believe I noticed the problem:
I have two HDDs. One for the OS and the other for data. My OS was of course originally named C: and my data was named E:
However, as I look at the attempts to restore, I notice that apparently my drives have been renamed to E: and D: (respectively). Therefore, when the restore is trying to take place I think it's messing up because it's looking to restore to C: when it's been renamed to E: somehow!

I've browsed the forums for a while trying to find a solution, and I'm not sure if I have or not. My thoughts are that I need to somehow RE-name my drives their correct names for at least a restore point to go through.

I saw one thread that seemed to have the same problem I have (Computer changed HD letter and will not Boot) that linked to another thread titled "BOOTMGR is Missing" (Bootmgr is missing - Fix). In it, it suggested going through the command prompt (within the installation disc of course) and typing:
C:\ (enter)
then CD boot
Then FixMbr
FixBoot
RebuildBcd

I'm really concerned about somehow wiping my data drive with nearly 1 TB of data on it. My OS Drive....well at this point I would settle for just being able to boot up the computer. I'd rather it not be wiped because I have over 50 programs I foolishly allowed to be installed onto it, but desperate measures are growing close.
Will the stated code, wipe my drives? To re-map/fix the whole name issue....is that the way for me to go?

I'm very sorry for the . . . scatterbrained format of my post if it seems that way. In my attempts at fixing this and figuring out how to save my data, I believe I've gone insane. (Viewing another thread, it appears I've fallen victim to the motionjoy driver, which I installed, then days later attempted to uninstall which is precisely when all this stuff happened.)

I GREATLY appreciate any and all help with this issue, and please, please tell me if you need additional information to help me out. I truly, thank you in advance for all your help with this, my friendly geniuses!

How many times have you run Startup Repair? Confirm that Win7 or its 100mb System Reserved partition (preferred if you have it) is Partition Marked Active then run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times

Unplug all other HD's to do the repairs. They should not be plugged in anyway if you're that concerned about losing your data, but the main concern is that they interfere with repairs or derail the boot.

The drive letters will always be different in boot mode.

If the steps above fail then everything else that can be done is compiled in Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start leading up to if necessary rescuiing your files to run Recovery or Reinstall.

Thanks greg!

I did all of the above to no avail. After ensuring the drive was indeed active, the bootmgr went missing? Then I got a new error when I tried booting. This one specifically listed a critical driver that was missing (will have to post which one when I get back home). I went into to attempt the system repairs (all in all, over this period of trouble I've done around 20 repair attempts, and I think 7 recovery attempts).
Upon the final bootrec code (rebuild bcd) it said there was no windows installation to find? Yet going through the processes it can be found elsewhere. The drive is viewable in bios, and the installation is seen when I attempt repairs and recovery.

This seriously all has me beyond puzzled. The only thing I haven't tried was the last step in the final post you linked, that mentions copying information I don't want to lose, and doing a factory reset. That would be basically wiping the drive and starting new if it worked properly? Will the copied info (I'd copy the user) contain the programs for me to later recover or find where I "pasted" it into and therefore save from losing everything?
Or....has any of this new info given a better understanding of a fix for my issue?

You can only back up your data and settings, most of which is covered in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 so you don't forget anything. Programs must be reinstalled. But it's a chance to get and keep a perfect install if you wipe the HD first and then stick with the steps in the tutorial.

Since you've tried all of the steps, put the Partition Wizard CD back in and take camera snaps of the maximized drive map and listings, post back the saved file using paper clip in reply box. This will tell us a lot.

When attempts to boot result in "bootmgr is missing" it means the disk is not booting to do the repairs, but is attempting to boot the HD and has missed the chance to boot the disk. Try again following the steps How to Boot A Computer from CD or DVD - YouTube.

If you have a 100mb System Reserved partition which you first attempted to Mark Partition Active then ran Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times and it wont' start after 3 attempts with reboots, then move the Active flag to Win7 partition to try the repairs again. If this fails, using this method from the Win7 disk to Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console to copy the all of the files (including the boot files) on System Reserved into C, assure it's marked Active, then run the Repairs again. Something may be blocking Startup Repair from writing the boot files to C.