Win 7 Won't Boot Drive Ltrs Changed

Mornin' Ranger,

Ranger4 said:

That's certainly worth trying & you might be able to save your data files, but you probably wont be able to save any actual application files, as these need to be installed directly into the operating system.

When you do get everything up & running again definitely think about using a back up program. I & a lot of other members here use Macrium Reflect, which seems very good for doing images of your system.

Since the first step is to copy files from the (currently) unbootable drive--do you know the steps to do the deed from the command prompt? My understanding is that the tools are either Xcopy or Robocopy, the former apprently is depracated. Also what confuses me is all the options or switches to use for properly copying everything over in its entirety.

Please advise.

Cheers,
Frank

Ranger,

Ranger4 said:

Frank. Did you try the Boot Media that SIW2 provided a link for in his Post #11. That is certainly worth trying.

No, I do not know how to copy a HDD using the Command Prompt, so I can't help you there.

You could try removing the faulty HDD & install it in a working computer & see if it shows in disc management & then see if you can copy the files from it onto the working computers HDD.

Didn't notice SIW2's link till now. Since my last post I fired up one of my old office computers (which only has a half a gig of memory) and although very slow and frustrating, I burned a copy of Hirens' Boot CD (to USB), but haven't used it yet (just finished).

FYI: I opened up Notepad from the command prompt and that's how I discovered that all my files were in an "e" drive.

Hirens, as you know has a zillion utilities in it, so I'm lost as which to use for my particular situation.

Frank

Ranger,

Ranger4 said:

I am not familiar with Hiren's Boot CD, but I have had a look at the list of available downloads & yes there certainly is a formidable list. Scrolling down through it, there does seem be something in the Recovery Tools section that might suit you. DataResue DD 1.0 or DiskDigger or DiskGenius might also be worth looking at. But as I have said I have not used any of these so you would do so at your own risk.

Have you looked into the possibility of putting this HDD into another computer & seeing if you can copy the files. Here again I not saying that will work, but it might be worth considering.

I am currently on the "problem" computer ... it booted up, and I'm not sure why. I burned a copy of Hirens, changed the boot order and turned the computer on ... it didn't boot to the USB; it went straight into auto repair, so I left it alone. I thought perhaps I didn't burn the copy properly so I pulled the USB out (no way to do it properly) and re-burned it.

It dawned on me that I didn't save the boot order properly; however, after the auto-repair it booted up on its own. A thought: when the problem began and I repeated the repair process multiple times, I had the printer plugged into a USB port. I'm wondering if that had something to do with the drive letter swap, and by the same token, I'm wondering if that's how it was returned to normal (since I had the USB in for the Hirens programs in when it went into AR).

In any event, I'm currently running virus software and am going to back everything up. I'm still apprehensive that this isn't over ...

Cheers,
Frank

LB, Ranger,

Ranger4 said:

Good work Frank, at least you are making headway. Once the virus scans are done back up straight away in case everything fails again.

As Layback Bear has asked, posting a screen shot of Disc Management could help diagnose possible problems, but get all your files etc. copied first.

Here's screen cap ...

Frank