Windows 7 Won't Start or Reinstall, System Partition Missing?

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  1. Posts : 1,083
    Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit
       #1

    Windows 7 Won't Start or Reinstall, System Partition Missing?


    It's been a while since I've posted here, but I'll spare the reintroduction :P

    My specs:

    ASUS M5A97 (AM3+) Mobo
    AMD Phenom II X4 945
    2 x 4GB G-Skill Ripjaw DDR3 RAM
    PNY Nvidia GeForce 460 GTX 1GB
    A 1TB SATA HDD (can't remember the brand)
    A 160GB SATA HDD

    My issue is, I'll try to boot into Windows 7 Ultimate x64, not a new installation at all, and I get the "Windows is Starting" screen and the little colored balls, but after a few seconds I get a very very quick blue screen and reboot before Windows even loads. There's no way I can read the blue screen error.

    So I thought, "Let's just do a startup repair." That didn't work; it said:

    Root cause found:
    --------------------------
    The partition table does not have a valid System Partition

    Repair action: Partition table repair
    Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
    Time taken = 20632ms
    ---------------------
    ---------------------
    So I pop in the Windows 7 installation DVD; it tells me there are missing CD/DVD drivers. I point it to the Windows 7 drivers directory on my primary HDD, it still can't find anything.

    So I load up my copy of MSDaRT. Some tools load, but it tells me "Tool requires a supported offline OS" under many of the tools, and the ones that do start won't do anything at all because they can't "see" my Windows 7 installation.

    Any suggestions? I have an external HDD reader, but I'd rather not have to wipe everything and do a clean reinstall. Maybe trying to fix the partitions with a G-Parted on an Ubuntu Live CD or something?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #2

    Press F8 on boot so you see Advanced Boot Options
    and select
    Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure
    Now you can see the BSOD if windows boots.
    Post it please. But I think something is wrong with partition table

    How many partitions do you have on the disk, and how many disks?

    in recovery environment->command prompt:

    diskpart
    list disk (now you see how many disks, detach any external drives first)
    sel disk 0
    list part (now you see the number of partitions)
    sel part 0
    det part
    sel part 1
    det part

    etc.
    Give me the number of disks please. and number of partitions on disks

    So I pop in the Windows 7 installation DVD; it tells me there are missing CD/DVD drivers????
    =>sounds impossible you're booting from dvd then! What's exact message?
    How did you perform the startup repair... did you boot using F8?
    Last edited by Brink; 19 Jul 2012 at 13:35. Reason: Merged consecutive posts. Please edit your posts instead of creating one after another.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 1,083
    Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Gimmie a second, I'm going to answer all of your questions. For now here's the blue screen error:



    Off the top of my head, I have 2 hard drives. My primary (1TB) hard drive has a Windows 7 installation in it with the standard partitions, nothing fancy. The secondary hard drive only has some movies and music and stuff on it that I wouldn't want to lose if something like this were to happen. I'm getting you the detailed information though.

    I tried the recovery environment both from the 7 installation on my HDD and also from the 7 install disc. I'll get you a picture of the error from the install disc in a second.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 1,083
    Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Funny, now that I re-ran Startup Repair, it says:

    Root cause found: A patch is preventing the system from starting.
    It seemed to see my installation this time though, labeling it as "E:\Windows" (during actual computer use it's the C:\ drive though).
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #5

    E: or C: who cares! It is just a drive letter and can change and depends on which OS you're booted. Now you booted from DVD. But actually it's the same partition

    Try to perform a "system restore" to a date PRIOR to problems.
    Last edited by Brink; 19 Jul 2012 at 13:35. Reason: Merged consecutive posts. Please edit your posts instead of creating one after another.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1,083
    Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    This is so weird. Before, it wouldn't see any partitions, so system restore would error out, telling me it can't see a Windows installation. But now it does. I'm rolling back to the last Windows Update. Trust me, I would have done this before, but it wasn't seeing Windows. Now all of the sudden it does.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #7

    If it can't see win7 it doesn't know what to "system restore". Same issue with ms DART.
    But this was the error
    "The partition table does not have a valid System Partition"
    And it was repaired with status 0x0 so succesfull. Sure you you tried another boot to recovery environment? It should see it then. I didn't fix it LOL
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1,083
    Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    It sees all the restore points. I tried the one before the most recent and it failed after trying. So now I'm trying another one. Hopefully startup repair did something to make the system partition readable again so that MSDaRT will work. DaRT has much more tools.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #9

    There was something wrong with partition table (located in mbr).
    Do this to check if all partitions are still there and no errors

    in recovery environment:

    diskpart
    list vol
    exit

    Now you see the drive letters

    chkdsk/f c:
    chkdsk/f d:
    chkdsk/f e:

    every drive letter you see (except for cd/dvd) devices.
    Any errors?
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #10

    Product FRED said:
    It sees all the restore points. I tried the one before the most recent and it failed after trying. So now I'm trying another one. Hopefully startup repair did something to make the system partition readable again so that MSDaRT will work. DaRT has much more tools.
    Does "system restore" crash, or just doesn't fix the problem?
      My Computer


 
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