Booting Issue (TestDisk / PartedMagic)

cstebila · 03 Jul 2010

Just wondering, would you recommend doing the Startup Repair, or bootsector.exe fix MBR first. I only ask because I had potentially overwrote the MFT.

edit: btw, at the risk of being pure annoying, just wanted to say thanks again.

theog · 03 Jul 2010

Startup Repair
Note: You may need to do startup repair 3 to 4 times.[/QUOTE]

OR

Make sure Windows 7 partition is active.Partition - Mark as Active

Type in command line
Try this:
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /rebuildbcd

cstebila · 03 Jul 2010

Still not allowing me to access Startup Repair (via console which fails to appear or at Windows Startup). When trying to set the partition as the active one, after DISKPART the command prompt displays the initial info, than won't allow any typing, freezes. Same happens if I just type in "DISKPART>list disk" no listing just a frozen command prompt.

Been running rebuildbcd, any it also appears frozen.

edit: I ran "bcd edit" and got the following and found that:

Windows Boot Manager device was set a C:

while

Windows Boot Loader device was set a D:

would changing this to C, potentially help, or is this just my data partition loading at the same time?

cstebila · 04 Jul 2010

Here's an update:

Original problem was that I was receiving an unmountable boot volume error with a BSOD. After taking a stab at a few solutions the situation is now this. Upon being able to enter the recovery console the only Windows 7 installation showing up on the list is the system recovery reserve. I can access the command prompt, but cannot perform all commands, for example upon entering "diskpart" and than "list disk" the prompt does nothing.

I noticed the system reserve portion of the HDD was set as "boot." I used a bootable OS (PartedMagic) to set the "boot" partition to the C: the system partition. I also redirected Windows Load Manager / Boot Manager to "C:" for "default ospartition" etc.

Rebooting I found a new error "bootmgr not found" so I copied the boot files from the system reserved recovery porition of the HDD to the system porition. Now following the windows loading bar, I receive a blank screen, and cannot access the recovery console via the installation disc. Anyone have any suggestions? ANY advice is extremely appreciated!

cstebila · 04 Jul 2010

Sorry for the shameless bump (even though there is some shame) just hoping someone may stumble across it and think of a suggestion.

Thanks theog for the help so far, you helped me make some progress.

StillC · 11 Dec 2011

I am just reporting a similar incident from which i was able to recover.

It started as i was stepping through the recovery disk i had made with the Windows 7 facilities toward re-imaging from an image i had stored in an external drive (Scorpio Blue) using (again) the Windows 7 facilities. I was not quite ready to execute, so i cancelled out of the dialogue process toward a re-image. After that, when i rebooted, i got error message:

"bootmgr not found"

So i used my recently-made restore/repair disk to repair and after one or two tries, was successful in getting Windows to boot normally.
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That's one issue. The other thing that happened was after i re-imaged my C: drive, the external HD gained an additional partition called 'System Reserve', which was about 62 MB free of 99 MB. It appeared empty when opened, but would store and show a text file if i wanted. Besides that, i could not see/find the 299 GB partition anymore on the external HD. My battery ran out of power, so i resumed troubleshooting in the morning with power, and this time was able to find the temporarily lost partition on the external HD. It was gone, and now it was back.
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I've survived, and am pretty impressed with the backup facilities in Windows 7 (Home Premium), but thought i would just report this to give someone/anyone a heads up in case there is something here that needs to be addressed among Microsoft troubleshooters.

~Still