Solved Boot sector for system disk partition is corrupt

Hi! I'll go straight to the point. My OS is Windows 7 x64. I have a 500GB Seagate HDD. I have 4GB of Kingston RAM (DDR3), and MOBO is Asus (not sure about the brand since I am not at home now).

I was using Win2Flash when my desktop suddenly froze. Even the task manager would not appear. I had no choice but to reset it. When it was back on, it would not boot to Windows anymore. All I'm getting is "Reboot and select proper boot device". I have tried to do a repair using the DVD that was used to install onto my desktop. Tried doing startup repair (by following this: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html) three times with a reboot on each interval. All I'm getting is the same message that says:

"SystemDisk = \Device\Harddisk0
Windows Directory =
Number of root causes = 1

Tests Performed
Name: Check for updates
Result: Completed Successfully
Error Code: 0x0

Tests Performed
Name: System Disk Test
Result:Completed Successfully
Error Code: 0x0

Tests Performed
Nameisk failure Diagnosis
Result:Completed Successfully
Error Code: 0x0

Tests Performed
Nameisk Metadata Test
Result:Completed Successfully
Error Code: 0x0

Root Case Found: Boot sector for system disk partition is corrupt.
Repair Action: Boot sector repair
Result: Failed
Error Code: 0x490".

Thought I'd try what was instructed here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html starting from Step# 8. I ran an error after following Step# 11 ("The computer started using the Windows installation disc. Remove the installation disc and restart your computer so that Windows starts normally. Then, insert the installation disc and restart the upgrade...."). I then decided to choose "Custom (advanced)" since I knew I have saved my files onto a separate partition. (I had two: drive C and D). I was surprised to see what the next screen showed me :shock: It only shows "Disk 0 Partition 1". My 'backup' drive was gone will ALL my files in it! :shock:

I would really, really, really appreciate it if you could help me get my files back. By the way, I have already tried to make my HDD a slave to another desktop to see if I could at least get my files that way, but it is only showing me 1 partition as well. When I try to open it, it only tells me that I need to format the drive before using it. I would like to do a fresh install, but only and ONLY if I could be guaranteed 100% that I would be able to get ALL my files back using any recovery software

Many folks use RECUVA to retrieve files. It is reported to be able to compile your data from drives with a missing/corrupted file system.
You would need to run this on another PC, of course, and it takes quite a while.
There are other programs, some free, some paid, that can do the job also.

On the problem PC, does it boot? Can you get into the BIOS settings?
Is the problem hard drive a SATA drive or a PATA (IDE) drive?

If the partition structure is corrupt you may be able to get it back with Minitool Partition Wizard.Free download Magic Partition Manager Software, partition magic alternative, free partition magic, partition magic Windows 7 and server partition software - Partition Wizard Online

Goto recovery environment and select "command prompt" instead of "startup repair".

How many volumes do you see? (skip the DVD drive letters! Assune you see C, D and E


Which partition is marked active? Give me it's volume letter

Has the 1 partition you have all the space on physical disk? Or is the other partition just lost, so it became "unallocated"?

I'm sorry guys for the late reply. I was still trying to save what could be saved out of my HD but to no avail.

@TVeblen: I've already tried Active File Recovery, R-Studio, Undelete360, on my brother's desktop with my problem HDD attached to it, of course. They do recognize the files, but they all seem to show the files in an "unrecoverable" way (files are blank or empty after "recovering" them). On the problem PC, I could get to the BIOS settings and it does recognize my HD there. It loops back to the black screen with an error of "reboot and select proper boot device". The weird thing is, after doing the Startup Repair using my Win7 DVD, the first screen is all messed up, showing ASCII characters and not the "reboot and select proper boot device" anymore. I apologize I wasn't able to mention that it is a SATA drive. Also, after checking, found out that my MOBO is actually GIGABYTE H61M-DS2 and not Asus. Also, I have Radeon HD5570 for VC, and Intel i3 for procie.

@kado897: Haven't tried that yet. I am doing it one-step-at-a-time starting from the simplest solutions/process first. I will definitely consider that if all else fails.

@Kaktussoft: I'm seeing only one partition, Active - drive C Raw, Healthy, 465GB . The one partition that I am seeing before attempting to do a fresh install shows the entirety of the HD's space (469GB, if I'm not mistaken).

Attempted to do a "copy paste method" as well while doing the steps here http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html when it was looking for drivers, but it is only showing me partition C (which has 400+GB) and partition X (which has only about 30+MB--note MB). I hope I have provided all the info necessary. I would really want to have my files recovered. It includes backups of my games and mostly PSD files which are files of my wife

I really thank you in advance for helping me out here. I would really, really love you guys so much for any help that you could provide so I'd get my files back.

So C is type RAW and contains yout whole physicla disk... correct?
Did you alreaydo do #3 ?
you can recover partitions with it!

Kaktussoft said:

So C is type RAW and contains yout whole physicla disk... correct?
Did you alreaydo do #3 ?
you can recover partitions with it!

Click to expand...

Are you referring to post#3 by kado897? If so, not yet. I won't be able to go back to my brother's house yet till probably 5-6 hrs from now I'd need to attach my HD to his desktop again. Right now, I'm just using my tablet to view this thread and post here. Sorry about that.

Looks like kado advice is sound.

You will need to try partition recovery.

If it works - all will be fine.

If not, you will need software specially designed for raw recovery.

In addition to PW Partition Recovery Wizard, a failed partition which cannot be repaired can sometimes have its table restored using DiskGenius shareware from Hiren's Boot CD.

hi guys! I am now able to see my partitions after following the steps here Partition Wizard Bootable CD allows user to manage partition directly with partition manager bootable CD.. It shows my old partitions now, but when I rebooted my computer and tried to boot from HD, it still says "Reboot and select proper boot device". Is there something else that I need to do or click on the Partition Wizard menu? I'm sorry, but I do not know how to use this step-by-step. I'm afraid to click on either of those menus as it might cause more damage than fix it if I choose the wrong option. The only other thing I've clicked was the option that says "Rebuild MBR" and it says "Successful" after clicking on the "Apply" button.

The link you posted to PW boot disk does not show us how you recovered your failed partition.

Did you run PW Partition Recovery Wizard and complete the steps to recover any partitions it discovered, as shown in the video? If not, do that now.

Once you do this, confirm Win7 or it's 100mb System Rserved partition (preferred) is marked Active, then click on the HD to highlight it, from Disk tab select Rebuild MBR and apply both steps.
How to Set Active/Inactive partition -Partition Wizard Video Help.
Partition Wizard Rebuild MBR Video Help.

Make sure Win7 HD is set first to boot in BIOS setup.

Reboot to see if WIn7 will start. If not boot into the Win7 DVD or System Repair Disk
to run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times. Trigger the disk to boot by tapping vigorously from the point you power up the PC the Asus F8 BIOS boot menu key given on first screen.

thank you gregrocker! I will now try to do the steps as you've mentioned. I really appreciate all your replies and keeping up with me

It would be good to know what you've done. Can you answer my questions first?

oh, sorry! When the main window of Partition Wizard launched, I simply clicked on "Partition Recovery Wizard" under the "Wizard" tab. I clicked on "Quick Scan" and it found three partitions: System Reserve, drive C and my Drive D. I checked on each one of those, then clicked on "Next" button then "Apply".

And this recovered the partitions to where they were before, and you have the System partition still marked Active?

gregrocker said:

And this recovered the partitions to where they were before, and you have the System partition still marked Active?

Click to expand...

After the partitions have been discovered, they are all marked "None" instead of "Active".
I am now following the steps here How to Set Active/Inactive partition with partition magic? Partition Wizard Video Help.

I have followed your instructions up to setting my HD as the 1st boot priority in BIOS. I am now getting "BOOTMGR is missing. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart." I will now try to do the steps here: http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/51100-repair-cd-system-repair-disk.html and here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105541-startup-repair-run-3-separate-times.html

Which partition did you mark Active?

gregrocker said:

Which partition did you mark Active?

Click to expand...

I tried both: System Reserve and drive C. Both end up in the same result. The great thing about it is that I was able to see that ALL my files are intact in drive D I was still not able to get windows to boot, so I decided to do a fresh install on drive C instead since I do not have files that I need to worry about on that partition.

I'd like to thank you guys for helping me through this: TVeblen, kado897, kaktussoft, SIW2 and to you gregrocker! What a wonderful team you have here! Hope that I get to be like you guys someday!