Corrupt partition, can't boot, Startup Repair loop, tried chkdsk

[writhziden]

If the steps in the tutorial did not work, make sure to pay close attention to the Note: in step 8 for more options to fix the issue. I have a feeling you will be unable to carry out those tasks as they require access to the drive, though...

 

[writhziden]

Okay I finished the steps, and it says "successfully updated NTFS filesystem bootcode. (under a line that said C: (\\?\Volume...)) and "successfully updated disk bootcode under "device\harddisk". Then "Bootcode was successfully updated on all targeted volumes". Going to try to restart and boot now.

That is promising. I'm thinking that the fix for the MBR would not work if run from the drive since your drive was seen as RAW, but running it from the repair disc/Windows 7 disc should give it more flexibility.

 

[MMKH]

If the steps in the tutorial did not work, make sure to pay close attention to the Note: in step 8 for more options to fix the issue. I have a feeling you will be unable to carry out those tasks as they require access to the drive, though...

I tried both steps, the MBR one and the bootrec one, they didn't work. When trying to boot now, it says under a Windows Boot Manager screen that windows failed to start. Then it says to insert the disc, restart, click repair computer, etc.

I tried rebuilding the BCD and typed all the other lines like bootrec /fixmbr and /fixboot, bootsect /nt60 C: /mbr , etc. I even typed it for E: and it says the drive could not be opened or something.

My friend is suggesting How to fix your Windows MBR with an Ubuntu liveCD | ArsGeek

 

[writhziden]

My friend is suggesting How to fix your Windows MBR with an Ubuntu liveCD*|*ArsGeek

Go ahead and try that. If that does not work, I would recommend trying chkdsk /r on the drive two or three times to see if it fixes anything. If that does not work, you may have to resort to formatting the drive to let the format sort out any bad sectors.

 

[writhziden]

If you run that, check three times that you have the right drive that you are working with. You don't want to overwrite the backup drive in your system.

 

[MMKH]

My friend is suggesting How to fix your Windows MBR with an Ubuntu liveCD*|*ArsGeek

Go ahead and try that. If that does not work, I would recommend trying chkdsk /r on the drive two or three times to see if it fixes anything. If that does not work, you may have to resort to formatting the drive to let the format sort out any bad sectors.

"Boot into your Ubuntu LiveCD on the offending machine. Once Ubuntu starts up, go to System -> Administration -> Software Sources and enable (by checking it off) the Universal repository."

I have a newer version of Ubuntu and I found Software Sources under System Settings, but I don't see the Universal option.

Btw now for the drives, it lists 600 GB system reserved, and a 600 gb filesystem (but it is only showing files from the first, windows partition)...

 

[writhziden]

"Boot into your Ubuntu LiveCD on the offending machine. Once Ubuntu starts up, go to System -> Administration -> Software Sources and enable (by checking it off) the Universal repository."

I have a newer version of Ubuntu and I found Software Sources under System Settings, but I don't see the Universal option.

Btw now for the drives, it lists 600 GB system reserved, and a 600 gb filesystem (but it is only showing files from the first, windows partition)...

You may have to Google around for where to find your Ubuntu version's universal option.

That is probably because we did not restore the second half; my fault, sorry about that... If you want to, you can go back into testdisk and mark the last partition that was deleted as a primary partition and rewrite the drive.

* [System Reserved]
P (3rd partition)
P (7th partition)

 

[MMKH]

"Boot into your Ubuntu LiveCD on the offending machine. Once Ubuntu starts up, go to System -> Administration -> Software Sources and enable (by checking it off) the Universal repository."

I have a newer version of Ubuntu and I found Software Sources under System Settings, but I don't see the Universal option.

Btw now for the drives, it lists 600 GB system reserved, and a 600 gb filesystem (but it is only showing files from the first, windows partition)...

You may have to Google around for where to find your Ubuntu version's universal option.

That is probably because we did not restore the second half; my fault, sorry about that... If you want to, you can go back into testdisk and mark the last partition that was deleted as a primary partition and rewrite the drive.

* [System Reserved]
P (3rd partition)
P (7th partition)

I ran a quick search and it seemed to automatically put a * next to the system reserved, and P next to the other two partitions, so I wrote that and restarted. However I am still getting a screen that says Windows failed to start under Windows Boot Manager. I fear this is because I tried running the other MBR and Windows bootrec things that you suggested.

Regarding the Ubuntu fix, I found another link that seems to be more recent and worked with the version I was using, but I can't see if it really worked because I have a different problem now.

[HowTo] Restore MBR Windows using Boot Repair | HowOpenSource

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc000000f

Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data.

 

[writhziden]

"Boot into your Ubuntu LiveCD on the offending machine. Once Ubuntu starts up, go to System -> Administration -> Software Sources and enable (by checking it off) the Universal repository."

I have a newer version of Ubuntu and I found Software Sources under System Settings, but I don't see the Universal option.

Btw now for the drives, it lists 600 GB system reserved, and a 600 gb filesystem (but it is only showing files from the first, windows partition)...

You may have to Google around for where to find your Ubuntu version's universal option.

That is probably because we did not restore the second half; my fault, sorry about that... If you want to, you can go back into testdisk and mark the last partition that was deleted as a primary partition and rewrite the drive.

* [System Reserved]
P (3rd partition)
P (7th partition)

I ran a quick search and it seemed to automatically put a * next to the system reserved, and P next to the other two partitions, so I wrote that and restarted. However I am still getting a screen that says Windows failed to start under Windows Boot Manager. I fear this is because I tried running the other MBR and Windows bootrec things that you suggested.

Regarding the Ubuntu fix, I found another link that seems to be more recent and worked with the version I was using, but I can't see if it really worked because I have a different problem now.

[HowTo] Restore MBR Windows using Boot Repair | HowOpenSource

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc000000f

Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data.

You could try running through the MBR repair I suggested again to see if it fixes the issue. You could also try the other repair options offered through the Windows repair console, i.e. startup repair, chkdsk /r, etc.

 

[MMKH]

You may have to Google around for where to find your Ubuntu version's universal option.

That is probably because we did not restore the second half; my fault, sorry about that... If you want to, you can go back into testdisk and mark the last partition that was deleted as a primary partition and rewrite the drive.

* [System Reserved]
P (3rd partition)
P (7th partition)

I ran a quick search and it seemed to automatically put a * next to the system reserved, and P next to the other two partitions, so I wrote that and restarted. However I am still getting a screen that says Windows failed to start under Windows Boot Manager. I fear this is because I tried running the other MBR and Windows bootrec things that you suggested.

Regarding the Ubuntu fix, I found another link that seems to be more recent and worked with the version I was using, but I can't see if it really worked because I have a different problem now.

[HowTo] Restore MBR Windows using Boot Repair | HowOpenSource

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc000000f

Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data.

You could try running through the MBR repair I suggested again to see if it fixes the issue. You could also try the other repair options offered through the Windows repair console, i.e. startup repair, chkdsk /r, etc.

I don't think that is going to work at this point.

Anyway, I have re-imaged my HDD using the image backup that I copied to my secondary drive. I lost some recent data but most of my programs were already in the image, and everything was backed up already. So now I am able to boot up normally as if my problem didn't happen. Thanks for the help anyways.

 

[writhziden]

I don't think that is going to work at this point.

Anyway, I have re-imaged my HDD using the image backup that I copied to my secondary drive. I lost some recent data but most of my programs were already in the image, and everything was backed up already. So now I am able to boot up normally as if my problem didn't happen. Thanks for the help anyways.

No problem. Glad you had a backup; they really come in handy when computers do strange things.

Edit: If you have further issues due to the drive, I would recommend doing a full format and then restoring that backup image that you have.

 

[MMKH]

I don't think that is going to work at this point.

Anyway, I have re-imaged my HDD using the image backup that I copied to my secondary drive. I lost some recent data but most of my programs were already in the image, and everything was backed up already. So now I am able to boot up normally as if my problem didn't happen. Thanks for the help anyways.

No problem. Glad you had a backup; they really come in handy when computers do strange things.

Edit: If you have further issues due to the drive, I would recommend doing a full format and then restoring that backup image that you have.

When I re-imaged in Windows RE, I checked off the option for "reformat and re-partition", does that count?

 

[writhziden]

I don't think that is going to work at this point.

Anyway, I have re-imaged my HDD using the image backup that I copied to my secondary drive. I lost some recent data but most of my programs were already in the image, and everything was backed up already. So now I am able to boot up normally as if my problem didn't happen. Thanks for the help anyways.

No problem. Glad you had a backup; they really come in handy when computers do strange things.

Edit: If you have further issues due to the drive, I would recommend doing a full format and then restoring that backup image that you have.

When I re-imaged in Windows RE, I checked off the option for "reformat and re-partition", does that count?

I am fairly certain that does a quick format, which does not set aside all bad sectors. A full format is much slower and will do a more thorough job of making sure no bad sectors are used. Just something to keep in mind if you have any issues in the near future.

 

[MMKH]

No problem. Glad you had a backup; they really come in handy when computers do strange things.

Edit: If you have further issues due to the drive, I would recommend doing a full format and then restoring that backup image that you have.

When I re-imaged in Windows RE, I checked off the option for "reformat and re-partition", does that count?

I am fairly certain that does a quick format, which does not set aside all bad sectors. A full format is much slower and will do a more thorough job of making sure no bad sectors are used. Just something to keep in mind if you have any issues in the near future.

What would be the best way to do a full format? Through Windows or through the Western Digital tool? Like the one that writes zeros to the drive?

 

[writhziden]

What would be the best way to do a full format? Through Windows or through the Western Digital tool? Like the one that writes zeros to the drive?

Either would probably be sufficient. I would recommend the Western Digital tool as it is designed for your drive, though.

You should also run any disk diagnostic and repair utilities that Western Digital offers through the tool before formatting.

 

[MMKH]

What would be the best way to do a full format? Through Windows or through the Western Digital tool? Like the one that writes zeros to the drive?

Either would probably be sufficient. I would recommend the Western Digital tool as it is designed for your drive, though.

You should also run any disk diagnostic and repair utilities that Western Digital offers through the tool before formatting.

I ran the WD tool, and for quick test it stopped prematurely, saying "quick test did not complete! status code =07 (failed read test element), Failure Checkpoint = 97 (Unknown test) SMART self-test did not complete on drive 1!"

For extended test, it scanned for a while but then stopped early also, saying "08-too many bad sectors detected".

Basically it failed both tests. So now I'm going to try to boot the tool from CD and reformat the whole drive and re-image. At least now I know that the re-image works and can wipe the drive and not worry about the backups.

 

[writhziden]

I ran the WD tool, and for quick test it stopped prematurely, saying "quick test did not complete! status code =07 (failed read test element), Failure Checkpoint = 97 (Unknown test) SMART self-test did not complete on drive 1!"

For extended test, it scanned for a while but then stopped early also, saying "08-too many bad sectors detected".

Basically it failed both tests. So now I'm going to try to boot the tool from CD and reformat the whole drive and re-image. At least now I know that the re-image works and can wipe the drive and not worry about the backups.

Eeek! That sounds very bad. You may want to consider calling WD and speaking with someone to get Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) status. You may be able to get a free new drive out of it if you are still under warranty.

 

[MMKH]

I ran the WD tool, and for quick test it stopped prematurely, saying "quick test did not complete! status code =07 (failed read test element), Failure Checkpoint = 97 (Unknown test) SMART self-test did not complete on drive 1!"

For extended test, it scanned for a while but then stopped early also, saying "08-too many bad sectors detected".

Basically it failed both tests. So now I'm going to try to boot the tool from CD and reformat the whole drive and re-image. At least now I know that the re-image works and can wipe the drive and not worry about the backups.

Eeek! That sounds very bad. You may want to consider calling WD and speaking with someone to get Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) status. You may be able to get a free new drive out of it if you are still under warranty.

Uh oh. So doing a clean format won't help? I only had this drive for a year, can't believe it might actually be dying or faulty. And I should be under warranty as this Velociraptor drive should be at least 3-5 years.

 

[writhziden]

Uh oh. So doing a clean format won't help? I only had this drive for a year, can't believe it might actually be dying or faulty. And I should be under warranty as this Velociraptor drive should be at least 3-5 years.

If your drive is unable to be fully scanned using the WD utilities, I imagine a clean format will not help. It is better to contact WD and get it replaced while you are still under warranty. You could run the clean format and then run the diagnostic tools again; it's possible that may allow it to pass, but I have a feeling you have bigger issues with that drive.

 

[MMKH]

Uh oh. So doing a clean format won't help? I only had this drive for a year, can't believe it might actually be dying or faulty. And I should be under warranty as this Velociraptor drive should be at least 3-5 years.

If your drive is unable to be fully scanned using the WD utilities, I imagine a clean format will not help. It is better to contact WD and get it replaced while you are still under warranty. You could run the clean format and then run the diagnostic tools again; it's possible that may allow it to pass, but I have a feeling you have bigger issues with that drive.

My friend said that there shouldn't be anything wrong with the drive, and that the bad sector is probably because of the image I made, and that it copied over the bad sector. So I will try to reformat completely and run the WD tests off boot CD to see if it is fixed. If it is, then I'll have to do a clean install as the image will just corrupt my HDD again.