Solved WIN7 won't boot. What should I do before trying a clean install?

[Arc]

To check the disk layout I went to the custom install options because this lays out all the partitions.
size free
Disk 0 Part 1 100.0 MB 70.0 MB System
Disk 0 Part 2 74.4 GB 5.5 GB Primary

Disk 1 Partition1: UserData 500.0 GB 466.0 GB System
Disk 1 Partition2: ProgFiles 500.0 GB 409.8 GB Primary
Disk 1 Partition3: Backup 397.3 GB 21.1 GB Primary

There are now 2 System partitions. I presume I need to change that?

and when I do a Dir of each drive I have found that
C: nothing found and no size info
D: 500GB free
E: 5GB free
F: 440GB free
G: 22GB free

So E: = Disk 0 part 2
D: = Disk 1 part 1
F: = Disk 1 part 2
G: = Disk 1 part 3

Early start at work tomorrow so I'm off for a while now.

Disk0 partition 1 should be the system reserved .
Disk0 partition 2 should be the traditional C drive.

Remove disk 1 . Mark Disk0 partition 1 as active and run startup repair for 3 times.

 

[gregrocker]

Remove disk 1 . Mark Disk0 partition 1 as active and run startup repair for 3 times.

If by the third attempt Startup Repair does not start Win7 then boot free Partition Wizard to run the Rebuild MBR step given in Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot .

If possible post back a camera snap of the PW drive map and listings.

 

[ibex]

I removed drive 1, made disk0 partition 1 the active partition and ran startup repair 3 times.

The first time ran for 5+ minutes but could not repair the disk.
I rebooted and ran a 2nd time. This ran for about 20 seconds and said it could detect a problem.
I rebooted and ran a 3rd time. This also ran for about 20 seconds and said it could detect a problem.

I burnt the partition wizard ISO to a CD and rebooted the PC from that CD. The menu screen to boot from CD or local came up and I choose to boot from CD.
A whole stack of text came up starting with
Loading /boot/bzImage
and eventually stopped at:
"[<c0a19046>] kernel_thread_helper+0x6/0x10
and then stopped there. It has been there for at east 5 minutes now so I guess it's not going to boot partition wizard.

I tried this at least 3 times with the same result each time.
Ian

 

[Golden]

Loading /boot/bzImage

Hi Ian,

The above text is correct and indicates PW is attempting to boot. The later kernel message is a problem as you saw. I'm not sure this will fix the issue, but can you try and burn another CD/DVD but at a slower 4x speeds, and see if that works?

Regards,
Golden

 

[ibex]

I tried this CD in another PC and it worked fine - booted all the way up to the Partition Wizard menu.

I will try burning a new one at a lower speed.

 

[Golden]

Hi Ian,

Thats OK - that indicates the CD was burn't correctly, there is no need for another burn. Can you humour me and "burn" the ISO to a bootable USB thumb drive instead, and then try and boot off that if your BIOS has th option to boot from a USB HDD? I'm trying to rule out an issue with the CD drive, although I admit I'm taking a stab in the dark here.

Use this tool to create a bootable USB drive:

Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3 | USB Pen Drive Linux

Regards,
Golden

 

[ibex]

Allright - I'll give this a try.
I have already burnt a DVD instead and had exactly the same problem.

 

[Golden]

OK Ian. Let us know.

Regards,
Golden

 

[Arc]

Ian I guess you should opt for a clean install. You have tried a lot, a clean install will take much less time and effort.

None of your user data will be lost . Follow the tutorial http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93347-copy-paste-windows-recovery-console.html to move all data out of the drive you will format clean (disk0) to the other one (disk1). Then go to a clean install as described in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html .

For detailed way to get a factory OEM installation, follow http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html .


If anyhow the disk management window could be seen, there will not be so much troubles.

 

[ibex]

Thanks everyone.
I tried creating a bootable USB but I'm not sure that it worked.
I had to pick a linux distro for the install so I choose the very last one in the list and picked the pwhe7 iso however I can't get the PC to boot from it. The PC has options for all sorts of USB devices but not just a plain USB and none of the options I tried got me anywhere.

I'll give the clean install a try. Stay tuned for more questions as I work my way through that tomorrow night.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Golden]

Hi Ian,

Sorry it ddn't work. Arc has a good point, a clean install will freshen everything up nicely (make sure you've backed up all your user data!). Post back here if you need more help, and we'll visit frequently to make sure you are sorted.

Regards,
Golden

 

[ibex]

I have my original OEM Win7 64 Prof disc. Should I use that or download one from Digital River (?) with SP 1 incorporated?
Will there be any issues with the licence key? In the past I've had issues with mixing licences and different media.

 

[Arc]

You can use that one that you have, and get teh service pack as update, or download the service pack included one.

If it is the same version for which the OEM license is, it would not be a problem.

 

[essenbe]

You should have no problems with the key. I use Digital river all the time. When it comes time to put the key number in, Don't put it in. Leave it blank and uncheck the box that says activate when I go online. The SP1 will be an easier install, will save you about 50 Windows updates as well as the SP1 update. When all is running well, Go to computer, properties and click the link in the bottom left that says change product key and put in your product key. You should have no problems and if you do, just call and talk to the machine.

Or if you would rather, use your current disk and do as you normally do. It will just take longer. But either way, go to windows update and download and install the updates yourself, then reboot. It will be easier on you and the computer.

 

[karlsnooks]

ibex,
If you are interested in putting Partition Wizard on a USB then:

View attachment PartitionWizard - Put PartitionWizard on to a USB Stick.pdf

 

[gregrocker]

I've not heard of PW CD failing to boot before, so it makes me suspect the HD. Did you test it when Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot? Can you see and copy out your files?

One other thing I'd do with the Win7 DVD or REpair CD however is to mark the Win7 partition itself Active to try the 3 Startup Repairs in case the 100mb System Reserved went corrupt.

If you're already committed to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 just follow the steps in the tutorial to get a perfect reinstall, then save a backup image so you never have to reinstall again.

 

[ibex]

I've not heard of PW CD failing to boot before, so it makes me suspect the HD. Did you test it when Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot? Can you see and copy out your files?

One other thing I'd do with the Win7 DVD or REpair CD however is to mark the Win7 partition itself Active to try the 3 Startup Repairs in case the 100mb System Reserved went corrupt.

If you're already committed to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 just follow the steps in the tutorial to get a perfect reinstall, then save a backup image so you never have to reinstall again.

There is certainly some confusion about the drive mappings on this PC. As best I can tell this is how it is set up:

Disk 0 Part 1 100.0 MB 70.0 MB System
E: Disk 0 Part 2 74.4 GB 5.5 GB Primary

D: Disk 1 Partition1: UserData 500.0 GB 466.0 GB System
F: Disk 1 Partition2: ProgFiles 500.0 GB 409.8 GB Primary
G: Disk 1 Partition3: Backup 397.3 GB 21.1 GB Primary

At the CMD prompt a Dir of C:\ gives no files found and no size info.
The G: drive is old backups of specific sets of application data only.

I have been able to list the files in each of D:, E:, F: and G: but haven't tried copying anything out of them.

 

[essenbe]

Read this tutorial http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93347-copy-paste-windows-recovery-console.html. You can use that to copy out your user files in case you have to reinstall. You can also look through all of your drives and partitions and see if you can find your Windows installation drive. It will have files like Windows, Program files, program files X86 (if you have a 64 bit OS) and User files. If you do have to do a clean install, be sure to disconnect all drives except the one you are installing Windows to. But, like Greg, I suspect that if PW won't boot, there may be other problems.

 

[Arc]

There is certainly some confusion about the drive mappings on this PC. As best I can tell this is how it is set up:

Disk 0 Part 1 100.0 MB 70.0 MB System
E: Disk 0 Part 2 74.4 GB 5.5 GB Primary

D: Disk 1 Partition1: UserData 500.0 GB 466.0 GB System
F: Disk 1 Partition2: ProgFiles 500.0 GB 409.8 GB Primary
G: Disk 1 Partition3: Backup 397.3 GB 21.1 GB Primary

At the CMD prompt a Dir of C:\ gives no files found and no size info.
The G: drive is old backups of specific sets of application data only.

I have been able to list the files in each of D:, E:, F: and G: but haven't tried copying anything out of them.

That is really very confusing, apparently, ant that's it why I made a couple of mistakes in this thread.

Dont know why, the partition which should be named "C" is named as "E" in your machine. The partition is being called C in your earlier posts, should be without of any Drive Letters, and usually called as System Reserved.

If there is any user data in your present "E" Drive, (not the windows folder) you can copy and paste those elsewhere. And then, just follow the tutorial http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html . When in Step 8, delete both the partitions of Disk 0, create a new one in the blank space, and format it. Windows will make the 100 MB hidden system reserved automatically .

 

[ibex]

With only one disk installed I just rechecked the disk using diskpart.

Disk 0 online 74 GB 4096 KB

partition 1 Primary 100MB 1024KB
partition 2 Primary 74GB 101MB

then

dir c:

File not found

dir d:
amongst the files found ...
Program Files
Program Files (x86)
Users
Windows
... and so on

Dir E:
amongst the files found ...
autorun.inf
boot <dir>
bootmgr
bootmgr.efi
efi <dir>
setup.exe
... and so on


NB: This is not how the D:, E: drives etc present when the other disk is installed.

I've checked the user folder and nothing in there - as expected all the user files are on the other disk
so there doesn't seem to be anything to rescue from this disk.

Is that right or is there anything I should try and save?