Solved Dell Inspiron one 2320 - Will not recover/repair

[iamseven]

My sons PC Dell Inspiron One 2320 Windows 7 will not recover/repair itself.

Switch on Windows files will load across the screen, then asks to attempt to repair the system files etc. This may take some 3 or 4 minutes, then says it can't repair.

When looking at diagnostic report it lists,
Boot Mgr failed to find OS Loader.
Error code 0x490
also error code 0xc00000e9 unexpected I/O error has occurred.

I've tried a Windows 7 recovery disk, that it by-pass's doing nothing.

Tried a Windows 7 (Home Edition) Installation disk, but using the repair part not installation. But says this disk version is not compatible.

Tried to download a Windows 7 Repair, but say the Key Code is a Manufacturer installation.

By hook or crook I was able to get to My Computer and the drives are as below.
C: Recovery 4.22GB free of 14.8GB
D: OS 704 GB free of 916GB
X: Boot 28.8MB free of 31.2MB

Also managed to get to cmd prompt and run sfc /scannow on all 3 drives, but cannot complete as a system repair is pending and needs a restart then run sfc again later, nothing shows. I can also list all the Directories of the drives C: D: and X:

Any clues of how rectify the problem or is this a harddrive failure.

thanks

The signature info is my old laptop before upgrading to Windows 10.

 

[iko22]

Hello

Your laptop has a problem with a corrupt boot manager.

You can try the answer posted on this thread "Boot manager failed to find OS loader" code "0x490".

 

[iamseven]

Thanks

Hello
You can try the answer posted on this thread "Boot manager failed to find OS loader" code "0x490".

Microsoft says: "Thread Not Found
We are sorry, the thread is not available at this time."

 

[z3r010]

I've fixed his link, you should be able to get it now.

 

[iko22]

Thanks

Microsoft says: "Thread Not Found
We are sorry, the thread is not available at this time."

Sorry the link was broken. I hope z3r010 has fixed it for you.

If you encounter any problems, then post again into this thread.

 

[Megahertz07]

Fist thing you should do is to check the disk
Boot from win 7 installation disk (same bit version), go to repair and launch a CMD window.
Using dir C:, dir D: etc find the drive letters of your disk (OS, Recovery and Boot)
Then run:
chkdsk z: /f (replace z by the drive letters you found using dir)

 

[iamseven]

Thanks all,

This not my PC as its my sons, I do not know whether its a 32 or 64bit as there are no labels etc to say which.

I cannot access Safe Mode via F8 and have to go via F1 and run the dvd.

I'm using a Win7 installation disc and go via the Repair route and so on.

But by doing this I can see Win7 (highlighted) D: OS, but moving forward (next) I am told the disk I am using for System Recovery Option is not compatible with the version of windows on the computer. And I or he do not have a disk.

I can find all the partitions on the HDD via Properties of My Computer, as listed earlier C: Recovery D: OS X: Boot

D:\ to carry out chkdsk /r which D:\ had to be dismounted to proceed. Spent some 5 hrs 100%

Then proceeded to D:\bootrec.exe /FIXMBR (successful)
Then proceeded to D:\bootrec.exe /FIXBOOT (successful)
DISKPART
List disk
select 0
select partition 1 (although no partitions could be seen)
active
exit Diskpart
reboot.

Still same did not work

Tried again with C:\ same results

X:\ is write protected

Tried reboot for windows to do its own repair with no cure.

Any help please

 

[iko22]

Hello

How are drives C: and D: normally found on the machine? - Is C: and D: on separate disks or are they found on separate partitions of the same disk?

Since the computer has its own recovery partition, you should be able to press F8 at the right point in boot-up (start-up), then select Repair Computer from list.

 

[wither 2]

What happens if you continuously hold down the F8 key during startup? You said it didn't work and I'm wondering exactly what happens.

 

[iamseven]

OK,

Before doing any of below, I did try to get a Win 7 Repair download from Microsoft using the Key code.
Told the version on the PC is OEM installed.

What drives are normally seen when opening such as 'File explorer', I've never seen and dont think my son knows either.

All the drives listed are seen opening by 'My Computer' when using the 'Repair' on the disc I have.
As far as I'm aware only one hdd is installed, so I guess the drives are partitions on the hdd. Also listed on the same screen with 'My Computer' is 'Control Panel' and 'Recycle Bin', both these show as blank.

F8 is pressed every half second/second as soon as the PC power is switched on starting the PC.
The screen shows a choice of F2 or F12, if left alone the screen moves onto a new showing.

Press F1 or Powerbutton to shutdown. If F1 is selected without any media etc plugged in, it shows a form of Dos. C:\> and nothing can be changed etc.

With the Windows 7 disk I have in the Rom drive, from F1 I can select either Installation or Repair.

With Repair selected, it will search for any Windows Installation. It will find Windows 7 on the D:\ drive. If I select that highlighted Windows and click next. It tells me the disk I using is not compatible for the repair for the version installed.

If go back and select drivers then next and cancel, I get the list with Command Prompt, System Restore and others.

Selecting Command, I can do the listing of the Dir's of C:\> D:\> X:\Sources>
Using bootrec /FixMBR or bootrec /Fixboot or bootrec / OSscan and bootrec /RebuildBcd all result as:-

Successfully scanned windows installations
Total identified windows installations: 0
The operation completed successfully

Exit
Restart

Back to square one with or without the disk in the rom.

Hope this helps in trying to identity my problem and any further things that can be done....

 

[iko22]

Okay, sounds like you have already tried a lot of things to get your son's computer working again.

Total identified Windows installations:0

This could mean that the BCD store exists, so first you have to remove the current BCD store manually, and then try and rebuild it again.

1. Restart computer, and go to cmd prompt window, via F8 or via your repair disk.
2. At the cmd prompt, type bcdedit /export d:\bcdbackup <Enter>
The command should return with
The operation completed successfully.
If you get any error messages, stop then make note of the message.

3. Next, type attrib d:\boot\bcd -h -r -s <Enter>
4. Type ren d:\boot\bcd bcd.old

5. Try rebuilding BCD again, as you did before
bootrec /rebuildbcd <Enter>
which should produce the following message in the cmd window:
Scanning all disks for Windows installations
Please wait, since this may take a while...
Successfully scanned Windows installations.
Total identified Windows installations: 1
[1] D:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? Yes<Y>/No<N>/All<A>:
meaning that the BCD store rebuild is progressing as expected.
6. Enter Y for Yes <Enter>
7. Type Exit <Enter> to exit the bcd environment.
8. Reboot the computer. And all being well, windows should start as normal.

Just take your time. The important thing is that you get no error messages at any stage.

 

[iamseven]

thanks iko22

but sorry looks if I have messed up

firstly I managed to a win7 64bit repair disk and can get into the proper repair system by clicking on the highlighted win7 it finds and get the repair listing selections.

OK I went into cmd prompt and because its showing x:\windows\system32>
following your instructions I exported to x:\bcdbackup proceeded as per the list.

everything was ok till 'ren x:\boot\bcd bcd.old' cannot find it

I did try to import back 'bcdedit /import x:\bcdbackup' cannot find it

As I have messed up is this the end or can I search for it or recovery the original bcd etc to start again.

Just ran through the 'bootrec's' again

/fixmbr the operation completed successfully

/fixboot the volume does not contain a reconized file system
please make sure that all required file drivers are loaded and that the vol is not corrupted

/scanos total identified windows installations: 0
the operation completed successfully

/rebuildbcd total identified windows installations: 0
the operation completed successfully

thanks

 

[wither 2]

Don't tap the F8 key. Hold it down continuously.

 

[SIW2]

X is the ram drive for winpe. It is not on your hard disk.

You had better use this boot media. It has windows explorer so you can see what you are doing:

17514x64-v9.iso

thanks iko22

but sorry looks if I have messed up

firstly I managed to a win7 64bit repair disk and can get into the proper repair system by clicking on the highlighted win7 it finds and get the repair listing selections.

OK I went into cmd prompt and because its showing x:\windows\system32>
following your instructions I exported to x:\bcdbackup proceeded as per the list.

everything was ok till 'ren x:\boot\bcd bcd.old' cannot find it

I did try to import back 'bcdedit /import x:\bcdbackup' cannot find it

As I have messed up is this the end or can I search for it or recovery the original bcd etc to start again.

Just ran through the 'bootrec's' again

/fixmbr the operation completed successfully

/fixboot the volume does not contain a reconized file system
please make sure that all required file drivers are loaded and that the vol is not corrupted

/scanos total identified windows installations: 0
the operation completed successfully

/rebuildbcd total identified windows installations: 0
the operation completed successfully

thanks

 

[iko22]

Hello iamseven, how are you getting on?

thanks iko22
...

OK I went into cmd prompt and because its showing x:\windows\system32>
following your instructions I exported to x:\bcdbackup proceeded as per the list.

everything was ok till 'ren x:\boot\bcd bcd.old' cannot find it

I did try to import back 'bcdedit /import x:\bcdbackup' cannot find it
...
thanks

as SIW2 is suggesting, X is the wrong drive letter to use.

I think your Operating System is located on the D: drive. X: is a virtual drive used by the recovery environment.

So therefore do those instructions again, this time use D: instead of using X: drive.

SO at the X:\> prompt, type bcdedit /export d:\bcdbackup <Enter>

 

[iamseven]

Thanks Guys

Still nothing. All the PC's I'd had there's only been 2 drives C:\ and D:\

Sons PC shows 4 drives/partitions

Local disk C:\ - 24.5 mb free of 39mb
Recovery D:\ - 4.32 gb free of 14.8gb
OS E:\ - 705 gb free of 916gb
Boot X:\ - 502 mb free of 504mb

Rightly or Wrongly each drive has a boot folder. I can find a Boot efi ect. in E:\ in Windows directory dated 2009. Also boot.mgr can be found.

I did the list to rebuild the bcd again. Doing so for D:\ or E:\ exporting is ok. But with either 'attrib' or 'ren' it cant the file or path.

But doing the list with C:\ it all goes exactly as the rebuild list instructs.

But on Reboot, nothing still same going to F2 - F12 and onto F1 or Shutdown.

Can the BDC be rebuilt etc. manually to boot the PC.

I am very grateful for your help
thanks

 

[Megahertz07]

On OEM computers with Win 7 you probably have 3 partitions:
- System partition ~100M - It has some tools like repair and the one to launch Factory recover.
- OS partition - Very big NTFS
- Recovery partition ~ 20G - It has a partition image to be used under Factory recover.

Drive letters are assigned by the OS it boots. As you're booting from a Win 7 installation disk, it loads a Win 7 PE on a Ram disk (X and the other partitions may have different letters from what you're used to see. Drive letters are assigned by the OS it boots.

Boot the Win 7 installation disk and then open a CMD window and type:
diskpart
list disk (it will list the disks as 0, 1, 2 etc. Identify the HDD disk number)
select disk ? (replace ? by the HDD number from list disk)
list partition (it will list all partitions on the HDD)
list volume (it will list all volumes on all disks. Remember: Drive letters are assigned by the OS it boots (in this case, Win PE)
exit (to exit diskpart)

 

[iko22]

I tend to agree with Megahertz07:

...
Boot the Win 7 installation disk and then open a CMD window and type:
diskpart
list disk (it will list the disks as 0, 1, 2 etc. Identify the HDD disk number)
select disk ? (replace ? by the HDD number from list disk)
list partition (it will list all partitions on the HDD)
list volume (it will list all volumes on all disks. Remember: Drive letters are assigned by the OS it boots (in this case, Win PE)
exit (to exit diskpart)

Perhaps also take a photo with a camera or a smartphone, and upload the picture to this thread.

 

[Megahertz07]

Have you tried SIW2 17514x64-v9.iso?
Download it and burn a CD. It will be boot able.
You boot on a lite Win 7 GUI with a lot of tools. Very good.

 

[iamseven]

Hi Guys
Here is the Diskpart listings from the Win7 Inspiron

Thanks megahertz07 yes alot of useful stuff.

See EasyBcd listed but unsure how to use.

thanks