Broken MBR/Boot/System Partition

Previously I had Ubuntu Linux and GRUB, which pointed to Windows 7 and Windows XP

I formatted all the partitions and resized Windows 7 to use the entire disk.

I accidentally deleted the 100MB partition that contains the boot folder.

Nothing works to fix it. I really need help! I made a new >100MB partition and formatted it to NTFS with gParted, and copied the contents of my laptop's system partition (same exact OS, I thought maybe it would see it and be able to fix it to work with the desktop.)

So, what do you recommend? When I boot the DVD and go to repair installation, it doesnt see any O
S's. On startup repair, even doing it several several times with and without rebooting, it says the same thing.


at the end of the log:

Root cause found:
------
The partition table does not have a valid System Partition.

Repair action: Partition table repair
Result: Completed Successfully. Error Code = 0x0
Time taken = 2277ms

------------
------------

When doing the bootrec commands, it gives errors such as 'Element not found' or 'a device cannot function'

What on Earth can I do to get my pc to boot Windows 7 properly again?

pi`

Is the 100mb a Primary partition?

If not, mark your main windows partition Active (assuming that is a Primary) - then run startup repair - will probably take 2 or 3 runs.

All Linux code must be deleted.As you have had linux on the HD you need do a Clean all & full format.
Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command

Do a full clean & full format in command prompt.
1) Boot DVD & Press Shift+F10 (for command prompt)
DISKPART : At PC Startup
2) Boot DVD, & Command Prompt at Startup
(for command prompt)

Type in command line
DISKPART
LIST DISK
SELECT DISK # (win HD)
CLEAN ALL
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT fs=NTFS
ASSIGN
EXIT
EXIT


SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

SIW2 said:

Is the 100mb a Primary partition?

If not, mark your main windows partition Active (assuming that is a Primary) - then run startup repair - will probably take 2 or 3 runs.

No, there must be some error. It is listed as "Logical" and the main installation is marked as "Logical" and "Extended"

How do I mark the 100mb as primary?

You can either delete the 100mb and recreate it as primary, or you can convert it to primary using e.g. the free partition wizard boot disc.

Alternatively , you can do without the separate 100 mb system partition and have your windows partition as system .

To do that you would need to convert your windows partition to primary - partition wizard again.

I don't think you can do non destructive conversion with Gparted. ( You may be able to - haven't looked at it for a while. )


Partition Wizard Bootable CD allows user to boot computer directly to manage partition.

SIW2 said:

You can either delete the 100mb and recreate it as primary, or you can convert it to primary using e.g. the free partition wizard boot disc.

Alternatively , you can do without the separate 100 mb system partition and have your windows partition as system .

To do that you would need to convert your windows partition to primary - partition wizard again.

I don't think you can do non destructive conversion with Gparted. ( You may be able to - haven't looked at it for a while. )


Partition Wizard Bootable CD allows user to boot computer directly to manage partition.

I deleted the 100mb partition. How do I recreate a PRIMARY 100mb partition with the Windows DVD command line?

It seems you now have one logical drive and 100mb free space inside an extended partition - that's why 3rd party app. Partition Wiz was suggested.

SIW2 said:

diskpart

cre par pri

for fs=ntfs quick

ass

act

exi

X:\Soures>diskpart

DISKPART>list disk

Disk 0 Online 465GB(Size) 118MB (free)

DISKPART> select disc 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

## Type Size Offset
Partition 0 Extended 465GB 31KB
Partition 1 Extended 465GB 63KB

Which do I select, will this break anything?


EDIT: without selecting a partition,

DISKPART> cre par pri

Virtual Disc Service error:
There is not enough usable space for this operation.