Solved Broke my Windows by activating a partition :(

[Arm4L1t3]

hi guys, I was just trying out some stuff with the disc management, and I activated a partition that didn't have the OS, I don't think. So now when I boot up on that computer it says "bootmgr is missing". BIOs won't let me change the place it boots from either. I also tried putting Windows 7 on an external hard drive and booting from that. Can anyone help me? Also, I have a laptop with no CD drive, and I can get one, but I would prefer if there was a solution without having to buy one.

 

[MacGyvr]

Download GParted (free) and boot on it. Remove the active flag from the partition you activated. That should fix it.

 

[Arm4L1t3]

Thanks for the quick response.
So I can boot off it even if bootmgr from Windows is missing? Also would I have to format the external hard drive/flash drive I'm going to use?

 

[MacGyvr]

GParted is just a partition editor/manager. It should help you undo what you did.

 

[SIW2]

You will need to ensure the original system partition is marked active.

If you have a 100mb partition - that will be it.

If you don't, then it is either your main windows partition, or possibly the oem recovery partition ( if you have one )

 

[wilywombat]

Welcome to the forums, you could try booting from your installation dvd and carrying out a "startup repair" details from here:-
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

 

[Arm4L1t3]

Er, can someone teach me how to use it? I downloaded the one at Sourceforge, is that right?

 

[wilywombat]

Suggest you try the "startup repair".....

 

[Arm4L1t3]

There is no startup repair, it loads up, then it says bootmgr is missing. And I have no CD drive.

Edit: And how can I make the makeboot.bat boot from an external hard drive?
Edit again: GParted says it only works on x86 machines, but I have 64x. Will it still work?

 

[wilywombat]

That would depend on you having a mobo that can boot from USB (check your BIOS) and it would probably be better to make a flash drive bootable and put your file on that.

 

[Arm4L1t3]

I have Phoenix SecureCore A01 and it doesn't tell me if I can boot from a USB. But right now I'm trying to boot from an external hard drive, which doesn't work.
edit: the hard drive is FAT32 already.

 

[Shadowjk]

When you get into the Repair Disk, Open up a Command Prompt and Enter the Following -

bootrec.exe /fixboot

And

bootrec.exe /fixmbr

Hope This Helps,
Josh

 

[SIW2]

You will need to boot up something that allows you to mark the correct partition Active.

If you have no cd drive - flash is the way to go.

You could use any bootable partition manager , or even diskpart on the win7 dvd /repair disc.

Alternatively , if you can connect another pc so you can see the drive - you can do it from there.

 

[Arm4L1t3]

Well, how would I make a USB bootable? By the way, I'm going to Walmart today (cause I'm on vacation) so what would I need? I don't have a USB drive or an external hard drive

I'd prefer not having to get anything though, cause my dad would probably go like "why would you get that you don't need it" but is there anyway I can use the external hard drive to boot? without deleting any files though because it's my uncle's hard drive and he has a lot of movies on it.

 

[wilywombat]

Find / Borrow an external USB DVD/CD drive, put in your installation disk and boot from the DVD drive. When it runs up select "Startup Repair" :-
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

 

[Shadowjk]

You will need an unused Flash Drive with at least 4GB's of space

 

[Arm4L1t3]

Wily, thanks for the suggestions with the installation CD, but I'm on a top of a mountain with nothing to do. I could do that when I get home but I really don't want to wait I have a week here. But Shadowjk, if I buy a 4gb flash drive today, I would be able to get a partition manager to boot from it?
edit: Actually, Siw2, I just read what you wrote. What kind of cable would allow me to connect the two laptops I have now? One that Walmart might have?

edit again: I'm planning on using http://www.partition-tool.com/resource/manage-partition/usb-partition-manager.htm, when I get a flash drive.

 

[Shootist]

All you need to connect 2 computer together is either a Crossover Ethernet cable or, if the Ethernet ports on the PCs are Auto Sensing, a standard Ethernet cable.

then you will need to assign Static IPs to the network interface cards in the same subnet, 192.168.1.1 and .2 respectively.

 

[Arm4L1t3]

will it work if one of the computers doesn't even boot up?

 

[Arm4L1t3]

okay I got the gparted to boot, and I unchecked the boot flag, but now it says

Check cable connection!
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM.

it's something with the PCIE Ethernet Controller

EDIT: FIXED IT!!!! DDDD THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP GUYS!!! what I did I used Gparted and Unetbootin and then booted from the USB. And I marked the recovery one as the boot up and thanks for helping me get the answer in like less than 12 hours that's awesome