Cannot boot Windows 7 (Black Screen - Boot\BCD error)

[ADK Snowman]

I was having problems booting Windows 7, so I attempted to use the Bootrec.exe tool to rebuild the my BCD. But I screwed that up big time.....

Now I get the following error message on a black screen when I attempt to boot up:

Windows Failed to start. A recent hardware change or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer.
2. Choose your language settings, then click "Next."
3. Click "Repair your computer."

If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc0000098

Info: The Windows Boot Configuration Data file does not contain a valid OS entry.

As far as I can tell, the hard drive is operational. The BIOS detected it and it passed the diagnostics test.

Could some one give me an easy step-by-step procedure to fix this from the command prompt on my Windows repair disk? I'm confused by the procedures I've seen here.

Thanks,

Here is my Windows 7 info:

Home Premium 64 bit
Original OS
OEM
Age of system and OS installation : 2 years

 

[writhziden]

One of our experts put together a very nice tutorial for these problems: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219533-troubleshooting-windows-7-failure-boot.html.

 

[ADK Snowman]

At this point, I want to recover files from the hard drive then do a clean re-install. Since nothing else has worked, I ran the partition wizard. You can see the attached picture of the results.

I'm guessing that the unformatted 686.92GB holds the files I want to recover. But I don't know what to do next.

D

 

[writhziden]

Start reading from here: http://www.sevenforums.com/backup-r...recover-partitions-begging-4.html#post1991226

That person had similar problems and was able to resolve them. It is a long thread, so tread carefully and read up on how the user resolved the problem and recovered the data.