Partition Changes - Can't boot to Windows now

[bumzag]

So in pursuit of simplifying my laptop and its contents, I intended to create two total partitions, one for Windows and the other for all my data. Well, I wound up with ~5 partitions as I created many non-adjacent partitions and wasn't able to merge certain ones. After some juggling, I finally got the HDD the way I wanted (with the exception of a small bit of unallocated space). After loading Windows onto a partition, I labeled that partition with drive letter Z (thinking it looked cool ). However, after rebooting, my PC is loading up as if it's trying to boot via the NIC. The boot order is HDD>CD>FDD>LAN>eSATA>USB in that order, so obviously the NIC isn't the boot preference. Previously, Windows was installed on partition C:, but I rebooted and loaded the Z: and used Disk Management to format the C:\ and merge its unallocated space with the partition that I was using for data storage/backup

My question is, how might I resolve this, if possible, without the use of an external copy of Windows 7, or anything for that matter? How would I have distorted/deleted the MBR? I was able to boot once before and load into the Z:\, so what could I have done to change that? I had previously marked my D:\ (the data/backup folder) as inactive, but my Z:\ was left unchanged, although I don't recall if Z:\ was marked as active/primary.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hello mate but for the record Windows always defaults C: as the boot drive I know it looks cool for Z: but unfortunately it doesn't work like that.
You have formatted the C: drive so if I have it right there is nothing to boot from because the boot manager would have been in that partition.

Now my question is has the laptop got a factory restore point / partition most have and it will take the machine back to out of the box state (new). That also means if you do that you will lose all data and therefore you would be wise to back up it all before you do the factory restore.

A good tool for partitioning is this as you can allocate all unallocated space very easily - for future work that is
Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free