Solved Windows failed to start and can't find operating system

[writhziden]

You can get http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html and use parted magic's subprogram TestDisk to repair it. The step by step guide is TestDisk Step By Step - CGSecurity

It is a somewhat complicated process, but it is all laid out there for you to use.

Edit: updated the site to get ultimatebootcd. The downloads are in the mirrors at the bottom of the page.

 

[silvergreen]

Right now I pretty much have no idea what's going on, but guessing from what Diskpart says about Disk 0 I'm thinking what I did made my problem worse (no partitions?! where did C go?):

LIST DISK

Disc # / Status / Size / Free / Dyn / Gpt
Disk 0 / Online / 232 GB / 232 GB
Disk 1 / No Media / 0 B / 0 B

DETAIL DISK

Disk ID: 06094833
Type: SATA
Status: Online
Path: 0
Target: 0
LUN ID: 0
Location Path: (not going to type this unless it will be useful)
Current read-only state: No
Boot Disk: No
Pagefile disk: No
Hibernation file disk: No
Crashdump disk: No
Clustered disk: No

There are no volumes.

SEL DISK 0 -> LIST PART

There is no partitions on this disk to show.

writhziden, do you still recommend trying TestDisk?

 

[writhziden]

I highly recommend trying TestDisk. I helped someone with a similar problem on an external drive earlier in the week, and I found that a partition recovery tool is the only possibility of recovering the lost partition (and in this case, the operating system as well).

 

[writhziden]

Right now I pretty much have no idea what's going on, but guessing from what Diskpart says about Disk 0 I'm thinking what I did made my problem worse (no partitions?! where did C go?)

Basically, it appears your partitions were deleted. TestDisk should be able to pick the partitions up that were deleted and recover the partitions.

Edit: The nice thing about having deleted the partitions, since you never reformatted the drive, everything is still on there and TestDisk should be able to recover the partition as NTFS instead of the RAW (unformatted) partition. Under no circumstances should you format your drive. That is imperative.

 

[silvergreen]

I'm planning to try TestDisk, but before I do that: can anyone please explain in simple terms what happened after I ran those commands in Diskpart? Before I had a rough understanding of what the results were saying - the C drive was there, but the computer couldn't recognize it because it was RAW, it was 232GB, etc. Now after running those commands I have NO clue why Disk 0 doesn't have any partitions or volumes or why it says C is Removable and has a No Media status...or why I got that "no bootable sectors" message. I'm not a tech person at all, so maybe this will teach me to run commands I don't understand, but I'd really appreciate any insight that can help me understand the current situation. What went wrong?

 

[writhziden]

I'm planning to try TestDisk, but before I do that: can anyone please explain in simple terms what happened after I ran those commands in Diskpart? Before I had a rough understanding of what the results were saying - the C drive was there, but the computer couldn't recognize it because it was RAW, it was 232GB, etc. Now after running those commands I have NO clue why Disk 0 doesn't have any partitions or volumes or why it says C is Removable and has a No Media status...or why I got that "no bootable sectors" message. I'm not a tech person at all, so maybe this will teach me to run commands I don't understand, but I'd really appreciate any insight that can help me understand the current situation. What went wrong?

My guess is that since you did the third of the three steps first, it corrupted the boot data and deleted your partition. Then running all three again was unable to recover that corruption. I may be wrong, but this is my guess.

Edit: Deleted your partition is probably wrong. I think it hid the partition somehow. Anyway, I need to make a run to the store to pick up some last minute items for Thanksgiving. I'll be back to check on your progress with TestDisk. Good luck!

 

[Kaktussoft]

diskpart didn't screw up your disk. Those commands are display commands only.
Writing a new mbr and bootsector shouldn't be a problem as well. Maybe a stupid virus is the problem. try testdisk

 

[writhziden]

diskpart didn't screw up your disk. Those commands are display commands only.
Writing a new mbr and bootsector shouldn't be a problem as well. Maybe a stupid virus is the problem. try testdisk

I was speaking of this post:

Go into recovery environment and start "command prompt"
bootsect /nt60 C: /mbr
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec/fixboot

post results. Are you able to boot now? C still listed as RAW?

and then this one:

Oh, man....I mistyped the first two lines (accidentally wrote "nbr" instead of "mbr") and didn't realize the commands didn't go through. The third, however (bootrec/fixboot) did.

Then I realized my mistake and retyped the three commands and restarted the computer. Upon restart, I got: "No bootable devices--strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility. Press F5 to run onboard diagnostics." F1 doesn't do anything; F2 takes me to the BIOS configuration page.

Did I make the problem worse? Is there anything I can do? I can still access the Recovery Options using my recovery disc...but now I am almost missing the original "Windows failed to start" message, which was less terrifying than this one.

I know it was not Diskpart that caused the problem.

 

[writhziden]

Silvergreen, what's the status on the TestDisk? Any luck?

 

[silvergreen]

Well, it took me a while to run TestDisk (I had to ask for help from a friend) and just rebooted....only to get a new error message:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware 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, and then click next
3. Click "repair your computer."

Status: 0xc0000000e

Info: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.

Looks like I'm back where I started...?

 

[writhziden]

Well, it took me a while to run TestDisk (I had to ask for help from a friend) and just rebooted....only to get a new error message:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware 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, and then click next
3. Click "repair your computer."

Status: 0xc0000000e

Info: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.

Looks like I'm back where I started...?

You may have to do a repair install. That way you won't lose your data. At least we got it to a point where Windows shows up, it just can't be fixed.

See http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

 

[writhziden]

Do you have a Windows 7 install disc with Service Pack 1? I imagine you had Service Pack 1 on your computer, so you will need the appropriate Windows 7 disc (Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate) with Service Pack 1 on the DVD.

Edit: nevermind, reread your first post. Recommend searching google for official windows 7 iso and burning to disc.

 

[writhziden]

Before doing the above, you could try the startup repair again and see if that does the trick. It could be that the file system is in better shape now? I'm hoping so.

And you may have to run the repair three times before it works, so run it three times and get back to me.

 

[silvergreen]

Thank you for the link, but I'm confused - doesn't that repair install tutorial begin with logging in as an administrator and states that a repair install can only be run from within Windows 7? I'm still stuck with an error message immediately after booting up and can't access Windows...

And sure, I can try running the startup repair again, but I'm not sure if anything's different. The last time I ran it I quit after 30 minutes because nothing had changed (should it let it run for longer?), and the Recovery Options menu still isn't showing an operating system.

 

[writhziden]

I think you can do a repair install booting from the DVD. You just click upgrade instead of new installation. Edit: I stand corrected. You would have to do a clean install and just save WindowsOld so you can get your important data backed up.

The other option is to do a clean install and not overwrite the previous windows and keep it as WindowsOld.

 

[writhziden]

Thank you for the link, but I'm confused - doesn't that repair install tutorial begin with logging in as an administrator and states that a repair install can only be run from within Windows 7? I'm still stuck with an error message immediately after booting up and can't access Windows...

And sure, I can try running the startup repair again, but I'm not sure if anything's different. The last time I ran it I quit after 30 minutes because nothing had changed (should it let it run for longer?), and the Recovery Options menu still isn't showing an operating system.

It depends on how badly the startup is damaged. I think I had to let it run for an hour on my girlfriend's parent's computer once.

There are a few other methods to try before going to the installation route, as well.

 

[writhziden]

Is the startup repair still running?

 

[silvergreen]

Yes, it's still going.

 

[writhziden]

Alright, if it is still going, you can probably cancel it. I don't think it's working. Another option is to start in the repair mode, click the command line utility, and type the following:
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
bootrec.exe /fixboot (may return an 'Element not found' message)
bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd

This time, please make sure each step is spelled properly and runs.

Then try running startup repair three times.

 

[silvergreen]

Well, the message in the Startup Repair window has now changed to "Repairing disk errors. This may take over an hour to complete," so at least it's doing something. I don't remember seeing that message before; I think it always remained stuck at the initial message, which was something like "Searching for errors." Should I try letting it run to completion three times, and if it doesn't work, try this new set of commands?

Thanks for all your suggestions so far, btw.