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Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times
Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times to Repair Boot Issues
Published by Bare Foot Kid
20 Aug 2010
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 Published by |
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Why it's Sometimes Necessary to Run a Startup Repair 3 Times to Create Windows Boot Files to Another, New Location
When a Windows Operating System (OS) is installed it becomes the system volume or commonly referred to as "System, Active" partition and by default it will contain all the files needed to boot Windows. When a second OS is installed to the same PC (a dual or multi boot) the files needed to boot that OS will be added to the existing "system volume" containing boot files from the previous install and the 2 OSs will 'share' the boot files and if either of the 2 is removed or damaged so as to not boot, that may directly affect the other OS's ability to boot.
There is another situation that is common now, when Windows 7 is installed to an un-partitioned or "unallocated space" on a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) it creates one partition (the first) labeled "System Reserved" that becomes the "system volume" and a second partition that Windows 7 installs to, both "Primary" partitions; the "System Reserved" partition is where the boot files are created and has a link to the recovery options console built into Windows 7, it serves a very useful purpose but there may be times when removing or repairing the "System Reserved" partition becomes necessary.
click any image to enlarge

The simplest way to make these changes is to do what is referred to as a startup repair it's a process that will write new boot files to the selected OS and it will then be able to boot independently; or in other cases you may want to rearrange / change the partition structure, you can use a startup repair to correct this also.
The trick is that sometime and in certain situations it becomes absolutely necessary to do as many as 3 separate startup repairs with a system restart between each repair to completely write boot files to the "new" location and if the process is interrupted or not completed you will be right back where you started, with a PC that will not start-up at all.
 Warning
As with anything that makes changes to the Windows structure there is always the chance for an error to occur, it would be advisable to make reliable backups to the media of your choice of any important data, i.e. pictures, music or documents, that you would not want to lose before you make any changes to your system, it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Let's get started!
 Note
If you can't boot into (start) Windows have a look at Option Two below.
If there is more than 1 partition marked "Active" that will cause WinRE to not be able to complete the repairs properly as the active flag is the designation of where the new boot files are to be created, if so the other partitions will have to be marked as "Inactive" for the repairs to be completed.
See Option Two #2 below for the process.
The first step in the process is to mark the desired volume/partition as "Active" so that WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) will know which volume you want to become "System" when the startup repairs are run.
The second step in this process is to run at least 3 separate startup repairs to create a new set of boot files to the new "Active" volume/partition, be sure to complete all 3 steps of Option One below to complete this entire process.
 Option One 
Using Disk Management
1) In the Windows start menu search box type diskmgmt.msc right click the entry and click "Run as Administrator" if you get a User Account Control (UAC) prompt enter your user credentials and click Yes; in Disk Management right click the partition you want to be the "system volume" and click "Mark Partition as Active".
2) Now click yes for the dialog box that opens; the second snip down is what you will have after that.

3) Now put the Windows full installer DVD or a windows repair disk into the Optical Disk Drive (ODD) and restart the PC, at the BIOS select the ODD as first boot device and when the PC boots run the 3 startup repairs with restarts discussed above to write the new boot files to the selected volume.
How to Run a Startup Repair in Windows 7
This is what you will have after the repairs.
 Option Two 
Using DISKPART
If you have a Windows 7 full installer DVD, have a look at Method One in this tutorial at the link below to see how to boot to diskpart so you can mark the desired partition as "Active" so that WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) will know where to write the new boot files.
How to Boot to DISKPART at PC Startup
If you are using a created windows repair disk have a look at Method Two and if you are using a Vista full installer view Method Three.
Once in diskpart of course you would substitute your disk / partition information in-place of that listed in the snips for demonstration purposes.
1) To mark the selected partition as "Active" click to see this snip below.
2) To mark the selected partition as "Inactive" click to see this snip below.
If there is more than 1 partition marked "Active" that will cause WinRE to not be able to complete the repairs properly as the active flag is the designation of where the new boot files are to be created / repaired, if so the other partitions will have to be marked as "Inactive" for the repairs to be completed.
To see how to mark the selected partition as "Inactive" click this snip below.
This can also be done from an elevated command window.
3) How to check if a partition is marked "Active" click to see the snip below.
Enjoy! :)
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20 Aug 2010
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#1
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Nice work Ted, This will be used alot.
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My System Specs |
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Computer type PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model Number Self Built
OS Win 10 Pro x64
CPU Intel I5-2500K @3.3GHz
Motherboard Asrock P67 Extreme4
Memory 16GB G.Skill Ripjaws X (4x4GB)
Graphics Card EVGA GeForce 750 Ti SC 2GB
Sound Card ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound
Monitor(s) Displays auria eq2367
Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080
Keyboard Logitech Wireless Keyboard K520
Mouse Logitech Wireless Mouse M310
PSU SeaSonic X 650W 80 Plus Gold
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D
Cooling Corsair H60, Three 140mm case fans
Hard Drives 250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
1TB WD Blue
1TB Hitachi
Internet Speed Wave Broadband ~ 100 dn 5 up
Antivirus Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Premium
Browser Edge, IE11, Chrome
Other Info Laptop specs: HP g7-1365dx /
CPU: AMD A6-3420M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics /
RAM: Crucial 8Gb (2x4Gb) /
SSD: Crucial M4-CT128M4SSD2 ATA Device/ FW 000F /
GFX: AMD Radeon HD 6520G /
OS: Windows 10 Pro x64
20 Aug 2010
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#2
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Thanks Derek, I hope it'll save some typing for everyone.
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My System Specs |
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System Manufacturer/Model Number * BFK Customs *
OS W 7 64-bit Ultimate
CPU Intel Q9550 Yorkfield
Motherboard ASUS P5Q Pro
Memory 8GB Dominator 8500C5D
Graphics Card ATI : XFX 5870
Sound Card Realtek HD Audio 7-1
Monitor(s) Displays 1x 47" LCD HDMI & 3x 26" LCD HDMI
Screen Resolution 1920x1080P & 1920x1200
Keyboard Microsoft 500
Mouse Razer Diamondback 3G
PSU Corsair 620HX
Case Cooler Master RC-690
Cooling Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
Hard Drives 1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 1x 500GB & 1x 640GB WD Caviar Black(s)
Internet Speed 14 Mb/s
Other Info 1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack
20 Aug 2010
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#3
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Quote: Originally Posted by Bare Foot Kid
Thanks Derek, I hope it'll save some typing for everyone. 
Exactly! You're welcome! :)
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My System Specs |
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Computer type PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model Number Self Built
OS Win 10 Pro x64
CPU Intel I5-2500K @3.3GHz
Motherboard Asrock P67 Extreme4
Memory 16GB G.Skill Ripjaws X (4x4GB)
Graphics Card EVGA GeForce 750 Ti SC 2GB
Sound Card ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound
Monitor(s) Displays auria eq2367
Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080
Keyboard Logitech Wireless Keyboard K520
Mouse Logitech Wireless Mouse M310
PSU SeaSonic X 650W 80 Plus Gold
Case Corsair Obsidian 750D
Cooling Corsair H60, Three 140mm case fans
Hard Drives 250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
1TB WD Blue
1TB Hitachi
Internet Speed Wave Broadband ~ 100 dn 5 up
Antivirus Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Premium
Browser Edge, IE11, Chrome
Other Info Laptop specs: HP g7-1365dx /
CPU: AMD A6-3420M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics /
RAM: Crucial 8Gb (2x4Gb) /
SSD: Crucial M4-CT128M4SSD2 ATA Device/ FW 000F /
GFX: AMD Radeon HD 6520G /
OS: Windows 10 Pro x64
20 Aug 2010
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#4
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Thanks Ted... Ive bookmarked this one..
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My System Specs |
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Computer type PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model Number LENOVO K450 @3.0GHZ
OS 64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro
CPU Core(TM) i5 CPU 4330 Haswell @ 3.20GHz
Motherboard LENOVO
Memory 12.00 GB
Graphics Card Intel(R) HD Graphics
Sound Card Intel HD integtrated
Monitor(s) Displays HP 25' ISP Monitor
Screen Resolution 1900/1020
Hard Drives (1) ST1000DM003-1CH162 (2) Generic STORAGE DEVICE USB Device (3) Generic STORAGE DEVICE USB Device
Internet Speed 100mb down/10mb up
20 Aug 2010
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#5
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Thanks Tom, I hope it serves you well. :)
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My System Specs |
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System Manufacturer/Model Number * BFK Customs *
OS W 7 64-bit Ultimate
CPU Intel Q9550 Yorkfield
Motherboard ASUS P5Q Pro
Memory 8GB Dominator 8500C5D
Graphics Card ATI : XFX 5870
Sound Card Realtek HD Audio 7-1
Monitor(s) Displays 1x 47" LCD HDMI & 3x 26" LCD HDMI
Screen Resolution 1920x1080P & 1920x1200
Keyboard Microsoft 500
Mouse Razer Diamondback 3G
PSU Corsair 620HX
Case Cooler Master RC-690
Cooling Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
Hard Drives 1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 1x 500GB & 1x 640GB WD Caviar Black(s)
Internet Speed 14 Mb/s
Other Info 1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack
21 Aug 2010
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#6
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Nice tute Ted
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My System Specs |
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System Manufacturer/Model Number COMPAQ Presario Laptop
OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit, Mac OS X 10.6
CPU Intel Pentium Dual Core @2.0GHz
Motherboard Compaq Generic
Memory 12GB
Graphics Card NVIDIA Graphics For Mobile 512MB VRAM
Sound Card IDT High definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays Laptop LCD Display
Screen Resolution 1280*800 Bright View Widescreen
Keyboard Generic Laptop Keyboard
Mouse Touch Pad
Cooling Direct ; generic fan
Hard Drives 500 GB Primary [email protected] + 1 TB External HDD
Internet Speed 3.1 Mbps wireless Broadband
Other Info Generic Dock
21 Aug 2010
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#7
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Wish I would have known this about two weeks ago. Would have saved me some hair pulling. Great info!
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My System Specs |
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Computer type Laptop
System Manufacturer/Model Number Sony Vaio VPCEB47GM Laptop
OS Win 7 Pro 64-bit
CPU Intel i5 2.4 Ghz
Memory 8GB DDR3
Graphics Card Intel HD 3000
Sound Card IDT High Definition
Monitor(s) Displays 15.6 WGXA Anti-Glare LED
Screen Resolution 1280x800
Hard Drives 640Gb 7200rpm
Antivirus MSE
Browser Opera (primary) with IE9 backup
21 Aug 2010
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#8
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Hello nokian73me and marsmimar, thank you both!
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My System Specs |
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System Manufacturer/Model Number * BFK Customs *
OS W 7 64-bit Ultimate
CPU Intel Q9550 Yorkfield
Motherboard ASUS P5Q Pro
Memory 8GB Dominator 8500C5D
Graphics Card ATI : XFX 5870
Sound Card Realtek HD Audio 7-1
Monitor(s) Displays 1x 47" LCD HDMI & 3x 26" LCD HDMI
Screen Resolution 1920x1080P & 1920x1200
Keyboard Microsoft 500
Mouse Razer Diamondback 3G
PSU Corsair 620HX
Case Cooler Master RC-690
Cooling Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
Hard Drives 1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 1x 500GB & 1x 640GB WD Caviar Black(s)
Internet Speed 14 Mb/s
Other Info 1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack
21 Aug 2010
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#9
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Thanks Ted, this will be nice to link to.
Most people give up after one or two runs.
Three are required in most cases.
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My System Specs |
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Computer type PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model Number 76~2.0
OS Windows 7 Ult x64 - SP1/ Windows 8 Pro x64
CPU Intel Core i5-3570K 4.6GHz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z77X UD3H, f18
Memory 8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 1600 Corsair Vengeance CL8 1.5v
Graphics Card Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X OC 1GB DDR5
Sound Card Onboard VIA VT2021
Monitor(s) Displays 22" LCD Dell
Screen Resolution 1680x1050
Keyboard Logitech Wave
Mouse CM Sentinel
PSU Corsair HX650W
Case Cooler Master Storm Scout
Cooling Corsair H80 2x12cm Noctua NF P12 , 2x14cm case fans
Hard Drives Samsung 840Pro 128GB SSD,
Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB cache, Seagate Barracuda 1TB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB cache,
Internet Speed Dismal
Antivirus Avast
Browser Opera Next
Other Info Haswell laptop: HP Envy 17t-j, i7-4700MQ, GeForce 740M 2GB DDR3, 17.3" Full HD 1920x1080, 16GB RAM, Samsung 840 Pro 128GB, 1TB Hitachi 7200 HDD,
Desktop: eSATA ports,
External eSATA Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm,
External WD USB 500GB
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