MBR - Restore Windows 7 Master Boot Record

Joro said:

Hey there guys! Thank you very much for the great forum, even-though I guess I've ****ed up my Windows 7 completely.
So, I know that I seem to be quite dumb, but I am not Bill Gates :)

I had three partitions -
200 GB with my music, movies and documents (which i should not screw up)
20 GB where I have installed windows 7 32 bit
but then i decided to upgrade to 64 bit, so I installed a second wind 7 64 bit on a third partition. So far so good, until i formatted the second partition (with the win 32 bit) and my lovely machine turned me down (not surprising, duh)
I was prepared with an installation disc and went though all the steps till the 8th one (the start up repair did not work out) and got this:

The system partition was not found:
The requested system device cannot be found.

any ideas?

As you have format the partition, this would be right.

Joro said:

Hey there guys! Thank you very much for the great forum, even-though I guess I've ****ed up my Windows 7 completely.
So, I know that I seem to be quite dumb, but I am not Bill Gates :)

I had three partitions -
200 GB with my music, movies and documents (which i should not screw up)
20 GB where I have installed windows 7 32 bit
but then i decided to upgrade to 64 bit, so I installed a second wind 7 64 bit on a third partition. So far so good, until i formatted the second partition (with the win 32 bit) and my lovely machine turned me down (not surprising, duh)
I was prepared with an installation disc and went though all the steps till the 8th one (the start up repair did not work out) and got this:

The system partition was not found:
The requested system device cannot be found.

any ideas?

Hello Joro, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

I do not think you are dumb ... as you have come to the smart place to get help! The first time I visit a new city I feel dumb, but it is just because I haven't learned my way around yet! Give it time and a chance to learn a little ... OK?

You have not given us a lot of information ... so I will have to guess at a few things ... since your x32 partition was there when installed x64, most likely the boot code went into the x32 partition, because unless you changed it, it was marked as the "Active" partition. This also assumes you do not use the 100MB "System Reserved" partition as a boot partition? So when you deleted the x32 data, you deleted all your boot code.

Most likely, the x32 partition is still the "Active" partition, but since there is nothing there for Windows to repair, the repairs fail. If you just want to be able to boot to the x64 partition, you would need a third party partitioning utility like Partition Wizard. You would boot to the CD and use the utility to mark your x64 partition as "Active". Then the Windows 7 DVD should be able to run its "Startup Repair" and restore your boot code.

However since I do not know what you want to do after that, I can not offer any further suggestions ...

Cheers!
Robert

hi.. guys this si the 1st time iv asked help at a Forum..andi think all the admin n supporters are helping here in a big way..

WEll lets come to my Problem, basically which I,MYSELF have doubled and im hitting n cursin myslef for the same..


1) One Nite i come home frm wrk, switched on my PC, and i am welcomed wit the "BCD corrupt error, which u are aware of....the typical long one which states the BCD error"
2) I happen to have a Clients PC which fortunately i had got home to repair n which had Windows 7 Installed on it..nw i connect my Hard-Disk which is in this form:
1000GB Seagate Baracuda - in 5 Partitions - Windows/Games/Music/Movies/Trash
3) So i go ahead n connect my HDD along to the clients PC which tis the 1st Bootbale HDD,however windows does nt start and the CLeints PC gets stuck at the Windows Starting LOGO..and does nt go ahead..SO i remove my HDDD and the PC startsNormaly..
4) Tried the same again, to no avail the same problem is faced..
5) Nw icome to ur Forum (this thread) and da 1st ting i try is the WIndows Recovery Options..
6) Windows just does nt get detected as i get no WIndows Installed option, its just blank..so i go ahead n try a system restore, bt since no windows is detected how wil it restore..and i dnt have any ghost or drive img backup as well..so i try the command Promt options u all have given right from the
bootsect / nt60 c:\
bootsect / nt60 SYS
bootsect / nt60 ALL to da very bootrec/rebuildbcd..

the computer just goes on and gives sm error at da end or it just goes on and on till nothing happens
7) and then i try smting wat my frnd was telling me in a long while and dats to INstall Ubuntu 9.10...did that on a frnds spare 160GB HDD n then connected my HDD to it..Booted Ubuntu and then Ununtu - Viola!! everythin showed up all my drvies like a beauty including the Windows..bt smhow when i went to the windows drive, there was nothing showing up all the folders were empty..even though it showed Space Occupied in Properties..i dnt understand this part?
8) so i gave up and then Tried to format da WINDOWS drive on my HDD, the Authentication options came up..enterd the passwrod twice, and then it gave an error saying it cannot format..went to the Drive utitliy of Ubuntu..and the drive showed Alot of Bad sectors..bt somehow all the other drives were showing up,with all my data safe in it..im so HAPPY here..
9) ....and then i act STUPID!! and somehow chose to delete the Windows Partition,that happnd and then another small partiotion got created and none of my other drives were now accesible..in fact they showd up as "UNRECOGNISE or UNKNOWN"... the same is stil happinin...pLS HELP!!

10) i can frgt the Windows data....bt all i want to know is can i get my data from the other Drives safely backed up to another HDD and if YES!! how and after that i shall get the HDD replaced at the Seagate service Centre.... i dnt want to loose all MY LIFES HARD WRK, in just a jiffy or my Stupidity...


PLS Need sm help and fast.. thanks... i hpe i have explained the problem and matter clearly..if any1 needs a clarification im ready to do anythin to HELp get my Data Back..

You may be able to undelete the partitions on your other HD - try this free bootable app.

Free Partition Wizard Bootable CD allows user to boot computer directly ...


Burn it to cd and boot it up.

Click the Disk at the top of the main window.

Click Partition Recovery. Do a quick scan.

Tick ALL partitions you want to keep then click Apply.

My set up was like this:

HP laptop, Centrino 2, Windows Vista

Had the machine for well over a year.

Shortly after Windows 7 came out I Upgraded to Windows 7

I'm really liking Windows 7 a lot. Like really like, like.

So for reasons unbeknownst to even me I decided to do a dual boot with Ubuntu.

I was ready to remove it in less than a month.

I found this site and your thread via Google.

I brought my laptop upstairs to the main (Windows XP) machine....

Put the laptop next to me.

Got on this messageboard with your instructions.

Followed them EXACTLY from top to bottom.

Hot damn! Worked like a charm

I'm impressed.

And THANKS! Again

Hobie Lapatka said:

My set up was like this:

HP laptop, Centrino 2, Windows Vista

Had the machine for well over a year.

Shortly after Windows 7 came out I Upgraded to Windows 7

I'm really liking Windows 7 a lot. Like really like, like.

So for reasons unbeknownst to even me I decided to do a dual boot with Ubuntu.

I was ready to remove it in less than a month.

I found this site and your thread via Google.

I brought my laptop upstairs to the main (Windows XP) machine....

Put the laptop next to me.

Got on this messageboard with your instructions.

Followed them EXACTLY from top to bottom.

Hot damn! Worked like a charm

I'm impressed.

And THANKS! Again

Thank you, Hobie Lapatka, for lettings us know you were helped by Windows Seven Forums. And you are most welcome.

Cheers!
Robert

Just used this tutorial now and it works perfect!
I wanted to give Ubuntu a little test run and set up a dual boot with Win7.

I gave it a go and I still don't think it anywhere near as polished and useable as Win7 especially with regard to drivers. Sounds on youtube are horrendous.

I'll always be a Windows/MS guy but I just wanted to see what the fuss was about.

Glad to get back to a solely Windows 7 PC.

Thanks!!!

bnpguy said:

Just used this tutorial now and it works perfect!
I wanted to give Ubuntu a little test run and set up a dual boot with Win7.

I gave it a go and I still don't think it anywhere near as polished and useable as Win7 especially with regard to drivers. Sounds on youtube are horrendous.

I'll always be a Windows/MS guy but I just wanted to see what the fuss was about.

Glad to get back to a solely Windows 7 PC.

Thanks!!!

Hello bnpguy, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Thanks for letting us know the tutorial was helpful to you!

The last Ubuntu version I found useful was v9. This latest release will not work on any of my old test computers. I guess, for me anyway, it is time to find another Linux distro to use. Like you I find that Linux cannot hold a candle to Windows 7, but we all can be glad we have choices!

Cheers!
Robert

Excellent tutorial with easy-to-read snapshots.

A suggestion would be to modify so that people understand that they also do this using a System Repair Disc.