I have a Windows 7 machine with two hard drives: a 1TB C: drive and 500GB J:. I had Windows XP installed on C: and Windows 7 installed on J:. I installed Windows 7 after Windows XP from an installer .exe I (legally) bought and downloaded. It, and all of my other files, are sitting on my J: drive intact.
While under my Windows 7 install, a few days ago I decided to use Priform's CCleaner and use its DriveWipe utility to wipe the C: drive. 1% into the process, I cancelled and attempted to use it again. It gives me an error saying it can't format the drive, so I poke around the Internet a bit, give up, and restart my computer.
I first get an "OS is missing" error after the computer boots past the BIOS. I downloaded and put UBCD on a bootable USB to use another drivewiping tool to completely erase the C: drive, hoping it'll take the problem with it. No luck. I try to use TestDisk to make my J: my primary active drive, but no luck. I still get the "OS is missing" error. Or sometimes it'll hang at Verifying DMI Pool. Or sometimes I'll get the "NTLDR is missing" error.
I get hold of Hiren's and put it on another bootable USB. I first I tried the Boot Windows 7 from Hard Drive option, and I get "Error 15: File Not Found". I tried the "Fix 'NTLDR is Missing'" option (I'm not quite sure why this is even showing up, since I'm trying to get into a HDD with Windows 7 installed. Probably messed up somewhere when I used TestDisk) and I get this list:
I'll run through the error messages I get:
1st Try - Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \system32\hal.dll
2nd Try - Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \system32\ntoskrnl.exe
3rd Try - Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.
4th - 8th Try - Same as #3
9th Try - I/O Error accessing boot sector file multi(0)disk(0)fdisk(0)\BOOTSEC.DOS. And computer freezes.
10th Try - computer restarts
Needless to say, not a single one of those works.
I then tried to open up the Windows 7 exe I have sitting on my J: from the Mini-XP OS on Hiren's, but it won't run because I'm trying to run a 64-bit file from a 32-bit exe. At least, that's the problem according to these guys: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...-b2f54e9c7d18/
I then borrowed a 64-bit Windows Home Premium CD from a friend to get to the recovery options. But I get the error message:
This version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair. Try using a recovery disc that is compatible with this version of Windows.
I pressed Shift + F10 to get to the Command Prompt directly. These are the exact steps I took from there (paraphrased a little):
X:\Sources>bootrec /Fixmbr
The operation completed successfully.
X:\Sources>bootrec /Fixboot
The operation completed successfully.
I restarted my computer, but it still didn't work. I unplugged the C: drive, then tried bootrec and Diskpart:
X:\Sources> bootrec.exe
X:\Sources> bootrec /RebuildBcd
Total identified Windows installations: 1
[1] \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolume1\Windows
Add installation to bootlist? Yes(Y)/No(N)/All(A):y
The requested system device cannot be found.
X:\Sources>DiskPart
DISKPART> List Disk
Disk # Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
Disk 0_Online_465GB_0B_______*
Disk 1 Online 1000MB 0B (this is Hiren's on a bootable usb)
DISKPART> Select Disk 0
Disk 0 is now the selected disk.
DISKPART> List Partition
Partition # Type Size Offset
Partition 1 System 465GB 31KB
DISKPART> Select Partition 1
Partition 1 is now the selected partition
DISKPART> Active
The selected disk is not a fixed MBR disk.
The ACTIVE command can only be used on fixed MBR disks.
DISKPART> exit
Leaving Diskpart...
X:\Sources>bootrec /Fixmbr
The operation completed successfully.
X:\Sources>bootrec /Fixboot
The operation completed successfully.
Before I go any further, is there anything I'm overlooking/doing wrong? All I care about is making the J: and Windows 7 bootable again.
SPECS:
Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 775 - GA-P35-DS3R (rev. 2.1)
Crucial Ballistix 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz (2x2GB)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Processor (2.6 (6GHZ) I think... not sure anymore
C: HDD - SAMSUNG HD103UJ (1TB, not plugged in)
J: HDD - WDC WD5000AKS-00V1A0 (500GB)
