PC crashed when booting

When booting, my Acer 5920 decided enough was enough

Atstartup it automatically prompts "Error recovery for Windows" with only 2 choices
->Start Startup Repair Tool (recommended)
->Start Windows as Normal

-When trying to start normal, it goes to a blue screen telling me that Windows have found an error and it will shut down to avoid "destruction"

-Trying Startup Repair Tool gives me 5 choices
->Startup repair (Startup repair cannot repair this computer automatically)
#Details
Problem event name: Startup Repair V2
Problem Signature 01: System Disk
02: 6.0.6000.16386.0.0.0.0
03: 0
04: 65537
05: Unknown
06: Corrupt Volume
07: 0
08: 1
09: Chkdsk
10: 31
OS version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.256.1
Local ID: 1033

->System restore
#To perform an offline system restore you must specify which win installation you would like to restore. For example, if the installation located in "C:\Windows" should be restored, enter the following command: "rstrui.exe /OFFLINE:C:\Windows"

->Windows complete PC restore
#An internal error occured. The file directory is not a reparse point (0x80071126)

->Windows memory diagnostic tool
# Came up with nothing when I tried it

->Command prompt
#Tried a few commands with the following results (Starts with X: )
C: = The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable
D: = The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable
rstrui... -> "The system restore wizard is already running. This program will now exit.

#System Restore Wizard -> REstore system files and settings = No restore Points have neen created on your computer's system disk. To create a restore point, open "System protection"
#System protection -> System restore = Your computer is running in a limited diagnostic state. If you use system restore in this limited state, you cannot undo the restore operation
(Men får ikke gjort noe utenom å trykke "Cancel")



When booting both F2 and F12 works.

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Took out the HDD and placed it in an external HDD-cabinet, trying to connect it to my GF's Acer 5920 and runned TestDisk on the disks (C: & D: ) and it found D:, but C: seemed to be gone.
Can this be a MFT problem?
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Enclosing a screenshot of DiskManagement (Norwegian) when the external HDD is connected to another PC. The partitions in question are E: and G: (due to C:/D: ) allready on the other pc)

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I don't have a Windows Vista DVD because it was allready installed on my PC when i bought it.

 

Hi,

Your screenshot is very hard to read as it is small.

It looks like when attached through the external Windows is not seeing the partitions as being formatted and sees them as RAW. This is a common error with external enclosures.

If you put the HD back in the original computer and get to the command prompt X: can you try chkdsk /r C: and/or chkdsk /r D: commands to see if they will run?

 

Tried chkdsk/r before taking the HDD out without any luck.
New screenshot coming up.

 

Try Partition Wizard with it connected your GF's computer.
First see if it sees the partitions as NTFS rather than RAW. If it does right-click one and select Explore and see if it sees the usual Window's files.

 

Yes, it found every single file on both disks. But why won't windows itself find anything on the disks? My Mac found and read G: without problem, but not E:, witch is the one I actually need to get a hold of.

 

Hi,

I just reread your thread and you tried testdisk and it didn't find C:--that is surprising because I think of testdisk as very powerful although not simple to use because of the text based interface.

I have used Partition Wizard to recover lost partitions but they were ones I intentionally deleted as a test. So I can't say how good it is in a real recovery situation. Since nothing else seems to be reading C:/E: properly I think it would be worth giving PW a try at rewriting the partition table. If it fails I believe Easeus has another partition manager that might be able to try again(it does have a similar tool http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/help/partition-recovery-wizard.htm) The original data isn't changed by rewriting the table.

I'm running a scan on my hard drive to see if using the Partition Recovery Wizard gives you the option to explore the partitions before restoring them. That would let you double check that it sees the files before committing to a recovery. I'm running a large HD so it will take a few more minutes to complete. I'll post back with results.

If you want to try PW, I'm wondering if burning the Partition Wizard bootable CD might be a good idea. That way you could put the HD back in your laptop and boot from the CD. When you recover the partitions they would be C: and D: rather than E: and G:. (The letters should change if you recover them as E: and G: upon putting the drive back in your laptop but maybe using the CD would eliminate any problem there.)

 

Well on mine because all my partitions were already existing it did not let me explore the partitions. It just gave a total size and used space. So not much help there.

I was just thinking about this and since the plan would be to get the partitions recognized on the second laptop and then run chkdsk /r there is no reason for the the boot disc. I would use partition wizard on your GF's laptop to recover the partitions using the wizard. Let it search the whole disc and use the quick scan. It should come up with two partitions E: and G: that have approximately what you remember used space. Go ahead and check the boxes for all of the partitions it finds and let it recover them. You want to check all the boxes not just the lost one.

Then see if Windows will let you do a chkdsk /r on each of those drives.
After that you can try the HD in you laptop.

***
As far as being an mbr problem I'm uncertain what type of mbr PW writes. The old style mbr or something different for Vista. So I wouldn't use that option until a partition table problem is ruled out and we can do some research or use a Vista tool.

 

Ok. Will run the Partition Wizard over night. Seems like it will take a good couple of hours. Will let you know what happens. Thanx for the help BTW.

 

It shouldn't take that long about half an hour or so. (Edit: Actually I don't know that for sure. Now that I think about it mine starts at about 92% completed because it finds 5 partitions taking up that much space. I have about 8% unallocated which it probably takes half an hour to further scan. So yes it could take a couple of hours if it doesn't start at 92% completed. I guess I was thinking that was normal and happened to everyone)

I noticed on mine all partitions were set as existing (even in the greyed out part before it was finished scanning) are both your partitions seen as existing?

 

it's at 33% now, 2 hours in, so will let you know tomorrow... Thnx

 

Ok, so it will take a while. Certainly looks like there is something wrong with the partitions. That it could let you explore the files earlier makes me hopeful it will be able to fix the problem.

 

OK, now I'm really wondering what's wrong.
The program finds all the files, ran chkdsk E:\r and it didn't find anything wrong with the partition. Ran chkdsk on PArtition Wizard and it didn't find anything wrong with it. Tried a virus-scan and it found all the files. BUT, on MyComputer it's marked E: with nothing on it, and when trying to explore it, it says I don't have access to the partition, and when trying properties it says NFTS Volume, Used space 0kb, Free Space 0kb.

Another thing: I tried to copy the files over on an External HDD with the Partition Wizard-program, but I wasn't able to because the HDD wasn't Unallocated???

 

When you ran the Partition Wizard, Partition Recovery wizard option and it took several hours to scan the disc. In the list of partitions it found did it show E: has having say 25gb used of 50gb? That would seem to indicate that it has the correct partition and it sees your files. Was it marked as existing? Did you choose to recover it along with the other partitions it found? (I'm trying to figure out if you applied the recovery or not since that would make a difference as to whether XP might see the files.)

 

It found E:, and indicated the correct amount of GB used. When i doubleclicked E: I saw the folders with my files in it. It was marked as active/existing. BTW I have Vista.

Currently trying to copy the entire partition over on a freshly formated External HDD, and will see if Vista can open the partition on that.

 

And I tried inserting the HDD in to my Acer and tried to boot it again, and it started booting, but when I normally would get the Vista login-page, it was now a black screen, and it didn't seem like the pc was working with anything.

 

I'm really not sure what is going on. I'll re-read the whole thread and try to get a better handle.

Just for your information MiniTool's PowerDataRecovery does basically the same as Partition Wizard but lets you copy your files to an external drive or your Gf's drive. That is only good for data files but you can save information if you need to. I don't think it has any ability to repair partitions but if you have work you need to save, it is a free option.

**
One question is do you have a System Reserved (usually 100mb) partition on that HD? I'm trying to figure out how you were able to access the StartUp Repair tools when it was in your machine?

***
Edit: on the black screen while in your computer as a quick test try hitting left shift 5 times rapidly to see if you get a sticky keys pop-up. That would indicate that the system is trying to load but damaged.

 

The partitions are:
*.PQSERVICE 9,33gb of 10,74GB used
E:ACER 99,23gb of 143,79gb used
GATA 126,28gb of 143,79gb used
*: 2,37gb of 3,26gb used


Edit: Noticed that C: on my GF's PC is marked Active&Boot&System under the Status Header in Partition Wizard, while my C:, witch is E: is just marked Active.
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Will have to try the left shift method later. Currently copying E: to external HDD