win7 won't boot, boot config is corrupt?

Discussion in 'Software' started by saru, Feb 23, 2012.

  1. saru

    saru Private E-2

    I've had no luck trying to get Win7 64bit to load since two days and am stumped at this point. At boot, I get thrown into system recovery, where after 2 runs, now repair says it cannot fix the computer. System repair reports it is "offline", detailed report shows:

    "boot configuration is corrupt
    repair action: partition table repair
    result: failed. error code = 0x490"

    In system recovery, its not finding any restore points, memory diagnostic result is OK, and I can get into the command prompt, where I can see all my HD partitions, although the drive lettering is completely different from what I remember setting up. Have tried bootrec /scanos and its not finding any windows installations. Any suggestions on what I should try next? :confused
     
  2. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Hi,

    Try at the command prompt the following commands each followed by hitting <enter> key:

    diskpart
    select disk 0
    list partition


    Does it give you a listing of partitions with sizes?

    If it does give a listing then continue in diskpart looking for which partition is set as Active. When you do the detail partition commands below in the output will be a line for "Active". Only one partition will set as active. Which partition (1 or 2) is set as "Active: Yes"?


    select partition 1
    detail partition
    select partition 2
    detail partition
    exit


    [​IMG]
     
  3. saru

    saru Private E-2

    Finally, after a couple days away from the office, had a chance to try your recommendation:

    partition 1 (which seems to be a meager 100 mb size) is set as active.
    It is called C: System Reserved.

    Is this correct?
     
  4. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    It seems to be seeing your partitions so I am not sure what the partition table error is about.

    If you start diskpart again and do a list volume does it say the 100mb System Reserved partition is filesystem (FS): NTFS and status: Healthy?

    Does the large partition which would be your Vista partition also say NTFS and Healthy?

    diskpart
    list volume
     
  5. saru

    saru Private E-2

    Yes, both this partition and my larger system partition (for Win 7) say NTFS and healthy.
     
  6. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I would try two things.
    Still in diskpart do a list volume command and get the drive letter of the 100mb partition. Then exit diskpart and at the command line do a chkdsk C: /r command to check for filesystem errors on that partition. (Change the C for the drive letter of the 100mb partition.)

    Try to boot, if no change then go back to the recovery environment and set the Win7 partition active and try to fix the boot files on it.

    diskpart
    select disk 0
    select partition 2
    active
    exit


    Boot back into the RE environment and see if now can fix the boot problems.
     
  7. saru

    saru Private E-2

    Ok, first suggestion with chkdsk on the 100mb partition identified and repaired an error: "Windows replaced bad clusters in file 36" \Boot\BOOTSTAT.DAT.

    Reboot however brought me back in to System repair.

    I then set the Win 7 partition as active and rebooted. Now I am seeing "BOOTMGR is missing" at power up.
     
  8. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Hmm, i wasn't thinking that you were working off the HD recovery environment. That could be a problem getting the boot files rewritten.

    Do you have an installation CD or Recovery Environment CD? If not I think you will need to download the recovery environment CD and write it to a blank CD/DVD.

    If you have a Windows CD you can boot from that and choose repair which will take you back into the recovery environment and it should now do the repairs.
     
  9. saru

    saru Private E-2

    sry, should have mentioned I am working off recovery on the HD.

    I managed to boot off a win recovery CD and it showed the following popup error: "File or directory on C:/system volume information/chkdsk is corrupt or unreadable. Please run the Chkdsk utility.". Restart and then back into the recovery environment, where it searches for windows installations but finds nothing. This sounds bad...
     
  10. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I'm glad you had the CD, I wasn't paying attention.

    It definitely sounds like something is corrupt. You had a bad sector at the beginning of the drive and it doesn't like the partition table either. But it sees the partitions.

    I think you want to try a chkdsk on the Win7 partition if it will run. You were able to run it on the 100mb partition so I would think the chkdsk command file itself is not corrupt.

    You need the drive letter for the Win7 partition. Diskpart should give you that letter for the large partition.

    diskpart
    list volume

    Then you want to run chkdsk on that drive letter. Type exit to quit diskpart. Substitute the Win7 drive letter for C: in the command below at the command prompt.

    chkdsk C: /r

    Using /r switch will take a long time (about an hour) for a large HD but I think you should do it since you may have a bad sector or two. You could try chkdsk C: /f if you want to save time (again substitute the drive letter of the large partition for C) it may be enough if it is only the System Volume folder that needs repair.
     
  11. saru

    saru Private E-2

    Ok, let chkdsk C: /r run on the Win 7 partition over night, as it took a long time (just as you mentioned). Chkdsk found numerous errors on the partition, i.e. 884 bad file records repaired and index repairs also made.

    Reboot with the recovery CD brought up missing Boot Manager notice. Reboot with the recovery CD resulted in repair finding a recovered Win 7 OS --seems like a good result :) -- , however, it was not able to make repairs and detailed diagnosis shows: "boot manager is missing or corrupt. Repair action: file repair. Result: Failure. Error code = 0x2".

    In the meantime, I also ran WD diagnosis software on the drive and it was able to find any errors with the HD.

    Is there something I need to do to reinstall the boot manager, as this seems to be the root cause now?
     
  12. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Let's set partition 1 (100mb partition) active again and see what the error is now.

    diskpart
    select disk 0
    select partition 1
    active
    exit


    Edit: Try booting without the CD and see what the error is when it tries to startup. See if will attempt repairs.

    This puts you back where you started except you have fixed file system problems on the Win7 drive. The bootmgr should already be on this partition and we want to see if the "partition table" error still exists or if it details a different error.
     
  13. saru

    saru Private E-2

    Booting without the recovery CD, system recovery attempted repairs twice (with a restart in between). After the second attempt, it failed and detailed report says "Unspecified change to the system configuration might have caused the problem. Repair action: System file integrity check and repair. Result: Failure. Error code = 0x2". Does that say anything to you?

    Sadly, i'm coming to realization that a fresh reinstall of the OS might be the best course.
     
  14. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    My interpretation is that it tried another chkdsk.

    Try running the chkdsk c: /f on the Win7 partition and seeing if it finds more errors. The /f switch skips doing a surface scan of the HD so it should only take a few minutes. See if it finds more errors. (Again, you want to substitute the drive letter of the large Win7 partition for C: since I believe C: is only the 100mb partition when running from the CD).

    If it finds more errors, I'm thinking the problem is with the HD itself so a reinstall may not completely remedy the problem.

    You can probably use a Linux CD to copy important personal files to a USB flash drive if you decide you need to do the reinstall.
     
  15. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    One other thought is since it seems to see the OS perhaps System Restore would be a possibility from the 5 options list now? That might be an option to try after you run the chkdsk.
     
  16. saru

    saru Private E-2

    chkdsk c: /f on the Win 7 partition and the 100mb partition has not found any further errors, so that's somewhat comforting. WD diagnostics on the HDD have also come out clean, again comforting. However, I'm still a bit worried its something with the HDD and want to make sure I won't be re-installing onto a faulty disk.

    In the meantime, I've managed to back up personal docs by booting through a Linux CD. Its odd that partitions are recognized, boot manager has been fixed, chkdsk is showing clean results on all partitions, and yet the OS still won't boot...
     
  17. saru

    saru Private E-2

    Just checked to see if Sys restore is back and now I am only given the option of System repair! The other 4 options are missing entirely.
     
  18. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    You can try a system restore from the CD. It is in the list of 5 options before command prompt.

    Let me look into the \Boot\BOOTSTAT.DAT error. Perhaps a bootrec /fixboot and/or a bootrec /fixmbr command would do something? I'll see if I can find anything but bootrec /fixboot should be safe with no downside. The bootrec /fixmbr can make it more difficult to restore from a restore partition on a store bought PC from a major manufacturer like HP or Dell.
     
  19. mauidoug

    mauidoug Private E-2

    Thanks for this very helpful info!!! I have a triple boot system, with each OS (WinXP, VISTA, Win7) on a separate hard drive. I found this forum because I was also getting the 0x490 partition table repair code when trying to fix the inability to boot into Win 7. I followed all of these very useful steps, but couldn't find the Win 7 disk. :confused Prior to the complete failure to boot into Win 7, I had to occasionally try to power up several times before a successful boot.
    After discovering that I couldn't find the Win 7 disk with the above methods, I powered down and decided to recheck the cable connections to the Win 7 disk. Even though this had been my first troubleshooting step, the recheck discovered that the power cable had fallen off the Win 7 HD. Easy fix, but these troubleshooting steps got me there!
    Thanks very much :) ,
    Doug
     

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