partition wizard...no options in system repair

i just typed up an essay on an issue and got amessageabout not being logged in or some crap

basicly i used partition wizard to get rid of one of the two patitions/OS and now my computer wont boot.

where im at now is when i try to repair my computer with the windows install disc there is no OS to chose from, nothing.

what can I do, please help me

thanks

 

Are you saying you can't use the recovery console?

Have you tired using the install disk to get into recovery console.
From: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058

Then type cd .. until you get to the C:> prompt and type dir what files are listed?

 

thanks for replying

Ok let me type another essay as it might make it easier to help you help me better

so i had 2 partitions on one drive (primary drive) both vista OS. i wanted to get rid of one because i never used it, it was just to test something out.

i used partition wizard to wipe the partition that i was not using and then formatted it. after that i wanted to use PW to combine the unallocated space with the partition that i did use but PW said it couldn't because it was in use by me and that i had to restart my system so it could be done upon restart. so PW did its thing upon restart and said it would restart again to complete the process. when it restarted... i cant remember everything exactly but some how my computer booted into the OS that i thought i wiped. it gave me no option to choose which OS to boot.

i tried to use my windows vista installation disc to repair the vista installation i wanted to keep but it told me there were no errors found yet i t wont show up for me to choose it as a boot option. cant remember exactly what i did next but it got me back to 2 options to choose from but i came to this message...

unrecognized partition table for drive 80. please rebuild it using a microsoft-compatible fdisk tool

i googled this and came across sites with the same or similar solutions so i attempted to follow these instructions...

http://www.lancelhoff.com/unrecognized-partition-table-for-drive-80/

then when rebooted i came to a message sayng "windows failed to start. a recent hardware/software blah blah". it tells me to insert my windows install disc, reboot and choose to repair. at the bottom it says,

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc0000225

info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data.



now there is no option in the system recovery options dialog box when trying to repair. however i can still click on next and it says that something has been successfully repaired and tells me to restart but then its back to the above message (right above).

when going threw the repair process, instead of clicking on next, if i click on load drivers and go to computer there are 2 partition. one is my regular partition, local disk (C and there is another, Boot (X. the first doesnt have any sizewhile the second is 30.9 mb free of 33.3 mb. the first can not be accessed and the second has folders in it; program folders, sources, users and windows.

note: when using PW i think i may have wiped a partition that was either 1 mb or 100 mb by mistake. i think i remember it being 1 mb but not sure. could that be the cause of all this. i had a similar problem but was able to fix it using the repair process.

also, i came across easybcd

could this help?

hope this info is clear enuff to get help, don't want to format nor do i think i should have to

i did some other stuff in the command prompt that i found on google but wouldn't work do to my drive being write protected or something.

please, please help. i need to work on music and film for very important projects.

any help super appreciated:cry

 

i dont know where the hell those little smiley faces came from in my last post but they're not supposed to be there... creepy

 

Try this:
http://members.rushmore.com/~jsky/id39.html

 

i came across this but was thinking if the recovery option on my vista install disc didn't work, this probably wont. but cant hurt to try.

i'll get back after i try

thanks

 

You can probably run that from your Vista install disc if it is a full version that includes the option to use the command prompt. Since your error involves BCD you would probably use the last part about building the BCD.

I don't know enough about Vista to give any real help here. But I see that resizing a partition using third party software like Partition Wizard can create this problem. Googling 0xc0000225 \boot\bcd gives lots of results but I haven't found a definitive answer.

 

smilies explanation: every time you type
colon : and right parenthesis ) without a space between, you will end up with that smilie

 

thats what i was thinking and thats what i have ben using to try and repair. but with no luck as there is no option to choose from in the dialogue box

 

lol, will keep that in mind

 

i hooked up an old hard drive and disconnected my regular one then freshly installed vista and then hooked my regular drive back up and the only thing thats in it is a file named "BOOTSECT.BAK" and its 8 kb in size :confused

other then that my regular hard drive is damn near 100% free of space

what does this mean?

please help me im going insane over this:cry

 

I don't like to give any advice on partition problems because they are so tricky. I believe what happened is when you followed this http://www.lancelhoff.com/unrecognized-partition-table-for-drive-80/ link you rewrote the MBR and lost your partition table which resides in the MBR. That is why there were no OS choices after that point. The trick now is to go slow. Read about your choices and use that HD as little as possible until you decide what to do.

I believe that all your data is still there but a partition table has to be recovered or written that will let you access the partitions again. I'm not sure if you will ever be able to boot into Vista off that drive even if you get your partitions back. At this point I would be looking to recover the partition table to be able to copy your personal data files to another HD. And then worry about getting Vista to start up.

I haven't had to do a partition recovery in several years so I have no hands on advice with current software. But two options I see off hand are trying TestDisk to see what it can find. It would be included on a bootable Gparted ISO (expand under 0.6.4.1 to see download choices). There is a steep learning curve with TestDisk you read up before committing to anything.

You could also go back to Partition Wizard and download the bootable ISO there and try it. It has a Partition Recovery option that may be simpler to use.

In either case I would disconnect your running Vista HD before using either program. You do not have to commit to any changes but you can try them to see if they can find the old partitions. Look at the sizes of the partitions they see and if you recognize them. Just exit the program with no changes if you are unsure what you want to do.

If anyone has had luck with partition recovery table recovery please give adic27 some hints.

 

sach2, i took you advice on the second option you suggested and it worked:-D

"go back to Partition Wizard and download the bootable ISO there and try it"

the partition wizard's partition recovery worked perfect. after that i had to rebuild the mbr and then use the windows the install disc to repair but it didnt take that long to figure out but it was a little tricky, kept getting closer and closer.

now my computer is back to how it was which is weird because i thought i formatted and deleted that partition i didn't wont. i guess the PW partition recovery works somthing like a file recovery system. so now i am able to boot up into vista again.

one more thing...

do you no of a safe way to get rid of a unwanted partition and OS without going through what i went through?

either way thanks a grip

 

I'm glad you were able to recover your OS and files. Good work! I'm just going straight from XP to Win 7 so I have little first hand knowledge of Vista. I believe the best or at least safest way to do what you want is to use Windows Disk Management to delete the unwanted partition and then expand the OS partition. If Windows makes the changes, it should change the identifying number of the partition so Vista will automatically see the change.

Posting a new topic with something like Help Resizing OS partition in Vista in the title will probably get you some instructions.

One thing you should include is if the copy of Vista you want to keep is on the first partition or the second. There may be a complication if you want to delete the copy on the first partition so you should be clear about the layout of your partitions and which partition you want to delete.

I think the process would be Control Panel>choose classic view or large icons>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management

In the graph you should see your partitions. The one you want to keep should say System,Active,Healthy and (maybe boot, Primary [I'm not sure how Vista labels them]. The second copy of Vista would be the partition you delete. You should be able to determine by size which one you want to keep but you can't delete the only one marked system. Once deleted you should be able to right-click the one you are keeping and choose expand and then use the free space on the HD to increase the size of your Vista partition.

*******
One thought is since you have the Partition Wizard bootable disc, you could boot to it and mark the partition you want to delete as hidden. Then try to boot your computer. If it boots OK you should be safe to delete that partition you had marked as hidden. Go back and unhide the partition using PW and then use Windows Disk Management to delete the partition. Boot to make sure you are still OK then go back to Disk Management and Resize.

Good Luck! And make a post to see if someone has another take on it.