[SOLVED] Windows not working since installing Ubuntu

My son installed Ubuntu in a partition on his hard drive, but was having difficulty dual booting with Windows 7. To try to resolve this he installed MBR through Ubuntu into the partition Windows was using. Now he can't access Windows at all. He just gets a thing that looks like a prompt MBR1234FA_ but he can't type anything. Ubunu is working (on the second partition), but won't recognize that whole first partition (the one windows is on), and just labels it as "unknown", so he can't access any of his windows files. He tried the Windows repair on the install disk, but that tells him it can't repair it automatically. It can't find an operating system. Any ideas, anyone?

Boot loader problem - see the link for a re cap see if it helps

http://lifehacker.com/5403100/dual+b...erfect-harmony

I appreciate your response, but the issue is that he hasn't got his files backed up (didn't have anywhere to back up that many Gigs since his external drive broke down), so to use any of that he'd have to start again from scratch.

At the moment we're still trying to access his personal files, but his c: drive is not showing up, nor is the Windows OS.

Source


Otherwise, I have never heard of it before but this freeware might also be able to help ... TestDisk.

I'd check to see if his Windows partition has a boot flag on it. As in it's set active. You can probably boot your Ubuntu CD and use gparted to set it. I do most of my partition-related stuff with Paragon, but I'm sure any free tool that can adjust boot flags will be fine.

Obviously, recovering his data first would be ideal, which I think is what you're aiming for...

Here's a program that looks promising: http://www.pcinspector.de/default.htm?language=1
Mind you I have no affiliation with the program, have never used it, and don't know if you need a working Windows platform to even run it. It's just one suggestion.

I don't know if Clonezilla comes with any data recovery tools.

He had tried Testdisk already, and it didn't find the windows partition at first. It found it with a deeper scan, but didn't seem to offer any options other than deleting or repartitioning.

The windows partition does indeed have a boot flag. The program pcinspector does look good, but it is a windows program, and his windows is non-operational. We may try cloning/ copying his hard disk to an external drive (have to get one first since the only one I have is too small), and see whether I can access it from another computer.

Have you tried putting in the windows install disk and booting from that?

Every time I clone a harddrive it will not boot and I simply put in the install disk (not a repair disk). When it boots up you choose English or whatever as if you are doing an install but on the very next screen it will tell you it found a windows partition and asks if you want to repair. I say repair and tada, it fixes the HD so it's bootable.

The Windows 7 Disk he has is an upgrade disk, since the computer came with Vista pre-loaded and no disk (we can order one from HP at cost). We did try the Windows 7 disk. It boots up and gives two options: install or repair. We tried repair, but it won't work. It can't find the OS. We didn't try the other option.

It sounds as though your son is caught between a rock and a hard place, and things may boil down to reinstalling Windows. That may not be the option that he wants to hear, but it may be his only one.

On the backup drive, is it in a custom case (with it's electronics)? If so, and it's only the case switch that went bad, the drive can be removed, and placed in another drive case. If the plug or whatever doesn't work, the same. Many backup drives don't fail, the casing, and other devices that powers it does. So it may be worth a shot at removing the drive, unless it already has been, and in that case, he needs to move on.

I only wanted to mention that possibility, any ideas are better than none.

Best of Luck,
Cat

The files on an upgrade disk and on a full version are the same, just the key that comes with them are different. Mine also is an upgrade disk. And yes it was the repair option I had hoped would solve the solution as it does for me (rereading the posts now I do see you mentioned you tried that, I missed it before). Install might fix the problem without destroying the data, as long as you don't tell it to format and it doesn't think the partition is unformatted and feel it has to format, but I wouldn't try it w/o first cloning the drive.

Cat is right, if his back-up drive that isn't working is inside a case, it could be the case that went bad. It is likely either SATA or IDE, you would need to get a docking station or an enclosure that supports the right one (there are some docking stations with 2 slots to handle either) and you may then be able to clone the drive over to that one or maybe his drive already contains the data he needs back. This doesn't fix your problem of course but it may give you a place to either find his data or a place to clone the drive so that if he tries the Install option he won't worry if it does end up being destructive.