Restore partition table?

Starshard

New Member
Messages
10
(copied from another forum location)


Okay, so long story short I recently tried installing Ubuntu dual boot with my Windows installation as I had done with a previous system. I somehow failed to notice I had whole disk selected rather than the option for partition. Well. Obviously it wiped my whole disk along with my Windows 8 installation. I aborted the Ubuntu install progress right away and shut down, of course it was too late to save everything.

I resorted to Testdisk. It was able to find my C: (windows) and M: partitions, which I am able to restore in order to copy and access my data, but not simultaneously. It must be only C: (Acer) or M: at a time.

At this point my data is safe. My only concern now is fixing the Windows installation, I had neglected to create a recovery drive until after this headache transpired, and that was done with my friends Dell machine. I do not have any Windows 8 discs or drives, nor do I know how to aquire it without purchasing, which is not an option.


I suppose I'd like to know if I'm going to be able to boot Windows again, using testdisk to restore the proper partition table setup and (I don't need M:, it's been backed up)

I cannot restore or refresh the system via the recovery Usb created on the other pc as it reports the drive is locked.

Laptop is an Aspire V5-552p-x440.


I'm doing this from my phone, if any additional information is needed that I missed I'd be glad to provide. Apologies on the messy post.

Note : I cannot access Acer Recovery
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-552P-X440
    CPU
    AMD Quad-Core A10-5757M + Turbocore 3.5GHZ
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro
I'm unable to use partition Wizard because I don't have a disc drive and putting it on usb seems impossible, especially within Linux.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-552P-X440
    CPU
    AMD Quad-Core A10-5757M + Turbocore 3.5GHZ
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro
Star,

I copied the following directly from my pdf copy of Windows 7 Resource Kit, and should be similar to win 8:

"Startup Repair is by far the quickest and easiest way to solve most startup problems .However, if you are familiar with troubleshooting startup problems and simply need to fix a boot sector problem after installing another operating system, you can run the following command from a command prompt (including the Command Prompt tool in the System Recovery tools).

bootsect /NT60 ALL

Bootsect .exe is available from the \Boot\ folder of the Windows DVD and can be run from within WinRE or Windows 7. After running Bootsect, you should be able to load Windows, but you may not be able to load earlier versions of Windows that are installed on the same computer. To load other operating systems, add entries to the BCD registry file, as described in the section titled “How to Create an Entry for Another Operating System” earlier in this chapter ."

Basically, you need bootsect.exe, boot to a command prompt, then run the bootsect command above and you should be good to go if I understand your problem correctly. I did a quick search, and you should be able to d/l bootsect for win8 64bit, and add it to a startup usb drive or something similar.

If you need further assistance, let me know.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8 Pro
Star,

I copied the following directly from my pdf copy of Windows 7 Resource Kit, and should be similar to win 8:

"Startup Repair is by far the quickest and easiest way to solve most startup problems .However, if you are familiar with troubleshooting startup problems and simply need to fix a boot sector problem after installing another operating system, you can run the following command from a command prompt (including the Command Prompt tool in the System Recovery tools).

bootsect /NT60 ALL

Bootsect .exe is available from the \Boot\ folder of the Windows DVD and can be run from within WinRE or Windows 7. After running Bootsect, you should be able to load Windows, but you may not be able to load earlier versions of Windows that are installed on the same computer. To load other operating systems, add entries to the BCD registry file, as described in the section titled “How to Create an Entry for Another Operating System” earlier in this chapter ."

Basically, you need bootsect.exe, boot to a command prompt, then run the bootsect command above and you should be good to go if I understand your problem correctly. I did a quick search, and you should be able to d/l bootsect for win8 64bit, and add it to a startup usb drive or something similar.

If you need further assistance, let me know.
The command completed mostly successfully but I'm still met with" no bootable device, hit any key " When booting without the HP recovery drive (remember my system is an Acer) .
A:, and D: completed, though device\harddiskVolume2 got " could not open root directory : parameter is incorrect "
Sorry for the small replies, still only able to visit via phone
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-552P-X440
    CPU
    AMD Quad-Core A10-5757M + Turbocore 3.5GHZ
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro
Do you have access to System Recovery Tools? How did you get to command prompt? (Are you able to hold F8 at boot, or did you boot to a disk/flash?) - I want to know what kind of tools you might have available to fix the boot record, etc., - Microsoft usually includes several specifically for the purpose of restoring corrupted or overwritten boot credentials.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8 Pro
Do you have access to System Recovery Tools? How did you get to command prompt? (Are you able to hold F8 at boot, or did you boot to a disk/flash?) - I want to know what kind of tools you might have available to fix the boot record, etc., - Microsoft usually includes several specifically for the purpose of restoring corrupted or overwritten boot credentials.
I am using a recovery usb created on a separate system.

I've since been able to restore my partition table more using minitool usb (finally) and currently diskpart shows on disk 0 :

Vol 0 A: ESP fat32
Vol 1 D: Acer ntfs
Vol 2 E: Push Button Reset ntfs
Vol 3 F: RECOVERY fat32



I'm now able to boot the hard disk to an error reporting a booked Bcd, but attempting repair says system resource not found. I should be able to use alt f10 to access Acer's recovery environment but I'm unable.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-552P-X440
    CPU
    AMD Quad-Core A10-5757M + Turbocore 3.5GHZ
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro
OOps.


Your best bet is to d/l the 8.1 with update iso ( no idea if you have Core or Pro) .

Put it on flash drive - (Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way is probably easiest for that). Boot it up and try running startup repair.

If no joy, then use the generic key to get it to start the install. Go to Drive options (advanced) and delete the first 2 partitions. Install into the unallocated space you just created.

After it has installed, you can get your oem key from the firmware and enter it in the activation window.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
If the recovery partition has been unaltered, by all means do so. I believe the access to the recovery process is Alt + F10 at boot, it could also be just F10. If unable and your recovery disks do not work, you will have to order a new set from Acer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
OOps.


Your best bet is to d/l the 8.1 with update iso ( no idea if you have Core or Pro) .

Put it on flash drive - (Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way is probably easiest for that). Boot it up and try running startup repair.

If no joy, then use the generic key to get it to start the install. Go to Drive options (advanced) and delete the first 2 partitions. Install into the unallocated space you just created.

After it has installed, you can get your oem key from the firmware and enter it in the activation window.

I've looked everywhere for an 8.1 core and I can't find one.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-552P-X440
    CPU
    AMD Quad-Core A10-5757M + Turbocore 3.5GHZ
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro
Just jhad a google. It is probably Core x64
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Maybe next time be careful installing Ubuntu. LOL. We have all done similar at one time or another.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Maybe next time be careful installing Ubuntu. LOL. We have all done similar at one time or another.

At this point I've obtained the. .wim from /recovery\recoveryimage\install.wim

Is there a way to use this 13gb file to reinstall or recover my system?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-552P-X440
    CPU
    AMD Quad-Core A10-5757M + Turbocore 3.5GHZ
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro
Yes, it is a bit complicated. I have done it several times. I made a little program or two to save time. You can probably apply the image without much difficulty. Getting it to boot on an efi system is a different thing. You need to make sure windows knows which volume it is on, and you will probably need to repair, or recreate the boot critical files.

I usually do that kind of thing from booted winpe, with my stuff already included. May be possible from Linux. If you have 7zip or similar in there, you can apply the image. Or you could use wimlib to apply it.

sudo apt-get install p7zip-full
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Yes, it is a bit complicated. I have done it several times. I made a little program or two to save time. You can probably apply the image without much difficulty. Getting it to boot on an efi system is a different thing. You need to make sure windows knows which volume it is on, and you will probably need to repair, or recreate the boot critical files.

I usually do that kind of thing from booted winpe, with my stuff already included. May be possible from Linux. If you have 7zip or similar in there, you can apply the image. Or you could use wimlib to apply it.

sudo apt-get install p7zip-full

I see.. That's good news. The bad thing is the Ubuntu system has no Internet access, nor does the windows 7/8 computer I have available to assist. If you could still walk me through it I'd be grateful . Aside for three 8gb usbs, I also have a 2TB Toshiba external drive that has my user files backed up to it with plenty of space to spare.

I'm able to download most reasonable sized programs onto my phone, and I have 7zip, poweriso, etc on the windows system available for use
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-552P-X440
    CPU
    AMD Quad-Core A10-5757M + Turbocore 3.5GHZ
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro
You can apply the image with e.g. gimagex


ggex.jpg


Then fix the drive letter


ggex2.jpg

Then add boot info. Select Active partition for mbr, or ESP partition for EFI

ggex3.jpg

You will need to do that from outside windows. Winpe with those things included is one way. Another is to attach your working win7 machine and run them from there.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
You can apply the image with e.g. gimagex


View attachment 48095


Then fix the drive letter


View attachment 48096

Then add boot info. Select Active partition for mbr, or ESP partition for EFI

View attachment 48097

You will need to do that from outside windows. Winpe with those things included is one way. Another is to attach your working win7 machine and run them from there.

Alright.. At this point I've restored esp, boot, Windows, and recovery partitions. When booting in efi mode now, windows is started and I either get a bcd error or a generic bse where windows either reports an error 0xc000021a or the efi, though the latter is rarer. I've not tried the method you just posted yet
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-552P-X440
    CPU
    AMD Quad-Core A10-5757M + Turbocore 3.5GHZ
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro
I will post those up for you to use in a minute.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Sorry. I'm a bit lost as to how to actually implement this method onto my system
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire V5-552P-X440
    CPU
    AMD Quad-Core A10-5757M + Turbocore 3.5GHZ
    Memory
    8GB DDR3
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro
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