Cannot access C: Drive?

DeBuggyKeyBoard

New Member
Messages
12
Hey there. I've recently unsuccessfully attempted to run ubuntu alongside windows 8. Ubuntu didn't seem to be working, so I decided to just go back to windows 8. However, when I did so my computer decided to get stuck on the loading screen for windows. I left that there for about 2 hours, then decided to go through and see if I could change anything in bios in order to fix it. Nothing worked. I pressed f8 when I was booting up, and got to the recovery option. When I tried to recover, it told me that my hard drive was locked, and I should unlock it before attempting to recover any files. So while trying to install ubuntu I somehow managed to lock my hard drive. I attempt to access my c: drive through command prompt, and it tells me that the C: drive does exist, but does not contain any files. Is there anyway to grant myself access to the hard drive, or am I going to have to wipe it? Thanks in advance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
I had this happen on laptop I was setting up for my dad. I ended up having to delete all partition and reformat.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 Pro 64bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    Intel Core I5 3570K 3.4Ghz w/ Zalman CNPS9900NT RT
    Motherboard
    MSI Z77A-G45 Gaming
    Memory
    G.Skill F3-12800CL9D-8GbXL ; 4Gx2
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 770 Superclocked
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster Z
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual ViewSonic VX2770Smh-LED Black 27" IPS-Panel
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel 730 Series SSD 240GBx2 RAID0 Win8.1Pro 6GB/s Sata III
    Intel 320 Series SSD 600GBx2 RAID0 Games 3GB/s Sata II
    Kingston Hyper X 240GB SSD Itunes Drive 6GB/s Sata III
    Western Digital Scorpio Black 1TB - Docked via Esata
    PSU
    Cooler Master GX 750W
    Case
    Corsair Vengence C70
    Cooling
    120mm, 140mm.
    Keyboard
    Corsair Vengence K70
    Mouse
    Logitech G500 Laser
    Internet Speed
    Generally 50/Mbps+
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome, IE
    Other Info
    Samsung Bluray Optical Drive
    WD 1tb storage backup with Thermatake dock
    Sennheiser 558 Headphones
    Swan M50W 2.1 speakers
    Netgear WNDR4500
Hey there. I've recently unsuccessfully attempted to run ubuntu alongside windows 8. Ubuntu didn't seem to be working, so I decided to just go back to windows 8. However, when I did so my computer decided to get stuck on the loading screen for windows. I left that there for about 2 hours, then decided to go through and see if I could change anything in bios in order to fix it. Nothing worked. I pressed f8 when I was booting up, and got to the recovery option. When I tried to recover, it told me that my hard drive was locked, and I should unlock it before attempting to recover any files. So while trying to install ubuntu I somehow managed to lock my hard drive. I attempt to access my c: drive through command prompt, and it tells me that the C: drive does exist, but does not contain any files. Is there anyway to grant myself access to the hard drive, or am I going to have to wipe it? Thanks in advance.

Does your PC have UEFI? if yes the only tip i can give you is
to search about "Ubuntu UEFI"
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 pro Windows 8 pro Windows 7 Home
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Try running the Windows 7 Startup repair, for 8. Brooklyn's dome it several times, it can fix the a bad boot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Thanks for all the responses, guys.
I had this happen on laptop I was setting up for my dad. I ended up having to delete all partition and reformat.
How would one go about doing this?
Does your PC have UEFI? if yes the only tip i can give you is
to search about "Ubuntu UEFI"
Sadly, yes. I looked it up, but it seems that everyone else gets to the point where ubuntu asks the user if they want to install or just use the trial, but whenever I boot from the ubuntu CD it comes up with this:
IMG_0135[1].JPG
Try doing a Automatic Repair.
I've tried the automatic repair a couple of times, to no avail.
Note: You may need to do startup repair 3 to 4 times.
I've ran the startup repair at least once before, but I'll try it right now.
Thanks for all the help guys, didn't think I would get any responses.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Oh, really? Thanks for the suggestion, I'll go see if I can find one somewhere. (I know of someone who has one, but I'm not sure if they still have it or if they will be willing to let me borrow it)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Hm, that error is basically saying that it can't find the Boot Disk - But it doesn't mean that the hard drive is bad, just that it's not being called up in the Boot Profile. But it MAY mean the drive is bad, go through all your BIOS and see if it shows the mounted drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
If your drive has developed failures, you may need to scan it with GWscan or WDdiag or Seagate Seatools. All of those are part of Hiren's Boot CD (Link is below my Sig Pic), if you wanna try that, under "Dos Programs/Hard Drive Tools"- GWscan may be the easiest to run, it will scan your SMART then check the disk. If it finds a problem you just hit "Y" and it does a full scan. Takes about an hour to do it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Does your PC have UEFI? if yes the only tip i can give you is
to search about "Ubuntu UEFI"
Sadly, yes. I looked it up, but it seems that everyone else gets to the point where ubuntu asks the user if they want to install or just use the trial, but whenever I boot from the ubuntu CD it comes up with this:
View attachment 24855

Seems like you're not booting from the ubuntu cd/dvd in fact,
you should be able to boot from the cd/dvd even without a HD
but i do not know UEFI so i can't be sure ...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 pro Windows 8 pro Windows 7 Home
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Seems like you're not booting from the ubuntu cd/dvd in fact,
you should be able to boot from the cd/dvd even without a HD
but i do not know UEFI so i can't be sure ...

I have run a Live Ubuntu CD on a PC without a HDD.

It didn't use the problematic UEFI system though.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    n/a
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
    Case
    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
I'm halfway thinking of just installing windows 7 on the partition that I kept all of my files, as none of them were really vital. Though it will be a pain redownloading all of my programs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Blast. I can't run the repair option on the windows 7 disk, I can't install windows 7 on any partition. (Most of them were reserved by the computer manufacturer, but the partition that I had windows 8 on didn't work, along with the 20 gb partition I set aside for ubuntu when I was planning on installing it) This is getting a little frustrating.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Brooklin knows how to use the windows 7 disk - I'll ask him if he knows how you can do it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
OK I asked Brooklin to help in here.

If you are trying to install 7 - You'll have to either do it on a clean partition, or, get into your disk and delete your Program Files folders, Windows folders, and Move your User folder somewhere else, delete the full Users folder after that. Delete all of your Hiberfil.sys and pagefile.sys and swapfile.sys files to, and anything else in the root of the drive.

You can use Hiren's Boot CD's "Mini-XP" to get in there, and it's got Unlocker installed so you can delete stubborn folders. Link is below my Sig. The Board owners can't sanction the use of Hiren's as an official Board tool, but a lot of us use it here. I wanted to write some tutorials, but the stuff I wanted to write about use Hiren's in the solution. So it's just from me to you, use Mini-XP, check out your system disk.

The fact that you got a lot of partitions on one drive, is part of the problem, I use Multi Partitions in my Macs, but never in my PCs, because it is too problematic.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Hm, it should show up when you right click on something to delete, it'll just say "Unlocker"

If not, you can download it real quick, connect your Network and download it with the Opera that's in there.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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