Windows 7 wont boot

[reddevild271]

I recently removed my ubuntu installation from my computer so I could repartition my hard drive into a more organized fashion. I was successful but then tried to wubi install ubuntu 12.10 and decided I would like to reallocate my partitions so that i wouldn't have any unallocated memory left over. Using minitool partition wizard, i tried to reallocate my space, but ended up making my computer unable to boot into windows 7. After various attempts to fix my computer, I am stuck at the point where when I use my installation CD for Windows 7 the recovery tool knows I have a Windows 7 install somewhere on my hard drive with a certain amount of memory but says its location is unknown. The startup repair doesn't fix anything even after completing "successfully" after forty minutes or so. Also at first the C:/ drive was my hard disk and another drive, D:/ I believe, was my Recovery drive. After the partition fail, those two letters were swapped when I accessed the recovery tool command prompt. In my desperation I ran boot repair to try and restore Windows booting, which I believe now in my noobiness was not a good idea. Now my D drive is a drive that says EFI as a folder which I believe holds boot information for ubuntu which I no longer have installed. I do not see my partition in command prompt, but I do see it as a gparted partition when I run LiveUSB ubuntu, even though I cannot access my files. If I had an external hard drive to save my Windows drive to I would have earlier. I understand if my computer is beyond repair, but I thought I would ask the community for some help Thanks

[Gogsyd]

Have you tried this? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

If all else fails it is possible to install Windows 7 over the top of an existing installation without (in theory) losing your exisiting data. Perform the install as normal but choose not to format the partition. As part of the installation process all the existing data wil go into a Windows.old file on, I believe, the root of C:\. You will be able to recover your old data from there.

I used this method when I was moving from XP to 7 and like you did not have an external drive to put it to.

Obviously the normal warnings apply with doing the latter method. There is potential to lose the data but it shouldn't.

Hope this helped

[reddevild271]

I have tried bootrec but I will try it again. I will definitely try the reinstall without formatting the drive though (I'm going to look up a bit more on it first). I'll let you know how it goes, thanks for the reply.

[reddevild271]

So when I try to install over the drive my Windows system is on, I get this message: "Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. The partition is an EFI system partition (ESP)."

Also I can't find my drive in the recovery tools command prompt and running bootrec and all of its options does nothing for me. Because of the way the partition is set up I guess windows can't mount the drive?

[Gogsyd]

I have to admit to not being too familiar with EFI so not sure where to go with the "install over".

With Bootrec, I have two thoughts. 1) WinRe creates a RAMdisk and assigns it a drive letter which means it probably won't reflect the same drive letters as your use to (My students to have to go through the driv letter alphabet until they find what they want lol). 2) you may need to mount the EFI partition using mountvol to see it properly.

[kiyop]

Before messing by failure, I suggest you understanding the problematic situation.
Do not change (write to) the partitions in the problematic HDDs.
Boot with live Ubuntu or some live linux distribution and run boot info script (or boot repair) and generate a log (RESULTS.txt and/or the URL of the uploaded information on your PC).
Boot info script can be downloaded at:
http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/
Post the contents of the generated RESULTS.txt between "[ code]" and "[ /code]" tags (omit the spaces just after the "[") or the URL generated by boot repair.

[reddevild271]

                  Boot Info Script 0.61      [1 April 2012]


============================= Boot Info Summary: ===============================

 => Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
 => Syslinux MBR (4.04 and higher) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.

sda1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 
    Mounting failed:   mount: unknown filesystem type ''

sda2: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7: NTFS
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        

sda3: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ntfs
    Boot sector type:  Windows Vista/7: NTFS
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  Windows 7
    Boot files:        /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda4: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 12.10
    Boot files:        /etc/fstab

sda5: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       vfat
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        /efi/ubuntu/grubx64.efi

sdb1: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       Extended Partition
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info: 

sdb5: __________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       vfat
    Boot sector type:  SYSLINUX 4.06 2012-10-23
    Boot sector info:  Syslinux looks at sector 61796 of /dev/sdb5 for its 
                       second stage. SYSLINUX is installed in the  directory. 
                       The integrity check of the ADV area failed. According 
                       to the info in the boot sector, sdb5 starts at sector 
                       63. But according to the info from fdisk, sdb5 starts 
                       at sector 16128. "63" and "2048" are quite common 
                       values for the starting sector of a logical partition 
                       and they only need to be fixed when you want to boot 
                       Windows from a logical partition.
    Operating System:  
    Boot files:        /boot/grub/grub.cfg /syslinux/syslinux.cfg 
                       /efi/BOOT/grubx64.efi /ldlinux.sys

============================ Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sda1                   1 1,953,525,167 1,953,525,167  ee GPT


GUID Partition Table detected.

Partition    Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors System
/dev/sda1           2,048       264,191       262,144 Microsoft Reserved Partition (Windows)
/dev/sda2         966,656    27,672,575    26,705,920 Data partition (Windows/Linux)
/dev/sda3      27,672,576 1,743,808,511 1,716,135,936 EFI System partition
/dev/sda4   1,743,808,512 1,952,548,863   208,740,352 Data partition (Windows/Linux)
/dev/sda5   1,952,548,864 1,953,523,711       974,848 Data partition (Windows/Linux)

Drive: sdb _____________________________________________________________________

Disk /dev/sdb: 16.2 GB, 16231956480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1973 cylinders, total 31703040 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System

/dev/sdb1    *         16,065    31,696,244    31,680,180   f W95 Extended (LBA)
/dev/sdb5              16,128    31,696,244    31,680,117   c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


"blkid" output: ________________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL

/dev/loop0                                              squashfs   
/dev/sda2        01CDEE8A86E9CFE0                       ntfs       RECOVERY
/dev/sda3        0E42D1A842D194B5                       ntfs       Windows
/dev/sda4        882a6a82-e525-4efe-be08-0c458ea67271   ext4       
/dev/sda5        256F-E928                              vfat       
/dev/sdb5        07FF-376C                              vfat       PENDRIVE
/dev/sr0                                                udf        UDF Volume

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

/dev/loop0       /rofs                    squashfs   (ro,noatime)
/dev/sda4        /media/ubuntu/882a6a82-e525-4efe-be08-0c458ea67271 ext4       (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks2)
/dev/sda5        /media/ubuntu/256F-E928  vfat       (rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=999,gid=999,shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush,uhelper=udisks2)
/dev/sdb5        /cdrom                   vfat       (ro,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sr0         /media/ubuntu/UDF Volume udf        (ro,nosuid,nodev,uid=999,gid=999,iocharset=utf8,umask=0077,uhelper=udisks2)


=============================== sda4/etc/fstab: ================================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
# / was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=882a6a82-e525-4efe-be08-0c458ea67271 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /boot was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=b9179341-e549-452e-9ad6-36c97dfe2087 /boot           ext4    defaults        0       2
# /boot/efi was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=9ECC-D8ED  /boot/efi       vfat    defaults        0       1
# swap was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=29fbb3a8-a9ef-460a-a8bd-820810b64a3e none            swap    sw              0       0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=========================== sdb5/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

if loadfont /boot/grub/font.pf2 ; then
    set gfxmode=auto
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod gfxterm
    terminal_output gfxterm
fi

set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray

menuentry "Try Ubuntu without installing" {
    set gfxpayload=keep
    linux    /casper/vmlinuz.efi.signed  file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash --
    initrd    /casper/initrd.lz
}
menuentry "Install Ubuntu" {
    set gfxpayload=keep
    linux    /casper/vmlinuz.efi.signed  file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper only-ubiquity quiet splash --
    initrd    /casper/initrd.lz
}
menuentry "OEM install (for manufacturers)" {
    set gfxpayload=keep
    linux    /casper/vmlinuz.efi.signed  file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper only-ubiquity quiet splash oem-config/enable=true --
    initrd    /casper/initrd.lz
}
menuentry "Check disc for defects" {
    set gfxpayload=keep
    linux    /casper/vmlinuz.efi.signed  boot=casper integrity-check quiet splash --
    initrd    /casper/initrd.lz
}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

========================= sdb5/syslinux/syslinux.cfg: ==========================

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# D-I config version 2.0
include menu.cfg
default vesamenu.c32
prompt 0
timeout 50
ui gfxboot bootlogo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sdb5: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

            ?? = ??             boot/grub/grub.cfg                             1

================= sdb5: Location of files loaded by Syslinux: ==================

           GiB - GB             File                                 Fragment(s)

            ?? = ??             ldlinux.sys                                    1
            ?? = ??             syslinux/chain.c32                             1
            ?? = ??             syslinux/gfxboot.c32                           1
            ?? = ??             syslinux/menu.c32                              1
            ?? = ??             syslinux/syslinux.cfg                          1
            ?? = ??             syslinux/vesamenu.c32                          1

============== sdb5: Version of COM32(R) files used by Syslinux: ===============

 syslinux/chain.c32                 :  COM32R module (v4.xx)
 syslinux/gfxboot.c32               :  COM32R module (v4.xx)
 syslinux/menu.c32                  :  COM32R module (v4.xx)
 syslinux/vesamenu.c32              :  COM32R module (v4.xx)

=============================== StdErr Messages: ===============================

./bootinfoscript: line 1646: [: 2.73495e+09: integer expression expected
  No volume groups found

[kiyop]

I guess that /dev/sda5 should be EFI system partition.
/dev/sda3 should be Windows System partition (partition type should be Windows SOME partition).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Pa...ion_type_GUIDs

To confirm the above guess of mine, execute

for a in sda2 sda3; do echo $a; sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/$a /mnt -o ro; ls /mnt/; sudo find /mnt -iname BCD; sudo umount -l /mnt; done

and post the result.
Execute

sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sda5 /mnt -o ro
sudo find /mnt -iname *.efi
sudo umount -l /mnt

and post the result.
I hope that there is some .efi file to boot windows, maybe on /dev/sda5.

You may be able to change the partition type by "gdisk /dev/sda" and command "t".
You can refer to http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/...8/gdisk.8.html.

[oldfred]

I cannot now really tell if you had a UEFI Windows install or BIOS Windows install and partitions were converted to gpt?

Normal UEFI/gpt has an efi partition, MSR, & Windows. Vendors may add Microsoft recovery first and vendor recovery last.
Normal BIOS/MBR has hidden 100MB boot/repair and main install. Then Vendor recover & utilities to use all 4 primary partitions.

UEFI spec says efi partition (ESP) must be first, but Windows often makes it second which seems to be ok.
Windows Recommended UEFI-Based Disk-Partition Configurations
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...8WS.10%29.aspx
Change the booting style of Windows Vista or 7 x86_64 versions from BIOS-MBR mode to UEFI-GPT mode without formatting or reinstalling
https://gitorious.org/tianocore_uefi...4_BIOS_to_UEFI


If you Installed Ubuntu in UEFI mode then it would create a efi partition later on drive.

Boot flag has totally different meanings in BIOS and gpt.
In GPT fdisk, ESPs have a type code of EF00. In libparted-based tools, you mark the ESP as such by setting its "boot flag." Note that the libparted "boot flag" means something entirely different under MBR, and you should not set the "boot flag" on any OS partition under GPT!


What partitions did you "houseclean" as it seems they may have been essential. You are at the least either missing the Windows efi boot file or the BIOS boot files from the boot partition. Your main install does not contain the boot files with Windows 7 or Windows 8.

[reddevild271]

So I've decided to give up on trying to get windows to boot and now I'm more concerned with getting my files off of the hard drive. Should I just copy the partition to an external source? The drive doesnt show up as accessible in ubuntu.