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Thread: Hard Drive Doesn't contain valid partition table

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Beans
    43

    Exclamation Hard Drive Doesn't contain valid partition table

    This shouldn't really be posted in the ubuntu forums, but I am using ubuntu to fix it, so I think I can get away with it .

    Basically while I was running Windows 7 I wanted to clone my 149GB Hard Drive to a 500GB partition on my 1TB HardDrive, with Ubuntu taking up the other 500GB.

    I coulnd'nt clone using Windows tools because I always had an error of some sort. I then tried cloning using various Ubuntu tools on the Live CD - these didnt work either. I then tried
    Code:
    dd if= of=
    command and it copied about 50% before an I/O error.


    After the dd failed I tried booting Windows 7. The boot manager gave me 2 options. Win 7 ultimate and win 7 ultimate (recovered) win 7 ultimate never booted, because it was the new-er, half-cloned HD. The other windows loaded but was bugged, had to manually run explorer etc.

    I then tried using Windows 7 Installation CD to repair my installation. Nothing worked. I ended up formatting the 1TB HD - thinking that it would work. Now I cannot load up the older Windows 7 installation! I went back into the recovery console and deleted the Windows 7 volume in diskpart - Which I don't think helped.

    I load up my Ubuntu Live CD and look at gParted. I am shocked when it says both Hard Drives are 100% un-allocated. I then try sudo fdisk -l which returns:
    Code:
    ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l
    
    Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x000c56bc
    
       Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
    
    Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x00000000
    
    Disk /dev/sdb doesn't contain a valid partition table
    /dev/sdb = Old 149GB Hard Drive - should contain Windows 7
    /dev/sda = New 1000GB Hard Drive - should be empty.

    Now I am stuck - I wouldn't mind re-installing Windows 7, but NEED some of the stuff on the Hard Drive.

    Maybe a dd would help, but could make things worse?!?!?

    Thanks in advanced

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Texas
    Beans
    3,930
    Distro
    Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

    Re: Hard Drive Doesn't contain valid partition table

    the dd command is also called the disk destroyer for good reason.

    Not much hope if you got your if= and of= mixed up.

    testdisk is probably your best Open Source hope. Maybe all you messed up was the partition table. testdisk is the repositories. If it were me I'd run it from a SystemRescueCd
    UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things. -- Doug Gwyn
    SystemRescueCd | Dual Boot | psychocats | FAQ

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Beans
    43

    Re: Hard Drive Doesn't contain valid partition table

    testdisk worked!!! Thanks, I have my table back. But now have stupid windows errors - which I dont think I would get support here,

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