Messed up Boot Config. What to do now?

clee290

Member
Well, long story short, I installed Ubuntu and then wanted to uninstall it. Read that I needed to use EasyBCD to restore my boot config and I messed up by choosing the wrong partition (not drive, partition). So now my computer won't boot up and I get the error:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might b the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows....
2. Choose your language....
3. Click....

If you do not have the disc.....

File: \Boot\BCD
Status: 0xc000000f
Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data.

I have he recovery disc on a USB and tried following this guide:
Recovering the Windows Bootloader from the DVD - EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

Every time I get to "attrib -h -s C:\boot\BCD", it says he file can't be found. I'm pretty sure my boot drive is C. So right now I don't know what to do. I really don't want to lose my data, so I'm hoping that I don't have to format. This is a Sony Vaio laptop, so I may end up bringing it to the Sony store tomorrow to see what they can do.
 
Set the Windows partition "active" and run the "startup repair" again (3 times)

Thank you for the reply!

How exactly would I go about setting my Windows partition as my active drive?

Edit: Okay, so I'm trying what you suggested. Only thing is, I don't know which partition to choose.

Partition 1 - Recovery - 13gb
Partition 2 - Primary - 100mb
Partition 3 - Primary - 535gb
Partition 0 - Extended - 47gb
Partition 4 - Logical - 41gb
Partition 5 - Logical - 6124mb

Ive gone through each partition and tried to make them active and I was only able to make 1, 2, and 3 active. I then tried the Startup Repair and none worked.
 
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Only primary partitions can be active, not extended or logical.
Without benefit of labels, I'd guess that you're using W7, which normally gets installed with a 100Mb unlettered partition (usually labeled "System Reserved") where it puts the boot files. (not the C disk)
That would have been the active partition previously.
With that set active again, what message do you get from the automated startup repair ?
 
All it says is:

"Startup repair cannot repair this computer automatically."

It also suggests to disconnect any portable devices, though there are none.

Edit: Looked at the Diagnosis and Repair details and saw:
"root cause found:
No OS files found on disk"

So I'm not sure if I'm choosing the right partition again.

Edit2: Oh, I should also mention that when I boot into the System Recovery options, it doesn't detect any operating systems. It gives me an option to restart, but that just fails.
 
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OK try the main 535Gb partition. That should be the OS partition, and you can rebuild the boot files there if you want. (The separate boot partition is completely unnecessary unless you want to encrypt the whole OS partition)
 
Tried that. I used Option 2 of the guide.

I typed in:
bootrec /fixmbr (this worked)
bootsect /nt60 all /force (this worked)
Then went right to:
bootrec /rebuildbcd

It began to scan for an OS and found one:
D:\Windows

It asks me if I want to add it to the boot list, so I press Y (for yes) and enter. Then it just gives me an error saying that "The requested system device cannot be found".
 
how did you fix this issue?? i am having the same problem, please help.


[edit]
i fixed it. i used tools from win install dvd -> diskpart, startup repair. it took a few times, but at the end it worked..

bye
 
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