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Question

Boot failure on ASUS motherboard. Disk paritions not found.

Aug 5, 2018 8:38AM PDT

Hi, I was using this computer for years without any problems. And just suddenly one morning I have a disk boot failure.

I do still have the original Windows 7 cd but have made no backups of my computer.
First I checked the boot order, then I tried disabling UEFI boot, and now I tried running diskpart with the Windows 7 installation disk.


It seems to recognize the hard disk but it cannot find any partitions, and I had both a C:\ drive and a D:\ drive.
I am not an expert and I am unsure about what I should try next, I've already tried re-seating the cables connecting the hard drive but I still get the same boot error. Do you have any advice on what I should try?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
That looks like a blank drive.
Aug 5, 2018 8:46AM PDT

As it is reporting in and working my bet is something unfortunate happened and you need to restore from backups.

Expert or not, today's PCs, smart phones and more are not an exception to having backups of what we can't lose.

Also, is there just one drive in this PC? Maybe there were two and the boot drive failed. Is there more to this story like "I torrented a new movie and now this happened?"

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Some more thoughts about this
Aug 5, 2018 8:56AM PDT

Hi, thanks for your comment. I have backed up files to dropbox but I didn't make a windows backup (and probably should have). Yes, there's only one drive but it was not empty, I was using about 700gb of space. It's not unlikely that this could be a virus attack.

I was looking at this, would something like this work? or is there an easy way to somehow reactivate or repair the partitions?
https://neosmart.net/EasyRE/#buy

Post was last edited on August 5, 2018 10:02 AM PDT

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I do like that product.
Aug 5, 2018 9:15AM PDT

But have yet to find it work when machines have hit the repair counter often enough to really get behind it.

Worth a shot.

As to the OS, Windows 10 is a free download and if it was running and activated you don't need a new license so it's never a big deal (100 bucks saved.) Google "Microsoft Media Creation Kit Windows 10" to learn how to make that USB W10 install and repair stick. In your case the repair feature does not apply.

Also, if you do go for a reinstall, that drive looks all set as there are no partitions.

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Recovering the lost partition with Testdisk
Aug 5, 2018 12:40PM PDT

I'm using the command line in "Easy Recovery Essentials" now and want to use Testdisk to try and potentially recover the lost partition. But I'm not sure how to install the Testdisk binary in this environment. Is there any documentation somewhere which would explain how to go about doing this ?

I also can't seem to find information on how to connect to internet inside of EasyRE.

Post was last edited on August 5, 2018 12:51 PM PDT

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NEVER write to a disk you need to recover files from.
Aug 5, 2018 12:58PM PDT

Now that you abandoned EasyRE the next step is saving your files not on backup. Yes, there is some docs out there for Testdisk (use google) but I do not support such methods as being too risky and will overwrite what we wanted to recover. There are successes and failures (that means it made the problem worse) and if you do this, you can't expect RECUVA or other recovery tools to work.

That's why when I get such a drive I put it into a recovery PC and copy out the user files with RECUVA. If the owner continued to attempt recovery with any tool that writes to the drive then recovery chances plummet.

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Still unable to find partitions (virus probably wiped it)
Aug 5, 2018 1:12PM PDT

I'm kind of annoyed but the lack of documentation on the EasyRE site. I'm kind of clueless with its command line and am unable to connect to the internet. I guess I can go to the forums on their site but there should be some documentation I think. I'm losing hope and I should probably just install the OS again fresh. I'm still really surprised that suddenly the hard drive is completely empty. I keep thinking it's a hardware issue.

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This is why I use RECUVA.
Aug 5, 2018 1:17PM PDT

I usually can get files out but there are folk that want the HDD/SSD to be restored to before the issue/attack/mistake/trojan or what happened. With RECUVA this does not write to the drive so I can get files out, sometimes with a deep scan. But once the owner starts in with testdisk and more, I don't offer hope.

EasyRE has its own support system and forums so I have always deferred to them. The few times I tried it, it was a push button restore. Never had to go to a command line.

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I think I'm screwed but it's my fault
Aug 5, 2018 1:25PM PDT

Alright, thanks for your advice. I will check out this tool. I'll definitely be making windows backups in the future...

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For me, a full backup is rare.
Aug 5, 2018 2:25PM PDT

It's only my files I need to worry about but I have them on a pair of drives since I don't want to fall out of a backup state. Then some picture collection backup again on some USB stick and then more backups of works I don't want to lose on Dropbox as well as the matched pair of HDDs.

Even if I lost a HDD I have the W10 install stick I can make again if needed, my collection of apps I use on DVD and USB and Ninite.com along with all the backups.

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Answer
If
Aug 5, 2018 5:50PM PDT

Recuva as has been mentioned works then you need a place to store the files.

Then you run the maker's drive fitness test on the disk.

If that shows good then reinstall the disk in the orig pc.

Now you start the long process of installing w7....drivers....updates....apps.

If you have saved files from recuva those have to be moved back.

It's your call what you want to do about backups.

I do make full system backups because I don't want to go through that exercise.

The create or restore the backup is a < 20 min chore.

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Before I give up
Aug 6, 2018 12:40AM PDT

I want to try these steps before I finally decide to destructively reinstall a fresh OS. But I want to know how I could use RECUVA when the pc is in this state (not being able to boot). Would I be able to use this software on a laptop and somehow connect my laptop to the pc via a USB to USB cable? and treat it as an external media drive on the software?

Do you know of a bootable image which can do a drive fitness test?

Post was last edited on August 6, 2018 12:56 AM PDT

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Re: before I give up
Aug 6, 2018 1:01AM PDT

Take the disk out of the case, put it in an external enclosure and connect that to another PC for diagnostics and possible recovery. Using USB-3 is recommended (much faster than USB-2).

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As Kees said
Aug 6, 2018 4:48AM PDT

Recuva is run from a working machine.

When you take the disk out of the busted machine read the label on the disk.

Look for the make and model and write it down.

Each maker has their own fitness test so you head out to the maker's site and look for it.

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Finding it tough to find a fitness test for my SATA drive
Aug 6, 2018 11:01AM PDT

The hdd I'm using is "Seagate Desktop HDD ST2000DM001 SATA 6Gb/s"
I was looking at Seagate SeaTools for DOS but I just read that it doesn't test SATA drives.

Do you know of any other fitness test ISO that I could burn to a disk which runs independent of an operating system, and will work for my drive?

edit: nevermind I think I just read it wrong, I need to do the "long test"

Post was last edited on August 6, 2018 11:19 AM PDT

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There are such but
Aug 6, 2018 11:59AM PDT

Given the maker and size model it's one with a very high failure rate. Just look at the Seagates on this report.


To me, this test is uncalled for given the make and size.

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SeaTools Bootable File Integrity Fail!
Aug 6, 2018 1:23PM PDT

I've been trying to get a non-corrupted download of the "SeaTools Bootable" file.

Link here: https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/seatools/

It explains how to check the hashcode of the file to ensure file integrity, but every time I download this f*cking file I get an error hashcode. And it says this in the text file:

"As download file sizes get larger, there is a small possibility of data
corruption in the final file on your system. "

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Sorry if I agree here.
Aug 6, 2018 1:42PM PDT
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Keeping this in mind
Aug 6, 2018 2:27PM PDT

I will try to get a live linux distro on a USB. And then might try that SPECCY.
Any reccomendation on a portable linux distro? I guess I can have a look through them.
I will be back tomorrow. Thanks and goodnight.

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I have yet to find a Linux that runs Speccy.
Aug 6, 2018 3:45PM PDT
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Taking your advice
Aug 7, 2018 12:22PM PDT

edit:
I was going to try and get the "Windows to go portable" but apparently I first need to have W10 Enterprise... I might try and just go the linux route.

Post was last edited on August 7, 2018 12:48 PM PDT

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SMART data for the hdd
Aug 7, 2018 3:29PM PDT

I have this data now using gsmartcontrol in Linux Mint


https://i.imgur.com/DOpYu9O.jpg

So is the next step to try and recover the lost data/partition?
I purchased a 3.5 form factor SATA HDD enclosure and now waiting for it to arrive.

Should I wait for enclosure, turn the hard drive into an external hard drive and try to use RECUVA with it on my laptop?

Could I possibly try and use a linux alternative on Mint to recover files?

Post was last edited on August 7, 2018 4:32 PM PDT

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The values 01 and 07
Aug 7, 2018 6:07PM PDT

Are way out of whack. They don't call this failed but such a drive has been known to cause slow PCs, BSODs and wipeouts.

As to Recuva. Yes.

As to Linux, sure but I don't know of any Recuva app for Linux and you still need another drive to receive the recovered files.

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A suggestion
Aug 8, 2018 2:39AM PDT

I was looking at this
https://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-live-cd.htm

I'm going to try it

I have a spare 8GB memory stick that I could save files to and to be honest there is only about 2GB of data that I really want to recover.

Does it look like I will need to purchase a new internal hdd eitherway?

Post was last edited on August 8, 2018 6:53 AM PDT

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Support?
Aug 8, 2018 8:04AM PDT

Hi, Happy

you can also try to test the drive with Chrystal Disk Info. This will provide you with a reliable result of the drive.

Also, contacting the technical support of Seagate is recommended in this case.

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As that live cd.
Aug 8, 2018 8:37AM PDT

Sorry. Not a tool I use a lot. As to the drive tray we have a few at the office and if not we put the HDD into some desktop. Recovery isn't what we do a lot of but will do the basic recovery of files then for big recovery work, send it out.

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Hdd
Aug 8, 2018 9:05AM PDT
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Nightmares
Aug 8, 2018 9:35AM PDT

The output I got from "gsmartcontrol" in Linux Mint would be more or less the same output in SPECCY for the smart values right? That was a scan of the hdd in question.

The multiple rows of "old age" prompted me to purchase a new hdd in fear that it dies in the near future.

Right now I'm running a Knoppix based Linux kernel for file recovery. I'll update you on whether or not I manage to recover the files I need. My goal is to recover about 2gb of data. I don't care much about the rest.

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Smart values
Aug 8, 2018 10:53AM PDT

That you posted above looked a little odd.

That's why I wanted to see what speccy showed.

Also speccy will show many other things about the machine.

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Nod about Speccy.
Aug 8, 2018 11:04AM PDT

While the Smart values did work for me, they are not in the format that everyone has seen before. Supply a Web Speccy link is our best look under the hood at all the areas that we want to see.

We can check memory, drives, CPU, BIOS and so much more. Many items can be checked such as does the CPU have support in this board, is the BIOS current and the list is quite long. We can also spot a lot of malware.

The format is very consistent so many can help out.

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Keeping Speccy in the loop
Aug 8, 2018 11:32AM PDT

I will try to do what I can with this linux boot, and then I will think about reinstalling Win7 so I can run speccy (I want to use Win7 because I use some old software which doesn't work on Win10). Will keep you posted. I noted that my CPU temp was going extremely high (100+ degrees) in the bios (gui). And I'm a bit worried about that as well.