WinXP "fixboot" deletes partition table 1

[mainak]

I had a 10GB partition with WinXP Pro running on it. As I was working on it suddenly the computer blacked out and reebooted. But Windows NEVER started again. Just after the POST screen the system rebooted and on and on...

Operating System just failed to load. I inserted my WinXP CD and booted from it and entered the Recovery Console. I then executed the command "fixboot c:" and it said that my partition had a corrupt boot sector. It then asked whether to write a new boot sector or not. I wrote "yes" and pressed enter. After that I booted my system again and this time the computer got past the POST screen but it said "NTLDR missing." I was puzzled. I again booted with my WinXP CD and went to the Recovery Console. I typed "dir" and I was shocked !!! It said "0 files found..." All my data was gone.
I then executed "DISKPART" and saw that it showed my 10GB partition but showed the free space as 10MB only.

"fixboot" had overwritten my boot sector and FAT and also converted it to FAT12 (saw this in "fdisk&quot. The size of this partition was being shown as 10MB in my friend's Win98 system.

The data is still there !! I am sure of it.. Only the FAT has been overwritten by "fixboot".

IS THERE ANY SOFTWARE THAT CAN REBUILD THE FAT AND RECOVER THE DATA IN MY PARTITION ??????

 

[Guest_imported]

I hope some 1 know how to solve this problem, cause i got exactly the same issue.
I also entered the FIXBOOT command from the recovery console and after all my data had disappeared.
A Mistery.
Even when i placed my harddisk in another pc it still showed an empty disk.
I understand what happened, but i need a solution or some tool to get the data back.
Please help us.

 

[greywolfjc]

i am an entry level data reco9very tech and i dont know any other way to get your data back except by using easy recovery pro. try that and if it doesnt work contact a data recovery company. they can get back almost anything.

hope this helps.

the program again is easy recovery pro 5.12a

jc

 

[helenitopf]

mainak,

did you manage to get this problem resolved? i've managed to create exactly the same problem and am trying to find a way out of it...

 

[smah]

Boot with the XP cd and enter the recovery console. Enter fdisk /fixmbr. There are many discussions like this in the XP forum.

 

[Demonknight]

I have the same problem as the person that started this thread and i have a doubt: fdisk /fixmbr on XP Recovery? How is that? There is no Fdisk in the recovery console of XP. Is there any way of this working? If so please help me....

 

[smah]

Oops, yes you're right. That would have been with a floppy boot disc created from within XP. From the Recovery Console, should have been FIXMBR.

 

[Demonknight]

OK, I tried fixmbr and nothing,,, gang anything else, pleaaaasseeee?

 

[joeKa]

Seems like you lost your partition table. Recreating it is possible but not easy. You need a diskmonitor or partition recovery program. Intructions how to do it can be found here:

http://www.datarescue.com/laboratory/partition.htm

And I first would strongly recommend doing an image backup of your HD to CD-RW or other external media with e.g. Ghost or Drive Image to have more than one chance to recover your HD if something goes wrong.

Good Luck !

 

[geedee]

Hello
The original problem above is *exectly* like one I have just since solved. I'd followed some leads from previous replies so I don't claim all the smarts.
In my case I had a fatal disc error with no sign of trouble when the machine shut down. Before I got my hands on it someone had run the XP fixboot option which had very kindly written a NEW partition table so I had NO files. I believed the files were still present on the disk, just no FAT pointers left.
I tracked down several repair programs, the best at reasonable cost seemed to be "GetDataBack" from Runtime Software.
It took 2.5 Hours to analyse an 8.4G disk sector by sector then rebuild FAT and present me with the original file structure. I then copied the essential datafiles to a safe place.
Whew !!!

 

[SchiskaMeister]

Hello

I agree with geedee. "GeDataBack" from Runtime Software is the only data recovery program I have found that actually works within a reasonable length of time. Most of the others from Power Quest ZAR and others can take an incredibly long time (72 to 90 hours or longer!!) to do their thing and I'm not sure they work as good as GDB.

Also, does any one know of any other partition software that will recover a DAMAGED partition that has been marked with a PQPR marker? It is no longer recognisible by Windows (any flavor) and Partition Magic 7 says it knows it is there and tries to recover its own marker to do a repair but hangs up and never really accomplishes anything. I have waited over 48 hours just to be sure. FDISK sees it as a Non-Dos partition and will let me remove it and recreate a new partition, but to, me that is not an optimum solution. I need to have access to that partition before it has been recovered with GDB. GDB does a good job of getting 90% my data back but as luck would have it the 10% it has trouble with is just what I need.
I apologize for the rambling nature of this but I have been up the last two nights trying to find a solution.

Thanks in advance.

Ray...

 

[chinoz]

Unbelievable, I can't believe somebody actually had the same problem I did.

I just want to say thank you to whoever suggested GDB. I'm in the process of recovering my data as we speak. Hopefully then I can back up my files then format the drive.

Thank you!!!

 

[om4eccv]

I'm no expert, but I tried to use the Dynamic Drive Letter feature of Windows 2000, and it changed all of my partition tables on my 80 GB drive. I realized that it didn't do anything to my data. I looked and looked and looked, until I found a program that would let me manually edit my partition table. It was windows-based, so I pulled my 80 GB drive and installed it into a different computer. I used the utility to change the partition type from the Dynameic disk back to FAT32. I re-installed the drive, and it was as if I'd never done anything to it. :-D

Perhaps all you need to do is pull the drive and manually edit the partition table. I wouldn't reccommend this for anyone that doesn't have a firm grasp on exactly how risky this is, though. I think the one that I used I found on Powerquest's FTP site, called Partinfo32.

 

[liciniolopez]

================::THIS IS YOUR SOLUTION::==================
Am not really good in being a technician, but I experienced this problem just moments ago, say 10 hours, and I found a solution to this. What happened was I installed this stupid program, Napster with Roxio Burn Engine, in my completely good working condition Windows XP Professional SP1, then it restarted and showed this shocking message "Error loading operating system." I was appalled by this message. What has happened? I asked. Damn It. What I did to fix this problem, took me the whole day to figure the shit. Was these, hope it will help you guys also:

1. Boot with your Windows XP (Professional) CD Installation. If CD is not available, get a copy from Microsoft.com their installation diskettes for Windows XP. Search their site for the heading "Download details: Windows XP Professional Utility: Setup Disks for Floppy Boot Install." After downloading the file. Provide yourself with six (6) diskettes for boot up.
2. Load the Windows XP boot (installation) disk or CD. After all driver files has loaded. Notice the second option of installation. Log in to the Recovery Console by typing R.
3. You have just entered the Recovery Console, type in C:\> this, "FIXBOOT C:" just follow the instruction on the screen, then type in C:\>, "EXIT" this will restart your PC, boot TEMPORARILY to your Windows Operating System.
4. You have now complete access to your Windows environment. But remember this is just a TEMPORARY state. If you restart your PC, you will again return to the "Error loading operating system" problem. What you should do now is to acquire from whatever source this program. PQBOOT, a tool from Partition Magic 8.0 later or earlier. Run the program in your Windows XP, actually its a command line program, then just follow the instruction. This will write a permanent solution. Fix your damaged Master Boot Record sector.

This process will save you from losing all your data. Without having to undergo the FIXMBR chaos. Which will eventually write another Master Boot Record to an already existing one.

I hope this will be a solution for all of us, because it worked for me. Now I dont have to worry about losing data. Good Day to you all.


Licinio Lopez

 

[prince1099]

I have that same Problem, and I was suspecting a Boot Record Virus, or a MBR Virus. It is impossible to contract a Boot Record Virus in XP, since all the Drivers are loaded into Protected Mode, and just run Virtually. But I musta used a Floppy, while I was backing up my Hives, SOFTWARE against Corruption.
-
Preliminary FIX:
I had to scour the Internet for some help files and tools.
-
First, forget about using the Repair Console of XP, because it's useless. I could not get Fixboot or Fixmbr to leave one track, or make any diffrence. My 20GIG HD in my Sony Notebook wasn't going to Boot.
-
I filled up that Drive with 15 Gigs of Valuable Info and Word Docs, Emails, Pictures, etc... Things I cannot Lose.
-
So I tested all the Partitioning Software out there, to find one that can put a new Boot Loader on my Hard Drive.
-
PQM8, said, that I have a Nonstandard Loader up in Bios, which is not true.
-
I tested Partition Commander, Partition Table Doctor, Boot Master, 7 Tools, Acronis, etc....
-
NoteBook Solution:
If you still have space left on your hard Drive, you are in Luck.
-
If you don't have any Money, you have to use the Tools in XP Repair Console, and create another Partition in the back of the Drive (you only need 1.2 Gigs for XP)and format that, and install a short copy of XP onto that Partition, and make it ACTIVE.
-
I used Acronis, beause it lets you shuffle all the Partitions around and even steal drive space from the "Problem Drive" , and lets you make a good Partition out of that.
-
After I created a 2GIG Partition with Acronis in (DOS) or XP Command Line, I installed a new version of XP onto that Partition and could see all my Files and Programs again.
-
I can now either save everything, and back everything up and then play with the Problem Drive Partition until I find a way to successfully Boot that first Partition again.
-
Sidenote:
A few more successes I had, when I booted up in XP Repair Console again,.. I did not get that dreaded Message anymore....... Error enumerating Directory Structure..... I got the Logon Prompt for BOTH Windows installations again, and could login with my Administrator password.
-
I was able to compare boot files on both installations, and even copy good boot records across......

 

[slimeruk]

I have the same problem as above, my file system is read as FAT12, but recovery programs show it as NTFS (as it should be)

There are three posts with solutions, however two are not and the other suggests fixboot again, that would only work if the backup were not corrupt (which was the original problem to get where we are now)

If anyone do find any solid fix for this please let me know.

(How would I copy then edit an existing NTFS boot sector then replace my damaged one?)

 

[dbData]

Sorry for delay posting this. I saw the same question on another forum and needed to research a little to offer a solution.

To change the Operating System Type indicator (a.k.a. File System Type, Partition Type Indicator) in the Partition Block;

You can change the file system indicator in the partition block using WinHex or any hex editor. WinHex has a feature called a Partition Template where they "put" the offset that needs to be changed in a text box for easy editing. The hex offset is 1C2. If it's FAT12 then the offset is currently filled with 01. To change it to NTFS, change the value at offset 1C2 to 07.

This assumes that no other structure has changed and only the partition block information has been altered. If FAT's have been created and/or the Master File Tables have been damaged and/or the boot sectors have been altered, you'll have more problems to overcome.


Best of Luck to all!

Rick

http://www.data-recovery-hub.com

 

[ptdd]

I suggest you use Partition Table Doctor to Rebuild
partition.

Run the program and select "Rebuild Partition Table",
then choose "Interactive" mode.

See more:

http://www.ptdd.com/recoverylostpartition.htm

 

[fixboot]

I have the same problem as mainak. One afternoon I turn on my laptop vaio pcgr-505afe (Windows XP) and I turn it off (the hard way) before the blue screen appers. Next time I turn it on and it started to reboot (constantly). I enter recovery console and clik in fixboot.All was gone as with mainak.

I tried chkdsk with out results because of unrecoverable problems. I made a bootable diskette and copy on it: ntldr , ntdetect,boot.ini and boot it in my Vaio. NTLDR found the windows directory but could not boot because a file was missing.


I down load bootmaster and tried this program and I could see my files. Bootmaster used the back up boot sector copy in sector 6 of my hard disk. So far my progress.

I will try to copy the sector 6 (BACK UP BOOT SECTOR) with an utility program like testdisk and then put it in sector 0 of the fisical primary hard disk drive. Slimeruk said the back up is corrupted but I wonder if this original back up in sector 6 is the one who is corrupted?

This idea is suggested in microsoft : How to recover an Accidetally Deleted NTFS OR FAT32 DYNAMIC

 

[slimeruk]

I think Ricks has it right, try his suggestion, I went for the reinstall sadly but recovered all the files I cared less about.

(Suprised PTT can still post, just blatent salemanship as are his reviews on CNET) Take a look at his previous posts