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Help with a computer
Topic Started: May 15 2012, 06:31 PM (194 Views)
Braythor
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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Hey all. I wonder if one of you computer-savvy folk could give me a hand. Well, not me, my housemate, who in her infinite wisdom decided to try and partition her HD without knowing what she was doing or having access to an installation and/or recovery disc. Now her computer won't start. Here are details:

- startup leads to black screen that says BOOTMGR missing press CTRL-ALT-DEL to restart (it then goes to the same screen when you do that)
- it's an Asus netbook (ie it doesn't have a disc drive)
- it's Windows 7
- I run Vista on mine, there's no copy of 7 in the house
- it does not have built in recovery options in the startup bios type menus (or they're hidden/switched off or sumfin')

Any help would be much appreciated, as we only got internet access today (finally, HURRAY!) and she's already forked out a ton of cash a few weeks ago cos her hard drive broke (that one was just faulty).
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ASLANS R0AR
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Spartan Pops
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with my limited experience (having fixed many of my own PC problems) I would say that t Win 7 disc would be required to reboot and possibly re-install. At least, that's where I would try and start.

Once you partition yourself out of access, I'm pretty sure you'd have to start over.
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snickerdoodle
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Just me.
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But the problem is the netbook doesn't have a disc drive...

Crazy might know, he has a netbook. Or you might try sending John a PM. He's kind of techy/nerdy like that.
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Braythor
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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Thanks both!

I'll send crazy and John (is that Sgt AJJ?) a PM.
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snickerdoodle
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Just me.
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No, JohnMcL7...he pops in every now and then. :)
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CallUpChuck
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Brigadier
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Braythor
May 15 2012, 07:33 PM
John (is that Sgt AJJ?)
Some call him... Tim?
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Deadpool Psycko
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The Meta
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Posted Image

"BUTTONS?! OH MAN I LOVE BUTTONS!! BEEP BOOP BEEP BOOP BOOP!"
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ASLANS R0AR
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snickerdoodle
May 15 2012, 07:31 PM
But the problem is the netbook doesn't have a disc drive...

Crazy might know, he has a netbook. Or you might try sending John a PM. He's kind of techy/nerdy like that.
oops . . .missed that part!
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ASLANS R0AR
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can a USB be used? I wonder if a recovery could be started with that.
Edited by ASLANS R0AR, May 15 2012, 08:20 PM.
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snickerdoodle
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ASLANS R0AR
May 15 2012, 08:14 PM
can a USB be used? I wonder if a recovery could be started with that.
That would be my guess but I am computer stoopid. :P
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Braythor
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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CallUpChuck
May 15 2012, 08:04 PM
Braythor
May 15 2012, 07:33 PM
John (is that Sgt AJJ?)
Some call him... Tim?
Yeah I remembered that after I'd posted :facepalm: I'll send one to JohnMc too.

I figured using a USB would work, but I dunno where I'd get the program from (as I say, I'm running Vista and she's on W7). Tried looking online, couldn't find one. At least, not one that was free...
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ASLANS R0AR
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How to Create a Bootable Windows 7 USB Flash Drive

Might be a place to start (need 4GB USB), but not sure what to do after this with a Netbook though; sounds like you would still have to purchase a downloadable version of Win 7 to get on the USB
Edited by ASLANS R0AR, May 15 2012, 08:58 PM.
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crazybydefault
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Ooh, sounds like she deleted her Windows 7 partition. Yikes.

I have this on my dedicated troubleshooting flashdrive (I'm that much of a nerd!) It's Linux-based, so you need some knowledge in that, but you can find a lot on the internet about it. Now, it's possible that she simply made the whole drive a slave drive with no primary one. If not, well, you're SOL in trying to get this fixed for free, unfortunately. You can download a recovery disk (Linky), but you have to pay for one. If you're into the whole "IDGAF about whether it's pirated or not, I want it!" thing, you might be able to find one that way. Not that I'm condoning it...
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TheOneInYellow
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The other solution, and it will not sound nice, is this:
  • Have a second desktop computer, or at least a computer, in which a spare HDD can be installed. Make sure that the computer has Administrator privileges.
  • Remove the laptop HDD, and put into the second PC.
    Of course, make sure both computers are off, that you are static free (or buy an anti-static wristband, or ground yourself, to say, a radiator), and that the connections for the HDD are the same (if both computers are recent, I bet the HDD's are SATA 2 based, which happens to be backwards compatible to SATA).
    Have a spare HDD connection cable (if SATA, this will be red).
    Also, due to SATA 2 HDD's being awesome, changing drive jumpers on the (laptop) HDD should not be necessary, but always check.
  • Start the second computer, and it should BOOT. If not, then you will need to change the laptop HDD jumpers and set it into Slave mode (or do this in the BIOS; again, you may need to read up about this separately)
  • As soon as the computer starts proper, you can either let it boot all the way to the login screen, or shut down, and switch on again, and go into Safe Mode. I prefer Safe Mode, but that is mildly more techy.
  • Now the fun part ( :wall: ); see if the laptop HDD can be accessed first, and backup any data you can. You may need to change the access privileges on the laptop HDD, but that should not be a big deal.
    If you don't want to do this, you can skip this part, but only if the data is not necessary to back up.
  • Using the second computer's partitioning software (Windows), delete or modify the bad partition of the laptop HDD. This should not delete any data, unless you do something silly like format or something... :unsure: ...
    Try to see where the system data is on the laptop HDD, as I am going to guess that she miscalculated the area she wanted to partition (getting confused between the numbers wanted in byte form; a very common mistake :facepalm: ) and partitioned the critical System Boot area instead. :hellno:
  • Once done, shut down the second PC, re-install the laptop HDD back into the laptop, and see if it BOOTS when switched on. If it does, :yay:
  • Lastly, and the most important, after the laptop works, promptly take away said laptop from her as punishment :nono:

This is a heavily summarised version, and a techy friend nearby might be able to explain, and go further, on the above. This is also juts one solution, but has a good chance of working if you can do this. Remember, GIYF. :nod:
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Braythor
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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Crazy, thanks very much for the info. I don't know owt about Linux, so will leave that alone. I found a free recovery download from here, but I dunno what to do with it. Tried putting it on a USB, adjusting boot priorities accordingly and starting it up, but no worky.

Yellow, many thanks to you too for the input, but I no understand wot u say.

I will tell her to take it to a repair shop.

Thanks again everyone!
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ASLANS R0AR
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sorry it's not an easier fix :(
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crazybydefault
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Braythor
May 16 2012, 06:48 AM
Crazy, thanks very much for the info. I don't know owt about Linux, so will leave that alone. I found a free recovery download from here, but I dunno what to do with it. Tried putting it on a USB, adjusting boot priorities accordingly and starting it up, but no worky.

Yellow, many thanks to you too for the input, but I no understand wot u say.

I will tell her to take it to a repair shop.

Thanks again everyone!
Did you actually flash the recovery .iso to the flashdrive ("burn" the file to flashdrive), or just put the file on the drive normally?

You have to flash it for it to work :P
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ASLANS R0AR
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crazybydefault
May 16 2012, 03:47 PM
Braythor
May 16 2012, 06:48 AM
Crazy, thanks very much for the info. I don't know owt about Linux, so will leave that alone. I found a free recovery download from here, but I dunno what to do with it. Tried putting it on a USB, adjusting boot priorities accordingly and starting it up, but no worky.

Yellow, many thanks to you too for the input, but I no understand wot u say.

I will tell her to take it to a repair shop.

Thanks again everyone!
Did you actually flash the recovery .iso to the flashdrive ("burn" the file to flashdrive), or just put the file on the drive normally?

You have to flash it for it to work :P
:twss:
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Braythor
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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crazybydefault
May 16 2012, 03:47 PM
Braythor
May 16 2012, 06:48 AM
Crazy, thanks very much for the info. I don't know owt about Linux, so will leave that alone. I found a free recovery download from here, but I dunno what to do with it. Tried putting it on a USB, adjusting boot priorities accordingly and starting it up, but no worky.

Yellow, many thanks to you too for the input, but I no understand wot u say.

I will tell her to take it to a repair shop.

Thanks again everyone!
Did you actually flash the recovery .iso to the flashdrive ("burn" the file to flashdrive), or just put the file on the drive normally?

You have to flash it for it to work :P
Errr...dunno...the download was a .rar and I extracted it to the USB.
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The Gengo
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Captain
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Braythor
May 16 2012, 06:19 PM
crazybydefault
May 16 2012, 03:47 PM
Braythor
May 16 2012, 06:48 AM
Crazy, thanks very much for the info. I don't know owt about Linux, so will leave that alone. I found a free recovery download from here, but I dunno what to do with it. Tried putting it on a USB, adjusting boot priorities accordingly and starting it up, but no worky.

Yellow, many thanks to you too for the input, but I no understand wot u say.

I will tell her to take it to a repair shop.

Thanks again everyone!
Did you actually flash the recovery .iso to the flashdrive ("burn" the file to flashdrive), or just put the file on the drive normally?

You have to flash it for it to work :P
Errr...dunno...the download was a .rar and I extracted it to the USB.
It sounds like you burned files to your USB stick, but did NOT do so in a manner that would create a bootable USB stick.

Did you follow the directions to the letter on that site you linked?

You might also try this: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/bootmgr-is-missing.htm

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