How to Fix Windows 7 When It Fails to Boot

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[citation][nom]tuannguyen[/nom]The How-To appears in the News only because there's no good section for it quite yet on the home page. But if you guys like this guide, we'll keep producing more and eventually if you guys think it's worthwhile and popular, we'll create a big section for them.Let me know!/ Tuan[/citation]
Yes please! More How to Guides are always welcome!
 
[citation][nom]tuannguyen[/nom]The How-To appears in the News only because there's no good section for it quite yet on the home page. But if you guys like this guide, we'll keep producing more and eventually if you guys think it's worthwhile and popular, we'll create a big section for them.Let me know!/ Tuan[/citation]

count me in
 
[citation][nom]tuannguyen[/nom]The How-To appears in the News only because there's no good section for it quite yet on the home page. But if you guys like this guide, we'll keep producing more and eventually if you guys think it's worthwhile and popular, we'll create a big section for them.Let me know!/ TuanWhat a great article! Yes, make a section for this kind of article. Most I have learned through (bad) experiences, and searching the web for fixes. I didn't know Win7 built-in so many of these features.[/citation]
What a great article! Yes, make a section for this kind of article. Most I have learned through (bad) experiences, and searching the web for fixes. I didn't know Win7 built-in so many of these features.
 
I'd love to see an article describing BIOS options in the latest Core i7 motherbaords 1366/1156 (Gigabyte, Asus, MSI...). And also best way to keep RAM stable at 2Ghz and more. Going through voltages and the rest of the stuff 🙂
 
[citation][nom]randomizer[/nom]I thought Windows users complained about having to use the command line in Linux and yet right here you're using it. Aww nooo where's ma buttons?![/citation]

Not knocking Linux, but there is a difference here. In every Linux distro I've come upon, I've needed to use command line to fix some simple problem that does not exist in windows.

The fact that most people didn't know the command line was an option in this case just goes to show how well windows works.
 
[citation][nom]pojih[/nom]Not knocking Linux, but there is a difference here. In every Linux distro I've come upon, I've needed to use command line to fix some simple problem that does not exist in windows.The fact that most people didn't know the command line was an option in this case just goes to show how well windows works.[/citation]

Needing to use the command line is not a bad thing. It's a different way of working and it's far more efficient than using a GUI once you learn it. In the case of Windows there's some things that you can only do via the CLI. For example, the defragmentation tool is pretty cut down until you open up a command prompt and use it from there. You can even defrag an SSD from the command line, something that via a GUI is not possible without paying for some fancy bloated defrag software.

Of course most people prefer not to use the CLI (including myself), but that's primarily due to lack of familiarity. It's not a Linux vs Windows thing, it's a CLI vs GUI thing.
 
Stop me if I'm wrong, isn't this article using the command line to restore the master boot record?

Interestingly enough, restoring a MBR goes through an arrow keys-driven text interface on my Mandriva boot disk.

I also won't trust an MS partitioner ever again since the Vista partition manager erased my extended partition number 5 when I told it to delete primary partition number 2. And restoring those 300 Gb of data wasn't something I fancied.

Fixing THAT one required Ultimate Boot CD to rebuild the partition table according to the disk layout, then an Ubuntu LiveCD with gparted to manage the partitions correctly, THEN I could install a Windows OS (which took its sweet time, as it often crashed at the end and required to restart from the beginning), and FINALLY I could restore my Mandriva install's GRUB boot manager (which took a few dozen minutes for a complete reinstall with updates).

Trusting MS repair tools? If a partition manager can't even keep a count of what partitions are on disk, I certainly won't trust a tool that should analyze a disk layout and rebuild a partition table!

"But it was a single occurrence", you'll say. Nope, Win98 could already trash a HD if a partition on it was bigger than 15 Gb, Win2000 could lose its kitten if partition 1 ended up located after partition 2 on the disk, XP would erase the MBR no question asked and create overlapping partitions with a smile, Vista can't count... I don't fancy having to test the limitations of Win7's tools.

I'll keep to my non-pro Free software tools. At least they can count, they don't trash MBRs, they don't corrupt data and when they say 'try to recover disk', they don't simply wipe it out - they actually recover it.
 
Well I can't say any of the above ever happened to me using Vista or Win 7 repair tools. They've always been reliable. Can't speak for earlier versions as I typically reformatted instead of trying to recover.
 
yeas you are genius that was very helpful thinks 100 million time
and Thank you!
 
i have this exact problem only my computer error is D:\boot.dll issue and it thinks the boot is in the d drive (optical drive) its a royal headache
 
I have an Acer Aspire 7535-5415 computer, and it keeps failing to boot up. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I have 2 hardwares installed on it, 1 is empty and 1 is half full. My computer is 2 years old, and the battery is now only good for 1/2 hours.
I tried your method, but I can't get it to boot at all and do what you did.
I lost my Windows 7 disk. What should I do?
 
Thanks for posting the part about backing up the old BCD folder and creating a new one in its place with the command prompt. Worked GREAT and am now back up and running!!!!!! Thanks Again!!!!!
 
After deciding to remove Linux Mint 10 from a dual-boot with Windows 7, I deleted it, but then could not fix the MBR, regardless of what info I read, because there were gaps in the info, primarily what to type in before attempting the fix. This site is the only one I've found that walked me through it, and it worked! A hundred thousand thank yous!

Marc
 
Some how managed to destroy my MBR and bootrec.exe /FixMbr saved me, thanks for a very well written article!
 
This is super helpful. I fixed an issue with BootCamp on my Mac where I needed to make the windows side bigger and it wouldn't boot after the expansion process. I assume this would also be useful after installing linux on a Mac that you were wanting to triple boot.

You should tag this as a possible bootcamp fix so my Mac brothers and sisters know where to go... Thanks so much!
 
I couldn't get my MBR to work, but I removed boot folder and did bootrec /RebuildBcd
then it worked. Thanks!
 
"Start Up Repair" worked fine for me after I installed ideneb and screwed by system.

Thanks :)
 
Repaired laptop (windows 7) using Fixing the Master Boot Record tips. Thanks very much almost reinstalled windows, system would not boot, system repair & system recovery would not work too
 
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