Windows 10 not booting from SSD

[Matthew Mendez]

Tried booting up my PC this morning and got the error: "Active partition not found! Press any key..."
I've had this PC for about 2 years, Windows 10 is installed on an SSD and just about everything else on an HDD. When I go into BIOS, both the SSD and HDD are shown, but I get the error when trying to boot from either. I can't even get into Safe Mode, but I can use BIOS.

I followed these instructions and tried all options, but kept getting errors like "windows could not repair your PC."

I tried running chkdsk from the command prompt from Window repair media USB, but got the error "Failed to transfer logged message to the event log with status 50."

Any suggestions? What could have caused this problem?

 

[Jai Molloy]

Just for fun, try to boot your machine from a USB Linux build. Maybe you can recover your stuff and then try the more risky repairs...

This would be what I would try next.

The SSD could have gone bad (depending on the quality/model this is unlikely), Motherboard problems (also unlikely), Reboot/Crash at the worst time (most likely to me)

 

[usr1235]

If you have another computer, could you try plugging the SSD into it and seeing if it boots from it? In addition, you can boot the other PC's OS and see if the disk is working at all. It may have just died.

You could also try repairing the boot partition:

Try these instructions (the Windows 10 variant): http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln300987/how-to-repair-the-efi-bootloader-on-a-gpt-hdd-for-windows-7--8--81-and-10-on-your-dell-pc?lang=en

Although it says for Dell PCs I believe the instructions are universal. Since you have multiple hard drives your boot disk may not be "disk 0", so it may be necessary to use the "list disk" (just like that with no quotes) and pick the appropriate number.

 

[Matthew Mendez]

If you have another computer, could you try plugging the SSD into it and seeing if it boots from it? In addition, you can boot the other PC's OS and see if the disk is working at all. It may have just died.

You could also try repairing the boot partition:

Try these instructions (the Windows 10 variant): http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln300987/how-to-repair-the-efi-bootloader-on-a-gpt-hdd-for-windows-7--8--81-and-10-on-your-dell-pc?lang=en

Although it says for Dell PCs I believe the instructions are universal. Since you have multiple hard drives your boot disk may not be "disk 0", so it may be necessary to use the "list disk" (just like that with no quotes) and pick the appropriate number.

Don't have another computer, unfortunately. But if it's dead, shouldn't it not show up in BIOS?

Using the method you linked to, I was only able to get the command to run for volume 7 labeled "LRS_ESP". All other volumes indicated that that path was invalid. And I'm sure the disk I used is my SSD. Anyways, it didn't fix the problem 🙁

 

[Matthew Mendez]

Just for fun, try to boot your machine from a USB Linux build. Maybe you can recover your stuff and then try the more risky repairs...

This would be what I would try next.

The SSD could have gone bad (depending on the quality/model this is unlikely), Motherboard problems (also unlikely), Reboot/Crash at the worst time (most likely to me)

Not too concerned about losing data, I don't have anything irreplaceable not backed up, just want my computer to work.

 

[Matthew Mendez]

UPDATE: Okay, so after trying to repair again it seems to be fixed. I have Windows 8.1 instead of 10 (probably because I did the free upgrade awhile ago), but there's still a free upgrade going on now so shouldn't be a problem. I'm not certain usr1235's suggestion was the solution, but after following the instructions he linked and repairing the OS from the bootable USB, my OS was successfully reset. Thanks for the help!

 

[usr1235]

Glad it worked out! You might consider doing a clean install when you upgrade again (back up everything!). Issues like you just had always make me paranoid about the state of the system files and boot partitions.

Another potential lifesaver is to do like one user suggested and create a bootable Ubuntu USB drive. https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-windows#0

For situations like you just had, you can still boot into an OS and access your files since Linux can read NTFS, or look up or download whatever you need to to help fix the problem.

 

[Jai Molloy]

UPDATE: Okay, so after trying to repair again it seems to be fixed. I have Windows 8.1 instead of 10 (probably because I did the free upgrade awhile ago), but there's still a free upgrade going on now so shouldn't be a problem. I'm not certain usr1235's suggestion was the solution, but after following the instructions he linked and repairing the OS from the bootable USB, my OS was successfully reset. Thanks for the help!

I think you are still entitled to the Windows 10 you had before, but you use your old key to install/activate it.