I really messed up this time.

Advent · 12-02-2008, 06:56 PM

So, while clearing out bits and pieces from an old windows partition on my computer, I accidentally deleted the MBR. I hadn't realised that that windows partition had it on it, and so was then unable to boot up windows(Ubuntu worked just fine at this point). So, from there, I used my windows disk to try and repair it by typing 'fixmbr'. Unfortunately, this not only did not work, it also deleted grub.

Now, when I boot up using the Ubuntu CD, and check the partitions in the partition editor, it tells me that I only have 700GB of unallocated space(My entire drive). Is that it? Has everything somehow magically deleted itself?

!!!Daniel!!! · 12-02-2008, 08:19 PM

Hmm looks like you have yourself a toughy. I dont always trust Ubuntu with that stuff, just because it tells you that you have nothing on your drive, doestn mean everything has disappeared, thats just Ubuntu being stupid, if a repair doesnt work, you may have no other option but to re-install windows. unless may'be try and find another boot CD that will let you get into your drive and is seeing all of your stuff, back it up, and re-install

Irishwhistle · 12-02-2008, 10:12 PM

ONLY 700GB? How big is your drive? If you can't mount the drive you may have to zero-fill it... unfortunately that would definitely get rid of any hope of retrieving your files. If you have a 1TB HD or something like that there's a possibility that the partition just isn't showing up in gparted for some reason.

Advent · 12-03-2008, 04:59 PM

No, my drive is just 750GB. 700GB is the amount it shows when it is empty. However, I managed to use testdisk to retrieve my windows partition(It really was deleted), and everything on it. I still can't boot into it however, it says 'NTLDR is missing, press ctrl+alt+del to restart'. Any way to fix that, or am I resigned to breaking out my dvds and burning all my data to them by using the livecd?

i am a noob · 12-03-2008, 05:15 PM

Try reinstalling it

gamerman4 · 12-03-2008, 05:41 PM

well considering you managed to delete the MBR, NTLDR is probably not the only thing missing so a reinstallation of Windows would be best.

Advent · 12-03-2008, 06:01 PM

No, I deleted my old version of windows. I have a new one which should work fine, (All the files of everything are there) except I can't boot it.

Death By Bass · 12-03-2008, 07:35 PM

umm, why would anyone want to shoot themself in the foot twice by having two versions of windows?

anyway, if the drive appears as a single block of unallocated space, then thats probably what it is.

what happens if you boot "live CD" or whatever? are all the partitions and files still there?

**mep916** · 12-03-2008, 08:53 PM

Now that you've recovered (undeleted) your Windows partition, try the steps here.

Elimin8or · 12-03-2008, 09:45 PM

Couldn't it be that the other 50MB are not really there? For example: I have an 80GB HDD. My comuter claims its actaully 75GB. My brother has a 160GB HDD, but only like 140GB(i think) shows up. Could this be the deal with his/her HDD?

12-02-2008, 06:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
Advent New Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 24	I really messed up this time. So, while clearing out bits and pieces from an old windows partition on my computer, I accidentally deleted the MBR. I hadn't realised that that windows partition had it on it, and so was then unable to boot up windows(Ubuntu worked just fine at this point). So, from there, I used my windows disk to try and repair it by typing 'fixmbr'. Unfortunately, this not only did not work, it also deleted grub. Now, when I boot up using the Ubuntu CD, and check the partitions in the partition editor, it tells me that I only have 700GB of unallocated space(My entire drive). Is that it? Has everything somehow magically deleted itself?

12-02-2008, 08:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
!!!Daniel!!! Silver Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Australia Age: 16 Posts: 101	Hmm looks like you have yourself a toughy. I dont always trust Ubuntu with that stuff, just because it tells you that you have nothing on your drive, doestn mean everything has disappeared, thats just Ubuntu being stupid, if a repair doesnt work, you may have no other option but to re-install windows. unless may'be try and find another boot CD that will let you get into your drive and is seeing all of your stuff, back it up, and re-install __________________ Motherboard: Asus M2N-MX SE Plus Chipset:nVidia 6100V Case:Master 908 CPU:AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @ 2600 MHz Physical Memory:2048 MB DDR2-SDRAM Video Card: Nvidia Corp GeForce 6100 nForce 430 (256Mb) OS: Windows 7 Ultimate Professional 6.01.7100 DVD/CD ROM Drive: HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NS30

12-02-2008, 10:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
Irishwhistle Diamond Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 4,434	ONLY 700GB? How big is your drive? If you can't mount the drive you may have to zero-fill it... unfortunately that would definitely get rid of any hope of retrieving your files. If you have a 1TB HD or something like that there's a possibility that the partition just isn't showing up in gparted for some reason. __________________ Desktop / MSI Wind U100 Netbook AMD 64 X2 2.6GHz / Intel Atom 1.6GHz 2GB DDR2 800 RAM / 1GB DDR2 667 RAM 9600GT 512MB GDDR3 GPU / Intel GMA950 ASUS M3A76-CM / Intel 945GSE Chipset 120GB IDE HDD (lol) / 160GB HDD

12-03-2008, 05:41 PM	#6 (permalink)
gamerman4 Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Arkansas Age: 19 Posts: 2,806	well considering you managed to delete the MBR, NTLDR is probably not the only thing missing so a reinstallation of Windows would be best. __________________ Intel Q6600 @ 3.00 Ghz Xigmatek HDT-S1283 ASUS P5Q SE PLUS HDDs:1 x 500GB 1x 750GB 1x 1000GB 2 x 2GB OCZ DDR2 1066 ATi Radeon HD 4870 1024MB PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Logitech Z-5500 there shouldn't be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

12-03-2008, 09:45 PM	#10 (permalink)
Elimin8or Diamond Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Am I logged on? Obvioulsy,then in front of the freakin computer. If not, how the hell would I know? Age: 17 Posts: 2,372	Couldn't it be that the other 50MB are not really there? For example: I have an 80GB HDD. My comuter claims its actaully 75GB. My brother has a 160GB HDD, but only like 140GB(i think) shows up. Could this be the deal with his/her HDD? __________________ My Rig: Mobo: K9N4 SLi \| CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ @ 2.7GHz \|HS+F: Stock \| GPU: EVGA 8600GTS \| RAM: 4GB DDR2 800MHz \| HDD: 120GB \| PSU: 420W Raidmax \| Case: Raidmax Scorpio \| OS: XP Pro SP3 5 Favorite Games I'm Playing: Assassins Creed \| Mirrors Edge \| Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare \| ArmA2 \| R6: Vegas 2 \|

12-03-2008, 04:59 PM	#4 (permalink)
Advent New Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 24	No, my drive is just 750GB. 700GB is the amount it shows when it is empty. However, I managed to use testdisk to retrieve my windows partition(It really was deleted), and everything on it. I still can't boot into it however, it says 'NTLDR is missing, press ctrl+alt+del to restart'. Any way to fix that, or am I resigned to breaking out my dvds and burning all my data to them by using the livecd?

12-03-2008, 05:15 PM	#5 (permalink)
i am a noob Bronze Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Sunderland,England Age: 15 Posts: 27	Try reinstalling it

12-03-2008, 06:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
Advent New Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 24	No, I deleted my old version of windows. I have a new one which should work fine, (All the files of everything are there) except I can't boot it.

12-03-2008, 07:35 PM	#8 (permalink)
Death By Bass Bronze Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 42	umm, why would anyone want to shoot themself in the foot twice by having two versions of windows? anyway, if the drive appears as a single block of unallocated space, then thats probably what it is. what happens if you boot "live CD" or whatever? are all the partitions and files still there?

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