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Removed 2 non boot HD and PC won't boot now
- Thread starter |Tch0rT|
- Start date
MikeTrike
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2005
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- 17,091
Are you using Windows Vista or 7, when you set it up did you accidentally place the reserved partition on one of those non-boot drives?
Yep to both.
Windows 7. I'm pretty sure I didn't put the reserved partition on one of the non boot drives but who knows. When I get out of work I'll boot off the Windows disc and take a look.
Typical windows behaviour (I had that with XP too a while ago but it seems common with 7) where it puts necessary boot files across multiple HDDs even though you didn't tell him to. What I do these days, to be safe, is install Windows with only one HDD plugged in (or two if I had a raid) and once Windows is installed I plug in the other HDDs, reboot, and I'm good to go.
Old Hippie
Supreme [H]ardness
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- Oct 31, 2005
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- 6,013
There ya have it.
I'm sure that's the problem.
I'd remove all the other drives and try a "Start-Up Repair" with the boot disk.
I've never had that work for me but you may have better luck.
wkearney99
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2010
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- 370
It sounds like the other drives had the boot sector and BOOT directory on them. How windows and the BIOS determine drive ordering can be a real pain in the ass. Some interfaces get detected and used first, but you don't get shown that ordering when looking at the drives in windows. The BIOS on some motherboards can re-order drives, but not all motherboard support this. And if you don't 'know' what the motherboard is doing when you first set up the machine it can make for real headaches later. I'd image that's what you've got going on now.
First step would be to configure the BIOS to make sure your boot and/or OS partitions (they can be different) are set up as the first drives. Depending on what controllers you have this may or may not be an easy task. Then make sure the boot order is configured right. For recovery you'd want the CD to boot first. Then the drives. Some BIOS make this a separate process. As in, hard drive order is separate from device boot order. Once you get all that sorted out then use the Windows DVD to attempt to do a startup recovery.
There are potentially a lot of other complications in the process. Like, your boot and OS partitions can't be larger than 2TB for booting unless it's a VERY new motherboard that has UEFI boot support (few boards do this). With regular BIOS the partitions used for booting cannot be larger than 2TB. The drive itself can be, but not the boot and/or OS partitions. But once the OS is running you can configure OTHER partitions as MBR or GPT and those can be up to 16TB in size.
First step would be to configure the BIOS to make sure your boot and/or OS partitions (they can be different) are set up as the first drives. Depending on what controllers you have this may or may not be an easy task. Then make sure the boot order is configured right. For recovery you'd want the CD to boot first. Then the drives. Some BIOS make this a separate process. As in, hard drive order is separate from device boot order. Once you get all that sorted out then use the Windows DVD to attempt to do a startup recovery.
There are potentially a lot of other complications in the process. Like, your boot and OS partitions can't be larger than 2TB for booting unless it's a VERY new motherboard that has UEFI boot support (few boards do this). With regular BIOS the partitions used for booting cannot be larger than 2TB. The drive itself can be, but not the boot and/or OS partitions. But once the OS is running you can configure OTHER partitions as MBR or GPT and those can be up to 16TB in size.
Last edited:
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Reconnect all the drives, let the OS boot up, then give EasyBCD a try. You should be able to switch the bootloader to the proper drive this way.
You can also try the Startup Recovery with the install disc, but I've found that to be hit or miss.
Reconnect all the drives, let the OS boot up, then give EasyBCD a try. You should be able to switch the bootloader to the proper drive this way.
You can also try the Startup Recovery with the install disc, but I've found that to be hit or miss.
Yeah it looks like Windows spread out the reserve partition. The Windows repair confirmed it and didn't fix it, big surprise huh? 
Fucking lame. Oh well the drives have already been re-purposed in the HTPC so I didn't bother to put them back in the main rig. I just reinstalled Windows 7, not a big deal but annoying. This time I had only the SSD hooked up during the install.
Thanks for the help guys.
Fucking lame. Oh well the drives have already been re-purposed in the HTPC so I didn't bother to put them back in the main rig. I just reinstalled Windows 7, not a big deal but annoying. This time I had only the SSD hooked up during the install. Thanks for the help guys.