Technique Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 I have numerous physical drives in my PC tower and one of them has been partitioned in to 2. To simplify i'll go like this.... A: 256GB SSD with Windows 7 64bit installed. B/C: 2TB SSHD partitioned in to two. B has Windows 7 64bit also installed on it for dual boot whereas C is just like a storage drive for various files. Pictures, music, videos etc. D- 2TB HDD for storage E: 1TB HDD for storage. Now don't get in to why there's a dual boot of the same OS. Yes i appreciate it's not 'the norm' but it's also not relevant to the question so just accept that that's how this PC boots. I've had it that way since 2011. A can 'see' D & E B can only 'see' C (all done through Computer Panel>Admin Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management The last time i formatted the whole thing was December 2016. Never had an issue (such as this) before until today. Today i boot the PC to A drive and all of a sudden in My Computer both B & C are showing. I don't know if they were there the very moment i booted to A drive. As i'm in the process of doing some online banking i updated SuperantiSpyware (ran it as 'quick' and deleted what it found as i frequently do), Security Essentials the same (found nothing) and Malwarebytes (found nothing). It was after this i went in to My Computer and saw the drives there. Any idea why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 1, 2019 Author Share Posted January 1, 2019 Just now tried to access the other drive (B in the case above) and got this message... There's no reason why this should have happened. B drive hasn't been booted to in days. The last time it was the only thing that took place was a quick google search (nothing xxx, strictly all legit) and i think a couple of iPhone apps may have been updated, or that might've taken place the time before that actually (so it would've just been a Google search last time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted January 1, 2019 MVC Share Posted January 1, 2019 What does disk management say about that drive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKAngel Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 sounds like the mbr is rooted on one of the drives, and it shouldn't be such a big deal that one windows setup can see the other, you do have them set up on weird letters usually a and b are reserved for diskdrives but thats oldschool. could always redo your setup and have your main windows just on C and then create a vhd so you don't need partitions and use that to dual boot goretsky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 I said “to simplify I’ll go like this”. I guess just picking the first letters of the alphabet made things more complex for some reason. Those letters are not ‘the’ letters but I didn’t think that’d create a sticking point? They were just for example sake. Basically now now just wondering how I can fix this so that I can boot to the drive that is now showing that error message. Also not sure why this would randomly happen. I haven’t been messing with any settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKAngel Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 15 minutes ago, Technique said: I said “to simplify I’ll go like this”. I guess just picking the first letters of the alphabet made things more complex for some reason. Those letters are not ‘the’ letters but I didn’t think that’d create a sticking point? They were just for example sake. Basically now now just wondering how I can fix this so that I can boot to the drive that is now showing that error message. Also not sure why this would randomly happen. I haven’t been messing with any settings. it could also mean one of the drives or patitions has failed, can you see all the drives in the bios? have you tryied pressing 3 for repair? have you tried putting in a windows usb stick and booting of that and performing a repair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xMorpheousx416 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Here's what happens when you install for dual/triple/quad operating systems. Primary drive/partition - first installation - creates the default operating system for the computer. Secondary partition/drive - second installation - overrides the default operating system and replaces the boot process. Third partition (and so on) - each subsequent install, overrides the previous operating system's boot process, and becomes the primary boot manager. For example: Windows XP - Windows Vista -- Windows 7 --- Windows 10 ---- Windows 10 controls the boot process for all previously installed OSes. Boot to the primary drive (first install). Open up File Explorer. Right click Computer, go to Properties. Advanced tab. Startup and Recovery - Settings button. You will have a pull down menu under Default Operating System. This must be selected to the last one on the list. In the previous example, if you have XP take over as the default, instead of Windows 10.. you'll have to reinstall every OS all over again, and in order. Back when dual booting XP with say, Linux (uses it's own boot manager), if something screwed up, you could easily copy over needed boot files using DOS. Not sure that's possible above Windows 7. Since you only have a dual boot... use a Windows 7 64bit install CD, and repair the second installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 I couldn’t honestly tell you which order I installed it in first. I THINK the first install was now the one that isn’t working. What i do remember is having to use EasyBCD (I think it’s called) to do something with the boot order. As it’s been 2 years my memory is very hazy on it but I do remember having to use that program. Im not currently at home so some questions I can’t answer at the moment I’m afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipsylalapo Supervisor Posted January 2, 2019 Supervisor Share Posted January 2, 2019 6 hours ago, xMorpheousx416 said: Here's what happens when you install for dual/triple/quad operating systems. Primary drive/partition - first installation - creates the default operating system for the computer. Secondary partition/drive - second installation - overrides the default operating system and replaces the boot process. Third partition (and so on) - each subsequent install, overrides the previous operating system's boot process, and becomes the primary boot manager. For example: Windows XP - Windows Vista -- Windows 7 --- Windows 10 ---- Windows 10 controls the boot process for all previously installed OSes. Boot to the primary drive (first install). Open up File Explorer. Right click Computer, go to Properties. Advanced tab. Startup and Recovery - Settings button. You will have a pull down menu under Default Operating System. This must be selected to the last one on the list. In the previous example, if you have XP take over as the default, instead of Windows 10.. you'll have to reinstall every OS all over again, and in order. Back when dual booting XP with say, Linux (uses it's own boot manager), if something screwed up, you could easily copy over needed boot files using DOS. Not sure that's possible above Windows 7. Since you only have a dual boot... use a Windows 7 64bit install CD, and repair the second installation. But if this is something that's been working previously, as OP suggested, why would it suddenly not work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 That’s what I don’t understand. I could get it if I was messing with system settings and deleting sensitive files but I haven’t been tweaking anything and the only files I’ve been deleting have been standard photo & videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 So in BIOS.. 1st drive i think will be the problem drive (B) 2nd drive is the good partition (A) 3rd & 4th will be the 1TB & 2TB drives. I think the Samsung (4th drive) is the 1TB. As for have i tried to 'repair' yet - no. 1) I'm not totally sure how to 2) My concern is that by repairing it something will end up negatively happening to my SSD drive (A) and i will then be unable to boot to that and since that drive is more important i haven't risked it yet. Now this may have zero chance of happening, i don't know, but there's a lot of stuff on here i don't want to lose so i've not taken the chance. I decided to come here first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xMorpheousx416 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 (edited) You can tell which one was installed first, by the file dates in the Windows folder. They will be the date/time they were installed on that drive/partition. "But if this is something that's been working previously, as OP suggested, why would it suddenly not work?" Good question. That's why we're asking questions and guiding to the solution. See.. getting it fixed, can give us clues as to what happened. The clues to the problem are in that boot screen pictured above: "recent hardware / software change" and "Click Repair Your Computer" I'd say, go back in order, the last five things you did on the system before it was last restarted, and you seen that screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKAngel Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 just unplug them all and see which boots 😛 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 I could try that after I finish work tonight. I cant remember the last 5 things done tbh as the drive isn’t often used. Rather than having 2 user accounts on 1 drive my wife and I have 2 drives. Unusual I know but that’s how this is set up. The drive is is pretty much just used for browsing and updating iTunes apps / backing up her iphone. Will any old file do in the windows folder then? I’m assuming a path such as DriverLetter:Windows yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 Well when i open a cmd prompt within (my) Windows (drive A in the example in the OP) I get a system install date of 22/12/2016 at 8:36pm Since i can't (or don't know how to do) open a cmd prompt for the B drive to get this info i went in to my Windows directory looking for something with that date and time and found within the System32 folder a file called license. I found this same file in my wife's hard drive (drive B in the OP example - the 'faulty' drive) and it gives a date of... 15/12/2016 at 4:44pm, Not sure if this helps you guys any to help me but there you go. Surprised me really, i thought i installed on both drives either on the same day or within a day of each other. I didn't think it was a week apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 Ok well i unplugged all drives except for the problem drive. Didn't go well. Plugged the tower back in only for there to be a loud bang, plenty of bright light from the extension lead & it tripped out the entire upstairs of the house. 1 new fuse later & we're back in business. Fire it up and i just get the same error screen as i posted earlier. So what's the fix here then? To 'repair' from the Windows 7 CD? Will that risk making my SSD drive unbootable? Also if this is the fix then how do you do it since i had a look on YouTube yesterday and these people 'repairing' their install weren't selecting to repair, they were selecting to restore to a previous point which to me is called 'restoring' and not 'repairing' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 (edited) I managed to run chkdsk on the disk and that's the results. I've inserted the Windows 7 DVD to try and repair it but i don't see the repair option at all. Instead all i get are a list of partitions. I installed EasyBCD and this is what it said. Not sure about the 'deleted partition' for Entry #1. I've blacked out the name of the installs only because it has our names on there. Entry 1 is the drive that wont boot, which is also the default boot. Edited January 6, 2019 by Technique Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 Well since i don't know how to edit posts on this message board i'm not sure A) why it says the above post was edited by me B) why the chkdsk results i posted are not showing in that post any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 It seems maybe the message board doesn't like certain info being posted. I've had to remove the path as well as the mention of Microsoft. Quote The type of the file system is NTFS. WARNING! F parameter not specified. Running CHKDSK in read-only mode. CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)... 208384 file records processed. File verification completed. 804 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. 2 EA records processed. 47 reparse records processed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)... 266386 index entries processed. Index verification completed. 0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered. CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)... 208384 file SDs/SIDs processed. Security descriptor verification completed. 29002 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... 36510176 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed. Windows has checked the file system and found no problems. 976793599 KB total disk space. 74877480 KB in 149200 files. 97644 KB in 29003 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 454815 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 901363660 KB available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technique Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 Well i'll keep replying to this in the hope someone sees this and can help... I ran chkdsk /f /r and got this... Also regards the not having a repair option when booting to Windows DVD... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMwfWP2ahyw Take that video for example. I know it's for Vista but i'll use it for this example.. Go to 1:41 ... i can get that screen But when he clicks next he gets the repair option When i click next i get a list of drives and partitions, no repair option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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