Unable to boot into Windows

[tylrwong]

My Windows partition is corrupt. 

Chkdsk fails immediately at partition table is corrupt, and I cant mount the filesystem in Linux. Is there anything I can do to recover the data?

 

Here's what happened:

I booted up Windows, closed a few windows, and clicked settings.

Settings crashed immediately, so I tried again to no avail.

I got a notification about drive errors, and to restart my PC.

I did so, and it went into recovery mode and said that it couldn't recover Windows.

 

Specs:

DELL G15 5511

i5-11240H

1x8GB DDR4-3200

RTX 3050 Ti

WD SN530 500GB - Ubuntu and Corrupt Windows Partitions (100GB and 360GB respectively)

 

 

[PwnyTheTiger]

If you have access to a recovery environment or if you don't, a USB drive and another PC to use, you can make a recovery USB, boot into that and use either diskpart or a command prompt and run "bootrec /fixmbr" and "bootrec /fixboot". May just be a broken Master Boot Record, or worst case the entire partition Windows is on has taken a dump in which case you'd need to rebuild the partition, which you won't be able to do without the assistance of software. If the above doesn't work, the partition might be gone completely, so you'd lose all the data but you should be able to use the drive to install Windows again and continue on.

[tylrwong]

5 minutes ago, PwnyTheTiger said:

If you have access to a recovery environment or if you don't, a USB drive and another PC to use, you can make a recovery USB, boot into that and use either diskpart or a command prompt and run "bootrec /fixmbr" and "bootrec /fixboot". May just be a broken Master Boot Record, or worst case the entire partition Windows is on has taken a dump in which case you'd need to rebuild the partition, which you won't be able to do without the assistance of software. If the above doesn't work, the partition might be gone completely, so you'd lose all the data but you should be able to use the drive to install Windows again and continue on.

Ok, I'll try that when I get home. Just in case, what software would I use to rebuild the partition?

[PwnyTheTiger]

I have zero experience with using any of this kind of software for this purpose so I couldn't in good conscious recommend anything in particular, but I did notice AOMEI has partition tools and was mentioned in one of the results. I've used AOMEI software when I bought a 980 Pro and transferred my Windows partition to it successfully, so if anything I could suggest looking into it. The article I found on this is HERE

[tylrwong]

2 hours ago, PwnyTheTiger said:

I have zero experience with using any of this kind of software for this purpose so I couldn't in good conscious recommend anything in particular, but I did notice AOMEI has partition tools and was mentioned in one of the results. I've used AOMEI software when I bought a 980 Pro and transferred my Windows partition to it successfully, so if anything I could suggest looking into it. The article I found on this is HERE

I got the data! I used TestDisk in Ubuntu, and after rewriting the MFT, all the folders are there. Currently copying them to an external hard drive.

[tylrwong]

55 minutes ago, tylrwong said:

I got the data! I used TestDisk in Ubuntu, and after rewriting the MFT, all the folders are there. Currently copying them to an external hard drive.

 

3 hours ago, PwnyTheTiger said:

I have zero experience with using any of this kind of software for this purpose so I couldn't in good conscious recommend anything in particular, but I did notice AOMEI has partition tools and was mentioned in one of the results. I've used AOMEI software when I bought a 980 Pro and transferred my Windows partition to it successfully, so if anything I could suggest looking into it. The article I found on this is HERE

Aaand I stand corrected. My user folder isnt there.

[tylrwong]

Yep, data seems to be unrecoverable. Can't use AOMEI either, as I don't have a Windows install rn.

[tylrwong]

23 hours ago, PwnyTheTiger said:

I have zero experience with using any of this kind of software for this purpose so I couldn't in good conscious recommend anything in particular, but I did notice AOMEI has partition tools and was mentioned in one of the results. I've used AOMEI software when I bought a 980 Pro and transferred my Windows partition to it successfully, so if anything I could suggest looking into it. The article I found on this is HERE

Managed to recover the data via MiniTool Partition Wizard and an ISO from GBATemp, forgot what it's called and it's actively working rn. Currently backing up to an external drive so that I can reinstall Windows.

[PwnyTheTiger]

What software is this? Curious in case I need to do something like this in the future or have someone in need of help.

[tylrwong]

2 hours ago, PwnyTheTiger said:

What software is this? Curious in case I need to do something like this in the future or have someone in need of help.

I'll get back to you once it's done, it's only half finished and it's been like 3hrs lol

[tylrwong]

4 hours ago, PwnyTheTiger said:

What software is this? Curious in case I need to do something like this in the future or have someone in need of help.

Here you go, it's called MediCat

https://gbatemp.net/threads/medicat-usb-a-multiboot-linux-usb-for-pc-repair.361577/