Partition Tool 'killed' PC

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Hi guys

 

Would love some help on something I am really struggling with, I will try to keep it short...

 

- I kept getting regular messages from Windows 10 saying something like 'recovery disk E: is running out of space and this may affect your PC'

- So after doing some research I realised that the recovery partition needed increasing so I used a tool to do that (I think from 8Gb to 20Gb) - a mistake with hindsight?

- The tool did its thing then said it would need to restart my PC to take effect, which is where the problems occurred...

- I got an error message when rebooting 'Error code 0xc000001 - Recovery: Your PC Couldn't Start Properly'

- After trying to use the troubleshooting / repair tools it became clear I had to roll back to a previous date (something I've had to do in the past and found straight-forward)

- Anyway, when I tried to do that using my USB boot disk it said something like 'restart your computer and select an OS' (it would not let me rollback there were no options)

 

I am now completely stuck and would really appreciate any help or advice as my PC is now unusable.

 

Thank you

 

[TheNaitsyrk]

16 minutes ago, iconic said:

Hi guys

 

Would love some help on something I am really struggling with, I will try to keep it short...

 

- I kept getting regular messages from Windows 10 saying something like 'recovery disk E: is running out of space and this may affect your PC'

- So after doing some research I realised that the recovery partition needed increasing so I used a tool to do that (I think from 8Gb to 20Gb) - a mistake with hindsight?

- The tool did its thing then said it would need to restart my PC to take effect, which is where the problems occurred...

- I got an error message when rebooting 'Error code 0xc000001 - Recovery: Your PC Couldn't Start Properly'

- After trying to use the troubleshooting / repair tools it became clear I had to roll back to a previous date (something I've had to do in the past and found straight-forward)

- Anyway, when I tried to do that using my USB boot disk it said something like 'restart your computer and select an OS' (it would not let me rollback there were no options)

 

I am now completely stuck and would really appreciate any help or advice as my PC is now unusable.

 

Thank you

 

How new is your PC? If you have UEFI BIOS you should be able to format your HDD there. I'm not entirely sure what happened but I recommend formatting that drive in the BIOS.

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1 minute ago, TheNaitsyrk said:

How new is your PC? If you have UEFI BIOS you should be able to format your HDD there. I'm not entirely sure what happened but I recommend formatting that drive in the BIOS.

It is about 4-5 years old - how do I see if it has UEFI BIOS please?

[Aelita Sophie]

Seems like you screwed up your partition table. You can try the following options:

Turn on your computer, when you see the windows logo, turn it off again. After the third time you should be greeted by your Windows going into Diagnostics Mode. Click on "Advanced Options", Then  "Troubleshoot", again "Advanced Options" and then Startup Repair.

 

If you are unable to do this, then use a Windows installation medium. (For example a Bootable Windows 10 install USB). When you are greeted with the "Windows Setup" window, do not click on Install, but on "Repair your Computer" in the bottom left corner. From there click on Advanced Options and then Command Prompt. Type in BOOTREC /FIXMBR and hit enter. When that is complete type BOOTREC /FIXBOOT and again hit enter. The last command will attempt to write a new boot sector for your PC. If you get an error such as "Boot manager is Missing" then type in BOOTREC /RebuildBcd and hit enter. 

 

If none of these work, then you need to consider to reinstall your PC. Again in the Installation Window of Windows, press "Repair your Computer", but this time hit Reset this PC. In here you can choose to keep or remove your files if you've got any data that is important to you.

 

If the data on your PC isn't as important, you can also simply choose to click on Install, then "Custom installation", delete all the partitions you see of your main harddrive/ssd (Warning, this WILL DELETE ALL YOUR DATA) and then just select an unallocated dataspace so Windows can automatically create the neccesary partitions. From there just follow the installation.

[TheNaitsyrk]

3 minutes ago, iconic said:

It is about 4-5 years old - how do I see if it has UEFI BIOS please?

Keep pressing DEL or F2 when you're turning on the PC until you're in BIOS and option should be somewhere there.

 

Formatting is the best option in your situation.

 

I also recommend not to partition your drives. Just make separate folders on the HDD.

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9 minutes ago, Aelita Sophie said:

Seems like you screwed up your partition table. You can try the following options:

Turn on your computer, when you see the windows logo, turn it off again. After the third time you should be greeted by your Windows going into Diagnostics Mode. Click on "Advanced Options", Then  "Troubleshoot", again "Advanced Options" and then Startup Repair.

 

If you are unable to do this, then use a Windows installation medium. (For example a Bootable Windows 10 install USB). When you are greeted with the "Windows Setup" window, do not click on Install, but on "Repair your Computer" in the bottom left corner. From there click on Advanced Options and then Command Prompt. Type in BOOTREC /FIXMBR and hit enter. When that is complete type BOOTREC /FIXBOOT and again hit enter. The last command will attempt to write a new boot sector for your PC. If you get an error such as "Boot manager is Missing" then type in BOOTREC /RebuildBcd and hit enter. 

 

If none of these work, then you need to consider to reinstall your PC. Again in the Installation Window of Windows, press "Repair your Computer", but this time hit Reset this PC. In here you can choose to keep or remove your files if you've got any data that is important to you.

 

If the data on your PC isn't as important, you can also simply choose to click on Install, then "Custom installation", delete all the partitions you see of your main harddrive/ssd (Warning, this WILL DELETE ALL YOUR DATA) and then just select an unallocated dataspace so Windows can automatically create the neccesary partitions. From there just follow the installation.

Thank you so much for your comprehensive reply, I am working my way through it. The third time restart didn't work so I used the bootable windows 10 USB. I did both the BOOTREC commands and both said 'This operation completed successfully' - what do I do next please?

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15 minutes ago, TheNaitsyrk said:

Keep pressing DEL or F2 when you're turning on the PC until you're in BIOS and option should be somewhere there.

 

Formatting is the best option in your situation.

 

I also recommend not to partition your drives. Just make separate folders on the HDD.

If I format will I lose my files?

[TheNaitsyrk]

12 minutes ago, iconic said:

If I format will I lose my files?

Yep.

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2 minutes ago, TheNaitsyrk said:

Yep.

OK thanks, will keep that as a last resort then. 

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21 minutes ago, iconic said:

Thank you so much for your comprehensive reply, I am working my way through it. The third time restart didn't work so I used the bootable windows 10 USB. I did both the BOOTREC commands and both said 'This operation completed successfully' - what do I do next please?

Still at this stage if someone can help please. Thank you.

[TheNaitsyrk]

2 minutes ago, iconic said:

Still at this stage if someone can help please. Thank you.

"When that is complete type BOOTREC /FIXBOOT and again hit enter. The last command will attempt to write a new boot sector for your PC. If you get an error such as "Boot manager is Missing" then type in BOOTREC /RebuildBcd and hit enter. "

 

EDIT: Woops you did it already, my bad.

[Aelita Sophie]

Just now, iconic said:

Still at this stage if someone can help please. Thank you.

If it was successful you should be able to boot again. If not, then the problem is probably even bigger. In that case you should start with the  "reset my pc" or a new installation.

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Just now, Aelita Sophie said:

If it was successful you should be able to boot again. If not, then the problem is probably even bigger. In that case you should start with the  "reset my pc" or a new installation.

Thank you Aelita Sophie - just to check do I reboot with the Windows 10 boot USB removed now or keep it in?

[Aelita Sophie]

Just now, iconic said:

Thank you Aelita Sophie - just to check do I reboot with the Windows 10 boot USB removed now or keep it in?

If you want to attempt to boot your PC to see if it solved your problem, then remove the USB stick. If it still wont boot, then put the usb stick back in, to start a PC reset or new installation.

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2 minutes ago, Aelita Sophie said:

If you want to attempt to boot your PC to see if it solved your problem, then remove the USB stick. If it still wont boot, then put the usb stick back in, to start a PC reset or new installation.

Thank you. Restarted my PC, no error messages yet but I see the windows logo and spinning icon. Waiting to see what happens, it has been a few mins so far but will let it continue for now.

[Aelita Sophie]

Just now, iconic said:

Thank you. Restarted my PC, no error messages yet but I see the windows logo and spinning icon. Waiting to see what happens, it has been a few mins so far but will let it continue for now.

Just give it some time to figure it out. When it hangs there, then yet again the problem is probably far more severe. And without any input from the PC (like error messages or what not) its a needle in a haystack to find the problem.

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9 minutes ago, Aelita Sophie said:

Just give it some time to figure it out. When it hangs there, then yet again the problem is probably far more severe. And without any input from the PC (like error messages or what not) its a needle in a haystack to find the problem.

Still seeing the same thing 10-15 mins later - do I need to leave it longer or give up and try your next step of reset this PC?

[Aelita Sophie]

Just now, iconic said:

Still seeing the same thing 10-15 mins later - do I need to leave it longer or give up and try your next step of reset this PC?

After that time I would give up. There is no real reason for Windows to take that long (unless your harddrive is really really old, but considering your PC age, it's not that old). A reset or a new installation would be the next 2 options.

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1 minute ago, Aelita Sophie said:

After that time I would give up. There is no real reason for Windows to take that long (unless your harddrive is really really old, but considering your PC age, it's not that old). A reset or a new installation would be the next 2 options.

Thanks - it is not that old and quite fast normally (SSD etc) so will try that next step. Thank you so much for your help and patience in getting me through this!

[razaldo]

If you are worried about not being able to boot at all then as a last resort you could copy a bootable Linux distro on to a USB. Log in to the Linux OS and copy/backup all your important files to another external drive. 

I hope you don't have to resort to this though. 

All the best. 

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1 hour ago, Aelita Sophie said:

Seems like you screwed up your partition table. You can try the following options:

Turn on your computer, when you see the windows logo, turn it off again. After the third time you should be greeted by your Windows going into Diagnostics Mode. Click on "Advanced Options", Then  "Troubleshoot", again "Advanced Options" and then Startup Repair.

 

If you are unable to do this, then use a Windows installation medium. (For example a Bootable Windows 10 install USB). When you are greeted with the "Windows Setup" window, do not click on Install, but on "Repair your Computer" in the bottom left corner. From there click on Advanced Options and then Command Prompt. Type in BOOTREC /FIXMBR and hit enter. When that is complete type BOOTREC /FIXBOOT and again hit enter. The last command will attempt to write a new boot sector for your PC. If you get an error such as "Boot manager is Missing" then type in BOOTREC /RebuildBcd and hit enter. 

 

If none of these work, then you need to consider to reinstall your PC. Again in the Installation Window of Windows, press "Repair your Computer", but this time hit Reset this PC. In here you can choose to keep or remove your files if you've got any data that is important to you.

 

If the data on your PC isn't as important, you can also simply choose to click on Install, then "Custom installation", delete all the partitions you see of your main harddrive/ssd (Warning, this WILL DELETE ALL YOUR DATA) and then just select an unallocated dataspace so Windows can automatically create the neccesary partitions. From there just follow the installation.

OK back to this - at the stage where you said 'if none of these work you need to consider a reinstall on your PC'...

 

So I pressed repair your computer but i do not have a 'reset this PC option' I just have....

 

1) Continue - Exit and continue to windows 10 home

2) Use another operating system - continue with another installed version of Windows

3) Troubleshoot - reset your pc or see advanced options 

4) Turn off your PC

 

Doh - I see the option 3 note, sorry! 

 

So under troubleshoot I have....

 

- System restore (this is the one which does not give me a restore point from my past attempts)

- System Image Recovery - Recover Windows using a specific system image file

- Startup repair - Fix problems that keep Windows from loading (againg we tried this before)

- Command prompte - Use the command prompt for advanced troubleshooting

- Go back to the previous version

 

Which do I select please? (to get to the option you said about keep or remove your files)

[Aelita Sophie]

1 minute ago, iconic said:

OK back to this - at the stage where you said 'if none of these work you need to consider a reinstall on your PC'...

 

So I pressed repair your computer but i do not have a 'reset this PC option' I just have....

 

1) Continue - Exit and continue to windows 10 home

2) Use another operating system - continue with another installed version of Windows

3) Troubleshoot - reset your pc or see advanced options 

4) Turn off your PC

 

Doh - I see the option 3 note, sorry! 

 

So under troubleshoot I have....

 

- System restore (this is the one which does not give me a restore point from my past attempts)

- System Image Recovery - Recover Windows using a specific system image file

- Startup repair - Fix problems that keep Windows from loading (againg we tried this before)

- Command prompte - Use the command prompt for advanced troubleshooting

- Go back to the previous version

 

Which do I select please? (to get to the option you said about keep or remove your files)

I fear that it does not recognize your installation. You could try using a different windows installation ISO on your USB stick (for example a Windows 10 Pro variant.) Other wise I think you are out of luck. You also could try, when going on a new install, to install on an existing partition (So not deleting them just yet). That way you might get the chance to save your important data.

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6 minutes ago, Aelita Sophie said:

I fear that it does not recognize your installation. You could try using a different windows installation ISO on your USB stick (for example a Windows 10 Pro variant.) Other wise I think you are out of luck. You also could try, when going on a new install, to install on an existing partition (So not deleting them just yet). That way you might get the chance to save your important data.

Where do I get a windows 10 ISO Pro edition file?

 

I did my previous USB from this link https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10 but that tool does not have an option for windows 10 pro (which is the one I think I have on my PC come to think of it)

[Aelita Sophie]

Just now, iconic said:

Where do I get a windows 10 ISO Pro edition file?

 

I did my previous USB from this link https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10 but that tool does not have an option for windows 10 pro (which is the one I think I have on my PC come to think of it)

Well there are some not-so-legal ways to obtain those. I can't go in to specific due rules of this forum, but you catch my drift.

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Just now, Aelita Sophie said:

Well there are some not-so-legal ways to obtain those. I can't go in to specific due rules of this forum, but you catch my drift.

Right, sorry I mislead you. I have a legit licence key etc. But the tool from microsoft doesnt give me an option for windows 10 pro when creating the boot disk using that tool? Does that make sense?

 

Alternatively, if I go for the install (using my product key) will it give me the option to keep my data? - I really do not want to lose it all. I have some backed up but not all of it.