Original boot drive won't detect windows anymore

[Ruostunut kokis]

I have a problem that causes my machine to not detect windows in my original boot drive (SSD), but instead finds it on the other hard drive (my main storage HDD), but without it's windows key activated. Something has gone wrong, but me and my godfather (more tech-savvy person than me) were unable to figure out what has happened.

 

 

Background story about it.

 

So before I started to finally install my GTX 590 (has been sitting around for about half years), the PC worked perfectly. I began to disassemble it to the point where all the storage media were removed to help cutting the case to fit my GTX 590 in it. After necessary cutting and putting everything back in to their places, the PC stopped recognizing the windows in the SSD. I surprisingly found it on my larger storage drive of the 2 HDDs I use in that machine (the 1TB HDD), but windows keeps notifying on every boot up, that the version of windows 7 is not genuine, but doesn't ask a new product activation key.

 

What's weird that all the files are in their original places (OS on the SSD, rest of the storage on the 2 HDDs where they belong), and the fact that I can only boot up using the 1TB HDD and not the SSD, even though the 1TB hard drive has no windows files (so no OS on it) and the SSD has every windows 7 file needed to operate (or does it?), but is unable to boot using it. Windows detects all the drives though, so does BIOS (though BIOS won't let me change the boot drive to the 1TB HDD)

 

 

So what should I do? Keep it as it is now (as besides those problems, the OS launches and functions almost like before), install a linux distro and delete everything I have (nothing that important, but I'd like to keep 'em all), or get a genuine Windows 8 when I get enough money?

[jameshumphries47]

I would find another pc plug your sd into an external case format it and then put it back in your pc re put on a legit copy of windows. May I ask is  yours a legal copy of windows?

[Ruostunut kokis]

Well. It was legal. until now (still the same OS, haven't done anything to it)

[jameshumphries47]

lol just format it and add a new os I would try that

[Advent]

If you installed the OS to a SSD there is no way it would have moved to another hard drive. It doesn't work that way. If it doesn't see your SSD as bootable with an OS the OS may have become corrupted or someone deleted it from the SSD and installed it on the other hard drive.

Just reinstall the OS and reactive using the Windows CD Key.

[Ruostunut kokis]

If you installed the OS to a SSD there is no way it would have moved to another hard drive. It doesn't work that way. If it doesn't see your SSD as bootable with an OS the OS may have become corrupted or someone deleted it from the SSD and installed it on the other hard drive.

Just reinstall the OS and reactive using the Windows CD Key.

I know it sounds stupid, but even though the OS is on the SSD, few files are presumably ''missing'' and can't boot up. Tried to fix it few times with startup repair, never worked.

 

Oh and btw. The OS was on the SSD when I acquired it back when I assembled this PC the first time (the seller notified about it), so I have no activation keys nor OS discs.

[FlakeyBanana]

It seems that the boot loader of winblows has somehow derped itself onto your 1tb drive

[Advent]

I know it sounds stupid, but even though the OS is on the SSD, few files are presumably ''missing'' and can't boot up. Tried to fix it few times with startup repair, never worked.

 

Oh and btw. The OS was on the SSD when I acquired it back when I assembled this PC the first time (the seller notified about it), so I have no activation keys nor OS discs.

Contact the seller for it. You purchased a used machine without the original OS install media including the CD Key? No offense but you probably just shot yourself in the foot at the tune of ~$100+ for a copy of the OS and a LIC.

[Ruostunut kokis]

Contact the seller for it. You purchased a used machine without the original OS install media including the CD Key? No offense but you probably just shot yourself in the foot at the tune of ~$100+ for a copy of the OS and a LIC.

I bought the SSD second-handed, used, and I was fully aware the existence of the already-installed Win7 (paid nothing extra, though it was a 60GB used SSD for 100€...) And I've had it for about 1,5 years without problems.

 

The OS still works, not as well as before, but works at least. If I'd get a Windows 8, I could maybe apply for a student discount.

[Goliath002]

probably the MBR has been damaged, try fixing it using your windows CD 

 

 

Repairs the master boot record of the boot disk. The fixmbr command is only available when you are using the Recovery Console

fixmbr [device_name]

Parameter

device_name

The device (drive) on which you want to write a new master boot record. The name can be obtained from the output of the map command. An example of a device name is:

\Device\HardDisk0.

Example

The following example writes a new master boot record to the device specified:

fixmbr \Device\HardDisk0

[Ruostunut kokis]

 

probably the MBR has been damaged, try fixing it using your windows CD 

 

 

Repairs the master boot record of the boot disk. The fixmbr command is only available when you are using the Recovery Console

fixmbr [device_name]

Parameter

device_name

The device (drive) on which you want to write a new master boot record. The name can be obtained from the output of the map command. An example of a device name is:

\Device\HardDisk0.

Example

The following example writes a new master boot record to the device specified:

fixmbr \Device\HardDisk0

 

I already mentioned that I don't have the Windows CD, as the Win7 came on the SSD already installed when I bought it. Otherwise would've done it.

[f22luke]

Have you tried just plugging in the SSD and not the other drives?

 

My first thought was that the boot order was messed up and that there was a backup or something on the other drive that was booting.  Have you checked the boot order in the BIOS/UEFI?

 

There are ways of downloading windows 7 and burning a disk.  This would be an easy way to try and fix a boot loader.

[Ruostunut kokis]

Have you tried just plugging in the SSD and not the other drives?

 

My first thought was that the boot order was messed up and that there was a backup or something on the other drive that was booting.  Have you checked the boot order in the BIOS/UEFI?

 

There are ways of downloading windows 7 and burning a disk.  This would be an easy way to try and fix a boot loader.

Tried to use SSD only. It appears that bootmgr is missing somehow. Also checked the boot order, it is as it should be.

[Goliath002]

you can try to fix MBR by other methods or try to recover bad partition

normally MBR is stored on a different partition of your HD I recommend using Hyren`s BootCD there are a lot of programs that you can use to fix this problem:

http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd

 

BellaVista 1.1.0.71Formerly BCD Editor with lots of options to configure Windows for a developer.

Boot Partition 2.60Add Partition in the Windows NT/2000/XP Multi-boot loader.

BootFix UtilityRun this utility if you get 'Invalid system disk' message.

BootSect 6.0.6Boot Sector Manipulation Tool, This tool replaces FixFAT.exe and FixNTFS.exe.

BootICE 2012.09.20A boot sector manipulation utility to edit MBR/PBR/BCD.

DiskMan 4.2All in one tool for cmos, bios, bootrecord and more.

FbInst 1.6A tool to create universal flash boot disk that boots from all computers.

Grub4Dos installer 1.1An universal boot loader GRUB for DOS GRLDR installer.

grub4dos 2012-10-02An universal boot loader based on GNU GRUB, can boot off DOS/LINUX or via Windows boot manager/syslinux/lilo or from MBR/CD, builtin BIOS disk emulation.

HDHacker 1.4Load/Save/View MBR and BootSector from a physical/logical drive.

isolinux 4.05A boot loader for Linux/i386 that operates off ISO 9660/El Torito CD-ROMs in 'no emulation' mode.

MBRWizard 3.0.73Directly update and modify the Master Boot Record.

MbrFix 1.3Backup, restore and fix the boot code in the MBR.

MBR Utility 1.05Manipulate a drive's master boot record (MBR) via the command line.

MBRWork 1.08A utility to perform some common and uncommon MBR functions.

MBRTool 2.3.200Backup, verify, restore, edit, refresh, remove, display, re-write and more.

MBR SAVE / RESTORE 2.1BootSave and BootRest tools to save / restore MBR.

MemDisk 4.05Allow booting legacy operating systems, floppy images, hard disk images and some ISO images.

PLoP Boot Manager 5.0.14Boot different operating systems harddisk, floppy, CD/DVD or from USB, it can boot from an USB/CD/DVD even without BIOS support.

RMPrepUSB 2.1.620Partition and format your USB drive and make it bootable.

Smart Boot Manager 3.7.1A multi boot manager.

XOSL 1.1.5A graphical boot manager that supports multi-booting of various operating systems.