Won't boot after merging

Hi guy's

I used DDS 10 to merge two partitions the first 25gig which was full with the second 75gig which was empty.

However when it finished and re-booted the dell diagnostics screen opens and I can't get past there.

Any idea's as to how I go about solving this?

Thanks in advance

GF

 

What OS are you using?

Is there only one internal hard drive in the computer?

What were the two partitions (Primary or Logical)?

Which partition was Active?

Is the new partition Active/Primary?

Are you getting an error message?

 

MudCrab =What OS are you using?

Is there only one internal hard drive in the computer?

Not too sure..

What were the two partitions (Primary or Logical)?

Not too sure what you mean here. From running DDS for the first time it said something like NTFS 25gb, FAT16 16gb, and NTFS 75gb file?

Which partition was Active?

Not too sure what you are asking?

Is the new partition Active/Primary?

Again, Not too sure what you are asking?

Are you getting an error message?[/QUOTE]

No just some Dell diagnostics which it reads 'pass' but still won't load XP Pro

Thanks thus far

Richard

 

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/3241/dsc0021750ss0.jpg

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/884/dsc002135050bu6.jpg

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/952/dsc0021450yp3.jpg

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/7238/dsc0021550bo3.jpg

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/606/dsc0021650iy9.jpg

[img=http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5746/dsc00220nz0.th.jpg]

Added images

Thanks

Richard

 

Did you do the Merge using DD in Windows or by booting to the DD CD?

Do you have a DD CD? If you do, boot it and start DD. Select the "Manual" mode. Then post a screenshot of what DD shows for your drive.

It may just be a matter of setting the correct partition Active. The boot.ini file for XP may also need to be modified (depending on what the Merge did).

 

I did from a download. I have XP Pro.

However I can burn it to disk as It's saved on this PC.

Please let me know how to proceed, if I just need to burn it I can;-)

Thanks ever so

Richard

 

DD would need to be installed (do not install the Acronis OS Selector program) and then you can use the Acronis Media Builder program to create the DD CD (or an ISO file to burn to a CD using Nero or another ISO burning program).

 

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/4708/dsc00226aq2.jpg

This is what I've got.

If I don't come back straight away it's not because I don't care, it's just UK time ;-)

Many many thanks

Richard

 

From your screenshot, it looks like you might have moved your XP partition from Disk 1 to Disk 2.


Normally, Windows would be on the same drive as the Diagnostic partition (the FAT16 partition).

Why were you doing the Merge?

Were the two partitions you tried to Merge on the same hard drive?

Can you right-click on the Primary parition on Disk 2 (D: in the screenshot) and Explore it? Does it look like it contains your Windows files and folders?

Did the "D:" partition contain any data before the merge? If so, is that data also shown when you Explore the partition?

 

From what is here I guess that's what happened?

http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00227bb6.jpg

http://img341.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00228ba0.jpg

How should I proceed?

Richard

 

Before this happened, when you booted into XP, was the XP partition the C: drive?

Do you have a standard Windows XP CD? If so, do you know how to use the Recovery Console?

Do you care if you have to use the partition on the second drive for the Windows partition (assuming it will boot)? I suppose you were out of room on the other partition and were trying to add some with the Merge.

Do you have a backup image (like with TI) of Disk 1 from before you did the Merge?

 

MudCrab]Before this happened, when you booted into XP, was the XP partition the C: drive?

Yes, I believe so, D was pretty much empty, hence the attempted mearge. From the pic above it seems everything is still there but in the wrong place. Can I access the files via DDS?

Do you have a standard Windows XP CD? If so, do you know how to use the Recovery Console?

No it's a DELL it didn't come with an XP disk. However I can get one. But no I won't say for definate I kno how to use it..

Do you care if you have to use the partition on the second drive for the Windows partition (assuming it will boot)? I suppose you were out of room on the other partition and were trying to add some with the Merge.

Yes I was out of the room. No I don't care where it boots to I just need to get all the info off first then Ican re-format if needed

Do you have a backup image (like with TI) of Disk 1 from before you did the Merge?

No back up I'm afraid. I didn't think it could go wrong?

 

Any thoughts

Richard

 

There are several things you can try:

1. Recover the original XP partition on Disk 1.

2. Reinstall XP to Disk 1 and then access any files you want from the partition on Disk 2.

3. Try and get Disk 2 booting.

4. Put Disk 2 into another computer and copy off any files you want to save. Once that's done, reinstall XP on whichever drive you want. Then copy back the files you need.

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Option #1 - I would try this first.

Boot to the DD CD (select Manual Mode) and use the Recover Partitions Wizard on the unallocated space on Disk 1 and see if it can get your XP partition back. If the Merge only copied the files and then deleted the partition, this may be an easy fix. Of course, this assumes you didn't do anything to this space since the Merge.

Depending on how the system boots, it may be correct to leave the Dell Diagnostic partition Active or you may need to set the recovered partition as the Active partition.

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Option #2

If you want to reinstall XP, you can do this from an OEM XP CD (if you want to use your XP key). There does not appear to be any recovery partition on either of the drives so any "return to factory state" option is most likely not available.

Install XP to Disk 1 into the unallocated space. Once XP is reinstalled, you can access the data on Disk 2 and do what you want with it.

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Option #3

If you want to try and boot Disk 2, you can try this:

1. Boot to the DD CD and start DD. Select Manual Mode.
2. Set the 74GB partition (probably will still show as the D: partition) as Active.
3. Verify the boot.ini file on that partition is correct. The ...partition(#) values should be (1). You can use DD to Explore the partition, right-click on the boot.ini file and select Edit to view and make any necessary changes.
4. Apply any pending changes in DD and reboot.
5. Go into the BIOS and set Disk 2 as the booting hard drive. Make sure the CD drive is still set to boot before the hard drive.
6. Boot from the XP CD and enter the Recovery Console
7. Enter the following commands (<ENTER> means to press the ENTER key):
   
   Code:

   fixmbr <ENTER>
   fixboot <ENTER>

8. Exit the Recovery Console and reboot the computer.

If the settings are correct and your files were transferred intact, Windows should boot.

If you need more specific instructions on any step they can be provided.

 

Well it's been a while but here goes...

My laptop suffered a power charging failure which forced me to buy a usb to hd link. I recovered all my business files that way to my new lappy.

I did try your above suggestions but I appeared to be getting in deeper and deeper with the worry that I might suddenly delete all the vital info.

So I just reomved the HD and did the same - simply recovered the necessary files to this PC then re-formatted. This put me in the clear ;-)

So I would like to thank MC for all his help and can honestly say without your assistance I would have been in real troubs with the wife and daughter

Cheers

Richard