Invalid Partition Table

photomark · Feb 21, 2009

I have read a lot on this subject here on the forum and have attempted all of the suggested solutions without any luck.

I upgraded from XP Pro about a week ago and everything just died today after using RegCure to cleanup the registry. I used the startup repair which told me that the repair had to be done manually and I also removed all devices that were attached with USB. all to no avail.

I am running vista home premium 32bit on a AMD 4600+ duel 64bit processor with 2Gb of memory and a 120Gb 7200 maxtor HD. :cry:

SIW2 · Feb 21, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

Hi photomark,

It would help if we knew how you got to the startup repair option.

Do you have a M$ install dvd, a manufacturer recovery dvd, a Dell reinstall dvd, or the system recovery cd from Neosmart?

Depending on which you have, you may be able to use the command prompt to repair the boot files to get you back in.

Failing that, we should be able to use the command prompt to copy essential data off your drive if a reinstall is necesssary.

SIW2

photomark · Feb 22, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

The disk that I have has is a Student Upgrade version to upgrade from XP Pro to Vista 32bit. there was an option to use the command prompt but only allowed from X:\

SIW2 · Feb 22, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

Hi,

That's good - the dvd you have should do the job.

If you boot to the recovery options and select command prompt, it is supposed to say X:\sources>

Here's the first way to try and repair the boot files:

At the prompt, ( this bit > ) type Notepad then press Enter.

Notepad will open, click File then Save. A window opens which allows you to browse the drives from the drop down flap.

Make a note of the dvdrom drive letter.

( You can also right click and copy any files then browse to any other drive it can see, eg usb drive or attached external HD and right click and paste into the window. That is how to save anything off the drive ).

Close notepad, at the prompt, type the following:

(Press Enter after each of the following commands. Replace the ?: with the dvdrom drive letter , e.g. E: OR F: or whatever it is.)

bootrec.exe /fixmbr {enter}

?:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /f {enter}

del C:\boot\bcd {enter}

bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd {enter}

Hopefully, you'll get a message saying it was successful.

Close the cmd window, remove the dvd, restart the pc.

Hope it helps

SIW2

patio · Feb 22, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

Registry apps often do more harm than good...
Follow Siw's advice above and if all else fails RegCure should have made a backup copy of your reg before changes were made.
See their Help files for how to revert back to your old reg...

photomark · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

Could not del the BCD as it indicated that it could not find it

SIW2 · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

Hi,

When you did the Notepad cmd, I presume it identified your Vista drive as C?

If so, were the other commands successful ?

Try running the startup repair and see if it lists the Vista installation.

Otherwise, try it from cmd prompt , type

bootrec /scanos {enter}

SIW2

photomark · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

it runs, indicates that total Windows installations is 0. whereas the repair popup shows the vista installation and comes back very fast with no errors

SIW2 · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

What happens when you try to boot into Vista - what is the message?

Did you see it as C drive when you did notepad?

See what it lists when you do this

X:\sources>DISKPART {enter}

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.1.7000
Copyright (C) 1999-2008 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: 7X64-PC

DISKPART> select disk 0 {enter}

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition {enter}

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 30 GB 1024 KB
Partition 2 Primary 25 GB 30 GB
Partition 3 Primary 23 GB 55 GB
Partition 0 Extended 71 GB 78 GB
Partition 4 Logical 40 GB 78 GB
Partition 5 Logical 31 GB 119 GB

DISKPART> list volume {enter}

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 0 G DVD-ROM 0 B No Media
Volume 1 H Vista Local NTFS Partition 30 GB Healthy System
Volume 2 C 7 x64 Local NTFS Partition 25 GB Healthy Boot
Volume 3 F New Volume NTFS Partition 23 GB Healthy
Volume 4 D Data Logica NTFS Partition 40 GB Healthy
Volume 5 E Backup Logi NTFS Partition 31 GB Healthy

DISKPART>EXIT {enter}

It's possible the partition containing the operating system is not set to Active - it needs to be.

SIW2

photomark · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

If I boot from the harddrive I get the invalid petition table error immediately after the motherboard screen. If I boot from the disk I can go to the repair screen and it sees the Vista operating system on C

photomark · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

I was able to run the diskpart on the c drive and it showed 0 as current, the petition as 1 114gb with 32 overflow. the volume was 0 for the cdrom and 1 for the c drive didnot show an operating system but showed as healthy

SIW2 · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

Next step is to mark the Vista partition as active, then try the commands again:

Remember, the ?: MUST be replaced by the dvddrive letter as shown when you did Notepad - probably D:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

X:\sources>DISKPART

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.0.6001
Copyright (C) 1999-2007 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: PC-PC

DISKPART> SELECT DISK 0 {enter}

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> SELECT PARTITION 1 {enter}

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART>ACTIVE {enter}

Diskpart marked the current partition as active.

DISKPART> EXIT

Leaving DiskPart...

X:\sources>bootrec.exe /fixmbr {enter}

X:\sources>?:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /f {enter}

X:\sources>del C:\boot\bcd {enter}

X:\sources>bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd {enter}

Hopefully, you'll get a message saying it was successful.

Close the cmd window, remove the dvd, restart the pc.

hope it helps

SIW2

edit: If del cannot find bcd, carry on and do the rebuild anyway.

photomark · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

The last two functions were not correct I do not believe. when I went to del the bcd it said one could not be found. when I went to rebuild it was very quick and indicated it found no windows installations = 0 and then indicated that it was successful. I removed the disk and rebooted with the same invalid partition table error.

SIW2 · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

Hi,

The commands are correct.

Reinstall is the best way forward.

What kind of upgrade did you do - did you run it from within the existing install ? If so, use the clean install from upgrade tutorial.

If it allowed a clean install straight from boot , use the the Full Version tutorial.

You need to have the valid product key, of course.

It should be possible to save the existing contents of the drive into a folder called Windows. old.

To do that-when installing from boot Do Not select Drive Options (advanced) - simply click on the partition you wish to install to and you will get an option to save into Windows. old folder.

You can fish your data out of that afterwards. Programs will need to be reinstalled, of course, and there will be lots of Windows Updates too.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/68767-clean-install-upgrade-vista.html

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/117366-clean-install-full-version-vista.html

Hope it helps

SIW2

photomark · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

Thanks SIW2, it workes, but the steps to getting there are long. Had to reinstall XP Pro with slipstream version, then vista home premium 32 and now the vista home premium 64 using the clean install process

SIW2 · Feb 23, 2009

Re: Invalid Petition Table

Hi Photmark,

Glad it worked out for you.

Could you not have just done the clean install with Home Premium x64 without doing the other steps?

Might be a good idea to use a free disk image app. to make an image of the o/s partition when you have it setup how you like.

You can replace that image instead of reinstalling in future.

Store the image on another partition, or external HD - run off the recovery cd from the program - you boot into that, point it at the image you made and it restores it.

Make a new image and delete the old every now and again to keep it up to date.

I use this one - very small and fast - works a treat. The image at normal compression will be a bit under half the used space of the source partition.

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

Macrium Reflect - Blogs and News

Macrium Reflect - Blogs and News

Macrium Reflect - Blogs and News

Hope it helps

SIW2

sipeki · Dec 1, 2011

Re: Invalid Petition Table

SIW2 said:
Leaving DiskPart...

X:\sources>bootrec.exe /fixmbr {enter}

X:\sources>?:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /f {enter}

X:\sources>del C:\boot\bcd {enter}

X:\sources>bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd {enter}

The Vista recovery disk I have in the boot diretory there is bcd, bootgix.bin and boot.sdi file.

So I can not run the commands.

What can I do?

Simon

Invalid Partition Table

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