Windows folder disappeared!

TBugReporter · May 18, 2013

A Vista laptop I "inherited" from a relative when he bought a newer unit recently stopped working for me. Preliminary investigation with a Knoppix disk shows that most of the hard drive is intact; unfortunately, though, for some unknown reason, the entire Windows folder has disappeared. There are no strange noises or other indications that the drive is failing, and the other files on the drive seem to be undamaged.

I did some looking on the Internet for NTFS undelete utilities, but all the programs I found are apparently geared more toward recovery of documents rather than restoration of folders. There's really nothing on this machine in terms of data that I need to recover, but it did come with several programs that I don't have install disks for, and I'd like to continue to have access to them, if possible. What would be the best way to proceed with restoration on this machine?

wither 3 · May 19, 2013

Could you please explain what "it stopped working for me" means? Whether it can be fixed depends on the symptoms you provide. Also, does your relative have the Vista installation discs?

Cytherian · May 19, 2013

I would boot up off of a USB drive or CD and run a hard drive diagnostic. It sounds to me like your HD developed a bad sector where the Windows root folder resides. This happened to me on an HP DV7 laptop I inherited from a relative as well. The only thing I could do was to completely reformat the hard drive and install a fresh operating system (they did not have a full backup, unfortunately).

TBugReporter · May 20, 2013

wither 3 said:
Could you please explain what "it stopped working for me" means?

I shut it down the last time I used it (and didn't notice anything unusual about the shutdown), but the next time I turned it on I got a text screen headed "Windows Boot Manager", and saying "Windows failed to start."

wither 3 said:
Also, does your relative have the Vista installation discs?

Of course not; after a few weeks using the computer he concluded he didn't need them anymore and instead of giving them to me or some other responsible party to hold, he trashed them.

I did find another Vista install DVD, and tried using that like the text screen says, but when I do, I get a black screen with a mouse cursor in the center and nothing else. (The cursor does move, but there's never anything on the screen to click on.)

And as I said in my first message, if I instead use a Knoppix disc to boot, I have no problem seeing everything on the hard drive except the Windows directory, which apparently doesn't exist anymore. My thought (which may be totally wrong) is that if I could find and use an undelete utility that could restore the Windows directory on this hard drive, things would get back to normal with a minimum of work. Or is it just wishful thinking trying to salvage the programs installed on this machine?

wither 3 · May 21, 2013

I also guess that you don't have the product key so, I don't know how you could reinstall.

It sounds like the MBR got screwed up. If you could find an old free copy of easeusbcd and run it from another drive or, possibly a CD, you might be able to fix it.

TBugReporter · May 21, 2013

wither 3 said:
I also guess that you don't have the product key so, I don't know how you could reinstall.

The Product Key is printed on the bottom of the machine, so that's not a problem.

wither 3 said:
It sounds like the MBR got screwed up. If you could find an old free copy of easeusbcd and run it from another drive or, possibly a CD, you might be able to fix it.

Okay, Google keeps wanting to change "easeusbcd" to "easybcd" - is this the same thing?

Cytherian · May 22, 2013

TBugReporter said:
The Product Key is printed on the bottom of the machine, so that's not a problem.

Well, that's your saving grace then. You should be able to reinstall if you're unable to recover the MBR.

Okay, Google keeps wanting to change "easeusbcd" to "easybcd" - is this the same thing?

Nope, not the same thing. Go to "Easeus.com" and you'll find it. Here are some of the tools they have that might interest you:

Partition Manager (MBR)
Partition Recovery
Undelete File/Folder

TBugReporter · May 22, 2013

Cytherian said:
Go to "Easeus.com" and you'll find it. Here are some of the tools they have that might interest you:

Partition Manager (MBR)
Partition Recovery
Undelete File/Folder

Okay, next question: which should I attempt first - recovery of the Windows folder, or rebuilding of the MBR?

wither 3 · May 22, 2013

If you can recover the MBR, there's no need to look for the Windows folder.

Easeus changed the names of some of it's products. I would use the free Partition Master to look at the disc and recover the MBR.

TBugReporter · May 22, 2013

wither 3 said:
If you can recover the MBR, there's no need to look for the Windows folder.

Easeus changed the names of some of it's products. I would use the free Partition Master to look at the disc and recover the MBR.

Okay, the page for Partition Master says "(Step) 1. Connect the corrupted computer to another PC as slave." How do I do that?

Cytherian · May 22, 2013

TBugReporter said:
Okay, the page for Partition Master says "(Step) 1. Connect the corrupted computer to another PC as slave." How do I do that?

Since you installed it on a working computer, it won't detect any problem on the current computer. You basically have two choices: 1) attach the problem drive to your working computer as a slave and then run the Partition Manager to access it, or 2) follow the Easeus instructions for how to use this utility with a boot USB/DVD device for use on the troubled computer. The first option should be much easier, if you have a second drive bay or have an EIDE or SATA USB adapter.

wither 3 · May 23, 2013

If you install Partition Master on the boot drive of a second system, you can then remove the hard drive from the second system and connect it to the corrupted computer and boot from it. Then run Partition Master. You would have to press Esc during the POST to get to the hard drive options. Perhaps someone else will have a better idea.

TBugReporter · May 23, 2013

Cytherian said:
1) attach the problem drive to your working computer as a slave and then run the Partition Manager to access it,

That means physically disassembling the bad laptop and reconnecting its hard drive to another computer - one that has an open drive connector of the right type? Ugh. I tend to do more harm than good when mucking about inside laptop cases, plus I don't think I have access to a machine with a spare drive connection, so I'll skip that option for now.

Cytherian said:
or 2) follow the Easeus instructions for how to use this utility with a boot USB/DVD device for use on the troubled computer.

Unless I missed something on their Web site, you have to buy their program to use its boot option.

As I said, I can boot this machine using a Knoppix DVD, and Knoppix comes with VirtualBox, so what I think I'm going to do is find an empty USB key, install Knoppix on it, and then install Vista and Easeus in a VM that has access to the real hard drive - unless somebody has a better idea. (This will probably take a while, so don't be surprised if it's several days before I post here again.)

wither 3 · May 24, 2013

In the scenario I mentioned, you would connect a second hard drive (which has an operating system) that you've installed Partition Master on. You don't boot from Partition Master in this case. Partition Master will see all the drives (note that the drive you're having a problem with will not be called the C: drive) and you can repair it's MBR. If it doesn't show all partitions, you can unhide them.

The major issue to what you want to do is installing Vista. How are you doing that without the disks? If you have the disks, you should just be able to repair or reinstall Vista on the existing drive.

TBugReporter · May 24, 2013

wither 3 said:
The major issue to what you want to do is installing Vista. How are you doing that without the disks? If you have the disks, you should just be able to repair or reinstall Vista on the existing drive.

I don't have the actual install disc that came with the machine, but I do have another install disc - one that I downloaded from Digital River and burned myself. Problem with that is, when I try to boot from that disc on that machine, the existing MBR on the drive (that apparently refers to the currently nonexistent C:\WINDOWS folder) somehow interferes with the boot process and causes it to hang. (It's not the disc that's the problem, because it boots other computers just fine.) I have to fix or delete the existing MBR (or undelete the original Windows folder) before I can reinstall Windows.

wither 3 · May 24, 2013

When I had the same problem with the MBR, I went out and bought another hard drive and installed Vista (and EaseUs) on it. I then booted using that drive and fixed the MBR on the other drive. I don't know how you do that with a laptop unless it has a external SATA connector or you can get inside it.

I assume you went into the BIOS and made the CD drive the first boot device.

If you can get to a command prompt, you can reformat the drive and then do the installation.

Cytherian · May 28, 2013

TBugReporter said:
That means physically disassembling the bad laptop and reconnecting its hard drive to another computer - one that has an open drive connector of the right type? Ugh. I tend to do more harm than good when mucking about inside laptop cases, plus I don't think I have access to a machine with a spare drive connection, so I'll skip that option for now.

It's much easier than you think. Most laptops have separate covers that you can open on the bottom, with one or two screws. You remove the cover, extract the hard drive, then detach the connector. Of course, be sure to remove the battery and unplug the laptop before doing it.

Unless I missed something on their Web site, you have to buy their program to use its boot option.

As I said, I can boot this machine using a Knoppix DVD, and Knoppix comes with VirtualBox, so what I think I'm going to do is find an empty USB key, install Knoppix on it, and then install Vista and Easeus in a VM that has access to the real hard drive - unless somebody has a better idea. (This will probably take a while, so don't be surprised if it's several days before I post here again.)

There might be other utilities available where you don't have to pay for the boot option, or make a bootable USB drive and then run the partition manager from the CD (or vice versa).

Windows folder disappeared!

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