Vista - Lost partition table

Would anyone tell me the most likely cause of a lost partition table? My OS
was Vista RC-1 which had been running very well for some time. I did get a
blue before the failure but it did not stay up long enough to read anything
before the screen went black. The computer will not reboot would this be
hardware or software problem.

tia
reppep

Hi reppep,

Probably hardware. What makes you think it was the partition table? Were
that it, then the system would get past the POST and fail when it attempts
to load from the mbr. Have you run a drive diagnostic to see if it was a
mechanical failure?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"reppep" <reppep@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7ADAF716-A308-46B0-BCA9-5DC05E8905D3@microsoft.com...
> Would anyone tell me the most likely cause of a lost partition table? My
> OS
> was Vista RC-1 which had been running very well for some time. I did get a
> blue before the failure but it did not stay up long enough to read
> anything
> before the screen went black. The computer will not reboot would this be
> hardware or software problem.
>
> tia
> reppep

"Rick Rogers" wrote:

> Hi reppep,
>
> Probably hardware. What makes you think it was the partition table? Were
> that it, then the system would get past the POST and fail when it attempts
> to load from the mbr. Have you run a drive diagnostic to see if it was a
> mechanical failure?
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>
> "reppep" <reppep@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7ADAF716-A308-46B0-BCA9-5DC05E8905D3@microsoft.com...
> > Would anyone tell me the most likely cause of a lost partition table? My
> > OS
> > was Vista RC-1 which had been running very well for some time. I did get a
> > blue before the failure but it did not stay up long enough to read
> > anything
> > before the screen went black. The computer will not reboot would this be
> > hardware or software problem.
> >
> > tia
> > reppep
>
>

Thanks for the reply Rick.

Sorry about the bad post I had trouble with the phishing filter. I had to
disable it and the reply was lost. I am trying again.

I am sorry that the post was not more complete but I don’t do this very often.

The machine would post up and the Mobo (Asus p4b 533-v) screen would display
after this I would get the message that said “The operating is missing please
insert a system disk� I did a lot of looking around and somewhere I got the
message that the partition table was missing. I used the diagnostic utilities
on the vista boot up disk when you press repair my computer.

The hard drive is a Maxor Ultra 16 250 GB 7200 rpm. I have it setting on the
shelf now because I don’t trust it. I am using a different hard drive and xp
pro.

Tia reppep
hope it takes this time

"reppep" wrote:

>
>
> "Rick Rogers" wrote:
>
> > Hi reppep,
> >
> > Probably hardware. What makes you think it was the partition table? Were
> > that it, then the system would get past the POST and fail when it attempts
> > to load from the mbr. Have you run a drive diagnostic to see if it was a
> > mechanical failure?
> >
> > --
> > Best of Luck,
> >
> > Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> > http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> > Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> >
> > "reppep" <reppep@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:7ADAF716-A308-46B0-BCA9-5DC05E8905D3@microsoft.com...
> > > Would anyone tell me the most likely cause of a lost partition table? My
> > > OS
> > > was Vista RC-1 which had been running very well for some time. I did get a
> > > blue before the failure but it did not stay up long enough to read
> > > anything
> > > before the screen went black. The computer will not reboot would this be
> > > hardware or software problem.
> > >
> > > tia
> > > reppep
> >
> >

Thanks for the reply Rick.
I am having a lot of trouble posting.

Sorry about the bad post I had trouble with the phishing filter. I had to
disable it and the reply was lost. I am trying again.

I am sorry that the post was not more complete but I don’t do this very often.

The machine would post up and the Mobo (Asus p4b 533-v) screen would display
after this I would get the message that said “The operating is missing please
insert a system disk� I did a lot of looking around and somewhere I got the
message that the partition table was missing. I used the diagnostic utilities
on the vista boot up disk when you press repair my computer.

The hard drive is a Maxor Ultra 16 250 GB 7200 rpm. I have it setting on the
shelf now because I don’t trust it. I am using a different hard drive and xp
pro.

Tia reppep


"reppep" wrote:

> Would anyone tell me the most likely cause of a lost partition table? My OS
> was Vista RC-1 which had been running very well for some time. I did get a
> blue before the failure but it did not stay up long enough to read anything
> before the screen went black. The computer will not reboot would this be
> hardware or software problem.
>
> tia
> reppep

Hi reppep,

Sure sounds like a failed drive. Maxtor (Seagate owns them now) has a free
diagnostic utility you can download and use to check the state of the drive
(http://www.maxtor.com).

It could also be that the boot code is missing or is not where the mbr
expects it to be, running a startup repair from the Vista DVD should be able
to resolve that.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"reppep" <reppep@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AA3D3537-5136-47EB-8E63-CD2E6C41CE85@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for the reply Rick.
>
> Sorry about the bad post I had trouble with the phishing filter. I had to
> disable it and the reply was lost. I am trying again.
>
> I am sorry that the post was not more complete but I don’t do this very
> often.
>
> The machine would post up and the Mobo (Asus p4b 533-v) screen would
> display
> after this I would get the message that said “The operating is missing
> please
> insert a system disk� I did a lot of looking around and somewhere I got
> the
> message that the partition table was missing. I used the diagnostic
> utilities
> on the vista boot up disk when you press repair my computer.
>
> The hard drive is a Maxor Ultra 16 250 GB 7200 rpm. I have it setting on
> the
> shelf now because I don’t trust it. I am using a different hard drive and
> xp
> pro.
>
> Tia reppep
> hope it takes this time
>
> "reppep" wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> "Rick Rogers" wrote:
>>
>> > Hi reppep,
>> >
>> > Probably hardware. What makes you think it was the partition table?
>> > Were
>> > that it, then the system would get past the POST and fail when it
>> > attempts
>> > to load from the mbr. Have you run a drive diagnostic to see if it was
>> > a
>> > mechanical failure?
>> >
>> > --
>> > Best of Luck,
>> >
>> > Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
>> > http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>> > Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>> >
>> > "reppep" <reppep@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> > news:7ADAF716-A308-46B0-BCA9-5DC05E8905D3@microsoft.com...
>> > > Would anyone tell me the most likely cause of a lost partition table?
>> > > My
>> > > OS
>> > > was Vista RC-1 which had been running very well for some time. I did
>> > > get a
>> > > blue before the failure but it did not stay up long enough to read
>> > > anything
>> > > before the screen went black. The computer will not reboot would this
>> > > be
>> > > hardware or software problem.
>> > >
>> > > tia
>> > > reppep
>> >
>> >

Many thanks repper

"Rick Rogers" wrote:

> Hi reppep,
>
> Sure sounds like a failed drive. Maxtor (Seagate owns them now) has a free
> diagnostic utility you can download and use to check the state of the drive
> (http://www.maxtor.com).
>
> It could also be that the boot code is missing or is not where the mbr
> expects it to be, running a startup repair from the Vista DVD should be able
> to resolve that.
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>
> "reppep" <reppep@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:AA3D3537-5136-47EB-8E63-CD2E6C41CE85@microsoft.com...
> > Thanks for the reply Rick.
> >
> > Sorry about the bad post I had trouble with the phishing filter. I had to
> > disable it and the reply was lost. I am trying again.
> >
> > I am sorry that the post was not more complete but I don’t do this very
> > often.
> >
> > The machine would post up and the Mobo (Asus p4b 533-v) screen would
> > display
> > after this I would get the message that said “The operating is missing
> > please
> > insert a system disk� I did a lot of looking around and somewhere I got
> > the
> > message that the partition table was missing. I used the diagnostic
> > utilities
> > on the vista boot up disk when you press repair my computer.
> >
> > The hard drive is a Maxor Ultra 16 250 GB 7200 rpm. I have it setting on
> > the
> > shelf now because I don’t trust it. I am using a different hard drive and
> > xp
> > pro.
> >
> > Tia reppep
> > hope it takes this time
> >
> > "reppep" wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> "Rick Rogers" wrote:
> >>
> >> > Hi reppep,
> >> >
> >> > Probably hardware. What makes you think it was the partition table?
> >> > Were
> >> > that it, then the system would get past the POST and fail when it
> >> > attempts
> >> > to load from the mbr. Have you run a drive diagnostic to see if it was
> >> > a
> >> > mechanical failure?
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Best of Luck,
> >> >
> >> > Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> >> > http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> >> > Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> >> >
> >> > "reppep" <reppep@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> > news:7ADAF716-A308-46B0-BCA9-5DC05E8905D3@microsoft.com...
> >> > > Would anyone tell me the most likely cause of a lost partition table?
> >> > > My
> >> > > OS
> >> > > was Vista RC-1 which had been running very well for some time. I did
> >> > > get a
> >> > > blue before the failure but it did not stay up long enough to read
> >> > > anything
> >> > > before the screen went black. The computer will not reboot would this
> >> > > be
> >> > > hardware or software problem.
> >> > >
> >> > > tia
> >> > > reppep
> >> >
> >> >
>
>