Software and tips to help you restore a hard drive and recover data from fixed and removable disks.
Hard Drive
Boot Trouble
Boot Trouble
Typical Hard Drive Boot Problems
A hard disk or, as it's commonly known, a hard "drive" is a type of data storage device which holds both the operating system and application software for a computer. There are two basic kinds of drives: fixed disk/platter devices and solid state drives or SSD's.
The vast majority of all computers still use fixed disk drives which consist of a sealed metal housing (typically cast aluminum) with a circuit board on the bottom and connectors on one end. Inside are one or more platters with magnetic media applied to them, a spindle motor to turn the platters, and read/write heads to store and retrieve data from the platters. A thin aluminum plate covers the top of the drive. You'll find a diagram here.
Because a hard drive contains moving parts, it is more susceptible to failure than a device that is electronic in nature only. Hard jolts (such as a drop) can cause internal damage to a hard drive. Sudden power failures or surges can also cause damage to the circuit board on the underside of the drive. In these cases, the drive may be rendered totally inaccessible by the user.
Sometimes drives simply wear out and often become very noisy before they fail, making clicking or other strange noises. If you start hearing these sounds, or even better, before you ever hear them, be sure to back up all your data to another storage device or create a restore disk (on CD or DVD) using quality disk image creation software.
Solid state hard drives, similar in concept to USB flash drives, are now available. These drives are not yet used on a large scale due to their high cost and more limited capacity, but do offer substantial advantages to mechanical hard drives, particularly in read speed. They should, at least in theory, be more reliable as well.
The majority of hard disk boot problems are not due to mechanical or electronic failure of the drive, but are instead a logical failure caused by accidental formatting of the drive or by a corrupt filesystem or boot information. If the drive isn't physically damaged, recovering data or restoring the disk is often easy with the proper software.
Windows users with higher skill levels can try making the repairs themselves with a Windows installation disk. Of course, if you own an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) computer rather than a locally built one, you may not even have a Windows disk. A "restore disk(" may have come with the system or you may have had to create your own with software already on the computer.
Using a manufacturer's restore disk should be a last resort however, as it will destroy all your data and return the computer's hard drive and software to it's original, factory state - complete with a bunch of useless bloatware and trial software.
If you don't have a Windows installation CD (which may not fix the problem anyway), you should invest in some software created just for the kind of repairs you'll need. Our software is designed for users of all levels, so you don't have to be a repair tech to use it.
Below, I've listed some common error messages and associated problems related to non-booting Windows PCs.
Error Messages:
- "Invalid partition table"
- "Error loading operating system"
- "Missing operating system"
- "Operating system not found"
- "Non system disk"
- "Disk boot failure-insert system disk and press Enter"
- "No fixed disk present"
- "NTLDR is not found (or is missing)"
- "NTDETECT.COM not found (or failed)"
The vast majority of all computers still use fixed disk drives which consist of a sealed metal housing (typically cast aluminum) with a circuit board on the bottom and connectors on one end. Inside are one or more platters with magnetic media applied to them, a spindle motor to turn the platters, and read/write heads to store and retrieve data from the platters. A thin aluminum plate covers the top of the drive. You'll find a diagram here.
Because a hard drive contains moving parts, it is more susceptible to failure than a device that is electronic in nature only. Hard jolts (such as a drop) can cause internal damage to a hard drive. Sudden power failures or surges can also cause damage to the circuit board on the underside of the drive. In these cases, the drive may be rendered totally inaccessible by the user.
Sometimes drives simply wear out and often become very noisy before they fail, making clicking or other strange noises. If you start hearing these sounds, or even better, before you ever hear them, be sure to back up all your data to another storage device or create a restore disk (on CD or DVD) using quality disk image creation software.
Solid state hard drives, similar in concept to USB flash drives, are now available. These drives are not yet used on a large scale due to their high cost and more limited capacity, but do offer substantial advantages to mechanical hard drives, particularly in read speed. They should, at least in theory, be more reliable as well.
The majority of hard disk boot problems are not due to mechanical or electronic failure of the drive, but are instead a logical failure caused by accidental formatting of the drive or by a corrupt filesystem or boot information. If the drive isn't physically damaged, recovering data or restoring the disk is often easy with the proper software.
Windows users with higher skill levels can try making the repairs themselves with a Windows installation disk. Of course, if you own an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) computer rather than a locally built one, you may not even have a Windows disk. A "restore disk(" may have come with the system or you may have had to create your own with software already on the computer.
Using a manufacturer's restore disk should be a last resort however, as it will destroy all your data and return the computer's hard drive and software to it's original, factory state - complete with a bunch of useless bloatware and trial software.
If you don't have a Windows installation CD (which may not fix the problem anyway), you should invest in some software created just for the kind of repairs you'll need. Our software is designed for users of all levels, so you don't have to be a repair tech to use it.
Below, I've listed some common error messages and associated problems related to non-booting Windows PCs.
Error Messages:
- "Invalid partition table"
- "Error loading operating system"
- "Missing operating system"
- "Operating system not found"
- "Non system disk"
- "Disk boot failure-insert system disk and press Enter"
- "No fixed disk present"
- "NTLDR is not found (or is missing)"
- "NTDETECT.COM not found (or failed)"
Probable Cause:
- Damaged Master Boot Record or
- Damaged Volume Boot Sector or
- Incorrect or Missing Partition
- Hard drive not recognized
- Windows boot files missing/damaged
- Damaged Master Boot Record or
- Damaged Volume Boot Sector or
- Incorrect or Missing Partition
- Hard drive not recognized
- Windows boot files missing/damaged
Here are some Fixes for the these problems.
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