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Restored HDD won't boot - no operating system found

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Worst scenario ever had ....

Win 10 64 bit, 2 TB HDD, voluzme C: 200 GB only operating system and software, volume D: 1800 GB only data. 

March 14 full backup with some exceptions of data and default exceptions of Acronis

March 15 differential backup

Gone on holiday for a week.

When booting March 24 - long lasting preparation of Windows updates ("takes only a few minutes"). After almost a day I lost patience and shut down via Task Manager.

Thereafter during booting again installation of Windows Updates (?).

Thereafter no more booting possible - problem with winload.exe

After trying to restore the MBR without success and different tries with bootrec.exe I am confident that my backup will save me. Since Windows is on volume C: I restore only volume C: and MBR and another partitions made by Windows except volume D: with the data. Backup is restored but booting still not possible. No operating system found. Again tries with bootexe from a Win10 USB-stick without success. When booting with a Ubuntu DVD all the partitions and data found so it is not a hardware problem of the HDD.

What can I do to get a restored backup volume C: and MBR which will boot again? Any missed switches during the Recovery process? At the moment I am not ready yet to wipe the volume D: also by installing the complete disk backup.

Desperate

Franz47

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You should have a look at the boot order in your PC bios and confirm it is set to boot the correct disk.  If your system boots via UEFI then your boot order should be set to boot Windows Boot Manager.  If your machine does not boot via UEFI then the disk or volume having the C: partition should be set as first in the boot order.

In addition to Enchantech's comment (which you should check!)..

Did you boot the recovery media to match your OS install type (if the OS was legacy install, boot the rescue media in legacy mode... if it was a UEFI/GPT install, boot the rescue media in UEFI mode - use your one time boot menu in the bios to make sure).  This will help make sure the partition scheme is correct for the bootloader when restoring.

Also, and maybe a shot in the dark, but if this is correct, let it try to boot 4 times.  On the 4th failure, if you get an option to safeboot with F8, try it to see if it boots in safemode, or not.  If it does, you might find that it boots correctly after that.  

 

Thanks for the comments. 

I have used this machine always and only in legacy BIOS mode and done the recovery with a bootable CD, backup files on a NAS in my home network. But even when the DVD drive is set as first booting device, booting should move to the next device on the list if the DVD drive is empty? 

You would be surprised about that.  Move your boot HDD to the first position in the boot order list and see what happens.

Agree with Enchantech - Bios are all different and behavior can be finicky in many. Many users in the forum find that after a recovery, even when restoring to the original hard drive, the bios boot priority will be changed... in many cases, it will give the DVD/CD first priority even when there's nothing in it and automatically bump the existing hard drive lower in the priority order. 

Bottom line, better to check and specifically make sure the desired disk has top boot priority.

I have also seen the boot order change. It can change when updating bios, or replacing the system drive (either by cloning or backing up and then restoring to new drive) - I have only seen this with Legacy systems, do not recall seeing it with UEFI systems.

Ian

Just for clarity changes in boot order happen in both UEFI and Legacy bios systems.  I have had it happen after a Windows upgrade once so when I get odd behavior errors like "No operating system found" the boot order is the first thing I check.  99% of the time i find it set wrong and correcting that fixes the issue.

Thanks for all the input!

Problem solved on desktop - similar problem on laptop still unsolved - Windows Update culprit?

I first made a trial recovery to another same size HDD from the full backup (not only C: volume with software and windows) and that resulted in a working system after a short Windows Update period.

I then did the same with the HDD in user which had refused to work after recovery of only the C: volume. Recovering the full backup on the disk resulted in a working system after a short Windows Update also - great relief.......

The missing data I had saved on anoter harddisk after booting with a very antique Windows PE CD. Copying them back to the main disk brought back also these data files....

I have a similar problem with my laptop which occured the same day - so I am heavily inclined to see Windows Update as a culprit or me as interruptor of an ever lasting update. Recovery with a full backup file with the help of a bootable Acronis CD could not make it bootable - I will open a new thread later when I find the time, will probably take some weeks. I was not sure in which state the BIOS was when making the backup (UEFI or LEGACY) and whether I had changed that after the backup, but recovering in both BIOS modes could not make it bootable, although Linux CDs can start it in both modes (CT desinfection disk from German CT-magazine and Ubuntu 18 DVD) and can see all the files on the HDD and they are ok. Windows USB-stick or DVD crashes with "Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart....CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED.

Details later after a more thourough investigation and report.

Thanks for the help

Franz47