Windows 7 boot fail, can Puppy help?

Booting, installing, newbie
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Reddy
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Joined: Wed 11 Sep 2019, 08:24

Windows 7 boot fail, can Puppy help?

#1 Post by Reddy »

I've read many positive reviews of Puppy Linux and it may be the solution?
My issue - I can no longer boot up on a desktop running Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.
I've got two hard drives in it, an unformatted blank hd (2 TB) and another 2 TB drive (with 4 partitions) which is no longer seen during boot up.
The CD/DVD running fine.

I do not know where to start with Puppy Linux. I can burn a disk with another pc.

Any suggestions/tips most welcome.

Kind regards, Reddy

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Mike Walsh
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#2 Post by Mike Walsh »

Hallo, Reddy. And Image to the 'kennels'.

Now; clue us in, could you? What is that you're thinking of doing here?

- Using Puppy to repair your Windows 7 install?

- Replacing Win 7 with Puppy instead?

- Or running Puppy alongside Win 7?

If you could let us know that, initially, plus some basic hardware info ( make & model; CPU; amount of RAM - important, this one; we already know your storage type & size; graphics card (if known).....that kinda thing ), we'll be in a better position to give further advice.

I'm no Windows expert - haven't used it for several years - but from recollection, it sounds as though you may just need to repair the Windows bootloader? Others may be able to give better advice regarding that one. Anyway....

Over to you.....


Mike. :wink:

Reddy
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#3 Post by Reddy »

Thanks Mike for the quick response.
The purpose/challenge is to use Puppy to repair my Windows 7 install.
I can figure the first step will be to download an iso file and burn it to a cd?
I searched but found too many links and flavors, rather lost.

The info is:
Make & model is a shop built PC named Microforce Deskflex Preformance v3
MOB = ASUS P8P67
CPU = Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz 8MB
RAM = 8 GB
Graphics card = Asus Radeon EAH5450 SILENT/DI,512MB,DDR2,DVI,VGA,HDMI,PCIe,L P

Hope that will help.

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Flash
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#4 Post by Flash »

This looks to be a relatively recent computer, so it probably has a UEFI BIOS. Here would be a good place to start.

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bigpup
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#5 Post by bigpup »


The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

Reddy
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#6 Post by Reddy »

I've installed the suggested bionicpup64-8.0-uefi.iso and it's running 100%
When I select "mount" I can see the missing drive and the x4 partitions.
What should I do next? Is there a special route to reinstate it as the default boot up?

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mikeslr
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#7 Post by mikeslr »

As bigpup indicated you can't use a Puppy itself to fix a Windows 7 computer. [Puppies tools could be used to fix Windows XP and previous]. When I still relied on Windows and often had to do repairs I found that EaseUS was a company with reliable products. One of them is EaseUS Partition Master Free, https://www.easeus.com/partition-manage ... rrors.html. I haven't used it with Windows 7. The webpage says "Windows 10 supported", Emphasis supplied, which suggest that it should work with Windows 7.

If I recall correctly, it's packaged as an ISO which you burn to either a CD/DVD or USB-Stick; then boot from that media. If so, look in Puppy's Menu>Multimedia for a CD/DVD burning tool.

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perdido
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#8 Post by perdido »

Maybe this can help someone that lands on this page doing a search.
ASUS P8P67 "reboot and select proper boot device"

https://www.google.com/search?q=ASUS+P8 ... ot+device"
--
edited in the hope of helping someone actually solve this issue.
Last edited by perdido on Sat 14 Sep 2019, 02:18, edited 1 time in total.

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bigpup
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#9 Post by bigpup »

Reddy wrote:I've installed the suggested bionicpup64-8.0-uefi.iso and it's running 100%
When I select "mount" I can see the missing drive and the x4 partitions.
What should I do next? Is there a special route to reinstate it as the default boot up?
I told you what you need to do if Bionicpup can see the hard drive and the partitions.
Using the Windows 7 pro DVD is the easiest way to recover a broken Windows 7.

But you will not answer our questions!!!!
Sorry, I can not help if you do not provide needed information! :roll: :shock:
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

musher0
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#10 Post by musher0 »

The simplest solution is of course to ditch Windows 7 on that machine and
keep only the Pup. ;)
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

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mikeslr
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#11 Post by mikeslr »

Of course the simplest solution is only keep Puppy. But if that's not the solution you want than follow bigpup's advice if you have a DVD of Windows 7 pro.

My suggestion was offered if you don't. That will be the case of any other solution from anyone else on this Forum. But in any event, you have to keep us informed, answer the questions we pose, or tell us why you can't follow advice. As bigpup often says "We only know what you tell us."

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Burn_IT
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#12 Post by Burn_IT »

You didn't need to have people on here telling you to drop Windows and I sympathise with your reluctance to continue.
Unfortunately the information being asked for is needed even by those willing to help without being silly about it.

Using Puppy may be able to help IF the problem is something to do with the hardware/disk, but it cannot fix problems with Windows software: that will have to be done via Windows itself. If you have the Windows CD then you can use that to boot into a limited recovery Windows, but please DO NOT CHOOSE THE AUTOMATIC WINDOWS REPAIR OPTION as that tends to corrupt things well beyond repair.
If you want to continue with this suggestion, then let us know how it goes and someone on here with proper Windows knowledge will help you.
"Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush" - T Pratchett

Reddy
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#13 Post by Reddy »

The bottom line is the only ISO disk I can boot is Linux, nothing else.
I accept that Linux cannot recover a Windows OS.

Any other disk, incl my Windows 7 DVD, gives me "reboot and select proper boot device"
*Burn_IT - "please DO NOT CHOOSE THE AUTOMATIC WINDOWS REPAIR OPTION as that tends to corrupt things well beyond repair." I fully agree.

I am now at a stage that I do not care to recover anything and only want to reinstall Windows 7.
The two hard drives are not damaged and it seems to me it is a MBR and/or boot loader problem?

As my problem is not within the scope of this forum I thank all the willing assistance for the quick response.
I do not want to hand the PC over to a PC shop but that's my last resort.

Kind regards

oui

#14 Post by oui »

Reddy wrote: The two hard drives are not damaged and it seems to me it is a MBR and/or boot loader problem?
well possible

Windows (excuse me, I did never use Windows 7 or higher, and don't use any more some Windows since about 10 y.) did have a repair routine

It was for older windows somewhat like

Code: Select all

# fdisk /MBR
but you must start it from the Windows console mode (you must start with a bootable Windows FD or CD!)

and restart.

after that, no trace of external boot loader from Linux etc. (*1

perhaps can a actual windows expert on this forum or on the forum from reactOS (they know all tricks and hints concerning Windows, esp. Windows XP of course) explain how Windows repairs boot sectors in UEFI?

(* = you did have to reinstall the Linux boot loader to start an event. pre installed Linux in dual boot
Last edited by oui on Thu 12 Sep 2019, 22:38, edited 1 time in total.

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Mike Walsh
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#15 Post by Mike Walsh »

@ Reddy:-

Just as a final note, any Linux distro can perform 'repair' type functions on Windows - mainly file-transfer/salvage.....that kind of thing. The reason Puppy is so highly-mentioned is because it's very small, and it was designed, right from the beginning (more than 15 years ago) to 'live' on, and run from a USB stick.

As stated elsewhere in this thread, most of the more complex and Windows-specific types of repair do need to be performed either from within Windows itself, or with the use of Windows boot/install media.

I would think your best bet would be to ask about your 'boot' problem on Seven Forums. That's the largest and most well-known forum dedicated solely to Windows 7 issues. Either that, or else BleepingComputer might be well worth a try; they have a large, and extremely active Windows support section.

Sorry we weren't able to help further.....


Mike. :wink:

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mikeslr
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#16 Post by mikeslr »

Now that we know you have a Windows 7 DVD, I think Qui is on the right-track. See this post, https://www.tomshardware.com/news/win7- ... 10036.html. Scan down to the Section which starts with Fixing the Master Boot Record (MBR).

If yours is only a MBR problem, there is one other thing you can try before taking the computer to a repair shop. BUT I STILL DON'T KNOW IF YOUR COMPUTER USES UEFI TO BOOT. Will have to know that before proceeding. However, the basic idea is to create a BionicPup USB-Stick as an intermediate step which uses grub4dos or I think* FrugalPup/StickPup, http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 85#1005485 as bootloader. That bootloader will be on the USB-Stick and will offer to boot Windows, thus bypassing the problem.

I've never used FrugalPup/StickPup so am uncertain whether it creates a listing for Windows. Grub4dos does but can't be used with UEFI computers. If not FrugalPup/StickPup perhaps someone can advise which bootloader can be used with UEFI computers and creates a menu listing for Windows..

I also don't know if FrugalPup/StickPup can be installed to a hard-drive. Grub4dos can. As can LICK, http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 720#462720 which can boot Windows from either an UEFI or Bios computer, again, I think bypassing the problem MBR. LICK, however, is a Windows program -- so you first have to have a running version of Windows.

At any event, the basic idea is to finally substitute a bootloader on the hard-drive for your problem bootloader. Creating a bootable USB-Stick avoids making any changes to the bootloader on the hard-drive until you've been able to test the alternative bootloader. Not having had this problem, I am uncertain whether grub4dos, FrugalPup/Stickpup or Lick can boot Windows if its the MBR, itself, which is messed up. That is, I don't know if these applications, if installed to a hard-drive, use the existing MBR or replace it or by-pass it.

oui

#17 Post by oui »

mikeslr wrote:Now that we know you have a Windows 7 DVD, I think Qui is on the right-track. See this post, https://www.tomshardware.com/news/win7- ... 10036.html. Scan down to the Section which starts with Fixing the Master Boot Record (MBR).
thank you mike!

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Flash
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#18 Post by Flash »

Very frustrating. :x

peterw
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Certainly there are some actions that Puppy can take

#19 Post by peterw »

I think that it is worth stating some of the actions that you can do with Puppy Linux if you can get Puppy Linux to boot from USB stick or CD/DVD

1. You can explore the Windows installation and pull off any files that you want to backup before working on the Windows installation.
2. You can check the health of the hard drive as indicated by the SMART values so that you know if the hard drive or SSD is good or note with the command "smartctl --all /dev/sda"
3. You can do a start of a fix for the Windows file system with the command "ntfsfix". See for details:https://linux.die.net/man/8/ntfsfix

jafadmin
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#20 Post by jafadmin »

Disconnect the blank 2T disk and try booting again.

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