Windows 7 Need help switching D Drive back to C Drive After Computer Crash

[bucktrice]

The computer I'm having a problem on is a HP G6- 635 DX Windows 7 x64. About a week ago I decided to disable a few startup items because my computer took too long to load up. I think I disabled something that I shouldnt have because the next time I restarted I had gotten stuck on the "Starting Windows" screen.


After I couldnt fix that problem I decided to just use the System Recovery option, so I popped out my hard drive and put it into an HDD enclosure and backed up my music/video files onto my other computer (Windows Vista Home Premium). When I plugged my hard drive back into the laptop I got the "bootmgr is missing" screen.


I've tried all the command prompt steps to try and fix the bootmgr, they arent working but I think thats because my computer is automatically booting from the C: drive (which has no files in it and is about 200mb in size), and my D: drive is 285 gb and has all of the folders that used to be in the C: drive (Program Files, Users, Windows etc). Theres also another drive titled "Recovery" with the size of 13 gb.


Also whenever I try to do System Recovery it gets stuck at 88%.


I have Easeus Partition Manager bootable by CD & an HDD enclosure, thats how I am able to see the files.


So basically what I;m asking is, is there a way that I can get my computer to boot from the D: drive OR what files should I move from the D: to C: drive that will make my computer boot and finish the System Recovery?


Go easy on me I'm, new at this.

 

[patcooke]

Use your Easeus to see your drives, right click on drive C and mark it as active.

 

[bucktrice]

Use your Easeus to see your drives, right click on drive C and mark it as active.

C: is already active by default
the problem is all of my files are in D:, and making D: active doesnt work because it wont stay that way after I restart, it goes back to making C: active

 

[patcooke]

So the real problem is that the drive letters for drives C and D have been swapped? If that is the case you can use Easeus to change the drive letters (making sure that whatever you end up calling drive C is set as active.

 

[bucktrice]

So the real problem is that the drive letters for drives C and D have been swapped? If that is the case you can use Easeus to change the drive letters (making sure that whatever you end up calling drive C is set as active.

EASEUS wont let me change the letter, is there any other way?

 

[patcooke]

If you're booting easeus from a cd I would expect it to allow the change of drive letters. You could try using a similar product, gparted, which you can boot from cd - free download from here:

GParted -- Download

 

[bucktrice]

If you're booting easeus from a cd I would expect it to allow the change of drive letters. You could try using a similar product, gparted, which you can boot from cd - free download from here:

GParted -- Download

I have this loaded and it does not have an option to change teh drive letter

 

[patcooke]

Try changing the boot parameters using easybcd from here (download the free version from the link toward the bottom of the web page):

Download EasyBCD 2.1.2 - NeoSmart Technologies

If you are not sure what is where you may need to use easybcd to look around a bit.

 

[Saltgrass]

An offline third party utility will see the partitions differently than Windows. The Active is probably the System partition.

What is the recovery process for that computer? Can you hit F8 and get into the "repair your computer" options and do a Startup Repair?

Can you get into safe mode and re-enable all the startup items?

Have you checked the bios to make sure your hard drive is being recognized correctly? Does that system have more than one hard drive, and if so, is your drive set as primary?

 

[bucktrice]

An offline third party utility will see the partitions differently than Windows. The Active is probably the System partition.

What is the recovery process for that computer? Can you hit F8 and get into the "repair your computer" options and do a Startup Repair?

Can you get into safe mode and re-enable all the startup items?

Have you checked the bios to make sure your hard drive is being recognized correctly? Does that system have more than one hard drive, and if so, is your drive set as primary?

With my partition manager C is the active drive, but as I mentioned theres nothing in the C: drive. Everytime I change it to make D: active it automatically switches back after I restart.

No I can't get into safe mode.

In bios, I have my hard drive set as the primary boot..I dont know how to change it to make a certain drive letter the primary.

 

[Saltgrass]

For some reason, this thread reminds me of another one recently. Maybe I am just getting old...

I am trying to follow your scenario and see where the boot files might have been removed from your hard drive, but I don't see anything obvious. Was there anything done you have not mentioned?

The 200 MB or 300 MB partition, which is active, is normally placed on a Windows 7 install, unless you format the drive ahead of time. It is normally the system partition and contains the boot files. The OS files are on the next partition, as seems to be your setup.

Using a third party partitioning software can lead to some strange problems. So we will have to see if we can straighten it out.

Can you remove the drive letter from the first partition? Can you change it to something like Z: ?

Do you have a Windows Install DVD you can boot to, or can you download and burn one? If you do, we can use Diskpart to make changes to your hard drive.

Most of the third party partitioning software will require you OK any changes you request to be made. Just telling it to make the change, may not be enough. Or you may have to make the first partition inactive prior to making the second one active, but I feel we need to leave the first partition active.

If you are doing it correctly, and it will not stick, I must assume the OEM recovery utility is resetting the system.

Can you take a picture of the erasus window and attach using the paperclip? Some Third party partitioning software will allow you to save screenshots.