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So I f*cked up...

  • 10-04-2008 6:58pm
    #1
    tolosenc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,889 ✭✭✭


    Here we go, plain and simple, as it happened. Please help if you can.

    I own a top of the range Dell Inspiron 1520, which I got 3 months ago for around €1750. Last night, while in an experimental mood, I downloaded Linux Mint 4.0 KDE CE, burned it to a DVD and ran it. Clicked "Install", and filled out the details. Chose for a partition of 45GB, and set it off installing. It was going fine (and has created a 45.7 GB partition on my disc), until it stuck at 25% for about an hour. I tried to hit cancel to abort the install, but that didn't work, and the entire LiveOS became unresponsive, I left it for 15 minutes, and no response. I held the off button for 6 seconds, believing it was my only option, when really I should just have gone to bed and dealt with it today...

    Now when I turn it on, it says that no bootable device was found. I put in my Vista(Ultimate 32-bit) restore CD, which couldn't find any installation. I did however see that it recognised the existence of the drive, but had no information on it, and I couldn't access it. I tried fixing the MBR, but to no avail. The BIOS did recognise that a Broadcom 250.1Gb HDD is present, so it's not that a cable happened to come loose.

    I'd really rather not reformat the HDD, but I have found that I can access the files that are on the windows partition, so I can save them that way.

    Does anyone know of any way in which I could solve this, without sending it back to Dell, or reformatting?

    I know how to use Linux, and the cmd in Windows, and I'm a CS student, so even if it's complex, I'll give it a go.

    Thanks,
    obl


Comments

  • #2
    aidan_walsh
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17,208 ✭✭✭✭aidan_walsh


    If the process stalled a quarter of the way through partitioning your disk, then you really have no choice but to repartition and reformat the disk, probably using the Vista CD is thats the system you're going back to. Since partitioning divides the disk into two seperate entities with two seperate file systems, its likely that a good deal of your original file system may be lost - hence the MBR not working.

    Save what files you can, and then reformat.


  • #3
    tolosenc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,889 ✭✭✭tolosenc


    All the data is still there AFAIK. It just doesn't register that that partition is bootable.


  • #4
    tolosenc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,889 ✭✭✭tolosenc


    Restore Disc => Startup Repair => Success!


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