NTFS boot sector is the first sector of an NTFS based hard drive that contains vital information needed by your computer system to start the operating system. Although the NTFS boot sector is less prone to corruption or damage, corruption or damage can still occur. Two serious problems that you might encounter after NTFS boot sector corruption are unmountable hard drive volumes and inaccessibility of data. To overcome NTFS boot sector corruption issues, all you need to do is search the backup copy of the sector, and then overwrite the primary boot sector using that copy. However, if you are unable to find the backup copy or the backup copy itself has been corrupted, then you will need to reinstall Windows operating system. A clean reinstall of Windows erases all the data stored in your hard drive. For complete recovery of lost data after formatting, you will need to use advanced Data Recovery Software.

Consider a practical case, where you encounter any of the below error messages after your NTFS boot sector gets corrupted:

“Sector not Found“

Or

“Windows NT could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt <%SYSTEMROOT%>SYSTEM32NTOSKRNL.EXE“

Or

“STOP: C000021A (FATAL SYSTEM ERROR)“

Or

“Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: WINDOWSdrivers tfs.sys“

Data stored in the NTFS based hard drive partition becomes inaccessible after any of the above error message appears.

Cause:

NTFS boot sector corruption. The corruption primarily occurs due to dirty system shutdown, operating system malfunction, virus attacks, and more.

Resolution:

To resolve the described computer system behavior, you will need to follow the below measures:

• Run CHKDSK/r command.

• Try running Windows Repair using Windows boot CD.

However, if both the above measure fail to perform, and you have not maintained any data backup, then you will need to use advanced Data Recovery Software to recover your lost data. Such ntfs data recovery tools use high-end scanning algorithms to search and recover all your lost files and folders. Built with highly graphical user-interface, these data recovery software restore the recoverable files at your desired location.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is a powerful recovery tool to provide systematic Data Recovery from Windows 7 RC1, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000 based systems. Embedded with advanced drive features like Drive Status, Disk Cloning, Disk Imaging and more, the software supports FAT32, VFAT, NTFS and NTFS5 file system drives.

In Windows, each hard disk partition has its distinct partition boot sector, while the file system uses to access it. It is similar in concept with Master Boot Sector , but is different too as the latter controls the entire disk. Also called volume boot sector, it is used by MBR on the system partition in order to load the Windows kernel files. A normal functioning computer depends on this boot sector to access the partition or volume. If lost or damaged, it can cause partition to become inaccessible and raise data loss situations. Thus, it is suggested to always check your disk using utilities, like chkdsk and/or have a complete backup of your important documents. However, you can also use windows data recovery utilities in such cases.

For example, you can consider a practical situation when you try to boot a Windows-based computer system. It might fail with one of the below mentioned errors:

“Non System Disk”

Or

“Disk Error”

Cause

The boot partition has become unbootable because its partition boot sector is either damaged or unreadable.

Solution

To recover from problems discussed above, you can opt for any of the following fixes:

• In case of NTFS, the backup of partition boot sector is located at its end or start. You can try to locate it to restore

• You can boot your computer using Windows installation disk or startup disk. You can then choose repair option to start Recovery Console and then run FIXBOOT command to try repairing the boot sector

• If the above measures fail, the only solution is to use a windows partition recovery utility. These are exclusive products that use advanced techniques to allow data access even if the backup boot sector is not available.

Windows Data Recovery tools are the most suitable tools to recover and restore lost data after logical crashes to the system. They provide you safe data access while giving you self-explanatory interface to work with. Also, the tools are easy-to-use with no prior requirements to have technical skills.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is one of the trusted products that provides comprehensive windows partition recovery. The tool incorporates high-end scanning algorithms and an interactive user interface. It supports Windows, Vista, XP, 2003 and 2000 operating systems. It provides advanced disk recovery features, which include RAW File Recovery, Drive Status, Disk Cloning and others.

In Microsoft Windows operating system-based computer, you can divide your hard drive in various partitions to effectively manage your data. This configuration enables you to separate data files from system files and minimize the chances of data loss if operating system failure occurs. The hard drive partitions use different data structures, as per the file system. These data structures are used to ensure proper working of the disk partitions. However, in case any of these data structures gets damaged, you may come across partition loss situations. At this point, you need to carry out Partition Recovery to retrieve lost partitions and stored data.

Partition Boot Sector is one of the most significant data structures of a Windows hard drive partitions. It is a small area of hard drive partition, which stores critical information about the file system of your Windows operating system (either FAT or NTFS) and a small machine language program. The machine language program is required to assist the operating system when it loads. Operating system can not recognize the partition if partition boot sector is faulty.

In some cases, the partition boot sector may get damaged and it renders the hard drive partition inaccessible. The corruption may occur due to virus infection, improper system shutdown, operating system malfunction, and power surges. Nevertheless of the cause of this problem, it eventually leads to partition loss and require Windows Partition Recovery to be handled.

Resolution

When you suspect that Microsoft Windows does not boot up because the hard drive partition boot sector is damaged, use special Recovery Console option in Windows. This special recovery console utility is known as Fixboot to sort out all types of boot issues.

You can access this tool by booting your system through Windows boot disk. Enter the Recovery Console and type:

“Fixboot [drive]:”

The [drive] is letter of hard drive for which you need to repair the partition boot sector.

If the above method does not work, you need to use Partition Recovery Software that work in most of the partition loss situations. The applications methodically scan whole hard drive using efficient scanning techniques and ensure absolute Partition Recovery. The tools come equipped with interactive and self-descriptive graphical user interface and thus do not demand sound technical skills. They do not alter original data on the drive as they have read-only and non-destructive conduct.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is the most effective solution for all types of partition loss problems. The software is designed for Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2000. It recovers FAT16, FAT32, VFAT, NTFS, and NTFS5 file system partitions and stored data.