When you switch on the computer, a start-up sequence is performed to make the computer ready to be used. Such a sequence is called boot up sequence. A boot up sequence includes some set of operations to start the operating system. This entire process of switching on the system to make it up and running is called booting.

However, at times, the PC might fail to boot. If a PC fails to boot, it makes the entire data present in the computer inaccessible to you. There are many ways in which a PC might fail to boot. A PC might fail to boot by not responding at all, after you switch on the power button. A booting process can also stop during the 'Power On Self Test' (POST) phase with an error message or just simply freeze with no error messages at all.

In either of the case, you cannot access your data present on the hard disk. However, there are various bootable methods that you can try to restore or recover hard disk data. The most safe and reliable method is to use a professional tool entitled Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery – Professional software. A PC might fail to boot due to many reasons. However, the actual reason depends upon the version of the operating system being used. In most cases, the reasons for boot failure are common across all platforms of Windows. Some of the most common reasons for PC boot failure are mentioned below:

Power Issues

A sudden power failure is one of the most common reasons for a failed booting. The situation arising due to power failure looks very deadly, as Computer does not show any lights, sound, POST process, etc. Since there is no power supply to the hardware components, the system fails to initialize the booting process. You can try unplugging all the cables and try to setup the connection once again.

Hardware Failure

There are various hardware that constitutes a Computer. RAM is one of the important hardware that supports booting up of a computer. A PC might fail to boot up due to a faulty RAM. Since RAM is attached to the motherboard, at times, the problem arises due to the faulty motherboard as well. To check the status of a motherboard, try restarting the system without inserting a RAM. If you could hear beep sound coming from the system, the motherboard is fine. Then try replacing the RAM.

Corrupted BIOS

The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) is a firmware that runs first when the PC is switched ON. BIOS might get corrupt while updating it. As a result, the PC would not be able to boot up as before. In order to get your BIOS working, you can either install a replacement BIOS chip or use the BIOS recovery features.

Corrupt Startup files

While trying to boot a PC, you can get a message saying, “Boot critical file is corrupt”’. In addition, you can get the following error messages a swell.

“NTLDR is missing.”

“BOOTMGR is missing.”

There are various files that are required to boot up the system. There could be different boot files depending upon the version of the operating system. Such files can get corrupt due to any mishandling or virus attack. You can repair such files by using the Windows installation disk by booting into Windows recovery environment.

Issues with Hard Drive

A hard drive is the place where the Operating System files are stored. A system might not boot, if the hard drive is not attached properly to the system or is corrupt. A corrupt hard drive makes the data present on the hard disk inaccessible along with the important system files; as a result, system fails to boot. In case the hard drive is not properly attached, you can try reconnecting the device properly to the system.

In order to fix the booting problem, the best possible solution is to reinstall the Operating System. This process would make your system up and running once again, however, you might lose all your data present on the system. So, it is very much required to have a boot CD to make your system up and running as well as recover the data thereafter. It is always recommended to use a professional and trusted tool to restore the hard disk data from an unbootable PC.

Restore Hard Disk data from an Unbootable PC

Stellar Phoenix partition recovery tool is a perfect option for hassle free recovery of inaccessible data from an unbootable PC. The tool facilitates easy recovery of data from Windows based drives and removable media. It offers an additional ‘Boot CD’ utility to boot the unbootable system. Thus, it also supports partition recovery using bootable disk. As soon as you insert the CD, the software opens up and allows you to recover all inaccessible data from the computer. You can follow the below mentioned steps to do that: After selecting a desired option, press Save and you will get your desired file at your selected location. 4 User Comments jeremy thornberry
March 22, 2016 12:19 pm

I need to boot a second pc which has corrupted startup. The web page says Stellar enables creation of bootable cd/usb drive - for us on my other pc. Yet nowhere can I find any further mention of this essential. I was going to buy but am not prepared to pay out without knowing it will work for me. Pity Amit Pandey
March 25, 2016 04:45 am

Hi Jeremy,

Yes, We provide bootable DVD to recover data when your system got corrupt or not bootable. This option only available when you purchase Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery – Professional with Recovery CD. Please check following page and select Add Recovery CD option under Buy Now button.

You just need to insert the Recovery CD in unbootable system and select “Boot From CD”.
Note: You require one external hard drive to recover your all data from corrupt drive. July 21, 2017 11:58 am

I have a question. I tried your portable recovery software and managed to retrieve 205GB of scrambled data. Is there any possibility of retrieving a readable version of data? I'm trying to help a friend retrieve data from a partition that went RAW on Win 10. Stellar Data Recovery
July 21, 2017 03:07 pm

We have sent you an email to assist you further.
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