Users cannot get access to the hard drive or lose partitions when the partition table is corrupted or damaged. The post offers 3 tips to recover partition table in Windows 10.
Yesterday, I was working on my computer and my battery was completely discharged, and that’s why Windows did not shut down properly. I got the message “No boot sector on internal hard drive”. Now I have the message “INVALID PARTITION TABLE”. If anybody could help me with this problem soon, I would be grateful. My PC is a Dell Latitude 610, made in the US.
The partition table enables the operating system to identify the existing hard disk and allows users to manage data by adding, extending, shrinking, or deleting partitions. On Windows and Mac computers, the partition table is normally built during the installation of an operating system.
However, if the partition table becomes corrupted, you can’t use or access the partition's stored data. A partition table can become logically corrupted or damaged for a variety of reasons, including virus attacks, faulty sectors, and so on.
When a partition table is corrupted or damaged, it may appear as Unallocated, Not Initialized, or with an error message like "Invalid Partition Table." To validate it, you need to open Disk Management and verify the partition status. Once this is confirmed, you can proceed to repair the damaged hard drive partition table using the procedures listed below.
When the disk becomes unallocated, professional partition recovery software can be used to restore the partition table in Windows 10. AOMEI Partition Recovery Wizard can help you restore the lost partitions with the data you've saved. Partitions and the corrupted partition table will be restored simultaneously. Alternatively, you could repair the partition table via Command Prompt to rebuild the MBR boot.
If you have a Windows installation CD or DVD, you can use it to enter the Command Prompt in Windows 10 to repair a broken partition table.
Step 1. Insert the installation disc, restart your computer, and boot from the disc.
Step 2. After booting your system, launch the command prompt. At the Welcome screen, click “Repair your computer”.
Step 3. Click Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.
Step 4. In the Command Prompt window, type BOOTREC/FIXMBR > BOOTREC/FIXBOOT > restart. Then, restart the system.
If you don't have Windows setup media, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant, a free partition management tool. Its "Rebuild MBR" option can be used to repair a broken partition table for Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7/XP/Vista. The following is a step-by-step procedure for repairing a corrupted partition table in Windows 10.
Step 1. Free download and install AOMEI Partition Assistant on another computer because your computer can't start up due to a corrupted partition table.
Step 2. Insert an empty USB drive into the computer and select “Make Bootable Media” on the left panel.
Step 3. Connect the bootable USB drive to the computer that is having problems booting. Change the BIOS boot order and start the machine from the USB stick. The AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard will start automatically when you log in.
Step 4. After AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard is running, right-click the disk which has problems and select “Rebuild MBR”.
Step 5. Select a proper MBR type for your operating system and click "OK".
Step 6. Click “Proceed” and go back to the main interface to click “Apply”.
If your partition is marked as Unallocated in Disk Management only due to a corrupted partition table and you can boot your computer, you could use AOMEI Partition Recovery Wizard to recover the lost partition easily.
AOMEI Partition Recovery Wizard is created to recover deleted or lost partitions for Windows 11/10/8/7 due to accidental deletion, repartition hard drive, unexpected system shutdown, operating system or file system corruption, partition table loss, or damage, etc.
Step 1. Click Recover > Partition Recovery and select the disk that lost partition. Then, click Next.
Step 2. Choose Fast Search or Full Search to scan and click Next.
Step 3. After scanning, select the target partition and click Proceed to recover partition table in Windows 10.
After that, you could go to Windows File Explorer to check the lost partition. If you didn’t make any operation on the partition since it was lost, the data could be recovered as well.
If it fails, you could follow the steps to create a new volume in Disk Management to the Unallocated or right-click the partition in AOMEI Partition Assistant main interface to select “Assign a drive letter”. Remember that creating a new partition will erase all the data saved in the partition.
Step 1. Press “Windows + R” and type “diskmgmt.msc” to open Disk Management. Find the unallocated space on your hard drive.
Step 2. Right-click the unallocated space and select “New Simple Volume”.
Step 3. Enter the New Simple Volume Wizard, and click "Next" to continue. Follow the wizard to assign a drive letter to the new simple volume. And then click “Finish” to complete the new volume creation process.
To sum up, we've collected three solutions to help you recover the partition table. If the computer couldn't boot, you could repair the partition table via Command Prompt with Windows installation disc or use the freeware-AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to rebuild MBR.
Another situation is the partition is marked with unallocated space, you could try AOMEI Partition Recovery Wizard to restore the partition and assign a drive letter via AOMEI Partition Assistant.
However, the best way to keep your data safe is to back up your files regularly on an external hard drive or try a reliable and worry-free tool - AOMEI Backupper.