Invalid partition table при загрузке с флешки windows 10

Sometimes, the Invalid partition table message can appear while booting your PC. In some instances, this error can prevent your system from booting, but there’s a way to deal with this error.

There are many problems that can prevent your PC from booting, and speaking of problems, here are some of the most common issues that users reported:

• Invalid partition table USB boot, on boot, error on startup, external hard drive, SSD – This error can appear if your boot order isn’t correct, so to fix the problem, enter BIOS and ensure your boot priority is correct.
• Invalid partition table error loading operating system, no boot device found – This issue can appear due to other USB devices that are connected to your PC. Disconnect those devices and try to boot again.
• Invalid partition table (Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, Asus, Lenovo) – This issue can occur on almost any PC brand, and if you encounter this problem, be sure to try all the solutions from this article.

How do I fix the Invalid partition table error?

1. Convert the drive to GPT and then to MBR type

Several users reported that Invalid partition table error was caused by their external hard drive. To fix the problem, users are suggesting converting this drive to GPT type and then back to MBR type.

There are several ways to do this. You can manually fix the invalid partition table error from the settings, or you can use a partition manager software.

Dedicated tools make the job easier, allowing you to convert your drive to GPT and back to the MBR type without file loss.

In order to be on the safe side, it’s advised that you back up your files just in case.

After you convert the drive to GPT type, convert it again to MBR, and the problem should be resolved.

To manually update convert to MBR:
1. Type cmd, right-click on Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.
2. Type mbr2gpt /validate and press enter.
3. Type mbr2gpt /convert and press enter.
4. Restart your PC.

This is an important step when creating a WinPE bootable disk for Windows 11; read this guide to learn the detailed steps.

To convert your drive to GPT:
1. Type cmd, right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator. 
2. Type mbr2gpt /validate /allowFullOS and press enter.
3. Type mbr2gpt /convert /allowFullOS and press enter.
4. Wait for the process to finish and restart your PC.

2. Check your boot priority

According to users, sometimes this issue can occur if your boot priority isn’t properly configured. To fix this problem, you need to enter BIOS and change the boot order manually.

To see how to do this on your motherboard we advise you to check the motherboard manual for detailed step-by-step instructions.

To fix the problem, make sure that you set your hard drive as the first boot device, and you disable USB and other HDD devices from the boot sequence. After doing that, save changes and restart your PC, and your system should be able to boot.

3. Perform a Startup Repair

If you keep getting Invalid partition table message, you can most likely fix the problem by performing a Startup Repair. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Restart your PC a couple of times while it boots.
   • This should force it to open Advanced Startup Options.
   • Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair.
2. Select your installation of Windows and then choose your username. If required, enter your password.
3. The repair process will now start.

Once the process is finished, your problem should be resolved.

If you can’t enter Advanced Startup Options, perhaps you’ll need to use a Windows 10 installation media. To create installation media, you’ll need a working PC that has access to the Internet, a flash drive and Media Creation Tool.

Once you create an installation media, connect it to your PC and boot from it. Now choose Repair your computer option and you’ll see Advanced Startup screen.

4. Make sure that the second hard drive is bootable

If you’re using dual boot on your PC, perhaps the Invalid partition table message appears because your second hard drive isn’t bootable. To fix the problem, you need to boot to any operating system and use a disk managing tool to inspect the second hard drive.

If the second hard drive isn’t configured as bootable, be sure to change this setting, and the problem should be resolved.

5. Turn off Safe Boot in BIOS

If you’re getting Invalid partition table on your PC, the problem might be BIOS settings. According to users, sometimes Safe Boot feature can cause this problem to appear, and in order to fix it you need to turn it off.

Although Safe Boot option can provide extra protection to your PC, several users reported that they fixed the problem by disabling it. To see how to find and disable this option in BIOS, we advise you to check your motherboard manual for detailed instructions.

6. Disconnect other USB devices

If you can’t boot due to Invalid partition table message, perhaps your problem is related to other USB devices. Other devices can sometimes interfere with the boot sequence and cause this problem to appear.

To fix the issue, it’s highly recommended to disconnect all unessential USB devices such as external hard drives and flash drives. If you have a card reader, be sure to remove all cards from it and try to boot your PC again. As a rule of thumb, it’s best to leave only the essential devices connected, such as your keyboard and mouse.

After removing the unnecessary USB devices, check if the problem is still there.

7. Use Command Prompt

1. Start Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. To do that, press Windows Key + X and choose Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu.
3. You can also use PowerShell (Admin).
4. When Command Prompt opens, run the following commands:
   • x:
   • cd/boot
   • bootsect x:

If you’re getting Invalid partition table message, you might be able to fix the problem by running a couple of commands in Command Prompt.

Note: Replace X with the letter that represents your hard drive. After running these commands, check if the problem is still there. If you can’t access Windows, try running these commands from the Advanced Boot Options screen.

9. Press the Esc key

Sometimes Invalid partition table will prevent your PC from booting and this can be a big problem. However, a couple of users have found a useful little workaround that might help you.

According to them, you just need to press the Esc key on your keyboard and you’ll be able to boot to Windows without any problems.

Bear in mind that this is just a workaround, so you’ll need to repeat it whenever the problem occurs.

10. UEFI boot

According to users, Invalid partition table message appears on their PC while trying to boot from a USB flash drive. In order to fix this problem, users are suggesting to switch to UEFI boot while booting from a USB flash drive. If you encounter problems with UEFI boot, check this guide for quick fixes.

To do that, you’ll need to enter BIOS and change the boot type. After doing that, you’ll be able to boot from the USB flash drive without any problems.

Invalid partition table can be an annoying error and prevent your system from booting properly. The issue is most likely caused by your BIOS configuration or other USB devices, but you should be able to fix the problem using one of our solutions.

Contents:

Symptoms and Causes

What is an invalid partition table? The appearance of invalid partition table is usually triggered when the system booting process fails to locate the partition that contains booting data, or the MBR gets corrupted. This issue prevents computer from booting properly, and it can happen to any computer brands like Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Asus, etc.

Compute stores data on hard drive which is usually divided into multiple partitions. Each partition is regarded as a separated section by system so that files can be well organized. Properties and information of each partition in stored in partition table. Partition table is a table stored on hard drive, which is used to record and describe partitions on hard drive. Thus, it is quite important in help operating system access drive partition.

Once partition table is damaged or become invalid, system will not be able to locate the partition which contains booting data, i.e. system cannot boot up normally. Here are some common symptoms that indicate an invalid partition table. When you try to boot computer, you get a backup screen with words «Invalid Partition Table_» and operating system cannot boot normally. When computer is powered on, system checks partition table in order to find out the volume that can be used to boot up operating system. If there is invalid information, error occurs.

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This error may also appear when you try to make a fresh installation of Windows 10 on an SSD using a custom image. Besides, the error may present suddenly when you boot a computer whose operating system has been working well. Let’s have a close look at how this issue appears in read world:

«My old laptop failed to boot this morning. It runs Windows XP on a 320GB hard drive and it is 7 years old. I got a blue screen of death at startup and it prompts «Invalid partition table_». I tried pressing F8 at rebooting in order to access advanced boot menu but nothing comes up. I even checked boot orders in BIOS and everything is OK. I don’t have the system CD anymore, and cannot repair error like instructions found online. I have a USB flash drive at hand but I do not know how to create a bootable disk (as I do not know which tool can help me do so), nor fix the booting issue. Any help would be appreciated and thanks in advanced for any response!»

There are a lot of factors that cause the disruption of the partition table and cause the invalid partition table message to appear on the screen. Following are some of the factors related to the issue:

• Partition table is damaged. The cause in most cases is a corrupted partition table. It locates in MBR (Master Boot Record) of the boot sector, which contains information to locate system partition, logical volume, etc. on hard drive.
• MBR is corrupted. It is common that some users do not shut down system in a traditional way, which corrupts partition or file system. On this occasion, we can rebuild MBR to fix this issue.
• Boot sequence is incorrect. Boot sequence plays an important part in system booting. Disordered boot sequence lead to unsuccessful booting process. Thus, users should make sure boot order is correctly set in boot menu.
• More than one partition is marked as active. There should be only one partition which is set as active among all partitions. If there are two or more partitions are marked as active on current disk, the system loading process cannot continue. This can be caused by improper operation while configuring partitions.
• Hard drive bad sectors. Data stored on bad sectors cannot be read or written normally by system; if partition table is stored on bad sectors and it is cannot be loaded during system startup and thus it will be regarded as invalid.

Solution #1: Fix invalid partition table by rebuilding MBR with DiskGenius

In this section, we’ll present how to rebuild MBR using DiskGenius Free. DiskGenius is smart software to be installed on your computer or laptop for powerfully handling data recovery, partition backup, partition management and solves all types of invalid partition table issues that anyone is likely to face many a times. It provides a lot of functions like creating, formatting, extending, hiding partition along with partition and disk conversion.

DiskGenius is needed because it is very efficient in fixing invalid partition table problems. A partition table is a data structure of 64 bytes that provides the basic data for a computer’s or a laptop’s operating system. This data includes information about the division of hard disk drive into the primary partitions.

Step 1. Create a WinPE bootable USB drive for DiskGenius Free Edition.

Since the computer in question cannot boot to Windows, we should fix the issue without running Windows. In this case, we can boot computer to DiskGenius’ WinPE version.

Launch DiskGenius from another PC and insert a USB flash drive. Then select the USB drive in DiskGenius, and click «Create WinPE bootable USB drive of DiskGenius» under Tools menu.

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Make sure correct USB disk is selected and click «OK» button. Then wait for several seconds and the bootable disk will be created.

This process does not cause data loss on the USB disk, as it does not perform formatting on the selected USB disk. However, if the computer you want to repair is UEFI-based, you should format the USB drive to FAT32 in advance.

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Once the bootable disk is created, you can see following message. Click OK button. Then you can safely eject the USB drive from this PC and connect it to the computer you want to repair.

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It is important to create WinPE bootable USB drive to boot the computer and make use of this software to fix the problems. The default installation of WinPE runs from the RAM disk so that you can remove the drive while it is running.

We all count on a hard drive for booting the computer each time we turn it on. But it is very difficult in a case wherein the computer cannot be booted and something in the hard drive goes wrong. This can happen because of viruses, disk failure and also the deletion of files that were vital.

Here, it becomes a need to create WinPE bootable USB drive for getting your computer booted. For this, one needs to install WinPE and then boot the Windows to WinPE. This can be done by connecting the USB drive to the computer and turning it on. After this, the key that is used for opening the firmware boot menu should be pressed and the USB drive should be selected.

Step 2. Boot your computer from the bootable USB disk.

Computer is set to boot from local hard drive and we should modify the order so that computer can boot from the USB drive. Press F8 (which might be other key on your computer) on startup to open Boot Manager. Then use Arrow keys to select the USB device from device list and press Enter. Save changes and exit, and computer will reboot.

Step 3. Rebuild MBR (Master Boot Record) using DiskGenius.

Click «Disk» menu and choose «Rebuild Master Boot Record» item. When your computer boots from the USB drive, DiskGenius WinPE version will be launched automatically. Then you can repair invalid MBR with this application.

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Most of times, invalid partition table can be fixed by rebuilding the Master Boot Record (MBR) which lies on the very first segment of the disk. The Master Boot Record is mainly used in holding the disk’s main partition table and the machine code for bootstrapping the operating system (OS) after the system’s BIOS passes the actual execution to the disk.

The Master Boot Record is used to select and boot the Operating System. Rebuilding the Master Boot Record basically means rebuilding the boot code only and keeping the other part of the sector unaffected and unchanged. DiskGenius helps examine the MBR automatically while saving the partition table and it will smartly rebuild the Master Boot Record when it is known to be invalid. Therefore, there is no actual need to rebuild the MBR after a new hard drive is partitioned by DiskGenius.

More about DiskGenius:

Recovering partitions: DiskGenius main function is to recover all the lost partitions. By doing this, all the files relating to that particular partition will be found and displayed on the screen. There are just a few simple steps to do so and then you can browse all the partition files and make use of them.

Recovering files: When a file has absolutely no backup and it is lost due to some reason, DiskGenius can help in finding such lost files. It can help in recovering lost files from FAT32/FAT16/FAT12/exFAT/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 file systems. It also supports a memory card, USB disk and RAID volume which uses these types of file system. It can also restore all the deleted photos from one’s SD card.

Managing partitions: DiskGenius is known for its effectiveness in managing partitions in addition to all the common functions like creating, formatting, deleting, hiding and renaming partitions. There is an option of quick partition which is for immediately re-partitioning a hard drive and to format all the partitions. One also gets a tool of integral size partition which solves the problem of the partition size. Backing up is another important managing partitions tool which helps in the backup of all the available data of a particular partition saving all its files in form of image files. Backup of partition table and supporting GUID partition method are also main features of DiskGenius.

Deleting files permanently: There are certain files you may wish to delete completely and permanently and make it absolutely non-restorable. DiskGenius will allow you to do this task and delete all such files.

Solution #2: Fix invalid partition table with Command Prompt

This solution requires a Windows installation disc, if you do not own one, you can try steps in Solution 1. If you get ne installation disc, then go ahead with following steps.

Step 1. Insert the disc to your computer and reboot system from the disc. Press the key prompted on screen.

Step 2. Select language, time, currency, keyboard or an input method, and then click Next.

Step 3. On Install Windows click «Repair your computer» and you’ll see System Recovery Options.

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Step 4. Click Command Prompt when you are asked to choose a recovery tool on System Recovery Options window.

Step 5. Type following commands and press Enter after each command in Command Prompt.

bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /rebuildbcd

/Fixboot is able to write new boot sector to system partition, which can be used when boot sector is damaged or boot sector was replaced with non-standard boot sectors.

/ScanOS scans all disks for installation compatible with Windows and shows entries that do not exist in BCD.

/Fixmbr command is used to write Windows compatible MBR to system volume without overwriting existing partition table. You can use this command to repair corrupt MBR issue or wipe invalid data from MBR.

/Rebuildbcd option scans all disks for installations and allows users to select installations that you want to add to BCD.

Step 6. Restart computer and check if invalid partition table issue is fixed.

Solution #3: Restore partition table from backup

Since partition table on your computer has been damaged or becomes invalid, you can repair it via restoring it from backup. If you have backed up partition table when it was in a good state, then the problem can be solved easily. Here are steps to restore partition table:

Step 1. Launch DiskGenius, and you can view all disks and partitions on your computer. Select the hard drive that needs restoring partition table, and click Disk menu to choose «Restore Partition Table» item.

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Step 2. A window pops up to let you select the backup file of partition table. Locate the backup file and click Open.

Step 3. Click Yes when DiskGenius asks whether to restore partition table from backup file.

Make sure you choose correct backup file; otherwise the operation may lead to partition loss issue. Next, DiskGenius asks whether to restore boot sector for each partition at the same time. You should make the choice based on actual situation. Please note if you’ve reformatted partitions on the disk after backing up partition table, and formatting partition using different parameters such as different cluster size, the partition boot sector may be changed by the formatting program. In this case, the partition boot sector will be destroyed by this restoring.

Solution #4: Check bad sectors for system hard drive

If the disk area where partition table is stored contains bad sectors, partition table will be invalid to system. In this case, you can check hard drive bad sectors to fix the error.

Step 1. Select the hard drive you want to check bad sectors and click Disk -> Verify Or Repair Bad Sectors, as below:

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Step 2. Click Start Verify button from the Bad track verification window, and DiskGenius starts to scan the disk and check bad sectors.

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Conclusion

In this article, you can find four solutions to repair invalid partition table error. This error occurs frequently to some users and causes severe problem. Now you can follow approaches mentioned above to fix this issue easily and quickly. If you feel this guide helpful, you can share it on your social network to help more people. If you need further help or have any questions on invalid or corrupted partition table, please feel free to contact us via methods provided in support center.

Keep Reading

• How To Recover Data from Crashed Internal Hard Disk in Windows 10?
• How to Format C Drive in Windows 10/8/7?
• How to Completely Wipe a Hard Drive in Windows 10/8/7?
• Solved: Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry High Disk or High CPU Usage

This page includes complete solutions to help you get rid of the «invalid partition table» black screen error while booting up Windows OS. If you are having the same issue, follow this page to remove this error, making your Windows 10/8/7 work again.

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Invalid Partition Table Error, How Do I Fix It

Quest 1. Getting Invalid Partition Table notice on Dell laptop

«Does anyone have a solution to remove the ‘Invalid Partition Table’ error on Dell laptop?

My Dell Latitude with Windows 10 doesn’t boot anymore after a sudden shutdown. When I rebooted the computer, it prompted an error message with invalid partition table. How do I get rid of this issue?«

Question 2. Invalid partition table after Windows 7 update to Windows 10

«I recently updated Windows 7 to Windows 10 on my old computer. The computer was working fine with Windows 7.

After the update, two error messages popped up — ‘Invalid Partition Table’ and ‘Unable to reset your PC. A required drive partition is missing’. How do I fix this issue, making the computer run up again with Windows 10?«

Some of you may don’t even know what is invalid partition table and what causes this error, right? Read on, and on the following, you will learn the content of Invalid Partition Table error, the causes, and the solutions toward this issue.

What Does Invalid Partition Table Mean

To understand what is invalid partition table, you should first understand the usage of the partition table. A partition table, practically, is regarded as a table for saving properties and information of each partition, helping the operating system to access partitions.

When the partition table corrupted, damaged, or becomes invalid, the system will not be able to locate and access the partition.

The Invalid Partition Table is an error that mostly occurs on the operating system partition, which usually comes up with a black screen, disallowing users to boot up the PC.

When there is invalid information in a system or boot partition table while powering on a computer, Windows will show up this error. This error may also happen while fresh installing Windows OS or booting a functioning OS.

What Causes Invalid Partition Table Error

To find the right solutions to this issue, the first thing that you should do is to find the causes of Invalid Partition Table.

Thus, you can obtain the right solutions to specific situations. Here are the common causes that stop your computer from booting up with a black invalid partition table screen:

• Damaged (MBR) Partition Table: The MBR (Master Boot Record), which contains information to load system partition and data partitions on hard drive, is corrupted.
• Incorrect BIOS Boot Sequence: When Windows is not set to boot in the right sequence, this will result in an unsuccessful boot of computer.
• Two or More Active Partitions: Where there are two or more partitions are marked as active on the system disk, Windows won’t be able to load. To be more specific, only the boot (loader) one with BOOTMGR and BCD on it should be flagged as «Active».
• Bad Sectors: When the system partition or the boot partition contains bad sectors, the partition table cannot be loaded, which as a result, would be regarded as an invalid partition table, disallowing you to startup the Windows system.

So how to get rid of this error, making Windows OS running smoothly without any issue again? Continue reading, and you will find the best way toward this issue.

How to Fix Invalid Partition Table Error in Windows 10/8/7

Here in this part, you will find five solutions to remove the invalid partition table error from your computer disk, making Windows running again.

Fix 1. Rebuild MBR with EaseUS Partition Master

EaseUS Partition Master is a reliable disk management software that enables you to efficiently manage partitions, make full use of disk space, check and repair disk errors immediately.

To repair the corrupted or invalid partition table, you may use the Rebuild MBR feature in EaseUS Partition Master.

Go through below two steps and let EaseUS Partition Master rebuild the MBR partition table, making your computer bootable again:

Step 1. Create a WinPE bootable disk

• Launch EaseUS Partition Master, and click «Bootable Media» on the toolbar. Select «Create bootable media».
• Click «Next» to finish the process.

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Step 2. Boot EaseUS Partition Master Bootable USB

• Connect the bootable USB or CD/DVD to your PC. 
• Press F2 or Del when you restart the computer to enter the BIOS screen. Set and boot your computer from «Removable Devices» or «CD-ROM Drive». And then EaseUS Partition Master will run automatically.

Step 3. Rebuild MBR

• Click «Toolkit» and choose «Rebuild MBR».

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• Select the disk and the type of MBR. Then, click «Rebuild».

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• After that, you can see «MBR has been successfully rebuilt on Disk X».

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Fix 2. Manually Repair MBR with CMD

Another way to resolve the invalid partition table issue is to repair the corrupted or damaged MBR partition table on your computer by using CMD command.

To do so, you’ll need an original Windows installation DVD or Windows Installation Media on USB for help.

Here we will take Windows 10 as an example to show you how to repair MBR via CMD command manually:

Step 1. Reboot Windows from the installation disk and select «Repair your computer» on the welcome screen.

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Step 2. When Command Prompt appears, enter the following lines and press Enter after each line: 

• bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
• bootrec.exe /fixmbr
• bootrec.exe /fixboot

In some cases, you may need to run some additional commands.

bootsect /nt60 SYS or bootsect /nt60 ALL

Step 3. Press Enter after each command and wait for each operation to finish. Exit and now go ahead and reboot your system.

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Fix 3. Reset BIOS Boot Sequence

Step 1. Try to restart PC and press DEL/F11/F12 to enter BIOS.

Step 2. Go to the Advanced BIOS feature, select «Hard Disk Boot Property».

Step 3. Check if BIOS is set to boot from the right disk. If not, change it and reset the computer to boot from the correct drive.

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Save all the changes and restart the computer to see if the problem has been resolved.

Fix 4. Inactivate Partition with DiskPart

To do so, you will also need Windows installation disk to help you bring up the Windows repair window with below steps:

Step 1. Reboot Windows from the installation disk and select «Repair your computer» on the welcome screen.

Step 2. On the pop-up window, click Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt, type: disk part, and hit Enter.

Step 3. Tyle below command in DiskPart and hit Enter each time:

• list vol
• sel vol D

Replace D with the partition label which you would like to set it inactive.

Step 4. When the target partition is selected, type: inactive and hit Enter to execute the operation.

Step 5. Type: exit to finish the process.

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After this, you can restart the computer to see if the problem has been removed.

Fix 5. Check and Fix Bad Sectors

As most of you may have known that once a hard drive contains bad sectors, it would affect the disk performance, stopping it from functional and working.

So far, there is no 100% working tool that can fully repair the corrupted or bad sectors on a storage device.

To do so, we suggest you follow the guidelines below to finish the bad sector testing and fixing process:

Phase 1. Test disk surface and replace the hard drive

Run EaseUS Partition Master from a previously created bootable disk and test disk:

Step 1. Open EaseUS Partition Master. Go to Toolkit and select «Bad Sector Scan.»

Step 2. Tick «Scan Disk» and choose the target disk from the drop-down menu.

Step 3. Click «Scan» to apply the bad sector scaning process.

Phase 2. Take actions to fix bad sectors on the target disk

Once bad sectors are detected, take action immediately to prevent bad sectors from further damaging your drive.

To do so, you how to options:

• If there are only a few bad sectors detected, you can run a third-party bad sector repair tool to block them. You may search online to find such a tool for help.
• If there are too many bad sectors on your disk, we suggest you replace the old disk immediately.

Your data and system are more valuable. Here you may refer to this link to clone and replace a hard drive with bad sectors.

How Do I Avoid Invalid Partition Table Error

Some of you may also want to know how to prevent this error from happening on your computer, right? There is no exact method that can avoid this issue.

However, here are some tips that you may still have a try to protect your computer disk:

• Make sure the BIOS is set to run from the right drive.
• Run partition manager tool like EaseUS Partition Master to check and fix disk file system or other errors regularly.
• Don’t casually active partitions on the system disk.

Conclusion

This page explains what invalid partition table, the causes, and the solutions to get rid of this error from Windows computers are.

However, as many reasons may cause this issue, the provided methods may not be able to resolve all the specific problems that cause this error on your PC.

If you need remote assistance, you can also consult our EaseUS Partition Master experts for help by visiting this page: /support/remote-assistance.html.

Therefore, we suggest you follow the suggestions in the last part to prevent this issue from your computer as soon as possible. 

The invalid partition table error occurs when attempting to boot your computer or install Windows via a bootable USB drive. This can happen when there is a mismatch between the partition type of the hard drive on your computer and the bootable USB drive, incorrect selection of the boot mode in your BIOS, and more.

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In some scenarios, the BIOS firmware on your computer can also result in the error message in question. If your BIOS uses an invalid boot order to boot up Windows on your system, it can trigger the error message along with a corrupted partition table. In this article, we will guide you through several methods to resolve the issue.

1. Change the Boot Order

One of the main reasons you may encounter the error message in question is when you have an incorrect boot order selected in your BIOS configuration. This results in the BIOS attempting to use the wrong drive on your computer to perform a bootup.

Boot order determines the sequence of boot devices on your computer. The hard drive on your computer serves as a device for the BIOS to use during boot-up. If an incorrect drive is given priority, the error message is likely to occur.

In such a scenario, you will need to change the boot order through your BIOS configuration to resolve the issue. This is relatively simple to remedy. You can immediately select the device you wish to boot from using the boot manager menu.

To do this, first power on your computer and press F12. This will take you to the Boot Device Manager menu. There, select the correct drive from which you want to boot. If you wish to change the boot order, boot into your BIOS setup and modify the boot order from there. Check if that resolves the issue.

2. Change the Partition Scheme

If you are encountering an error message while trying to install Windows on your computer via a bootable USB drive, it is likely that the problem is due to conflicting partition schemes. This occurs when the partition tables of your hard drive and your USB drive do not match.

Due to this mismatch, the error message occurs, and you are unable to boot from the USB drive. In such a scenario, you will need to change the partition scheme of your bootable USB drive to match your hard drive’s partition table.

You can also choose to change the partition table of your hard drive, but that will result in losing all of the data present. In addition, to achieve that, you will have to change the partition table of your USB drive first to be able to boot into the Windows setup. After that, you can access a command prompt window and use the diskpart utility to convert the partition table of your hard drive.

Finally, you will need to change the partition table of your USB drive back to the converted partition scheme and proceed with the Windows installation.

To change the partition scheme of your USB drive via Rufus, follow the instructions below:

1. First, insert the USB drive into a computer and open the Rufus utility.
2. The USB drive will be automatically detected. Click the Select option and open the Windows installation ISO image.
   

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3. After that, change the partition scheme using the drop-down menu. If you previously created the bootable USB drive with a GPT partition scheme, select MBR from the drop-down menu and vice versa.
   

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4. Finally, plug the USB drive into the problematic computer and boot into it to see if the problem occurs. 

In addition, if you wish to change the partition scheme of your hard drive to GPT from MBR, you will need to access the command prompt utility via the ‘Repair this computer’ option on the Windows Setup screen. Follow the instructions below to convert the hard drive to GPT using the command prompt utility:

1. In the command prompt window, type diskpart and press Enter. 
2. Then, enter the list disk command and hit Enter.
   

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3. The number of disks on your computer will now be listed. Here, you will need to select the hard drive of your computer. Use the provided size as a reference.
4. To select a disk, type in select disk [number] and press Enter. For example, select disk 0 to select the first disk. The numbers are provided next to the disk in the command prompt window.
   

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5. Next, you need to type clean and hit Enter. This will remove all of the volumes and partitions on your drive. 
6. Finally, type “convert to gpt” without quotation marks and press Enter.
7. That’s it. A new GPT partition table will be created on your drive. You can now continue installing your Windows operating system, and you won’t encounter the invalid partition table error again.

3. Change the Boot Mode

Another reason you might encounter this error is that you are booting from the live environment in BIOS mode, not UEFI mode. Modern operating systems, particularly Windows, now only support UEFI mode and have discontinued support for BIOS mode starting with Windows 10.

As such, you will have to change the boot mode in your BIOS settings to resolve the issue. The instructions can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer; however, we will provide a simple set of instructions that you can follow on almost all of the boards available. Follow the instructions below to do this:

1. First of all, boot into the BIOS menu. To do this, press the respective shortcut key shown as your PC boots up. This is often F2, F8, F9, F10. If you are unsure about your BIOS key, visit our detailed article on What key to press to access the BIOS.
2. In the BIOS menu, navigate to Boot Manager. 
3. There, click on Advanced Boot Options and select the Boot Mode option.
4. If it’s set to BIOS (Legacy), change it to UEFI.
   

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5. Next, press F10 to exit the BIOS Setup and save your settings. 
6. Once you do that, see if that fixes the issue. 

4. Create Bootable USB with DD Mode

In some scenarios, creating bootable USB drives in Rufus with ISO mode can result in various inconsistencies. In such a scenario, you can use DD mode to create a more consistent bootable USB drive. This is relatively simple to do. Follow the instructions below:

1. First of all, open the Rufus utility on your computer. 
2. Plug your USB media into your PC. 
3. Under the device label, make sure your USB drive is selected. 
4. Under Boot Selection, select the Windows ISO file that you want to write or flash to the USB by clicking the Select option.
   

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5. Leave other options as they are click on Start. 
6. Now, a dialog box will pop up asking you to write in ISO mode or DD mode. Select the DD mode option here. 
7. Wait for it to finish writing the image to the USB.
   

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8. Finally, boot into your USB drive and see if your error has been fixed. 

5. Upgrade the BIOS Firmware

The error message in question can also occur if the BIOS of your computer is obsolete. BIOS firmware is often overlooked, and you usually do not need to update it unless there is an issue.

BIOS is a vital part of your computer, as it is responsible for initializing all components and more. The process of updating your BIOS firmware can differ slightly depending on your motherboard manufacturer.

In this case, you will have to use the manual approach for updating your BIOS since you are unable to boot into Windows. This requires you to download the BIOS update onto a USB drive and then boot into the BIOS setup.

You can follow our guides on updating the BIOS for MSI, Dell, Lenovo, and HP manufacturers, respectively. 

6. Repair Partition Table

In case you encounter an issue while trying to boot your computer normally, it is likely that the partition table on your drive has been damaged or corrupted. In such a scenario, you can attempt to repair the damaged partition table.

To do this, you will need to have a bootable USB drive. Create a bootable USB drive and boot into it. From there, you will need to access a command prompt window and use the chkdsk utility to repair your drive. Follow the instructions below to accomplish this task:

1. First, boot into your bootable USB drive.
2. On the Windows Setup screen, click on the Repair your computer option.
3. After that, navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.
4. In the command prompt window, type in the following command and press Enter:

   chkdsk C: /f

   

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5. If your system drive is other than C, make sure to replace it accordingly. 
6. Follow this up by typing the command below:

   chkdsk C: /r

   

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7. Replace C with your respective system drive in case of any difference. 
8. Wait for it to finish up. Once it does, restart your computer.
9. See if that fixes the issue.