Figure out I should probably check out linux since I havent used it in ages

>figure out I should probably check out linux since I havent used it in ages
>decide on arch
>want to dualboot alongside Windows using rEFInd
>follow 30+ min YT tutorial (not including waiting times)
>finally figure out how to get rEFInd to work
>reboot
>rEFInd shows up everything seems fine, choose power off option
>Restart PC
>doesnt load into rEFInd
>doesnt find HDD anymore
>lblk doesnt show it anymore
>fdisk -l shows nothing
>BIOS shows nothing
>Windows only shows Unknown Disk
>cant initialize it under Windows using either MBR or GPT

wow so this is the power of linux... I literally follow a tutorial perfectly the reboot even works and runs the right bootloader and on a restart everything is fucked up and I can throw my HDD into the trash. thank god I didnt install this malware on my SSD.

If not bait then just put gparted or whatever that distro is in the USB and reformat the hdd to ntfs as you're good to go

>decide on arch
Found your problem. Stop falling for old Sup Forums memes.
I should probably stop falling for stale bait.

Arch is not for beginners, fucking moron

I have done linux before and setting up arch didnt seem too difficult. Although I never really used it as my main system I had quite a bit of contact with linux in university. I dont even know what went wrong in hindsight because rEFInd even showed up the first time I rebooted but after that the entire drive doesnt get detected anymore and seems to be fucked.

no this is not bait...

>decide on arch

doesnt show up in gparted only thing I get is

ata3: COMRESET failed (errno=-16)
ata3: COMRESET failed (errno=-16)
ata3: COMRESET failed (errno=-16)

>I have done linux before and setting up arch didnt seem too difficult.
Look who can't install Arch now

>hasn't used linux in ages
>chooses to install arch

PEBKAC

Should have installed Manjaro instead.

Come back, winbabbie.

>Memjewrough
No thx

so no advice at all just memes ? guess I shouldve expected that.

>Asking for advice on a chinese basket weaving forum
Wew lad

ok I think I figured out what happened here. I installed Arch and rEFInd without problem so the first start went well because it automatically rebooted into EFI as was intended.

Second restart wasnt specified which disk it should take so BIOS decided to use my SSD where windows is installed. After booting on that Windows was confused and automatically started to repair the bootloader because it thought the bootloader was fucked when in reality I just used rEFInd now.

So in essence the automated windows bootloader repair wiped rEFInd and my boot partition fucking up the partitioning and everything with it making my HDD unusable. Guess I was blaming the wrong OS here. Atleast this is the only reasonable explanation I could find on the internet for what I saw happening on my PC.

>Haven't used linux in ages
>Go to the least stable and most complex distro
>Suffer issues
Color me surprised. Try Mint. Might be more up your alley.

>refind
just use efi stub / systemd-boot my dude

Maybe don't insult Linux in your op, on what is basically a Linux forum.

Good job op, makes sense

So you decide to use the shittiest distro of them all that constantly fucks up then are surprised when it doesn't work?. This is why shitskins should stick to windows.

i swear people only run arch to be able to say that they run arch.

Gee, there's all these comics and people telling me that arch is this loser internet club. Better ignore all that and install it anyway. Oh em gee, nothing works, linux sucks.

>Doesn't compile GPT support into kernel
>Windows is installed on MBR and doesn't recognize the GPT disk
>I am noob plz halp

>youtube
hahahahahahqhahqhq

if arch is such a meme why do so many people I see on the internet run it ? there has to be a reason that shit is all over Sup Forums and /r/unixporn

>decide on arch
>follow yt tutorial
Are you retarded...? Let me rephrase that; how retarded are you?

you got memed OP
linux is trash and belongs to trash

>dual booting
That's where every linux noob goes wrong. After than initial fuck up everything else is fucked and the user has nothing but problems with then on.

Why is anything a meme? Because stupid retards repeat it to fit in.

Years from now after all the hipsters pseudo-migrate to BSD once linux gets too mainstream, it's going to be entertaining to see people looking over these posts trying to figure out why arch existed. The need to pretend to fit in is just that strong. Paradoxically the ones who are installing arch to do this don't yet know that arch spergs want them to fail. You are fucked either way.

Windows is well known to do shit like that, Microsoft hates it when people dual boot.

>Doesn't compile GPT support into kernel

>arch
>compile kernel
and Sup Forums worst tripfag once more shows his retardation

try reseting bios, maybe it can't detect the hdd
t. dualbooting arch and w7, at one point i fucked up my pc so bad it didn't even react to the power button, i thought it died from electric discharge, still in the end it works great

Forgive me but what is so bad about Dual booting? I setup a dual boot using Ubuntu 16.04 after clearing space using disk manager on a clean win install and have thus far encountered no problems. I am a noob at such things but the process and the installation wnt better and was easier than I had dared to hope. Can I expect problems down the line? My partition is 300gb. The only problem I can think of is that win10 will not respect partition boundaries and sprawl onto ubuntu side one day. I keep regular backups now I am in a transitory phase of computing. Linux nubs should just be like me and use the 16.04 ls while they learn it seems stable and decent bit of software in my humble opinion.

(Addendum)
I haven't actually tried to boot the Windows partition since I have been having so much fun learning about Linux will it be a problem? How can I back up in such a way as to avoid the fate that befell the OP?

if you used noobuntu there should be no issue at all

Arch is tunable.
You can do some unorthodox shit with it and put it where it has no business being.
On the flip side you have to be hyper aware of how the system works so you don't bork it.

It is purely for people who want to tune their system for weeks without dealing with hours of compiling and then run from there.

Do not use arch if you want a working system.
Use linux mint. It lets you install software from two separate sources, Ubuntu and Debian making you king of usability.

Well, looks like you nuked your drive.

It should be /dev/sda or /dev/sdb on a Live USB. Just erase the old partition table completely :
>sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda
then create a new GPT table :
>sudo gdisk /dev/sda
>o
>w
Then reboot and install Windows. Next time choose a distro that actually works.

Also, don't wait forever for dd to finish. Let it do its thing for a few seconds, then press Ctrl+C to kill it.

>fucked up my pc so bad it didn't even react to the power button
>still in the end it works great
How did you fix it?

honestly no idea, i was sure mobo or psu were fucked, what i did is i completly disassembled it, connected only cpu, mobo and psu on the mobo box and it for no reason just started working, i started adding components and it kept going, i ended up rebuilding it inside of the case again and i had no trouble with it since

Check one of the tens of guides online and follow them, if you get problems google it. I had perhaps 50+ tabs on my laptop when I first installed arch. But it all gets better after you install a working desktop manager. Dont go for fancy shit, lightdm is super

Just install arch and windows on separate disks
Stop falling for the dual boot meme

Why not GRUB, you fucking faggot?