standard DOS loader in the MBR

[Guest]

In order to correct a problem on my system (so that GoBack will protect my second hard drive as well as my primary drive), I have been told to "boot from a Windows floppy and run fdisk /MBR to set a standard DOS loader in the MBR."

O.K.
How do I do this with Windows XP?
Do I do this for both drives or only the second one?
I'm I going to lose any information on either drive?

Thanks, this group has always been very helpful to me.

 

[Pavel]

Not exactly sure what the person had in mind when he told you this but by
using an fdisk /mbr, you will most likely make your WindowsXP unbootable
(but nothing major that can not be easily repaired). The Second drive does
not need MBR unless you at some point need to make the second drive a
bootable drive. Fdisk /MBR will only replace MBR on primary drive by default
and should only be done on pre-Windows XP system such as Windows 98.

--
Pavel

In order to correct a problem on my system (so that GoBack will protect

my second hard drive as well as my primary drive), I have been told to
"boot from a Windows floppy and run fdisk /MBR to set a standard DOS loader
in the MBR."

 

[Richard Urban]

The way to do what you want is to uninstall GoBack. Then reinstall it and
allow it to protect your 2nd drive also. If you add a 3rd drive, you will
have to go through the routine yet again. You don't have to, and in this
case, you don't want to, run fix MBR!

Any drive added after GoBack has already been installed, is NOT protected
until you do the above.

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

In order to correct a problem on my system (so that GoBack will protect

my second hard drive as well as my primary drive), I have been told to
"boot from a Windows floppy and run fdisk /MBR to set a standard DOS loader
in the MBR."

 

[Alex Nichol]

In order to correct a problem on my system (so that GoBack will protect my second hard drive as well as my primary drive), I have been told to "boot from a Windows floppy and run fdisk /MBR to set a standard DOS loader in the MBR."

O.K.
How do I do this with Windows XP?
Do I do this for both drives or only the second one?
I'm I going to lose any information on either drive?

Use a Win98 start up floppy (if one is not to hand, download an image
from www.bootdisk.com

Note - it does not write a standard DOS loader in the boot partition -
and to do so would probably compromise getting to your XP. What FDISK
/MBR does is write standard code (not particularly DOS any more) in the
very first sector of the drive, where it identifies the partition marked
as 'active and passes the buck to the loader in the first sector of
that. Which is where DOS or NT or whatever gets in.

Another method if you have a retail rather than recover XP CD is to Set
the BIOS to boot CD before Hard Disk. Boot the XP CD and, instead of
Setup, take the immediate R for Repair. Assume any password requested
is blank, and TAB over.

Use
FixMBR
FixBoot may also be useful - depending on what the trouble actually is

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

ajr2md wrote:

I'm entering this thread here, not having seen previous posts. I see
GoBack is a factor, so that ups the stress levels considerably!

Bozo alert! Unless you've mis-translated the advice, that is...

MBR is Master Boot Record, which is still BIOS/system territiory - so
there's no such thing as a "DOS", "Windows" or "Linux" loader there.
This is still pre-OS, i.e. has to work with every OS. I see Alex
covered there a bit further on, heh!

That aside, there may be things in MBR that are a problem, and there
may be times when it's appropriate to write the standard system boot
code to MBR (which is what FDisk /Mumble is supposed to do).

The reason we're all rather coy about /Mumble (the parameter that dare
not speak its name) is that there are situations where this can
backfire, and *badly*! The same may apply to XP's equivalent FixMBR

IF this is what you want to do, one of:
- Win9x boot disk with FDisk on it; boot it, FDisk /MBR
- XP CD boot, Recovery Console; FixMBR command

FDisk /MBR will only "do" the first HD seen on the system. There's
other syntax that may do other HDs but I don't remember it.

Yes, you certainly can, if any of the following apply:
- you have a boot virus infecting the MBR
- your HD has/requires DDO code to overcome BIOS limitation
- you use a boot manager in MBR to access/hide/boot partitions
- your MBR has lost the 55AA signature bytes at the end

The last is NASTY, because what FDisk /Mumble will do in this
circumstance is irreversably WIPE your partition table !!

Use a Win98 start up floppy (if one is not to hand, download an image
from www.bootdisk.com

Note - it does not write a standard DOS loader in the boot partition -
and to do so would probably compromise getting to your XP.

Another method if you have a retail rather than recover XP CD is to Set
the BIOS to boot CD before Hard Disk. Boot the XP CD and, instead of
Setup, take the immediate R for Repair. Assume any password requested
is blank, and TAB over.

For "retail", read "generic" or "full". DSP and generic OEM XP CDs
also have bootability and Recovery Console; only if you bought Big
Brand Name would you get gouged with crippleware CD.

Use
FixMBR
FixBoot may also be useful - depending on what the trouble actually is

Yes; that's what I'd like more on - what the trouble actually is

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[Guest]

Please let me expand on my problem
I bought a new computer. After loading my programs, including GoBack Deluxe, I decided to add a second hard drive. The second hard drive was recognized by "My Computer," and I had no problem using the drive, except that it was not listed as a protected drive by GoBack. The obvious solution was to do as Richard suggests and delete and reinstall GoBack. This did not work. I have tried this several times and it still does not work
I emailed Roxio support only to be ignored by them. A couple months went by and Goback was sold to Symantec. Hurray! my problem would be solved. I emailed Symantec and received the following reply

Hello Allen
Thank you for contacting Symantec Online Technical Support
In your message you wrote

I am having a problem getting GoBack to recognize my second hard drive. When I install the program, only my first hard drive (C is listed and is the only one that apparently is being protected

(Their answer was
Allen, system BIOS is not using a standard DOS loader so the GoBack MBR entry isn't allowing system to boot properly. In order to resolve this issue, disable GoBack, then boot from Windows floppy and run Fdisk/MBR to set a standard DOS loader in the MBR, re-enable GoBack. Please note that disabling GoBack will clear all safe points
K.S. (actually name witheld
Symantec Authorized Technical Suppor
I'm not trying to do anything fancy here. I just want GoBack to also protect my second hard drive
Thanks again for your help everyone.