Master boot record

[Stanley A. Warner]

Hi, gurus. I have a question about MBRs.
Is the master boot record part of the system partition
or separate from the system partition? If I delete the
system partition, does the MBR go with it or does it
remain accessible on the disk?
Thanks for any insight.

Stanley

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi, gurus. I have a question about MBRs.
Is the master boot record part of the system partition
or separate from the system partition? If I delete the
system partition, does the MBR go with it or does it
remain accessible on the disk?
Thanks for any insight.

Stanley

The MBR is independent of any partition. It survives
the removal of the system partition. Furthermore, it
is very easily restored:
- When booting with a Win98 boot disk: fdisk /mbr
- When booting into the Command Console: fixmbr

 

[Rich Barry]

Stanley, take a look here. No, it's not part of the system partition.
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/structMBR-c.html

 

[Staley A. Warner]

The MBR is independent of any partition. It survives
the removal of the system partition. Furthermore, it
is very easily restored:
- When booting with a Win98 boot disk: fdisk /mbr
- When booting into the Command Console: fixmbr

Thanks for the reply. I should have said that I run Windows XP Pro
with SP2 installed. I tried loading the Windows XP CD, but I get an
error message that says the operating system that is installed is more
recent that the operating system on the CD (which is true). Google
references say to run "fixmbr" from the Repair Console. How does
one bring that up from a CD which thinks it's obsolete?

Stanely

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Thanks for the reply. I should have said that I run Windows XP Pro
with SP2 installed. I tried loading the Windows XP CD, but I get an
error message that says the operating system that is installed is more
recent that the operating system on the CD (which is true). Google
references say to run "fixmbr" from the Repair Console. How does
one bring that up from a CD which thinks it's obsolete?

Stanely

You do not say what OS you have on your CD but you should
probably make an effort to obtain the CD that matches your
installed OS. Sooner or later you will be caught out if you do not
have this CD.

If you need to restore the MBR without having access to the
Command Comsole then you can use the Win98 method I
mentioned in my previous reply. It works for WinXP, even
if the OS resides in an NTFS partition (because the MBR
does not "know" or "care" about file systems).

 

[Staley A. Warner]

You do not say what OS you have on your CD but you should
probably make an effort to obtain the CD that matches your
installed OS. Sooner or later you will be caught out if you do not
have this CD.

If you need to restore the MBR without having access to the
Command Comsole then you can use the Win98 method I
mentioned in my previous reply. It works for WinXP, even
if the OS resides in an NTFS partition (because the MBR
does not "know" or "care" about file systems).

The CD I have is the academic Windows XP Pro CD that
I used to install the operating system originally. Can that be
used to access fixmbr? If so, how?

Stanley

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

The CD I have is the academic Windows XP Pro CD that
I used to install the operating system originally. Can that be
used to access fixmbr? If so, how?

Stanley

If you can boot into the Command/Recovery Console with
your CD then you can issue the fixmbr command. To get
into the Command Console, boot off the CD, select Repair,
then select Recovery Console.

 

[Stanley A. Warner]

If you can boot into the Command/Recovery Console with
your CD then you can issue the fixmbr command. To get
into the Command Console, boot off the CD, select Repair,
then select Recovery Console.

If I set the BIOS to boot from CD 1st, the CD loads a bunch
of files, and then it says it's starting Windows, then there's an
error message:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down
to prevent damage to your computer.
SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILED
..................
Technical information
*** STOP:0x0000006F (0xC0000020, 0x0......0, 0x0......0, 0x0......0)


I have 2 HDs in the computer: 1 good which can boot Windows XP,
and 1 bad which has what appears to be a good archived copy of the
system on the 4th (primary) partition. Using the good HD, I can load
the Windows XP CD, but I can't find the Recovery Console on it, and
I can't find a file named "fixmbr" anywhere on it. Is there any hope of
ever booting the image on partition 4? It has an installed app on it
that I have to use.

Stanley

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

If I set the BIOS to boot from CD 1st, the CD loads a bunch
of files, and then it says it's starting Windows, then there's an
error message:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down
to prevent damage to your computer.
SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILED
.................
Technical information
*** STOP:0x0000006F (0xC0000020, 0x0......0, 0x0......0, 0x0......0)


I have 2 HDs in the computer: 1 good which can boot Windows XP,
and 1 bad which has what appears to be a good archived copy of the
system on the 4th (primary) partition. Using the good HD, I can load
the Windows XP CD, but I can't find the Recovery Console on it, and
I can't find a file named "fixmbr" anywhere on it. Is there any hope of
ever booting the image on partition 4? It has an installed app on it
that I have to use.

Stanley

You do not need the MBR to start Windows. Format a floppy
disk on any WinXP PC, then copy these hidden files to it:
c:\ntldr
c:\ntdetect.com

Now use a text editor to create a:\boot.ini like so:
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(x)\WINDOWS
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(x)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

Play with (x) until you can boot the machine with the floppy
disk into the desired OS. If x=1 then the system boots off the
first partition.

 

[Stanley A. Warner]

If I set the BIOS to boot from CD 1st, the CD loads a bunch
of files, and then it says it's starting Windows, then there's an
error message:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down
to prevent damage to your computer.
SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILED
.................
Technical information
*** STOP:0x0000006F (0xC0000020, 0x0......0, 0x0......0, 0x0......0)


I have 2 HDs in the computer: 1 good which can boot Windows XP,
and 1 bad which has what appears to be a good archived copy of the
system on the 4th (primary) partition. Using the good HD, I can load
the Windows XP CD, but I can't find the Recovery Console on it, and
I can't find a file named "fixmbr" anywhere on it. Is there any hope of
ever booting the image on partition 4? It has an installed app on it
that I have to use.

Stanley

You do not need the MBR to start Windows. Format a floppy
disk on any WinXP PC, then copy these hidden files to it:
c:\ntldr
c:\ntdetect.com

Now use a text editor to create a:\boot.ini like so:
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(x)\WINDOWS
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(x)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

Play with (x) until you can boot the machine with the floppy
disk into the desired OS. If x=1 then the system boots off the
first partition.

The boot.ini file was the key. The boot.ini file was set for
the HD's position when the image was made, not for its
position when trying to access it for its installed app.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

Stanley