Problem with mbr

[Ash]

I have 2 hard disks, C: and E: . I have GRUB bootloader installed on C:,
but the config files for it are on a partition on E: (don't ask - bad
experimetn with linux). Now, the computer still boots up, but it will
always ask me which OS to load. I have reduced the partition on E: with
linux to 1 GB, but if I remove or reformat E:, or even disconnect it and
restart, then GRUB won't load, 'cause it needs the config files on E: .

So, short and simple, I need to restore my original windows XP home mrb.
Now, I know that the first thing you all are going to say is "fdisk
/mbr". Yeah, well, I tried that. Guess my computer maker thought I would
never need fdisk, because it's not on the computer. anywheres. If I
typed fdisk at the command prompt, I get an error message telling me
that 'fdisk' is not recognized as an internal or external command or
batch file. I've even tries agent ransacking the computer with any
filename containing fdisk, search all hidden/system files.

So, like I said, windows XP Home(SP2), need to reinstall original
windows MBR, but I don't have fdisk. I've been googleing for an hour now
trying to find out how, but with no luck. Please help

 

[Richard Urban]

From that wonderful piece of work called Help and support (Start/Help and Support)! Use it sometime - you can learn a lot.




Fixmbr
Repairs the master boot record of the boot disk. The fixmbr command is only available when you are using the Recovery Console.

fixmbr [device_name]

Parameter

device_name

The device (drive) on which you want to write a new master boot record. The name can be obtained from the output of the map command. An example of a device name is:

\Device\HardDisk0.

Example

The following example writes a new master boot record to the device specified:

fixmbr \Device\HardDisk0

Notes

a.. If you do not specify a device_name, a new master boot record will be written to the boot device, which is the drive on which your primary system is loaded.
b.. If an invalid or nonstandard partition table signature is detected, you will be prompted whether you want to continue. If you are not having problems accessing your drives, you should not continue. Writing a new master boot record to your system partition could damage your partition tables and cause your partitions to become inaccessible.
Related Topics



--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Sharon F]

I have 2 hard disks, C: and E: . I have GRUB bootloader installed on C:,
but the config files for it are on a partition on E: (don't ask - bad
experimetn with linux). Now, the computer still boots up, but it will
always ask me which OS to load. I have reduced the partition on E: with
linux to 1 GB, but if I remove or reformat E:, or even disconnect it and
restart, then GRUB won't load, 'cause it needs the config files on E: .

So, short and simple, I need to restore my original windows XP home mrb.
Now, I know that the first thing you all are going to say is "fdisk
/mbr". Yeah, well, I tried that. Guess my computer maker thought I would
never need fdisk, because it's not on the computer. anywheres. If I
typed fdisk at the command prompt, I get an error message telling me
that 'fdisk' is not recognized as an internal or external command or
batch file. I've even tries agent ransacking the computer with any
filename containing fdisk, search all hidden/system files.

So, like I said, windows XP Home(SP2), need to reinstall original
windows MBR, but I don't have fdisk. I've been googleing for an hour now
trying to find out how, but with no luck. Please help

Two points:
1) There are instructions within the Linux community to remove GRUB
2) Even if you could find fdisk, it cannot rebuild the boot configuration
for XP. If your XP CD is the retail or generic OEM versions, you could use
the recovery console to repair the XP partition so that it is bootable on
its own. Check out "bootcfg" and "fixboot" in this article:
Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=314058

Whether or not SP2 is installed adds a layer of complexity. Either remove
SP2 or skip Recovery Console and perform a repair install with a slipstream
XP/SP2 CD.

 

[Ash]

From that wonderful piece of work called Help and support (Start/Help
and Support)! Use it sometime - you can learn a lot.



Microsoft Windows graphic


Fixmbr

Repairs the master boot record
<ms-its:C:\WINDOWS\Help\bootcons.chm::/HELP=glossary.hlp TOPIC=gls_mbr>
of the boot disk. The fixmbr command is only available when you are
using the Recovery Console
<ms-its:C:\WINDOWS\Help\bootcons.chm::/HELP=glossary.hlp
TOPIC=gls_bootcons>.

fixmbr [device_name]

Parameter

device_name

The device (drive) on which you want to write a new master boot record.
The name can be obtained from the output of the map command. An example
of a device name is:

\Device\HardDisk0.

Example

The following example writes a new master boot record to the device
specified:

fixmbr \Device\HardDisk0

Notes

* If you do not specify a device_name, a new master boot record will
be written to the boot device, which is the drive on which your
primary system is loaded.
* If an invalid or nonstandard partition table signature is
detected, you will be prompted whether you want to continue. If
you are not having problems accessing your drives, you should not
continue. Writing a new master boot record to your system
partition could damage your partition tables and cause your
partitions to become inaccessible.

Related Topics
<ms-its:C:\WINDOWS\Help\bootcons.chm::/CHM=bootcons.chm;ntcmds.chm
META=a_recovery_console_overview;a_bootcons_map;a_bootcons_fixboot;a_bootcons_diskpart;a_ntcmds>


--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard <mailto:B@stard>

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

I have 2 hard disks, C: and E: . I have GRUB bootloader installed on C:,
but the config files for it are on a partition on E: (don't ask - bad
experimetn with linux). Now, the computer still boots up, but it will
always ask me which OS to load. I have reduced the partition on E: with
linux to 1 GB, but if I remove or reformat E:, or even disconnect it and
restart, then GRUB won't load, 'cause it needs the config files on E: .

So, short and simple, I need to restore my original windows XP home mrb.
Now, I know that the first thing you all are going to say is "fdisk
/mbr". Yeah, well, I tried that. Guess my computer maker thought I would
never need fdisk, because it's not on the computer. anywheres. If I
typed fdisk at the command prompt, I get an error message telling me
that 'fdisk' is not recognized as an internal or external command or
batch file. I've even tries agent ransacking the computer with any
filename containing fdisk, search all hidden/system files.

So, like I said, windows XP Home(SP2), need to reinstall original
windows MBR, but I don't have fdisk. I've been googleing for an hour now
trying to find out how, but with no luck. Please help

Guess what? Windows Install disk *I* have has no recovery console
option. It's custom made for ALC computers, gives me 3 options:
Install(replace system files only), format and install(back up C: drive
to C:\My Old Disk Structure), and format and clean install. Can I get to
the recovery console without a windows install disk?

 

[John]

Guess what? Windows Install disk *I* have has no recovery console
option. It's custom made for ALC computers, gives me 3 options:
Install(replace system files only), format and install(back up C: drive
to C:\My Old Disk Structure), and format and clean install. Can I get to
the recovery console without a windows install disk?

caveat emptor.

Borrow a friend's full XP disk to repair yours. Next comp. buy the
operating system as a separate component.

John

 

[Guest]

I have 2 hard disks, C: and E: . I have GRUB bootloader installed on
C:, but the config files for it are on a partition on E: (don't ask -
bad experimetn with linux). Now, the computer still boots up, but it
will always ask me which OS to load. I have reduced the partition on E:
with linux to 1 GB, but if I remove or reformat E:, or even disconnect
it and restart, then GRUB won't load, 'cause it needs the config files
on E: .

So, short and simple, I need to restore my original windows XP home
mrb. Now, I know that the first thing you all are going to say is
"fdisk /mbr". Yeah, well, I tried that. Guess my computer maker
thought I would never need fdisk, because it's not on the computer.
anywheres. If I typed fdisk at the command prompt, I get an error
message telling me that 'fdisk' is not recognized as an internal or
external command or batch file. I've even tries agent ransacking the
computer with any filename containing fdisk, search all hidden/system
files.

So, like I said, windows XP Home(SP2), need to reinstall original
windows MBR, but I don't have fdisk. I've been googleing for an hour
now trying to find out how, but with no luck. Please help

Boot using the Windows XP install CD, go into Recovery Console mode
(unless you installed it and it is one of the selections during bootup),
and run FIXMBR from the command line in Recovery Console mode.

You could also get a floppy image for an MS-DOS bootable floppy from
http://www.bootdisk.com. This should have the FDISK program on it so
you could then run the "FDISK /MBR" command. Note that the MBR
bootstrap program from MS-DOS is smaller than the one installed using
FIXMBR but either is a usable bootstrap program.

 

[Guest]

Boot using the Windows XP install CD, go into Recovery Console mode
(unless you installed it and it is one of the selections during
bootup), and run FIXMBR from the command line in Recovery Console
mode.

You could also get a floppy image for an MS-DOS bootable floppy from
http://www.bootdisk.com. This should have the FDISK program on it so
you could then run the "FDISK /MBR" command. Note that the MBR
bootstrap program from MS-DOS is smaller than the one installed using
FIXMBR but either is a usable bootstrap program.

Also see http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310994.