re-wrote MBR, any way to fix it

[tilopa]

I hastely re-wrote the MBR on my xp machine by using the fixmbr command
in recovery console. Now the machine boots to C:\ with nothing on it,
my partitions (and data within) where over written and now I see
nothing but an empty C partition. Is there a utility that can rewrite
the MBR based on the underlying data that still exists.
Anyone know how to fix this?
Thanks.

 

[James]

* Boot from your XP Setup CD and enter the Recovery Console
* Run "Attrib -H -R -S C:\Boot.ini"
* Delete the C:\Boot.ini file
* Run "Bootcfg /Rebuild"
* Run Fixboot

That should rebuild the whole boot process for you.

 

[tilopa]

* Boot from your XP Setup CD and enter the Recovery Console
* Run "Attrib -H -R -S C:\Boot.ini"
* Delete the C:\Boot.ini file
* Run "Bootcfg /Rebuild"
* Run Fixboot

That should rebuild the whole boot process for you.

James,
Thanks for your prompt reply. The system does not find a boot.ini file.
The MBR was re-written with a new c: partition and new partition table.
I can probable recover the data with a data recovery program like "get
data back", but I was hoping to be able to fix the MBR. I am wondering
if there is a utility out there that can fix the MBR based on the data
that is on the drive.

 

[Earl Lewis]

I hastely re-wrote the MBR on my xp machine by using the fixmbr command
in recovery console. Now the machine boots to C:\ with nothing on it,
my partitions (and data within) where over written and now I see
nothing but an empty C partition. Is there a utility that can rewrite
the MBR based on the underlying data that still exists.
Anyone know how to fix this?
Thanks.

I've never done this with XP, but when I was running Win9x in
multi-boot config I often booted on a Win9x diskette and did a fdisk
/mbr (from memory, I think that's how it went). Nothing was ever
changed on the partition itself and I never had the procedure fail me.
These drives were formatted FAT32. I did a BUNCH of fdisk displaying
from the diskette before I ever attempted manipulations. Still kind of
a cross-your-fingers crapshoot.

Is your drive formatted NTFS? I kinda suspect that file system might
pack more stuff into the MBR as to what's on the partition. I've never
used the confusing recovery console.

Remove no_spam to reply email

 

[tilopa]

I've never done this with XP, but when I was running Win9x in
multi-boot config I often booted on a Win9x diskette and did a fdisk
/mbr (from memory, I think that's how it went). Nothing was ever
changed on the partition itself and I never had the procedure fail me.
These drives were formatted FAT32. I did a BUNCH of fdisk displaying
from the diskette before I ever attempted manipulations. Still kind of
a cross-your-fingers crapshoot.

Is your drive formatted NTFS? I kinda suspect that file system might
pack more stuff into the MBR as to what's on the partition. I've never
used the confusing recovery console.

Remove no_spam to reply email

Thanks Earl,
I tried your fdisk /mbr from a 98 boot disk, but it did not seem to do
anything. Did not fix the problem but it was worth a try. The file
system does happen to be fat32 so maybe that is what caused the
original problem with it over writing. I foolishly assumed it was NTFS.

At this point I think my best bet is to run a file recovery program.