Fix MBR - Comments Page 2

Hello, I did a recovery with my xp pro system disk at the install R and I lost my paging files, I believe it rewrote my MBR on a first attemp not knowing how to run the repair I accidently used the first R. I tried to realocate the paging file but it will not work. System takes about 8+ minutes to boot up, some of my programs were corrupt. Any Ideas other than a full re-install of everything....Dan.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Are you sure you did a Recovery? That means completely reloading your system from scratch? Also, what makes you think you lost your paging files?

When it asks for your Administrator password, just use the enter key. I have also found that just running CHKDSK /R very successful in fixing corrupt files and will report to you if the HD is failing.

Was running XP Pro SP2 spysweeper removed two trojans ran another spyware fnd DNS changer trojan left ran M$ malware removal tool now MBR on 300G SATA Boot Drive w/OS is corrupt Recovery console gets lost on 1. C: XP disc gets lost on install when searching for previous installs. On safe boot and cmd prompt boot files stop on sys32\ mub file ext. Where do I go from here? BIOS sees the SATA drive but not the boot record or partitions. AM I hosed?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Probably not... see http://askbobrankin.com/hard_drive_recovery.html and look for the link to TESTDISK.

Hi folks, I have used FixMBR from the XP Boot-CD's recovery console, quite successfully in the past, whenever I suspected a hard-disk MBR corruption. IMPORTANT: Always use FixBoot AFTER executing FixMBR, to make sure your system is made bootable again.

Something only alluded to in the comments is the issue of what happens if you aren't running Windows XP. For MS-DOS 5 (or is it 6) thru Windows Me, there's an undocumented switch in the FDISK command that fixes the problem. Just boot up with the version of DOS you're using (in the case of Win9x/Me, a startup disk) and enter FDISK /MBR and you're done!

Appreciate the 98/ME comment. I've used fdisk /MBR in the past and it works. I'm trying to use it again since my system only boots to the background screen weather in regular or safe mode. It seems that my ME start up disk will only allow me an artificial c: drive and wont get me to my actual harddrive. hmm...

EDITOR'S NOTE: You may be seeing the contents of the CD. Try the C: command to switch drives.

Good info on fixing MBRs here! Just happened to me and FIXMBR followed by FIXBOOT cleared it right up. Thanks Bob and Vivek for the tips!

I'm getting a "Disk Read Error" on my 160GB C: drive. I installed my XP O/S onto a spare 4GB drive and can boot my system up with my 160GB drive being used as my D: drive and I can see my folders and files on the 160GB drive. With the 4GB drive as the C: drive, I can boot to the Recovery Console. With the 160GB drive as the C: drive, I can't boot to the Recovery Console...the screen just stays blank once the boot process moved to the XP CD. So I am using the 4GB drive as the C: drive and booting to the Recovery Console and there, I used the FIXMBR and FIXBOOT commands, referencing the correct drive to fix, ie. FIXMBR \Device\HardDisk2\Partition1 and FIXBOOT d:.
After running the FIXMBR and FIXBOOT, I still get the Disk Read Error when trying to boot from the 160GB drive. I can still access my folder and files when the 160GB drive is used as a D: drive. So, do you think I've done all I can do and I now need to move on with a replacement drive for the 160GB drive? Or is there something else I should try?

EDITOR'S NOTE: It seems there is something wrong with the boot record. See http://askbobrankin.com/hard_drive_recovery.html and look for the link to TESTDISK, which may help to make it bootable. If that doesn't work, I'd move the files off the disk and hit it with a sledge hammer.

I had problems with my 40GB drive with Windows XP (Due to BSOD's). Prior to trying FixMBR (didn't find this website until after the fact), I installed XP on an older 15GB drive. I installed Windows fine, but the problem is now I cannot access my 400 GB slave drive. I can see it in Windows Explorer, BIOS, and computer management, but when attempting to access the files, it asks me if I want to format it. It also only sees 128GB. Any ideas? I would like to access the drive and back it up on an external drive prior to installing XP on this drive.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Are you sure you set the jumpers for the slave drive correctly? You might have better luck accessing the file if you buy an external converter kit. The 128GB limit is due to your old motherboard.

Hi there Im getting MBR error 1, thing is tried to do a FIXMBR said it cant. This is the 3rd hard drive in a month, and am starting to think it may be a motherboard issue causing all the problems. was wondering if anyone might have a thought on that... ty in advance...