Fix MBR - Comments Page 3

Al, not sure if the installation of Vista on your PC wiped some of the drivers but you can check it out this site..
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-inspiron-531-desktop/4869-3118_7-32486097.html?messageSiteID=7&messageID=2485444&cval=2485444;2490951&ctype=msgid;cmsgid&commentMessageID=2490951

problem...fresh installation of windows xp system...after installing antivirus the system starts immediatly reporting all .exe files have been corrupt...any solutions?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Try a different A/V product?!?

hi
i've got a serious problem with my machine and i'm thinking about executing the fixmbr command in the recovery console.

problem:

when i power on my PC, about 2 seconds after the windows logo (with the 3 green squares running across under it) disappears, the PC restarts. and it keeps doing that. i tapped F8 on one of the restarts and i selected the option which disables the automatic restart if there is a boot failure. the error message i then saw was this:

STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The Windows Logon Process system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc0000034 (0x00000000 0x0000000)
The system has been shutdown.

Microsoft has a support page on this - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/156669 but the problem is i can't get to any command prompt. safe mode doesn't work, last known good config doesn't work. i haven't seen the windows logon screen in days now! the PC just keeps restarting again and again and again! also, rather strangely, when i insert the windows xp cd into my cd drive and go in to the windows setup, i select install a fresh copy of windows, go past the agreement screen, and then i don't have the option of repairing my already-installed copy of windows! i have no idea why it can't detect my installed copy of windows! plus, if i go to the recovery console from the cd, my windows installation doesn't show up in the list! strangely enough, if i fire up the recovery console without the cd - when my PC boots, i'm always asked whether i wish to start windows xp or the windows recovery console - it does detect my installation of windows!

i have already tried the fixboot command in the recovery console (the console that's in my PC, not on the disk) but it didn't fix the problem. i've also tried copying the ntldr file from the windows cd to my c: but that also didn't work.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Search this site for info on TESTDISK, it may help.

Everyone seems to assume you have an XP installation CD. I've only purchased HP machines in the past few years and they don't include the OS disks but they have a Recovery Partition at the beginning of the disk (sometimes shows up as D: drive).

So how do you repair the MBR on a machine like this? Does it know not to try to boot the OS from the recovery partition and try to boot from the following one? Thanks for any tips.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I don't think the recovery partition is typically bootable. In your situation, I'd recommend TESTDISK. See http://askbobrankin.com/hard_drive_recovery.html

I think i might have this problem with Windows vista. When I tried to reinstall vista, its froze on the last step of installation (Completing installation...) I had waited for about 5 hours at this point and still nothing. I restarted PC and Vista screen with loading bar at bottom appeared. The loading was tasking very long at it seems to stay in that position until I had to shutdown.

Quick question, if I do reboot my computer does it mean I lose all my files and stuff?

EDITOR'S NOTE: I hope I am misunderstanding your question. Rebooting simply means shutting down and restarting.

Monty, I suggest that you get a copy of Winternals ERD commander, boot off the CD, and run system restore as far back as you can. Hey presto. Works a lot more often than you'd think and has saved me countless times.

Hi, I am maneesh joseph. I want to know about how to fix the MBR after the formatting of one Ext2 partition. In my system i am using both Windows Xp and linux. I formatted the linux partition. Then at the boot time it shows that "error 17". What will i do.can you explain........

I recently cloned my 60 gig HD to a 160 gig HD, using a compaq computer. The new hard drive works, but when I put the old HD in a non- Compaq computer, it will not load. (It still loads fine on the Compaq).
I tried using the fixmbr command, it said the mbr was a non regular one; I told it to repair anyway. Nothing happened.
I then used the fixboot command, but to no avail. Is there anything else I can do to get this drive to load?
I don't want to have to start from scratch, as there are a lot of programs on the HD, and I'm trying to avoid a 12+ hour re-install.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I wonder what Compaq could have done to make the drive unusable in other machines... Try the TESTDISK program...

I receive the message 'error loading operating system'. My PC does not boot from safe mode and I cannot boot from CD because CMOS settings does not allow me to change the boot priority to CD from IDE.

EDITOR'S NOTE: That's very odd... how would you first load the OS onto the hard drive if you can't ever boot from CD?