Master Boot Record (MBR) Fix and Repair | Windows | Tech-Recipes

Master Boot Record (MBR) Fix and Repair

Contributed by davak

September 10, 2003

Tagged: Windows

This fdisk command will allow you to recreate the Master Boot Record or MBR. Although this can be dangerous, it is a quick way to fix many boot issues… if you know what you are doing.

1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type CMD and hit ENTER
4. From this dos box command line:

FDISK /MBR

This rebuilds the boot sector of the first bootable hard disk based on current disk structure. The partition table information should not be altered.

This is usually used to repair a damaged, corrupted, or infected master boot record.

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nextbrk 4 years ago 1 point
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Not recomended to use fdisk /mbr in win2000/XP

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Anonymous 4 years ago 1 point
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Hmmm...I thought this merely DELETED the master boot record, not "rebuild" it...

I recommend this only for those highly experienced in formatting, partitioning, and the vagaries of the various Win versions.

B.

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qmchenry 4 years ago 1 point
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According to MS here, this command does rewrite the MBR. It's important to note that this command is not applicable for XP/2000 or later. For those operating systems, it is recommended to use the fixmbr command from the recovery console. Here is a recipe describing that procedure.

It is reasonable to advise folks to be very careful with commands like these because of the potential harm they can do. Of course, if you can't boot your system because the MBR is damaged, there aren't many other choices...

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Anonymous 4 years ago 1 point
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I have used this command many times with W2K and it is the best way to undo a dual boot if you decide you dont want it after all.

Gotten rid of Mandrake several times.

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Anonymous 4 years ago 1 point
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but what if I my computer can´t find the harddisk? When I insert my xp cd, it can´t find my harddisk.

When I boot up, I hear, "ktonk - ktonk - ktonk in the startup, before it just hangup and says "operating system missing"

I checked with my startdisk, but after that I could only work in A:/ I couldn´t change to C:/ or something else.

I actually don´t know what to do, because I use a laptop and can´t just insert my harddisk in to another computer and clean my MBR there.

Is it anyone who have any ideas what I should do? I´m desperate, because I´m studying and have my results on my computer :cry:

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Wyatt 2 years ago 1 point
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Guest... your hard drive is pooched.
Sorry.

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bayo fash 2 years ago 1 point
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i transfered my hard disk from my previous computer into another system and the new computer cant just access the operating sysyem. how can i get around this problem.

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