Windows Boot Loader Corrupted
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Windows Boot Loader Corrupted
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Newbie


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Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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Posted: 22 Dec 2007 06:30:03 pm    Post subject:
Alright I have two computers that have screwed up master boot records.

The fist computer is my laptop and I installed Xp Home first and then windows 2000 which allowed 2000 to boot, but not XP. I uninstalled windows 2000, but the boot menu still acts ast though 2000 is installed as it's still in the list and if I select XP it can't boot it.

The second computer is my desktop and I installed XP Home first and XP 64 pro second. I don't have a boot menu with this setup as it just boots to 64 pro automatically. I downloaded a program to boot XP if the mbr is messed up, but when I instert the cd and boot I get the message NTOSKRNL.EXE is missing or corrupt. I copied the file from the XP cd to /windows/system32 and overwrote it, but I still have the same problem. Oddly enough if XP Home is the only OS installed and I insert the CD it will let XP boot, so it has to be dual boot realated.

Any suggestions?
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magicdanw
pcGuru()


Calc Guru


Joined: 14 Feb 2007
Posts: 1110
Posted: 23 Dec 2007 08:39:36 am    Post subject:
First computer - If you boot off the XP cd and go into recovery mode, there should be some command like fixmbr that will...well...fix the mbr.

Second computer - I would think that XP 64 pro would be able to deal with a previous version of windows (xp home), so if it doesn't work, you might need to try a third-party bootloader, like grub or lilo. However, I know that Vista has some utilities to configure it's boot settings, so search around online; maybe xp has one too.
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Newbie


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Posted: 23 Dec 2007 12:23:12 pm    Post subject:
I've already tried fix mbr many times but it doesn't work for some reason. As for the third party boot loader I'll look around.

For some reason after shutting my desktop down last night (it was doing some windows updates in the process) my computer doesn't want to read windows anymoe and I get a message "Disk error Press any key to restart" everytime start my computer.
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NETWizz
Byte by bit


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Joined: 20 May 2003
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Posted: 25 Dec 2007 01:00:22 am    Post subject:
The MBR is fine that is just the partition table and boot loader. Even getting a menu with options to select an OS means the MBR is working just fine. Your problem is with the boot loader for windows an/or the boot.ini file in particular.
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Newbie


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Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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Posted: 08 Jan 2008 09:10:15 pm    Post subject:
Does anyone here know how to fix the partition table and boot loader when installing Windows 2000 after Windows XP? I was using a CD (with a program on it) to bypass this problem for awhile, but the CD drive in my laptop died, or somehow got disconnected and I need to be able to repair this from Linux. I thought after installing linux it would fix this problem by using Grub, but all it did was install Grub over this and now I have Grub and an option to go into the Windows boot loader (seems like a boot loader embedded into a boot loader; Grub and Windows 2000 boot loader). I don't want to go back to reinstall XP. That is an option I'm not willing to do, and I think this should be fixable without having to do it. I can't use der at the same time) to choose between 2000 and XP. The problem is 2000 isn't installed anymore and I can't access XP because the boot loader is FUBAR. I've tried countless things to fix this problem, but nothing is working. The CD/DVD ROM drive on my laptop doesn't work anymore, so I need alternative solutions to fix this problem without using the XP CD (which I have, but just can't boot) or any CD/DVD. Also I can boot from USB, so alternative options related to that is fine.

Last edited by Guest on 08 Jan 2008 09:11:08 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Demon


Advanced Member


Joined: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 369
Posted: 08 Jan 2008 09:32:17 pm    Post subject:
Network boot, if your BIOS supports it?
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Newbie


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Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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Posted: 08 Jan 2008 09:55:06 pm    Post subject:
My bios doesn't support it, but I think I will still be able to do it anyway. But what do I do after booting over a network, that I couldn't do by booting into Linux?
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Newbie


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Joined: 23 Jan 2004
Posts: 2247
Posted: 09 Jan 2008 08:13:12 pm    Post subject:
UPDATE:

Issue solved. For future reference anyone needing to fix the aforementioned problem get NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM from another computer running the same version of XP and copy it to the root drive and all will be fixed.
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NETWizz
Byte by bit


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Joined: 20 May 2003
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Posted: 14 Jan 2008 03:06:01 am    Post subject:
Okay, someone had a bad windows boot loader....
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Newbie


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Joined: 23 Jan 2004
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Posted: 14 Jan 2008 08:24:36 pm    Post subject:
NETWizz wrote:
Okay, someone had a bad windows boot loader....
[post="118804"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]


I knew you were right from the beginning, it's just that the problem became increasing difficult when a screw popped out of my optical drive causing it to disconnect from the motherhboard, which I didn't figure out until after this issue was fixed, because at the time time I needed the optical drive to boot into windows, because the boot loader was corrrupted. The only way I was able to use Linux was by installing Ubuntu 7.10 onto my flash drive and booting from that in the mean time, then connecting an external optical drive to then insert a live cd to install Linux.

If you deem it necessary, change the title of this topic from "MBR Messed Up" to "Windows Boot Loader Corrupted". Actually I like the sound of that better anyway.

Last edited by Guest on 14 Jan 2008 08:25:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
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NETWizz
Byte by bit


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Joined: 20 May 2003
Posts: 2369
Posted: 21 Jan 2008 03:09:19 pm    Post subject:
Someone else beat me to it :-)

alexrudd Moderator edited a topic title: (ID: 7514) From 'MBR Messed Up' to 'Windows Boot Loader Corrupted' Jan 14 2008, 08:37 PM

Last edited by Guest on 21 Jan 2008 03:09:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
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