Windows 7 Oh no, not the MBR

rave300zx

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Sep 19, 2011
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So I know this may seem very very noobish..
I am attempting to clean up a failed attempt on dual boot winxp on win 7. In the process I pushed a few to many button and deleted my MBR partition. Now the volume is unallocated and attached is picture of my disk management. Question is:
1. If i turn computer off/reset/hibernate will I have issues trying to boot into my OS
2. If the unallocated 10 gb. isn't needed for the MBR (i dont know why it's 10 gb..) what can it be used for..

Any more info just ask I'll be more then happy to reply..

p.s my computer when bought didn't come with win 7 recovery CD's. so in the mean time - no resets

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*edit* If I managed to place this in the wrong section please move, I had a hard time deciding if this is a software, hardware, or an I'm and idiot issue and my question landed here.
 
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Solution
The MBR is used for a Windows 7 boot. But it is a 1024k (or something close) space at the front of the drive and does not show in Disk Management. If you want to check, look up hard disk and Master Boot Record.

The MBR does keep track of which type of OS you are booting to. For instance, if you loaded XP after you had already installed Windows 7, that install would overwrite the Windows 7 boot process. You would have to set it back to a Windows 7 process by using a command like Bootsect /nt60. If you wanted to make it an XP boot, you would use 52 instead of 60. This paragraph is not to be taken as a suggestion to use such commands.

A repair CD is something you make. Go to Start Menu, All Programs, Maintenance, Create a...
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Does your C: partition show as active?

Have you made a Windows 7 recovery CD, and if not you might do that.

Does or did you system boot into Windows 7 normally now?

Your system looks normal if the C: partition shows as active. I would reboot it to test as opposed to letting it just go to sleep, but it doesn't look like there are any problems..

If you have the Recovery CD, many boot problems in Windows 7 can be repaired.

I am not entirely clear as to why you think you deleted the MBR...

Have you done a backup image using the Windows Backup yet?
 
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I never had the funds to buy the dvd's needed to make rercovery CD's. The picture shows that the Unallocated information used to be my MBR according to the Disk Managment (the volume info says it is.)

Also if I reboot, and it is indeed that I messed up my MBR, I will no longer have access to this computer until I can have Recovery CD's. Which will be about 2-3 weeks and I need my CPU for school and stuff.

if the MBR partition has nothing to-do with win 7 boot and it is OKAY that I can shutdown/reboot/sleep/hiberante, other then formatting and re-installing all the drivers, is there a way I can get the 15 gb set aside for my failed attempt for windows XP and also get the 10 gb back from unallocated to be used with my c:\ as well?

*EDIT*
Windows 7 (C 438.8 GB NTFS
Healthy(system,boot,page files,Active,Crash dump, Primary Partition)

I assume yes, C: is active.
 
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The MBR is used for a Windows 7 boot. But it is a 1024k (or something close) space at the front of the drive and does not show in Disk Management. If you want to check, look up hard disk and Master Boot Record.

The MBR does keep track of which type of OS you are booting to. For instance, if you loaded XP after you had already installed Windows 7, that install would overwrite the Windows 7 boot process. You would have to set it back to a Windows 7 process by using a command like Bootsect /nt60. If you wanted to make it an XP boot, you would use 52 instead of 60. This paragraph is not to be taken as a suggestion to use such commands.

A repair CD is something you make. Go to Start Menu, All Programs, Maintenance, Create a System Repair Disk. This will allow you to boot into the Windows Recovery Environment in case the F8 key option is not working.

If you want to wait to see what someone else might think, always good to be cautious.
 
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Solution
If you can obtain the recovery disk or get to the Repair option i have listed the 3 main commands i use to fix a mbr issue

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
bootrec.exe /fixboot
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
 
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kaos said:
If you can obtain the recovery disk or get to the Repair option i have listed the 3 main commands i use to fix a mbr issue

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
bootrec.exe /fixboot
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
Click to expand...

do i need to cd C:\system 32 to get this option to work?
Simple Start>type "cmd">type "bootrec.exe /XXX" doesn't work :/
I'm still looking but your option is possibly the most viable. thanks!
 
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do i need to cd C:\system 32 to get this option to work?
Simple Start>type "cmd">type "bootrec.exe /XXX" doesn't work :/
Click to expand...

this wont work, command prompt isnt capable to repair the Master boot record, This has to be done either via the recovery CD or the version of windows. As stated above you may need to create a recovery disk to boot from . The repair "commands" shall we say are different to thre normal CMD window and a part of the CMD Repair from the disc


KRK
 
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rave300zx:
Hello and welcome to the forums.
Windows7Forums.com has recently made available repair discs that may help you resolve your issue.
Perhaps by downloading and burning the appropriate ISO file for your system architecture you may be able to then access the Windows 7 Recovery environment and use the bootrec.exe tool to recover your install.
Good luck
Regards
Randy
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Link Removed - Invalid URL
 
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rave300zx said:
do i need to cd C:\system 32 to get this option to work?
Simple Start>type "cmd">type "bootrec.exe /XXX" doesn't work :/

I'm still looking but your option is possibly the most viable. thanks!
Click to expand...

Don't misread my response. The command you reference were given in order to get you to understand what might have been done during a Windows XP install.

As I said......your system appears normal. If you have not used a third party partition manager to change what you show in the disk management window, my response is the same.
 
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KK Sorry for the long response time, thanks to Saltgrass for the help and Trouble for recovery disks which were not needed.

You were right, my win 7 is fine. Now on to my next question (do I need to re-post?) how can I join empty partitions with out formatting? I know it's a stretch but maybe there is a way I do not know of yet.
 
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In Windows, you can extend the trailing edge of a partition into unpartitioned space. You cannot move the leading edge of a partition.

If you want to move an entire partition, you will need to move the leading edge and a third party disk management software will be required. It can be dangerous, so make a backup and an image if you can first. You cannot move a partition "around" another partition. In some cases, you may need to delete a partition to get where you want, just not one that has vital information in it.

I like Partition Wizard and you can download a free home version and burn to make bootable.
 
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