Loading PBR for descriptor 2...done

[Erdmann]

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I have a Dell 4700 with Windows XP OS which was working fine till yesterday. Today when I started it, there was only a black screen with a blue bar at the top. There is something written like "Loading PBR for descriptor 2...done." I guess that is something error. I have tried many diagnostics and also run Dell Resource disk but I cannot go beyond this message and cannot boot XP. How to solve this?

[MrChris-]

"Bad PBR" means the partition boot record the MBR is trying to load has an invalid sector signature.

Right before that message, you should see something like "Loading PBR for descriptor 2". That will tell you which PBR the MBR is having a problem with--descriptor '1' is the Dell Utility partition, '2' is the XP partition, and '3' is the Dell Restore partition.

[Calvin K]

That usually happens only on DELL systems. This is because they have 3 partitions:

• A Hidden Dell Utility Partition
• The OS Partition (Windows)
• A hidden Dell PC Restore Partition

The error you are getting is due to a corrupt boot record.

Try this:

1. Start up the computer and click F12 to give you the boot-up options.
   
   
2. Insert Windows Installation/Recovery CD into CDROM, choose CDROM boot option and click enter.
   
   
3. Let the installation process continue until it prompts you "Press R to repair"...this should then take you into the DOS mode.
   
   
4. Type in FIXBOOT and when prompted, press "Y" to start creating the new boot partition. If everything goes right, you should get a message saying the partition was corrupted and a new one was created successfully.
   
   
5. Remove the CD and reboot your system, everything SHOULD be ok now.

[Devasis]

There are 2 possible solutions:

1. Put in a windows xp cd, boot from the cd, press R when asked at initial bootup options, wait, press 1 and press enter, type fixboot, press enter and type y then enter again and reboot your system.
   
   
2. Restart your computer and keep pressing F8, if you are able to get to the options, look and see if there is an option to boot to dos mode, some manufacturers have included this exclusive feature in their windows setup. If it is available, choose that option and follow the steps above from "type fixboot".

[SalVatore]

It is indeed the "primary boot record 2" message from the factory. And it is related to the OS partition (the one you're seeing here). No worries. What you're seeing is normal. It only goes away if you kill that partition entirely, then recreate the OS partition.

[Erdmann]

Thanks so far, now I'll have to go home and try these. Also reading these replies, what about putting a new a hard drive in, and turning to old one into a slave and accessing any files (unless of course the hard drive died)? We have only had this for a year and half, and really have not used it that much.