how to restore vista MBR?

[Beck]

Back when using XP, to remove grub and restore XP mbr I simply booted into
XP setup, chose recovery and used the fixboot and fixmbr commands.

However the Vista repair is very different. If I select repair startup it
does not actually list vista as an option to repair. I tried repairing by
clicking next anyway but it found nothing to fix. Vista is there and
bootable, I am using it now, but I wish to restore its bootloader.

Can anyone please advise?

[Jonathan Yaniv]

1. Reboot from Vista disk, select Startup repair in WinRE.

OR

2. Run CMD as administrator, use "bcdedit" + some parameters. you can
type "bcdedit /?" to get more help.

Does not seem to be a restore boot option in the help section.

download EasyBCD and install in either xp or vista.
one of its options is to repair boot.

Install your S-ATA drivers to see the installation. Then you can work with
it.

[Bill Anderson]

I was running a non-Microsoft bootloader (OSL2000) because I'd been
experimenting with OS-X on a system that was already booting Win2K and
two versions of XP and Vista. For a while I had all five running
nicely, but I tired of my experiment with OS-X and decided to drop
OSL2000. I could have killed it with the OSL2000 setup program, but I
had inferred that that didn't really get it out of the MBR -- it just
masked it. (I think. Not really sure, but that's not important now.)
I tried to get rid of OSL2000 by doing a boot repair with my Vista
installation disk. Didn't work. So I did a repair using my XP
installation disk. FIXMBR warned me that it had found a non-standard
bootloader and cautioned that running it might rearrange partitions. I
took a deep breath and ran it anyway. It fixed the MBR (got rid of
OSL2000) and left the Vista bootloader alone. Now when I boot I get a
choice between Vista and "older version of Windows." Partitions
remained where they were and OSL2000 is gone.

[Jane C]

If you have an XP CD, use that to fixmbr to rid yourself of GRUB. You will
then have to use the Vista DVD to repair the Vista bootloader. BTDT ;-)

[Bill Anderson]

In my experience that wasn't the case. Surprised me, that's for sure.
But the Vista bootloader was untouched by XP FIXMBR and is still running
just fine without an additional Vista DVD repair.

[mister.jones]

Don't know if this is what you look for:
In the 'boot' folder on the Vista DVD you find a program called
'bootsect.exe'.
With 'bootsect /nt60 c:' you can write a Vista compatible bootsector, with
'bootsect /nt52 c:' you can write an XP compatible one.
This will allow you to change between Vista's BOOTMGR and XP's NTLDR.
Best regards

[mhonzell]

Performed a "Clean Install" of Vista using an upgrade disk. (No dual boot
action.)
To do this, had to set the BIOS to boot from the CDROM first.

Everything worked great, until I rebooted and removed the Vista DVD. Now,
Vista refuses to boot unless the installation DVD is inserted and the BIOS is
set to seek it first.

Tried formatting my primary and extended partitions on Drive 0 and
reperforming the upgrade only to end up in the same situation.
(Yes, this can be done with an upgrade disk.)

Bootmgr is nowhere to be found on the system disk. System Repair won't fix
the problem.

What files need to be on the System Disk for a C: drive boot?
What is the exact command needed to make the MBR look there instead of any
other drive?

Lastly, why doesn't it install correctly?
(Put the correct files on the correct drive...)

[Keith]

Hopefully this may help.

When you do a "clean" install using a Vista upgrade DVD, you need to run the
install (first pass) without entering the product key. After the install
completes and brings you to your desktop, run the install again from within
Vista. Enter the product key and activate the product.

I didn't have any issue with needing my DVD in the drive in order to boot
into Vista.

[mhonzell]

Thanks, but that was done as stated, more than once.
Vista still requires the DVD to be inserted to boot.

If this clarifies:
If I set the BIOS to HD First, CD Second, then the reboot gives me the
message "Error Loading OS."
If I set the BIOS to CD First, HD Second, but don't insert the Vista DVD,
then reboot gives me the message "Error Loading OS."
If I set the BIOS to CD First, HD Second and insert the Vista DVD, then
it states "Press Any Key to Boot From CD or DVD...."
If I press a key, it attempts to re-install Vista.
If I do not press a key, it boots just fine and works accordingly.

This implies to me, the MBR is pointing to a non-OS drive and fails to find
needed files to boot from the HD.

[mhonzell]

Yep, I've searched the world over and thought I found true love...

but, in all cases I found, it was a result of dual-boot incorrectly installed.

That's why this appears to be different... there isn't a dual boot
partition. It's Vista only.

[NaplesBill]

Just boot from the Vista disc, start the install, choose the repair
option and then choose command prompt. Type "bootrec /fixmbr" and hit
enter. That should take care of the issue.

The only reason I posted in this old thread is because this thread came
up in a search and now it contains the solution.


--
NaplesBill

[Sree]

Is there something that I can do if I don't have Vista disc? I have a
pre-installed Vista PC and a set of recovery discs. The recovery procedure
doesn't give me an option to get to a command prompt (just have system
re-store or re-set to factory settings options). Also I can boot to Vista
with another boot loader tool from a CD, but was not able to find any bootrec
command)

[Ramesh Kumar MVP]

0k...

Boot from recovery disc........as it show the Recovery Wizard.
Press SHIFT+F10 (I have not tried with RECOVERY DISC)
It pop-ups CMD Prompt...
Navigate to: *G:\Boot>* G: is your CD-DVD drive
Execute the following command: > bootsect /nt60 SYS mbr

[TimeFreedom]

How to Repair or Fix a broken Vista MBR:

To Restore Vista MBR, please use the following simple solution.

1. Start your computer from the Windows Vista Installation DVD
2. Press a key when prompted to continue
3. Choose your language, time, keyboard and click Next:

Select language and preferences
4. Next, click "Repair your Computer":

Repair your computer
5. Now, from the System Recovery Options dialog, select the "Operating System" you want to repair, then click Next:

System recovery options, choosing your Operating system
6. From the "Choose a Recovery Tool" dialog menu, select "Command Prompt":

Recovery Tool Command Prompt
7. Type the following into the "Command Prompt Window":

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
bootrec.exe /fixboot

8. Remove the Vista Installation DVD and restart your PC.

If all goes well, this process should have enabled you to restore your Vista MBR and you should now be able to boot back into your Windows Vista Operating system.

TimeFreedom