Which MBR fix is correct?

markg2 · 28 Jan 2014

My wife's computer periodically issues 'bootmgr is missing' on boot. I use an Acronis boot disk in those instances to successfully load Windows. Norton comes up clean and so does Malwarbytes. I ran the Norton Eraser in the event there was a rootkit problem and it too came up clean.

Therefore I'm assuming there's something messed up with the MBR.

I've researched repairing the boot loader and found 2 similar but different command prompt commands and wish to get a clarification here before I proceed.

Method 1: Select command prompt from the system recovery options on the OS disk. Type 'bootrec /fixmbr' to restore the master boot record.

Method 2: At the command prompt, successively type each of the following commands followed by a CR:
bootrec /FixMbr
bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /RebuildBcd

?

Mark

andrew129260 · 30 Jan 2014

See this walk through tutorial:

MBR - Restore Windows 7 Master Boot Record

mjf · 31 Jan 2014

For Windows 7 I would opt for the method 2 / bootrec approach.
My understanding is that Bootsect is still supported more for backward compatibility (eg. to include NTLDR boot loaders in dual boot W7 / XP) and doesn't do everything bootrec does.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...=ws.10%29.aspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

smarteyeball · 31 Jan 2014

+ another for Option 2

markg2 · 31 Jan 2014

I followed through Andrew's link and sort of come back to a tangent of my initial question.

Although, practically it may not be, browsing through the screens step by step the procedure conveys a sense of having a ton of steps and a procedure that could (when doing for the first time) could lead to failure by way of user input error.

At the very end of Andrew's link, a screenshot says: "NOTE: If this method fails to restore the MBR, you can try the bootrec command as it is also a tool for repairing the MBR.", which to me, begs a variant of my initial question: WHY go through all of Andrew's steps if all I have to do is simply type:

Method 1: Select command prompt from the system recovery options on the OS disk. Type 'bootrec /fixmbr' to restore the master boot record.

and if that doesn't do the trick... reboot off the DVD and execute ALL 3 of the steps listed below?

Method 2: At the command prompt, successively type each of the following commands followed by a CR:
bootrec /FixMbr
bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /RebuildBcd

Makes any sense?

Mark

mjf · 31 Jan 2014

markg2 said:

WHY go through all of Andrew's steps if all I have to do is simply type:......

You were given alternate opinions (and links) which you chose to ignore.

whs · 31 Jan 2014

The command promt fixes never worked for me. Best is to do a startup repair 3 times.

Startup Repair

Make sure you reboot after each time.

mjf · 31 Jan 2014

Startup repair is another option but takes longer and isn't solely focused on fixing the boot chain - Bootrec is. I haven't had a problem with Bootrec but wouldn't reject startup repair. I have had startup repair hang on me.
Now you have another option.

markg2 · 15 Feb 2014

Results:

bootrec /FixMbr-->Operation completed successfully
bootrec /FixBoot-->Operation completed successfully

bootrec /RebuildBcd-->Total identified Windows installation=0, Operation completed successfully

How can the operation be successful if there was no Windows installation found????

mjf · 15 Feb 2014

Post a disk management screenshot.
(You need an active partition)

I also refer you to
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392
in particular

"If rebuilding the BCD store doesn't resolve the startup issue, you can export and delete the BCD store and then run this option again. By doing this, you make sure that the BCD store is completely rebuilt.

To do this, type the following commands at the Windows RE command prompt:

bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
c:
cd boot
attrib bcd -s -h -r
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /RebuildBcd

"