installing the standard windows mbr
Author
Hi. I'm currently using GRUB to dual boot fedora and xp, but now I want to remove the fedora partition which would probably mess up GRUB so I won't be able to boot anything at all. I would use fixmbr on the xp setup disc, but for some reason my computer has decided not to boot the cd (screen just goes black).
So, can I install the xp boot loader any other way from within Windows?
I don't think you can do it from within windows. However if you can boot from a floppy you can use some utility (or your own) to write the mbr. Come to think of it, you can probably use the old windows98 bootdisk and run fdisk /mbr.
I've done it from a DOS boot floppy (fdisk /mbr at the prompt) to "remove" the BeOS boot manager. It worked perfectly for me, though according to the MS site:
In other words: use at own risk, and only as a last resort!
You can create XP installer boot floppies from a utility on the CD - might be worth a try if CD booting isn't working?
Quote:Warning Writing the master boot record to the hard disk in this manner can make certain hard disks partitioned with SpeedStor unusable. It can also cause problems for some dual-boot programs and disks with more than four partitions.
In other words: use at own risk, and only as a last resort!
You can create XP installer boot floppies from a utility on the CD - might be worth a try if CD booting isn't working?
You might be able to copy the fixmbr program off the CD, but I don't think it'll work if you're still running from that partition at the moment.
Just boot off of your Windows XP CD, go into the recovery console (press R when it asks you what type of installation you want), select the boot partition/drive when it asks you. Then run fixmbr (or fixboot if that doesn't do the trick).
Edit:
Woops, I just realized you said you couldn't boot off the CD. My bad.
You might be able to grab the fixboot program from the cd, I'm not sure on that though. If not, just try and find an XP CD that can boot for you from a friend or something.
Edit:
Woops, I just realized you said you couldn't boot off the CD. My bad.
You might be able to grab the fixboot program from the cd, I'm not sure on that though. If not, just try and find an XP CD that can boot for you from a friend or something.
I have never done exactly what you are talking about, but like someone above said, I have personally used the chkdsk fixmbr, or whatever ti called to fix some problems.
havent for a while though, but you can do it from the recovery console off the win xp cd.
havent for a while though, but you can do it from the recovery console off the win xp cd.
Author
Ok thanks guys. Seems like I'll have to find a way to boot the XP disc, since I don't have a floppy drive.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
