Recovering MBR of an external hard drive. Recovering the boot sector of the hard drive. The easiest way to restore the bootloader

– from a simple operation to restore boot files to a serious procedure to re-create the boot partition, when you have to delete the “System Reserved” partition and create it again. In this publication, I decided to put together various methods for restoring MBR- Windows boot loader and offer them to you in the format of another article revealing the potential of the resuscitation LiveDisk for system specialists from Sergei Strelets, to whom we have dedicated this website. This LiveDisk has automated recovery tools on board Windows boot, so we'll go from simple to complex.

Restoring the Windows MBR bootloader using a Live disk by Sergei Strelec

Note: friends, if you have a computer with an active UEFI BIOS, and you have Windows installed on a disk with a GPT partition style, then the site has a similar article with a selection of ways to resuscitate the bootloader on disks with this partition style -. Well, let's get back to solving problems with the MBR bootloader. So, the Windows bootloader is damaged, what should I do?

First of all, we prepare the resuscitation LiveDisk.

1. LiveDisk by Sergei Strelec

Live-disk from Sergey Strelets - a functional resuscitation “live disk” based on WinPE for Windows recovery after a critical failure. This is not only a collection of tools for system recovery, it is a collection with more than a hundred suitable programs for performing various operations. To download the LiveDisk ISO image, go to the site:

http://sergeistrelec.ru

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If the damage to the bootloader is not serious, i.e. The bootloader partition is intact, its files are not damaged, and problems arose only with the boot storage (BCD file) in terms of its configuration, or some Windows have disappeared from the boot menu, if several of them are installed on the computer, you can try to cope with the problem using Windows MBR boot recovery functions included in disk managers and the specialized BCD editing program - EasyBCD.

2. Recovering the MBR bootloader using AOMEI Partition Assistant

The automatic bootloader recovery function is included in the AOMEI Partition Assistant disk manager. You can run the program in the Start menu of LiveDisk along the path:

How bootloader auto-recovery works is very simple: in the program window, click on the hard drive where the bootloader is located, and on the left-hand side of the action panel, click “MBR Recovery.”

Select the MBR bootloader for Windows 7, 8.1, 10.

We apply the operation.

3. Restoring the MBR bootloader using Paragon Hard Disk Manager

Another functional disk manager can restore the MBR bootloader - the Hard Disk Manager program; there is its 15th version on board the Sagittarius LiveDisk. Launch it in the Start menu of LiveDisk along the path:

  • WinPE programs – Hard disk

Select the “Utilities” section and click “Boot Recovery Wizard” on the right side of the window.

Select one of the MBR bootloader recovery types and follow the step-by-step wizard.

If the question is to restore a boot record that has disappeared from the Windows bootloader menu, select the “Windows OS for correction” operation. The program will search for Windows systems on the computer and add them to the bootloader menu. Just click “Next”.

And we apply the changes.

Then click “Done”.

If Windows is one system installed on the computer, and you just need to restore its boot, first try the “Correct boot parameters” operation. Next, as in the previous case, when asked if we want to apply the changes, we answer “Yes”. Click “Next”, then “Finish”.

If the operation of correcting boot parameters did not help, try the “Fix Master Boot record (MBR)” operation. It overwrites the MBR code. We indicate the desired hard drive with a bootloader, in our case there is only one drive. Click “Next”.

And, as in the first operation, in the window asking to apply changes, answer “Yes”. Finally, click “Done”.

4. Restoring the MBR bootloader with EasyBCD

Another program on board Sergei Strelets’ LiveDisk that can be used to repair the MBR bootloader is EasyBCD. It is noteworthy primarily for those who have several Windows on their computer. EasyBCD is a convenient GUI interface for adding multiple Windows boot menus and editing the parameters of this menu. Launch EasyBCD in the Start menu of LiveDisk along the path:

  • WinPE Programs – BCD Editors

To add Windows to the boot menu, in the “Add entry” section of the program, in the “Disk” column, indicate the path to the desired operating system. In the “Name” column we give it a name that is convenient for us. And click the green plus button to add a download record.

If necessary, adjust the bootloader menu in the “Edit boot menu” section.

Using EasyBCD you can also try to repair a damaged Windows bootloader. Go to the “Archiving/Recovery” section of the program. And we try the BCD settings - resetting the BCD configuration and updating the boot files. We try these parameters one by one, using them with the “Run” button.

5. Restoring the Windows bootloader using Dism++

Friends, the simplest usable way to restore an MBR bootloader can be offered by the Dism++ program, which is included in the LiveDisk by Sergei Strelec arsenal. With its help, you can select the Windows “home” drive - i.e. hard drive, if there are several of them, and each of them has its own MBR bootloader. Read a separate article on this program .

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These are the automated ones on board LiveDisk by Sergei Strelec software, with which you can try to restore the Windows boot loader on a disk with the MBR partition style, without resorting to the procedure of rebuilding it. But, alas, they will not help if serious problems have arisen with the MBR bootloader - some of its files are missing, its partition is damaged or its partition itself has been deleted. For example, when we see messages like:

  • "BOOTMGR is missing" or
  • "An operating system wasn"t found. Try disconnecting any drives that don’t contain an operating system.» .

In this case, the bootloader only needs to be recreated.

6. Re-creating the bootloader

Re-creating the MBR boot loader means re-creating its partition and re-creating the boot loader files. In some cases, only the last operation will be sufficient. But we will look at the situation universally, taking into account those cases when the bootloader partition is damaged. We will perform the first stage of the procedure using the AOMEI Partition Assistant program. At the second stage we use command line WinPE LiveDisk of Sagittarius. Go…

Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant in the Start menu of LiveDisk along the path:

  • WinPE programs – Hard disk

In the program window, look at the disk map and find the bootloader partition. This is necessarily a partition with the status “Active”, usually this is the first partition of an MBR disk, it is called “System Reserved”. Its volume can be different - 100, 350, 500 MB. Click this section and delete it.

In the section creation form, click the “Advanced” button. And in the “How to create” column, select “Primary partition”. Click “Ok”.

Click on the newly created section and run the “Activate Section” operation.

Confirm that the partition is set as active. As a result, click the “Apply” button to launch all the operations that we have just assigned to execution.

8. Reinstall Windows

Using Sagittarius LiveDisk to boot Windows is a temporary solution, although it can last indefinitely, in fact, until we need a flash drive for other needs. However, sooner or later it is necessary to resolve the issue with the bootloader, and if this cannot be done even by re-creating it, the last option remains - reinstalling Windows. If in old system there is nothing important, this can be done, as they say, without leaving the cash register, right in the LiveDisk environment of Sagittarius. Using the browser present on board, we can go to the Internet and download the distribution kit of any version, edition and Windows builds. And install the system using the 78Setup utility, which is, in fact, a native system installation process. Read more about this in the article.

Needed good advice how to produceWindows 7 Boot Loader Recovery, if startup recovery using installation disk seven didn't help. I’ll briefly explain what’s going on: Windows 7 was first installed on the computer, then the second system needed Windows XP, after installation it naturally started one, to load two operating systems I used the EasyBCD program. Later, XP was no longer needed and I formatted the partition on which it was located from Windows 7. Now, when loading, there is nothing except a black screen. What can be done in this case? More details if possible. Sergey.

Restoring the Windows 7 bootloader

Hello friends! The most important thing is don’t worry, your problem is not complicated and, in principle, the “Recovery” remedy is simple. Windows startup 7" described in our article should help, but! If this article does not help you, then two others should help:

These articles describe several more good ways restore the boot of your operating system, besides them there is another one, so try it and don’t just give up.

Let me remind you that you cannot install an older operating system after a younger one; Windows 7 will under no circumstances boot after installation on Windows computer XP, since the latter, when installed, overwrites the master boot record (MBR) with itself. So you installed additional manager boot, which is used to configure the boot of several operating systems and in turn has its own bootloader.

  1. I also want to say that errors are often to blame for unsuccessful loading of Windows 7 file system, you can fix them even if the operating system does not boot, all the details are in our other article " "
  2. Friends, in this article we will work with the Windows 7 recovery environment, or more precisely with the recovery environment command line. I will give you the necessary commands, but if it is difficult for you to remember them, you can. This will make your work much easier.
  • The master boot record (MBR) is the first sector on the hard drive, which contains a partition table and a small bootloader program that reads from this table the data from which partition of the hard drive to boot the OS, and then the information is transferred to the partition with the installed operating system, to download it. If in the main boot entry there is incorrect information about the location of the system, which means we will receive various errors when loading, here is one of them “BOOTMGR is missing press CTR-Alt-Del for restart” or we will see a black screen. The problem is being fixed restoring the Windows 7 boot loader.

When you uninstalled old XP along with EasyBCD, you left your computer to the mercy of fate with an incomprehensible boot record, and it gives you a black screen as a sign of gratitude. To rectify the situation, we will carry out boot recovery Windows 7, namely, we will overwrite the master boot record using the Bootrec.exe utility located on the recovery disk or on the Windows 7 installation disk (friends, if you have a netbook and you want to use the recovery environment located on a flash drive, then read the comments first). We will also use this utility to record a new boot sector, understandable to Windows 7.

Recovering Windows 7 bootloader automatically

We boot from a recovery disk or installation disk with Windows 7, in the initial phase of booting the computer, when prompted to boot from the disk “Press any key to boot from CD...”, press any key on the keyboard for 5 seconds, otherwise you will not boot from the disk

A short search takes place installed systems Windows and analysis of problems preventing them from loading

Usually problems are quickly found and the recovery environment offers to fix them automatically. Click on the "Fix and restart" button, after which the computer will restart and boot Windows 7 will be restored.

If problems with loading the system continue or you are not prompted to fix the problems automatically, then in this window you need to select the operating system that you need to restore, you most likely have one and Next.

First of all, choose a productStartup recovery, it can also solve Windows 7 boot problems

Restoring the Windows 7 bootloader manually

If this remedy does not help, choose a remedy Command line

Enter the commands:

diskpart

lis vol (we display a list of hard drive partitions and see that “Volume 1” is a hidden System Reserved partition, volume 100 MB, it should contain Windows 7 boot files and it is this that needs to be made active). We also see a section with installed Windows 7, it has the letter D:, the volume is 60 GB.

sel vol 1 (select Volume 1)

activ (make it active)

exit (exit diskpart)

bcdboot D:\Windows (where D: the partition with Windows 7 installed), this command restores the Windows 7 boot files (bootmgr file and boot storage configuration files (BCD))!

"Download files created successfully"

Restoring the Windows 7 bootloader manually (method No. 2)

In the command line window, enter the command Bootrec and Enter

full information about the capabilities of the utility is displayed. Select the master boot record entry Bootrec.exe /FixMbr.

The operation was completed successfully. A new boot record is written to the first sector of the boot partition.
The second command, Bootrec.exe /FixBoot, writes a new boot sector.

The operation was completed successfully. Exit. Next, we try to load our Windows 7.


Friends, if the Bootrec.exe /FixMbr and Bootrec.exe /Fixboot commands do not help you, do not despair, there is another remedy.

Method No. 3

Enter the command Bootrec/ScanOs, she will scan all your hard disks and partitions for the presence of operating systems, and if any are found, a corresponding warning will be issued. Then you need to enter the command Bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd, this utility will offer to add the found Windows to the boot menu, we agree and enter Y and press Enter, all the found Windows are added to the boot menu.

In my case, two operating systems were found. Everything can be seen on the screenshot.

In addition to the above method, there is another one, enter bootsect /NT60 SYS on the command line, the main boot code, it will also be updated.

If Windows does not load when you turn on your computer, the process freezes on a black screen, then the boot record may be damaged hard drive(MBR).

External manifestations

When an error appears on the screen, doubts disappear.

Other information about a malfunction of the HDD bootloader may also be displayed.

The text information may vary depending on the classification of the error. But when the word boot is mentioned, it is clear that there is a problem with loading.

You can find out how to restore the MBR on this page.

Causes

Please note the common causes of HDD boot sector failures.

Two types of bootloader

Older systems prior to Windows XP used the NT Loader (NTLDR). In Windows 7, Vista and subsequent versions of the OS, UEFI and EFI began to be used. Therefore, old and new systems are usually not installed on the same PC. Otherwise, NTLDR overwrites UEFI.

Third party software

Errors in boot HDD sector can occur when using even popular programs for hard drive partitioning. This happened to me with Acronis. This happens because such software replaces disk loading drivers with its own. This can corrupt the original MBR entry. Therefore, it is better to use the built-in methods for partitioning your hard drive from Windows.

Viruses

Viruses sometimes wreak havoc on the MBR. Therefore, after restoring the HDD boot, check your computer with anti-virus programs.

If you are sure that the cause is viruses, then clean your PC of them before repairing the MBR. For this purpose, there are utilities from well-known antivirus companies, for example, Kaspersky Rescue Disk. They are provided free of charge on official websites with instructions for use.

Any of these programs is included in the software package for a CD or DVD, which allows you to boot from a CD, find and remove viruses on the HDD.

Windows 7 Boot Recovery

Sector repair is performed from a CD or USB flash drive with the operating system installation package.

  1. First, insert the DVD into the drive or flash drive into the USB connector with the Windows distribution.
  2. Then you need to allow startup from these devices. This is done in the BIOS settings.

Changing download sources

Technology of the following order:


Be sure to press F10 when exiting, otherwise the changes will not be saved!

Working from a CD or flash device

Proceed in the following order:

  1. After the reboot, the following message will appear at the bottom: “Press any key...”. This asks you to press any key. Click. It won't work out otherwise. If the inscription has already disappeared, repeat everything from the beginning. To do this, press three keys at once: Ctrl+Alt+Del. This will cause the computer to restart.
  2. When you boot from the DVD or flash drive, a window will appear Windows installations. At the bottom left, select “System Restore”.
  3. You will be prompted to connect network capabilities, select languages ​​or a drive letter. Don't change anything and get to the choice of systems.
  4. Highlight the desired Windows and check the box next to “Use recovery tools...”.
  5. If the required system does not exist, it should appear when you click “Download drivers”.
  6. Continue with the “Next” button.
  7. In the next window, select “Startup recovery”, and the MBR can be reanimated automatically.
  8. If the sector does not work, then press “Command Line”.
  9. On the command line, call the Bootrec utility and write for it to repair the MBR: bootrec/fixmbr. You end each command with the Enter key.
  10. Then create a new boot sector: bootrec/ fixboot. To exit the program, type exit and remember to press Enter.

If the fixes didn't help

There is another MBR resuscitation team - bootsect /NT60 SYS. After that, try to boot again.

If the attempt fails, write on the command line like this: bootsect/rebuildbcd. A search will be performed for operating systems installed on the PC.

Now try logging into Windows again. Please note that there will now be one more system in the list. Try to enter each of them. It should work!

Non-standard way

If all sector recovery options do not help, it is recommended to reinstall Windows. And no matter how much you want to do it sometimes! Isn't it true?

I thought so too and decided to put another small system nearby. What does "small" mean? This is a bootloader system. It is empty: I did not install drivers or my programs on it, because I don’t work in it. But it's loading!

I achieved what I needed: a working boot area appeared on the hard drive. Now I log into the old system normally. The downside is that I lost about 14 GB of disk space. If you are not afraid, you can use this method!

How to fix a sector in Windows 8-10 and Vista?

For Vista and later versions of Windows, the same methods are suitable as for the “seven”, only the design is different. For example, in the “eight” he is like this.

But the points remain the same. Therefore, we will not describe them. Use the instructions described above for Windows 7.

On Windows XP

In the "experiment" sector, the principle of resuscitation of the sector is similar. But the entrance is a little different. Now you will see it:

  1. After booting from the CD, system files are copied to the hard drive.
  2. Then the action selection window appears.
  3. You select the recovery option using the console, so press the R key.
  4. Next, they will ask you which system to log into. When she is alone, there is nothing to choose, but you need to answer. To do this, press the number “1” on the keyboard if it says: “1. C:\WINDOWS,” or click on another number next to the desired OS.
  5. Then a black DOS screen appears. This is the same command line, but for the entire monitor area. You are dialing fixboot and press Enter.
  6. You will be asked if you want to record a new boot sector.
  7. If you answer positively: write Y. Let me remind you that you press Enter after each entered command or your answer.
  8. Then a record of a successful operation appears if everything went correctly.

The Windows 7 bootloader stops working for many reasons - if boot.ini is damaged or you try to install XP along with the “Seven”, after which the latter does not want to boot. This is due to the fact that XP rewrites the Windows 7 MBR boot record. Typically, restoring the Windows 7 boot loader is carried out using standard system tools. You can use another tool, for example, Bootice.

The easiest way to restore the bootloader

If pressing F8 does not open additional ways Startup and Troubleshooter, you will need to use a Windows 7 recovery disk or flash drive. From this drive, you will need to boot your computer into the recovery environment by clicking on the system recovery link at the bottom of the OS installation window.

  1. The computer will automatically try to find a solution to the problem, which will notify you in the window that opens.
  2. If the recovery utility copes with the task, all that remains is to reboot.

If it was not possible to restore the Windows 7 bootloader after XP, use the startup recovery tool, which, along with others, is part of the installation disk or flash drive. Usually these simple ways can handle simple MBR startup problems.

Editing boot.ini

Boot.ini is responsible for starting the system by default. At incorrect installation or uninstalling one of the OSes, its record in a non-working state will be stored in the same boot.ini. It is located at the root of the system partition, so to edit it you need to configure your computer to show hidden files.

Sometimes boot.ini can be corrupted by a virus or some program could have caused it, after which the OS does not start on its own.

The fix is ​​simple - boot from the LiveCD and edit boot.ini using regular notepad. There are only two sections - boot loader, which controls loading, and operating systems. There are several parameters to remember:

  • timeout=10 — time in seconds during which the user can select an OS to start;
  • multi(0) and disk(0) are parameters that must have zero values;
  • rdisk(0) — number of the disk with the system partition (counting from zero).

In general, boot.ini with one OS should look like in the picture.

Using the command line to restore the MBR sector

You can get into command line mode from the same boot disk or flash drives by opening the system recovery tool and selecting the very last item “Command Prompt”.

  1. Enter the command Bootrec and then press Enter, it will appear full list opportunities
  2. Write down the MBR sector, for which there is the command Bootrec.exe /FixMbr;
  3. After pressing Enter, the computer will notify the user about the successful completion of the operation in the next line;
  4. Next, carry out the procedure for writing a new boot sector by entering Bootrec.exe /FixBoot;
  5. All that remains is to enter Exit and try to restart the computer.
  1. Log in to the command line from the installation disk or flash drive;
  2. Enter Bootrec /ScanOs, after which the utility will scan the computer for the presence of an operating system;
  3. Write to next line command Bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd, the program will prompt you to add all found ones to the start menu Windows versions, including XP, etc.;
  4. All you have to do is agree with this by pressing Y and Enter in sequence, after which when loading the system you will have a choice of which OS to load - XP or Seven.

You can also fix the problem with the MBR with one more command. To do this, enter bootsect /NT60 SYS at the command line, then Enter. Enter Exit to exit. This will update the main boot code and your systems will appear in the list at boot time.

In case of serious problems, it may not be possible to restore the MBR using the described methods, so it is worth trying to overwrite the files located in the download storage.

BOOTMGR is missing

The computer usually displays this message on a black screen when the MBR sector is damaged or deleted. The reason may not be related to the MBR, for example, if the BIOS settings on the Boot tab have been reset and the system is trying to boot from the wrong disk. But more often than not, it is the bootloader that is to blame, so we will describe how to restore Windows 7 boot.

The Windows 7 disk always has a small 100 MB reserved hidden partition for writing boot files OS, including damaged BOOTMGR. You can simply copy BOOTMGR from the installation media and write it to this partition. For this:

  1. Open a command prompt from your recovery drive.
  2. Enter sequentially diskpart commands and list volume, after which a list of your disks and the letters that the system has assigned to each of them will appear on the screen. We are interested in the 100 MB reserved partition and the optical drive - drives C and F, respectively, as in the picture.
  3. To exit, type Exit and press Enter.

Enter the installation drive letter followed by a colon and the command to copy the bootmrg bootloader to the reserved partition. It will look like this:

  • F: and then Enter;
  • copy bootmgr C:\ and press Enter;
  • Exit, the utility will exit.

If copying to a hidden partition fails, the boot store can be completely overwritten. Restoring the Windows 7 boot loader is performed with the command bcdboot.exe N:\Windows, where N is the drive letter of the OS. After you are informed that the files were created successfully, you can exit the tool with the Exit command and restart your computer.

  • write down the line diskpart in the command line, which calls the utility;
  • to display all available physical disks, write list disk;
  • select the desired disk with the command sel disk 0, where 0 is the number of the only installed HDD;
  • to display all hard drive partitions, enter list partition;
  • to select a reserved partition, write the command sel part 1, where 1 is the partition number;
  • make it active by typing active;
  • exit the application by typing exit.

As a last resort, you can completely manually delete and format the system partition by starting from some LiveCD, and then use the bcdboot.exe command to create the sector again.

Using Bootice

If Windows XP was installed after "Seven", due to the overwritten MBR sector, only XP starts and you do not have the ability to select a system after you turn on the computer. At the same time, both systems are fully functional, and you can return the startup menu very easily, for which you use the Bootice utility:


In the new Bootice window on the left you will see the OS boot list, to which you will need to add the missing “Seven” to Windows XP:

  • click "Add";
  • in the list that opens, select the line new entry Windows 7;
  • V right side in the top input field select HDD;
  • in the field below, indicate the section with “Seven”;
  • click on save basic settings.

The program will notify you that this element has been successfully changed in Boot and you can exit Bootice. The next time you turn on your computer, you can choose which OS to boot from your hard drive - Windows 7 or XP.

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MBR (in Russian - master boot record) is a specific set of data, lines of code, partition table and signatures. It is needed to boot the operating room Windows systems after turning on the computer. There are cases when, as a result of various hardware and system failures, the MBR is damaged or erased, which makes it impossible to start Windows. Similar problems solves the recovery of the Windows 7 MBR boot record. This article discusses several simple ways in which you can recover records.

A little theory

After switching on computer BIOS selects the storage medium from which the download will be carried out. At this stage, the device needs to know which hard section disk contains system files Windows. MBR is a small program that is stored in the first sector of the HDD and points the computer to the correct partition to start the system.

If you install the second operating system incorrectly, the partition table may be damaged and the first Windows will not be able to start. The same thing sometimes happens when there is a sudden power outage. If this happens, do not despair; damaged data can be completely restored.

Boot Record Recovery

In order to restore the MBR, you will need the installation disk from which you installed Windows (or any other). If there is no disk, you can create a bootable USB flash drive with Win7. Action algorithm:

Automatic recovery

First, it’s worth providing the MBR repair standard means from Microsoft. Select Startup Repair. There is no need to do anything else, some time will pass and the computer will indicate that the process is complete. Try starting Windows. If nothing works, then you need to restore the ICBM manually.

Command line

This path requires you to enter several commands into the Windows Command Prompt.

  • From the system recovery menu, select Command Prompt.
  • Now you need to enter “bottrec/fixmbr”. This command serves to write a new MBR compatible with Win 7. The command will remove non-standard parts of the code, fix corruption, but will not affect the existing partition table.
  • Next enter “bootrec/fixboot". This command is used to create a new boot sector for Windows.
  • Next “bootrec/nt60 sys”. This command will update the MBR boot code.
  • Close the console, restart your computer and try to start the system. If the problem is still not resolved, you need to enter a few more commands.
  • Launch the console again and enter "bootrec/Scanos" and "bootrec/rebuildbcd". Using these utilities, your computer will scan your hard drive for operating systems and then add them to the boot menu.
  • Then enter “bootrec/nt60 sys” again and restart the computer.

TestDisk utility

If you don't have bootable flash drive or disk, you can restore a damaged recording using third party program. To do this, you need to run another (working) OS. If your machine only had one Windows, you will have to connect the hard drive to another computer. Working with TestDisk is quite complex, so it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the manuals dedicated specifically to this program.