DescentBB

Before I get into the details, I will be backing up all data from the current Windows XP Drive to the Windows 7 Drive.

Somehow in a reboot or shutdown the Master Boot Record seems to have been messed up.

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My systemboard doesn't directly support the SATA Drive... So I had to use an add-on card to connect the drive. (Silicon Image Raid Controller.)

Next Mirrored my existing Windows XP hard drive to it... Then started using it as my main drive.

Later reformatted the Other Hard Drive with Windows 7 Professional. Currently using this hard drive as my main drive for now.

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Booted with Windows XP CD-ROM... it didn't see the Hard Drive since I didn't have a floppy with a Driver on it.

Since I'm not at home this weekend... do not have access to any floppy disks.

I have a extra old hard drive that I may format with Windows XP.

Would prefer to keep the SATA hard drive with its' data without doing a full reinstall and having to reload everything.

My question is: What is the best way to restore the Master Boot Record on this SATA Drive without having to do a FULL Windows XP install?

Worst case, I will reinstall Windows XP on the SATA Drive.

Thanks for any helpful hints that may speed up this process.

SirWinner

use the FIXMBR command from the recovery console from the XP CD - provided you have the driver for the controler the HD is on

Alternatively, if you have a CD burner in your working machine, the TEXTMODE drivers for your SATA controller, your windows XP CD, about 2 GB of free HDD space and a blank CD then all you need is to download nlite, and use it to make a new CD integrating your SATA drivers right on to it.

You need the textmode drivers not the regular plug and play windows drivers, the floppy always has the textmode so if you can download an image of that floppy or get the textmode drivers from a site, you can then use nlite to integrate them (and service packs/hotfixes/IE8) on to the XP CD. At which point the XP disk will always automatically load the driver needed to access the hard drive on the non-native SATA and you will never need the floppy for that machine again. If you have the time and energy to go this route, there are a billion tutorials on the internet for integrating drivers and service packs using nlite. I did it to get XP on an AHCI drive in my system before I switched to Windows 7, it worked perfectly and saved me a lot of effort tracking down a good floppy drive and disk.

Windows XP booted from CD-ROM... When presented with the options... Chose R for Recovery Console.

Here's the Message that is shown:

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Windows XP Home Edition Setup

Setup did not find any hard drives installed in your computer.

Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected
to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is
correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic
or setup program.

Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.
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Not even given the chance to use the CD-ROM with the Silicon Image Sil3112 Drivers - 2 Port SATA150 Driver.

Hmmm...

DOH!

nLite... Very nice program.

Downloaded and now formatting a CD-ROM... WITH the device drivers for the SATA card.

Will post the results soon.

Krom,

Master Boot Record Fixed.

Now seeing:
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UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME
.
.
.
Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x000000ED (0x867CDAE8, 0xC0000006, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)
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Now to fix that... DOH!

Trying this next:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555302

Nothing was changed on cables and the cable should be good.

So trying the chkdsk/r step from the Recovery Console at this stage.

Problem solved... PC reboots using the Windows XP Hard Drive.

chkdsk/r took a while to run.

Thanks for the help!

Just a question... did you try to disable native sata in the bios..

Now the question is why the hard drive suddenly corrupted the MBR and parts of the file system... Failures of that nature always have a cause and tracking it down is important or it could happen again or get worse.

Might want to run a SMART diagnostic on that drive.

Just a question... did you try to disable native sata in the bios..

The systemboard does NOT have ANY SATA Connections.

I didn't check the BIOS in that regard... since the SATA Board is an Add-On Peripheral Card.

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I think that the PC lost power during the boot process or shutdown process... which perhaps lead to the MBR getting messed up.

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As of June 15, 2010: The PC is running fine after fixing the Master Boot Record.