Is it Safe to Format my Master Boot Record

This is not good, I've just installed this DUAL BOOT program http://www.xosl.org/ just to see if i'd like it, seemed OK, but i was kinda concerned over the system changes it made to install it, (seems i had sumut to be concerned about now) so i thought i'd uninstall it as i like to keep things simple....well, it seemed to uninstall OK but.....

.....when it rebooted it says "Operating System not found" and still says this now.

not sure how to load win98 or 2000 now.

Question: If i Restore Both Win98 and 2000 partitions with ghost will this fix it or will i only have to format my MBR to sort it out.

I believe its FORMAT /MBR to do it but i dont wanna do it b'cuz i'm not sure wether it will ever boot again or if my data on all drives will disapear forever.

So can i format MBR to fix or shall i just Ghost.

In need of Help! TIA https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

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HP Pavilion 8730uk: Athlon 850, 512mbRAM, TNT2 Pro, SB Live1024, Win98FE/2000Pro & Cable Modem.
LG CED-8083b CD-RW, Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM, Quantum 30gb lct15-30 & Western Digital 45gb WD450AA HDD

Welcome to the club. I did the same thing and didn't like XOSL. And I got the same message you did.

The command is NOT format, it is FDISK /MBR
Notice the space after the k and before the /

Holler if this doesn't fix it, but let us know if it does fix it.

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Bill K.
My Web Page

I believe what your considering is Fdisk /mbr ,but there are several instances when you don't want to do it : "more than 3 partitions""driveoverlay""boot manager"
Your system should be capable of booting from the CDROM? Put the Win2000 disk in and boot it should give you the option to repair things.You don't mention how the W2K partition is formatted fat32 or NTFS?

Thx for the correction, now i realise that this is normal i definatly won't be putting this back on my PC.....

wonderinguy34... all my partitions are FAT32 and i have 10 partitions in total 5 on each drive, so i guess i don't wanna be typing FDISK /MBR then https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

While typing this i formated drive c with win98 on it to see what difference that made....(i know it shouldn't boot, but i should get different message i think)....but it still said same thing.....

so i put back my Ghost drive c backup and then it booted as if nothing was wrong....seems to be fixed now. (but not quite as u will read soon)

so i guess i gotta ask WHY, does ghost restore the MBR as well or did this program not touch the MBR and just screw up windows?

There is 1 thing i just noticed and thats that when booting it waits at the POST for almost 30 secs b4 it gives me the Normal boot menu, HELP!

I think i've messed up this time, usually i can always fall back on Ghost, but i guess that this can be sorted without any drastic measures.

THX all https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

EDIT: Would the 2000 disk fix the delayed POST problem?

How can i get rid of all traces of it safely? all on my Primary Drive is Backed Up as i had to FDISK to make more partitions for Win2000

[This message has been edited by LotusAstra (edited 08-05-2001).]

i think removing all partitions and FDISK /MBR....then rebuild partitions and restore is the only way to do this in my case. am i right? is there an easyier way to do it PROPERLY?

Apreciated for the help https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

opps, right then stupid me, dddoooowwwtttt, the delay at boot POST was caused by me leaving a DVD in the ROM (1 i watched earlier), i guess this is normal, i can't say i've ever noticed this delay b4 tho, thas y i got worried.....

1. am i right to say the delay is normal if i leave in a non bootable CD/DVD with boot from CD-ROM enabled in BIOS?

2. am i right to assume that all traces of this program is gone now or would it have changed my MBR

3. did this program ever touch my MBR or was this original prob caused by the uninstall deleting files from my c drive.(seems more likely now)

thx for the help guys/gals https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

reinstalling (over itself) either W2k or Win98 will repair the MBR ,without the need to destroy your partitions.

Boot with the Win2000cd, if you can't, use the 4 setup disks.
If you don't have the 4 setup disks, you can make them by running
Makeboot.exe on the Win2000 cd.

You will be given the choice to...
1-Setup Windows 2000
2-Repair Windows 2000
3-Quit setup
Press "r" to repair.

You will be given a choice to...
1-Repair using the recovery console
2-Repair using the emergency repair process
Press "r" to use emergency repair process.

You will be given a choice of...
1-Manual repair
2-Fast repair
press "m" for manual repair.

Uncheck everything EXCEPT "Inspect boot sector" then Continue.

You will be given a choice of...
1-If you have the ERD
2-If you do not have the ERD
Press "L"

When it finds your installation of Windows press "enter"

You will be given a choice of...
1-Have setup examine the drives
2-Skip drive examination
Press "enter" to examine the drives (this could take a while)

Insert your Win2000 cd(if you have not alerady done so). Press "enter" when ready

Press "enter" to restart your computer.

At this point your machine should start with no problems....


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Keyboard error or no keyboard present

Press F1 to continue

My corner of the world

Hi, i gave the above method a try and i don't think it has helped.

This is y i think sumut is still wrong:

when i restore my ghost backup of win2000 install...then reboot it.....it startsup and when in windows i get 3 explorer windows then it says "windows 2000 has finished installing new devices. You must restart your computer before the new settings will take effect", "Do you want to restart your computer now?".....

....after i restart it it seems normal......i havent added any new devices, what the hell is it on about, is it detecting changes in my MBR or sumut? do i need to be concerened about this?....really i want my PC back to how it was b4 i installed this damn BOOT Manager.

normally when i reghost it doesn't do this, any ideas please https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

Another Question, if i remove all partitions with FDISK, will this also remove my MBR if not would it the be safe to FDISK /MBR.

I backup so i can return my PC to a previous state after a disaster, why is this giving me grief....should i have backed up my MBR as well?

Regards https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

right due to lack of patients i've just done what i said above (inc fdisk /mbr)....seems to b OK so far, then i'm gunna reinstall windows 98 manually to maybe make a new MBR, then restore my backups.

i know nothing about the MBR so i am just guessing thas wat i need to do, b'cuz of lask of info, all i want is my system back to how it was b4 boot manage program,

Please advise me b4 i screw my PC up completly https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

You've got a mess on your hands. I use xosl to boot anything, and it will, if you install it right, and understand the features. I've had 9 os booting from 2 disks.
When you use ghost, is it a ghost you've tried before, or a new one you hadn't tested? Ghost gives you an option to create a ghost that you can install on another machine, it starts from the point where windows detects and installs all your hardware. It sounds like that's where you're at. You really need to read the docs to xosl before you try to use it. Doing an fdisk /mbr will remove xosl the quick and dirty way. You're back at square one, without the benefit of xosl replacing what you had with the backup it creates when you install. I've been on my own in these situations before, you'll never get a better chance to learn more, but at the point you're describing, you'll probably have to start over.

thx for the link mo, in the end i started from scratch...restored my (known to be working FULL partition image) ghost images, when win2000 started it still gave me the same message about system changes but after reboot it seems normal...

....i think its gone now, https://discussions.virtualdr.com/ what a mess, lol, what i'd like to know is should Win2k have detected system changes? and was it detecting difference in the MBR...

if win2k was right to detect system changes after messing with the MBR then i guess all is OK now, could any1 let me know please.

Thx all for your time https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

,BUMP> Can anyone answer this:

Should Win2k have detected system changes? and was it detecting difference in the MBR...

if win2k was right to detect system changes after messing with the MBR then i guess all is OK now, could any1 let me know please.

THX https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

Any1 ! https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

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HP Pavilion 8730uk: Athlon850, 512mbRAM, TNT2 Pro, SB Live1024, DualBoot-Win98FE/2000Pro & Cable Modem
LG CED-8083b CD-RW, Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM, Quantum lct15-30 30gb & Western Digital WD450AA 45gb