How do I restore my MBR?

I accidentally activated the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager, but no secure zone was created. When I go to boot my computer normally, I get a message that says "operating system missing". I am able to bypass this using the bootable rescue media (CD-RW) I created with TI 9, and selecting the continue to boot windows option. How do I restore my MBR, so that I don't have to rely on my CD-RW to boot my system?

 

Hello Shywolf,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please repair the MBR (Master Boot Record) of the hard disk using one of the following methods:

Windows 95/98/Me – boot from Startup Disk (floppy) and run "fdisk /mbr" command;
Windows 2000/XP/2003 – boot from Installation CD into Recovery Console and run "fixmbr" command.

Thank you.
--
Tatyana Tsyngaeva

 

Hello Shywolf sorry to hear about your problem which after Tatyana's help is hopefully ok now, but for me it does create a concern in that recently during my familiarisation period with TI I have been clicking on most icons to see what happens and to prove that they are working.

One such icon was the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager, which did not result in the same situation as yourself, but I wonder if there are some basic rules about what not to do for safety reasons so that a beginner like myself can avoid problems, which of course would almost certainly be sorted out by the very helpfull and knowledgeable people here, but it may be better not to have it happen in the first place.

Regards BOEING.

 

Hi, BOEING:

From my experience, the issue I've seen posted most frequently about for new users is exactly what shywolf posted about, a damaged/missing MBR. HOWEVER, the unanticipated problem is most commonly caused by the selections you make when you back up.

If you select your entire physical SYSTEM disk (the one with your boot partition, i.e., C: drive for most folks), THEN your MBR is properly backed up because the entire partitioning structure for the physical drive layout is recorded. HOWEVER, if you only select your C: drive itself to back up (maybe there are other partitions on that physical disk), the MBR will NOT be restored along with a "C: drive" restore.

To Illustrate, DO THIS:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/crofttk/THIS.jpg

and NOT THIS:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v351/crofttk/NOTTHIS.jpg

Best of Luck !

 

Hi crofttk that is first class and has instructed me better than a 1000 words, so many thanks for your constructive help, and I have copied your screen shots for future guidence.

Best regards BOEING

 

Given the potential to cause problems that inadvertent/ill informed activation of the Startup Recovery Manager can have (particulary for users with Manufacturer's special hidden recovery partitions), I posted the following in the Acronis True Image WISH-LIST thread:

I wonder whether Acronis ever considered my suggestion?

Regards

 

From the "Feature already requested" notes appended you get the idea somebody is at least looking at them.

I have said this before: I hope Acronis realizes the huge wealth of information contained in the Requested Features list and particularly the problems reported on this forum! There is enough info here to develop a bullet-proof application and eliminate a lot of the support burden.

 

If it was bulletproof we wouldn't have the pleasure of learning from you guys which certainly makes life interesting
BOEING

 

That's an interesting take on the situation!

I have also learned a lot from this forum as well and if TI had worked out-of-the-box I would have missed the experience. Although when your disk is broken, additional experience is the last thing you want at the time.

Experience: What you get when you were expecting something else.

 

I'm glad I could help.

Good judgment: what you get from exercising poor judgment.

 

Hello Menorcaman,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Your collaboration on this matter is very much appreciated. I've forwarded your suggestions to our Development Team and they will certainly be considered as possible improvements for the future versions\builds of Acronis True Image. If you have any further suggestions please feel free to post them on this forum.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

I performed a partial restoration (restoring my C:\ from a full hdd backup that includes a D:\ and a small fat16 partition) via usb. however, when I reboot my restored machine, it fails to boot up. I wonder if there is an easy way to restore the machine. it tends to boot up to the point just before my windows login appears. I suspect it may have to do with the mbr too

 

Hello viscy,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Could you please describe your actions in more detail?

Please create Acronis Report in the way described below:

- Download and run Acronis Report Utility;
- Select the "Create Bootable Floppy" option;
- Insert a blank floppy disk in the A: drive and proceed with creation of the bootable floppy;
- Boot the computer from this diskette and wait for report creation process to finish;
- Collect the report file from the floppy.

Please create an account, then log in and submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with the solution.

Thank you.
--
Tatyana Tsyngaeva