[TriLUG] trying to repair a MBR

[Christopher Merrill via TriLUG]

So I was able to fix the MBR using Hiren's boot CD.

This line no longer appears in the boot-repair output:
  => No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.

Unfortunately, still no boot.

os-prober reports:
Windows not detected by os-prober on sda3.

Not sure if that is normal.

At this point, I assume the windows boot is corrupted, so I'll take this
problem to another forum. Of course, if anyone sees anything in the
boot-repair output that might be helpful, I'll still be listening :)

http://paste.ubuntu.com/14955330/


TIA!
Chris

On Sat, Feb 6, 2016 at 7:31 PM, Christopher Merrill <
chris at webperformance.com> wrote:

> One of our laptops at home suddenly will not boot into the OS. It is a
> Win7 system. I tried repairing with a Windows repair disk and that failed
> completely so I've moved on to trying Linux tools to fix it. After backing
> it up with my trusty pendrivelinux boot stick, of course :)
>
> I am becoming painfully aware that I used to be much better at this stuff
> than I am now :(
>
> I've tried the boot-repair disk (
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/boot-repair-cd/) and it says if fixed
> it...but with no discernable change.
>
> Looking at the info that it produced
>   http://paste.ubuntu.com/14900332/
>
> I'm assuming this line is the one of critical importance:
>   => No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda.
>
> This part has me a bit confused:
> > Partition  Boot  Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors  Id System
> >
> > /dev/sda1                   1 4,294,967,295 4,294,967,295  ee GPT
> >
> > /dev/sda1 ends after the last sector of /dev/sda
> >
> > GUID Partition Table detected.
> >
> > Partition    Start Sector    End Sector  # of Sectors System
> > /dev/sda1           2,048       206,847       204,800 EFI System
> partition
> > /dev/sda2         206,848       468,991       262,144 Microsoft Reserved
> Partition (Windows)
> > /dev/sda3         468,992   312,580,095   312,111,104 Data partition
> (Windows/Linux)
>
> The first part "/dev/sda1 ends after the last sector of /dev/sda" would
> seem to be a critical problem, but the partition table identifies the
> partition start/end locations just fine.
>
> I'm not really sure what I should do next. I'm working under the
> assumption I need to fix
> "=> No boot loader is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda"
>
> But am not sure the best way to go about it. I've come across several
> solutions that work with "legacy BIOS" (not UEFI), but I'm assuming this
> newish laptop is not considered legacy, since it is newer than those
> articles.
>
>
> Any advice?
>
> TIA!
> Chris
>
>
> BTW, this is a Dell Latitude e6510 that was restored to the factory Win7
> setup (by re-installing the OEM hard drive, which was not previously used)
> and then fully updated last summer. It has only been used a few times for
> Minecraft since then. I can mount the HD and browse files fine with various
> linux USB boot tools, so the HD appears to be fully functional. While old,
> is has almost never been used.
>
>
>
> --
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -
> Chris Merrill                           |  Web Performance, Inc.
> chris at webperformance.com                |  http://webperformance.com
> 919-845-7601 x701                       |  919-845-7601
>
> Web Performance: Website Load Testing Software & Services
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -
>
>


-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ -
Chris Merrill                           |  Web Performance, Inc.
chris at webperformance.com                |  http://webperformance.com
919-845-7601 x701                       |  919-845-7601

Web Performance: Website Load Testing Software & Services
------------------------------------------------------------------------ -