MBR on wrong drive

You should be able to boot to repair mode (with the boot dsk) and run FIXBOOT and FIXMBR

EasyBCD might be able to move your MBR for you.

Boot disc? You mean my Windows 7 CD? How do i get to repair mode?

Yes your windows 7 CD. The option will come up if you boot to the CD

So i take it that i SHOULD have the MBR on the same drive as my Win7 installed?

Will this help reduce the boot time?

It should not take that long regardles of the drive that it is on. But I always have my boot sector on my primary OS drive. Do you have a dual boot system? If so that may cause complications with the second OS

Well originally i had VIsta installed then i upgraded to Win7 using an upgrade disc. I had to use Easy BCD to remove the OS selection menu on boot (the one which prompts teh user to boot to "older version of windows" or Windows 7) as i would never have wanted to boot to vista any longer after my WIn7 purchase.

Maybe that's what the problem is? It's still finding the older boot record for Vista?

Ill try both your suggestions and write back

thanks

u can choose either ur win 7 dvd and try to repair or write new mbr with the help of easybcd
both will work fine.

Heres a screeny of EasyBCD after i think i moved the MBR to c:

However when i only have my C: selected as primary boot device in my BIOS and disable all other drives the computer fails to start. The 45 second delay is still there too???

easyBCD.PNG

I think i added the correct settigns in EasyBCD...

I selected "Bootloader Setup:"
then selected the partition with my OS on it (C:)
then hit the "Install BCD" button

The result is shown in the screeny above. However if i disable my 120GB WD drive in the boot priority window in BIOS then i cannot start windows. I can only start windows when my 120GB WD drive is sleected as the primary boot device.

I aslo tried doing a repair install with my windows 7 dvd but the auto wizard found no problems?


Any otehr ideas?

when you get into the win 7 repair, you need to go into command line and type the commands that I put in my first post. It should work.

Ok so i did what you mentioned above... there are only few options at the repair dialog box:

Startup Repair (auto)
Restore
Image Recovery
Memory diagnostics
Command prompt

I choose command prompt and then entered both FIXMBR & FIXBOOT into the console. When the console first launches the prompt begins at X: i tried both commands at the X: prompt, C: prompt and finally D: prompt.

All 3 failed to execute coming back with the error: FIXMBR/BOOT is not recognised as an internal or external ocmmand or batch file.

The reason i tried this at teh command prompt is because ODDLY the Windows repair console reports that my windows is installed on D:?

D: is the only option i have available to select on the auto repair drop-down menu too. But when i boot into windows my OS shows its residing on C: (as per my computer)
Somethign weird is definately going on here...

That could just be the way that your BIOS is detecting the drives as opposed to windows. Can you disable all drives except the one where your OS resides and get back into the command prompt. Once there type HELP

Now that I think of it that may have been a vista tool. Try chacking this link

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

OK so i disabled all the other HDD in BIOS other than the one with the OS installed on it... now when i get to the System recovery options via the Win7 DVD no boot record shows in teh drop-down list.
So i simply click next without selecting a boot record and it presents me with the same 5 options

Startup Repair (auto)
Restore
Image Recovery
Memory diagnostics
Command prompt

I select command prompt and the prompt is at x: again. I change it to D: as my os resides on that drive and type bootrec.exe

A list of commands are shown: FixMbr, FixBoot, ScanOs and RebuildBcd

when i type any of these commands (i've tried all upper and lowercase, aslo the case as presented in the list) the prompt returns XXXX is not a recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file,

I still have the prompt open as i am writing this post on my mac. What should i do?

thanks

Oh so i think i got it...

i have to write bootrec.exe /FixBoot right?

well i do this and it returns : element not found

that really should work. OK try this command:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/7791044e-db7f-4144-a96c-945299811f58/

Try using BootItng, Download ver 1.87 here : http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootit-next-generation.htm
Make a bootable Disk or USB and boot off of it.
 Click Cancel to add BootItng to drive, Choose Parttion Work, Choose the Parttion you want to boot form then choose view mbr.
Click Set Active, Std MBR then Apply.

Move Disk or USB and reboot....It should now boot off hte drive you want it to.

As far as the 45 Second delay that may be a bios setting...Is Auto Detection turned on for the SATA Drives? If it is then taht may be whats causing the delay.

Wes

u must try auto repair option of win repair
normally this fixes the start up problems by rewriting the mbr

u must try auto repair option of win repair
normally this fixes the start up problems by rewriting the mbr

to ensure that the new mbr is written in ur desired drive unplug the other hard drive

Hey Guys.... hers a quick update on this.

I posted this issue on another forum too and have tried absolutely everything to move the MBR over to teh same drive my OS resides on. It's really complicated with Win7. I am simply going to paste what a member on the other forum responded and leave that as resolution... in short i have to reinstall.

Amit_10: i've stated a few time sthat i tried the windows auto repair THIS DOES NOT WORK.

Please continue reading for conclusion:

(Originally Posted by Me)
So i managed to rename the MBR on E: to bcd.old and now i cant boot into windows. Back at the repair console i have tried all 3 available options of the bootrec.exe tool
/fixmbr
/fixboot
/rebuildBCD


In short, the console finds the windows installation on my raptor but it cant build the bcd onto the drive... It simply returns "element not found" when i try to add the installation to the boot list

Any ideas??

==================================================
With all due respect to peeps that have answered here, but i think that some don't quite grasp what the op want's and what he is trying to do.
During a fresh install of Win7, unlike Vista or XP, the MBR is an actual partition of 100mb size. It should be the 1st partition on the drive that Win7 itself is on.
In the case of the OP, Win7 is on one drive and the MBR partition is on another drive.
No amount of trying with the install cd will work in this situation to move the MBR.
Just think about it for a min, Win7 itself would have to be physicaly moved 100mb along the partition table, then a new 100mb partition created and made bootable.
The repair functions on the CD simply repair what is already there, ie the MBR (on another drive).
Although i've never tried it, if you use Partition Magic, or something similar, to move Win7 along the partition 100mb and then create a new partition in that now free 100mb, the Win7 CD may right a new MBR in that space.
I don't think it will though, because it only has a repair function, and of course there is no MBR in that space to repair.
I still maintain that a re-install with all other drives disconnected is the only option.
========================================

It's true i have tried removing the drives physically to force windows to rewrite the MBR to a new drive but it doesn't want to know.

I am awarding points to cjrmail2k for his extensive help, though the solution is incorrect

Perhaps the OP never quite understood what i was asking but the bootrec.exe tool did not work in my case