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BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 15th 11, 08:41 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
TheScullster
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 79
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible

Hi all

Sorry guys I was given some duff info yesterday!
I now have the PC (Packard Bell) available and on start up the actual error
messages a

Verifying DMI Pool Data ................
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart

Has a Win XP logo on front.

So the question is pretty much the same:

Should I be able to access the data from Ubuntu CD boot?

Also, I have used the terminal "force" commands to gain access to a laptop
drive previously.
But I know very little about Linux software and possible corruption of data.
Can using these force commands to enable disk access actually cause data
corruption?
The PC I'm looking at has valuable family pics on apparently and I certainly
don't want to risk rendering the disk unrecoverable.

Thanks

Phil


Ads
  #2  
Old June 15th 11, 09:41 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,275
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible

TheScullster wrote:
Hi all

Sorry guys I was given some duff info yesterday!
I now have the PC (Packard Bell) available and on start up the actual error
messages a

Verifying DMI Pool Data ................
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart

Has a Win XP logo on front.

So the question is pretty much the same:

Should I be able to access the data from Ubuntu CD boot?

Also, I have used the terminal "force" commands to gain access to a laptop
drive previously.
But I know very little about Linux software and possible corruption of data.
Can using these force commands to enable disk access actually cause data
corruption?
The PC I'm looking at has valuable family pics on apparently and I certainly
don't want to risk rendering the disk unrecoverable.

Thanks

Phil



I'm not familiar with these "force" commands...

If Linux can detect a valid file system, it's going to put
an entry in /etc/fstab so it can be mounted. It will only
mount, if you click in a file manager, on the disk icon.

Linux will check the partition type in the MBR, but it is also
going to do at least a basic check that the metadata is correct
for the file system. If the metadata is bad, the mount step will
fail (presumably read-only, so Linux won't attempt to overwrite
anything).

If you successfully mount the partition, and you decide to
drag and drop files, *then* you are taking a chance. Because
now you're modifying the file system. But if all you're doing
is looking, far less damage should result.

Linux lacks any form of CHKDSK, so it can't repair damage as such. One
utility has the ability to set the "dirty" bit, so the next time Windows
is running, Windows can use CHKDSK to repair the file system. But that
isn't the same thing as Linux doing the repairs itself. There is
one commercial Linux utility ($99+) that claims to know how to
repair NTFS. Linux developers know enough to be able to write such
a repair utility, but it hasn't happened yet.

"BOOTMGR is missing" by itself, doesn't portend a total collapse. It could
be triggered by just one missing thing.

By the way, that error implies someone has installed or attempted to
install, Windows 7 or Vista. You may be seeing a WinXP logo on the
computer case, but that doesn't imply there has not been some
creative updating by the owner. Maybe they tried to install the
beta of Windows 7 or something. The word "BOOTMGR" didn't get there
on its own. (If you saw NTLDR, then it might be Win2K or WinXP.)

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...windows-vista/

As a repair person, this is a laundry list you can use.
Sure, people work with less, but this is intended to take
the maximum care, so you can look the computer owner in the
face, and say you did your very best.

1) Determine the size of the hard drive in the computer.

2) Have on hand, at least two empty disks the same size or larger
than the drive you're working on. One disk will hold an "image"
sector by sector, of the sick disk drive. The other spare disk,
is for saving scavenged files, if it comes to that. (If you
cannot repair, you scavenge files from the sick disk, to the
second spare disk.)

3) Make a backup of the sick disk to the first spare. This is an
example of a basic Linux command using disk dump.

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb

Obviously, there is more to learn than that, about using "disk dump",
but that is an example of making a sector by sector copy. If
you later break /dev/hda somehow, you can copy hdb back to hda at
some point in the future. Typical performance of that (non-optimal)
example is 13MB/sec. In my example, I'm assuming hdb is the same
size or bigger than hda.

In Linux, you need root to make the copy, so if you were using
a Ubuntu disk, you might do it as

sudo dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb

To give another example, this is how I back up my WinXP partition,
before doing crazy experiments. This uses a Windows version of dd
and Windows syntax. Using block size and count parameters, speeds
up the transfer by a factor of three. Note that "bs" is a multiple
of 512 bytes. bs*count = raw_size_of_partition. You need to get
the raw size info, then factor the number, to come up with "good"
values for bs and count. I try to keep bs below 512KB in size. Another
nice aspect about using bs and count, is it transfers a precise amount
of info, unlike the other command which just stops when you hit
the end of one of the two disks. You can see, this requires a bit
more work.

dd if=\\?\Device\Harddisk0\Partition2 of=winxp.dd bs=129024 count=604031

If I had to back up my whole 250GB disk, it looks like this. This is Linux.
193536*1292056 = 250GB approx. The Linux "factor" command can help you
factor the reported full size of the disk.

sudo dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb bs=193536 count=1292056

4) You also have the option, of slaving the disk to another
Windows PC and working on it. That is handy, if you need
CHKDSK, for example. But I would make my disk to disk copy
first, before any CHKDSK runs. *Any* utility that makes
"in-place" changes (changing forever, the one copy you've
got), runs the risk of making things worse. So before
doing anything to the sick disk, you make a copy first.
CHKDSK has been known to ruin a disk. That would typically
happen if the disk was corrupted by a half connected disk cable,
and the disk was chock full of errors. CHKDSK would fix non-existent
things, and have a merry old time for itself. That is known
as "error multiplication", just ruining the disk forever. And
this is why you make a backup, before doing CHKDSK.

If you're careful with their data, you can do as much experimenting
as is necessary to fix it. As long as you have a properly made backup,
there is nothing to worry about. The spare disks you use, should be
known good. If the spare disks show bad SMART data, as shown by
HDTune or a similar utility, then find better disk(s) before
starting your work.

You can keep your backup, after the computer is returned to the owner.
If, after a week, there are no more phone calls, you can delete it
or use Secure Erase or whatever you want. The erasure should be known
to cover all the sectors you used for your backup. If the computer
is damaged in the process of shipping it back to the owner, it
pays to have the backup just in case. If the owner, with a
straight face, can tell you that a backup already exists, then
you can erase the damn thing as soon as you're done. But if
the owner is a careless person, you'll need to hold onto the
backup for a few days.

*******

Now that you've safely made a backup, we can look at some other options.

If your Linux work shows some fully functional partitions,
and you can traverse the file system and see all the
usual files in there, you can consider using a repair disc.

Normally, a responsible owner, would burn the repair disc provided
my Microsoft. When I got my Win 7 laptop, the laptop prompts you
to burn a repair disc. This is not an installer DVD, it is a
boot CD, about 200MB or so perhaps. That disc is sufficient
to get access to an MSDOS command prompt, so you can issue
commands. There are also automated repair options.
The automated repair options work, if when booting the disc, the
disc detects a valid partition. If I boot the Windows 7
repair CD on my WinXP machine, the WinXP partition won't appear
in the menu of things to repair. Yet, if I want, I can instead
use the command prompt in there, and use programs like
"bootsect" to put back a WinXP MBR.

Now, your suspicion is, the owner installed Windows 7 or Vista.
That means, they have the original DVD. That DVD can also be
used as a repair disc.

You used to be able to download the 200MB repair disc from
here, but both the Windows 7 and Vista versions have been
removed. That means, you're going to have to hit up the owner
for some disc. Either the installer DVD, or a repair CD, could be
used to fix the BOOTMGR is missing.

http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/window...-repair-discs/

*******

This is an example of a repair. If you've made your copy of the
disk drive, you can give this a shot. Half an hour to back up
the hard drive, and ten minutes fiddling with this.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/cont...-windows-7.htm

1) Boot from Windows 7 DVD.
2) First screen chooses language/keyboard etc.
3) “Repair your computer" is the next thing to select.
4) Menu pops up with a list of valid partitions to repair.
Select the correct one.
5) Next is "Recovery Options" "Startup Repair"

http://0.tqn.com/d/pcsupport/1/0/i/4...p-repair-7.jpg

Notice there is a command prompt option there, if all else fails.
Then you're in a MSDOS like environment.

6) An automated sequence will try to repair it.
Obviously, if something key has been removed (like
say the 100MB boot partition that is sometimes used),
it's going to fail and tell you so.

Installs come two ways. They can consist of boot_partition + main_partition
or can have just the main_partition. My laptop has the former option.
There is some way to force an install to not use the 100MB boot partition
method, so having it all in C: is also an option you can run into.

HTH,
Paul
  #3  
Old June 15th 11, 12:52 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
Twayne[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,276
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible

In . uk,
TheScullster typed:
Hi all

Sorry guys I was given some duff info yesterday!
I now have the PC (Packard Bell) available and on start
up the actual error messages a

Verifying DMI Pool Data ................
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart

Has a Win XP logo on front.

So the question is pretty much the same:

Should I be able to access the data from Ubuntu CD boot?

Also, I have used the terminal "force" commands to gain
access to a laptop drive previously.
But I know very little about Linux software and possible
corruption of data. Can using these force commands to
enable disk access actually cause data corruption?
The PC I'm looking at has valuable family pics on
apparently and I certainly don't want to risk rendering
the disk unrecoverable.
Thanks

Phil


Since there hasn't been a direct response to the question of a live 'nix CD,
YES, you should be able to access the data on the hard drive. I don't know
what "force" commands refers to; that's a new one to me.

Can you boot to Safe Mode? If so, then you can run Start; Programs;
Accessories; System Tools; System Information and that will tell you what
the OS is and its SP status too and much more. Another tool called SIW
(Google for it) is a super-System Information program with a lot more data
about the machine in its output.

Paul has given you an excellent treatise IMO on the overall system and it's
pretty thorough from the aspect of how to prevent damaging the disk, backing
it up first before any work is done to recover anything, and so forth. By
backing it up, you can at least always go back to the original problem and
start over again if you have to. I'd recommend backing up to DVDs or better
yet another HD (external type) just so nothing can accidentally happen to
the original data, which can then be considered a control point.

Assuming there are multiple hard drives, it might be easiest to just pop in
a bootable hard drive with any windows OS on it and set to Master if it's an
IDE system, and set the other HD as a slave if it's an IDE system. SATA
drives are easier; see the docs to see which cable is for the boot disk or
simply trace it down visually.
Then boot from the replaced bootable HD and use that to look at the other
drives, logical or physical, to see if you can get hold of the photos you
need. Unless you have a hardware problem, this should work. If no joy, then
read Paul's information carefully and give it a go. The most important thing
is to create the backup immediately and never allow that backup to be
changed in any way. I usually put them to DVDs just so they cannot be
compromised by mistake.

Let us know how it comes out in the end, OK?

Twayne`


  #4  
Old June 15th 11, 01:44 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
TheScullster
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 79
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible


"Paul" wrote

Hi all

Sorry guys I was given some duff info yesterday!
I now have the PC (Packard Bell) available and on start up the actual
error messages a

Verifying DMI Pool Data ................
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart

Has a Win XP logo on front.

So the question is pretty much the same:

Should I be able to access the data from Ubuntu CD boot?

Also, I have used the terminal "force" commands to gain access to a
laptop drive previously.
But I know very little about Linux software and possible corruption of
data.
Can using these force commands to enable disk access actually cause data
corruption?
The PC I'm looking at has valuable family pics on apparently and I
certainly don't want to risk rendering the disk unrecoverable.

Thanks

Phil


I'm not familiar with these "force" commands........snip....


Thanks Paul

Very comprehensive procedure!

The force command mentioned (more like switch in dos parlance perhaps) was
necessary to access the drives on my daughter's Sony laptop (Vista).

The link below shows where these are necessary

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...dows-computer/


The line is: mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /media/disk -o force


Phil


  #5  
Old June 15th 11, 01:49 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
TheScullster
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 79
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible

"Twayne" typed:


Hi all

Sorry guys I was given some duff info yesterday!
I now have the PC (Packard Bell) available and on start
up the actual error messages a

Verifying DMI Pool Data ................
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart

Has a Win XP logo on front.

So the question is pretty much the same:

Should I be able to access the data from Ubuntu CD boot?

Also, I have used the terminal "force" commands to gain
access to a laptop drive previously.
But I know very little about Linux software and possible
corruption of data. Can using these force commands to
enable disk access actually cause data corruption?
The PC I'm looking at has valuable family pics on
apparently and I certainly don't want to risk rendering
the disk unrecoverable.
Thanks

Phil


Since there hasn't been a direct response to the question of a live 'nix
CD, YES, you should be able to access the data on the hard drive. I don't
know what "force" commands refers to; that's a new one to me.

Can you boot to Safe Mode? If so, then you can run Start; Programs;
Accessories; System Tools; System Information and that will tell you what
the OS is and its SP status too and much more. Another tool called SIW
(Google for it) is a super-System Information program with a lot more data
about the machine in its output.

Paul has given you an excellent treatise IMO on the overall system and
it's pretty thorough from the aspect of how to prevent damaging the disk,
backing it up first before any work is done to recover anything, and so
forth. By backing it up, you can at least always go back to the original
problem and start over again if you have to. I'd recommend backing up to
DVDs or better yet another HD (external type) just so nothing can
accidentally happen to the original data, which can then be considered a
control point.

Assuming there are multiple hard drives, it might be easiest to just pop
in a bootable hard drive with any windows OS on it and set to Master if
it's an IDE system, and set the other HD as a slave if it's an IDE system.
SATA drives are easier; see the docs to see which cable is for the boot
disk or simply trace it down visually.
Then boot from the replaced bootable HD and use that to look at the
other drives, logical or physical, to see if you can get hold of the
photos you need. Unless you have a hardware problem, this should work. If
no joy, then read Paul's information carefully and give it a go. The most
important thing is to create the backup immediately and never allow that
backup to be changed in any way. I usually put them to DVDs just so they
cannot be compromised by mistake.

Let us know how it comes out in the end, OK?

Twayne`



Thanks Twayne

I have a 500Gb Hitachi USB drive available.
Will this connect OK to the Ubuntu session and allow copying of files off
the HD?
I have successfully copied to a 2Gb flash drive, but some of the video files
are large and there's lots of them.

ISTR some of these external USB drives need to install software to make
their entire capacity writable.
I just attached the drive to my Windoze PC and it seemed to be "found"
without any special measures/installation.

Thanks

Phil


  #6  
Old June 15th 11, 03:08 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18,275
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible

TheScullster wrote:
"Twayne" typed:


Hi all

Sorry guys I was given some duff info yesterday!
I now have the PC (Packard Bell) available and on start
up the actual error messages a

Verifying DMI Pool Data ................
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart

Has a Win XP logo on front.

So the question is pretty much the same:

Should I be able to access the data from Ubuntu CD boot?

Also, I have used the terminal "force" commands to gain
access to a laptop drive previously.
But I know very little about Linux software and possible
corruption of data. Can using these force commands to
enable disk access actually cause data corruption?
The PC I'm looking at has valuable family pics on
apparently and I certainly don't want to risk rendering
the disk unrecoverable.
Thanks

Phil

Since there hasn't been a direct response to the question of a live 'nix
CD, YES, you should be able to access the data on the hard drive. I don't
know what "force" commands refers to; that's a new one to me.

Can you boot to Safe Mode? If so, then you can run Start; Programs;
Accessories; System Tools; System Information and that will tell you what
the OS is and its SP status too and much more. Another tool called SIW
(Google for it) is a super-System Information program with a lot more data
about the machine in its output.

Paul has given you an excellent treatise IMO on the overall system and
it's pretty thorough from the aspect of how to prevent damaging the disk,
backing it up first before any work is done to recover anything, and so
forth. By backing it up, you can at least always go back to the original
problem and start over again if you have to. I'd recommend backing up to
DVDs or better yet another HD (external type) just so nothing can
accidentally happen to the original data, which can then be considered a
control point.

Assuming there are multiple hard drives, it might be easiest to just pop
in a bootable hard drive with any windows OS on it and set to Master if
it's an IDE system, and set the other HD as a slave if it's an IDE system.
SATA drives are easier; see the docs to see which cable is for the boot
disk or simply trace it down visually.
Then boot from the replaced bootable HD and use that to look at the
other drives, logical or physical, to see if you can get hold of the
photos you need. Unless you have a hardware problem, this should work. If
no joy, then read Paul's information carefully and give it a go. The most
important thing is to create the backup immediately and never allow that
backup to be changed in any way. I usually put them to DVDs just so they
cannot be compromised by mistake.

Let us know how it comes out in the end, OK?

Twayne`



Thanks Twayne

I have a 500Gb Hitachi USB drive available.
Will this connect OK to the Ubuntu session and allow copying of files off
the HD?
I have successfully copied to a 2Gb flash drive, but some of the video files
are large and there's lots of them.

ISTR some of these external USB drives need to install software to make
their entire capacity writable.
I just attached the drive to my Windoze PC and it seemed to be "found"
without any special measures/installation.

Thanks

Phil


The USB drive should be very convenient, and not be a problem to get
working. If you're going to have problems, it would be with the
usage of a large disk, with a USB adapter chip that can't handle it.
But if you bought a pre-assembled USB drive, they've taken care
of compatibility for you.

If you went back to Windows 98, you might need to add some
third party software. But later OSes, should use the built-in
USB Mass Storage protocol stack, to automatically make it available.

If the 500GB was much larger than the "sick" drive, you may have
enough room to store several aspects of your recovered or
backed up data. You can store an "image" of the sick disk,
like this -

dd if=/dev/hda of=/somedisk/wholedisk.dd

The output file in that case, is being stored as a large file
in the /somedisk file system. When I do stuff like that, I might
use an NTFS partition (which handles large files), or
an EXT2 that is set up for large files. (If you put your mind to it,
and use ancient tools for making EXT2, you can actually make one
that refuses to store large files.) In any case, as long as
your file system can hold gigabyte sized files properly, you
can back up the whole disk as a single file. Having done so,
you can also store other files right next to it, if you want.
So your 500GB disk could become a large "garbage dump" by the
time you're done.

The other method I was mentioning, was just doing raw disk to
raw disk transfer. But you can also transfer raw disk
to a single file, and it is much the same.

Paul
  #7  
Old June 15th 11, 05:41 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
BillW50
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,556
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible

In . uk,
TheScullster wrote:
Hi all

Sorry guys I was given some duff info yesterday!
I now have the PC (Packard Bell) available and on start up the actual
error messages a

Verifying DMI Pool Data ................
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart


BOOTMGR is for Vista and Windows 7. So it sounds like one of them was or
still is installed somewhere. You can use BOOTMGR for just XP if you
wanted too, but it isn't really necessary. And it sounds like it is
broken anyway.

Windows XP Recover Console can fix this with a FIXMBR and FIXBOOT
commands. There are other third party tools that probably can do the
same.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3


  #8  
Old June 15th 11, 05:51 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
BillW50
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,556
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible

In ,
Paul wrote:
[...]
If you successfully mount the partition, and you decide to
drag and drop files, *then* you are taking a chance. Because
now you're modifying the file system. But if all you're doing
is looking, far less damage should result.


There is a dirty little secret about the Ubuntu Live CD. And that is it
will make your Windows XP system lockup at the desktop if XP is using no
swapfile. Apparently Ubuntu uses the swapfile for its own purposes. And
one doesn't exist, it does something really bad.

Linux lacks any form of CHKDSK, so it can't repair damage as such. One
utility has the ability to set the "dirty" bit, so the next time
Windows is running, Windows can use CHKDSK to repair the file system.
But that isn't the same thing as Linux doing the repairs itself. There
is one commercial Linux utility ($99+) that claims to know how to
repair NTFS. Linux developers know enough to be able to write such a
repair utility, but it hasn't happened yet.


That is one I am puzzled why anybody ever bothers with a Linux CD? As
BartPE or WinPE works so much better and you have the repair tools as
well.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3


  #9  
Old June 15th 11, 07:31 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
Twayne[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,276
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible

In ,
TheScullster typed:
"Twayne" typed:


Hi all

Sorry guys I was given some duff info yesterday!
I now have the PC (Packard Bell) available and on start
up the actual error messages a

Verifying DMI Pool Data ................
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart

Has a Win XP logo on front.

So the question is pretty much the same:

Should I be able to access the data from Ubuntu CD boot?

Also, I have used the terminal "force" commands to gain
access to a laptop drive previously.
But I know very little about Linux software and possible
corruption of data. Can using these force commands to
enable disk access actually cause data corruption?
The PC I'm looking at has valuable family pics on
apparently and I certainly don't want to risk rendering
the disk unrecoverable.
Thanks

Phil


Since there hasn't been a direct response to the
question of a live 'nix CD, YES, you should be able to
access the data on the hard drive. I don't know what
"force" commands refers to; that's a new one to me. Can you boot to Safe
Mode? If so, then you can run
Start; Programs; Accessories; System Tools; System
Information and that will tell you what the OS is and
its SP status too and much more. Another tool called SIW
(Google for it) is a super-System Information program
with a lot more data about the machine in its output. Paul has given you
an excellent treatise IMO on the
overall system and it's pretty thorough from the aspect
of how to prevent damaging the disk, backing it up first
before any work is done to recover anything, and so
forth. By backing it up, you can at least always go back
to the original problem and start over again if you have
to. I'd recommend backing up to DVDs or better yet
another HD (external type) just so nothing can
accidentally happen to the original data, which can then
be considered a control point. Assuming there are multiple hard drives,
it might be
easiest to just pop in a bootable hard drive with any
windows OS on it and set to Master if it's an IDE
system, and set the other HD as a slave if it's an IDE
system. SATA drives are easier; see the docs to see
which cable is for the boot disk or simply trace it
down visually. Then boot from the replaced bootable HD
and use that to look at the other drives, logical or physical, to see if
you can get
hold of the photos you need. Unless you have a hardware
problem, this should work. If no joy, then read Paul's
information carefully and give it a go. The most
important thing is to create the backup immediately and
never allow that backup to be changed in any way. I
usually put them to DVDs just so they cannot be
compromised by mistake. Let us know how it comes out in the end, OK?

Twayne`



Thanks Twayne

I have a 500Gb Hitachi USB drive available.
Will this connect OK to the Ubuntu session and allow
copying of files off the HD?
I have successfully copied to a 2Gb flash drive, but some
of the video files are large and there's lots of them.

ISTR some of these external USB drives need to install
software to make their entire capacity writable.
I just attached the drive to my Windoze PC and it seemed
to be "found" without any special measures/installation.

Thanks

Phil


That's the normal procedure for windows; just plug the drive in and it's
recognized and you're in business, especally if it's a preformatted drive as
many are these days. If you don't get the full capacity of around 460 Gig
for a 500 Gig drive, that would be a need to update/flash the BIOS or simply
turn on the LBA mode if it exists n the BIOS settings.
But even if you did have to format it (because say it's formatted FAT
instead of NTFS), that's easy to do. Sounds to me like you're all set.

HTH,

Twayne`


  #10  
Old June 27th 11, 06:37 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
Unk
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 92
Default BOOTMGR is Missing - Linux Boot Possible

On Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:41:40 +0100, "TheScullster" wrote:

Hi all

Sorry guys I was given some duff info yesterday!
I now have the PC (Packard Bell) available and on start up the actual error
messages a

Verifying DMI Pool Data ................
BOOTMGR is missing
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart

Has a Win XP logo on front.

So the question is pretty much the same:

Should I be able to access the data from Ubuntu CD boot?

Also, I have used the terminal "force" commands to gain access to a laptop
drive previously.
But I know very little about Linux software and possible corruption of data.
Can using these force commands to enable disk access actually cause data
corruption?
The PC I'm looking at has valuable family pics on apparently and I certainly
don't want to risk rendering the disk unrecoverable.

Thanks

Phil

BOOTMGR is for Windows Vista ot Windows 7, not Windows XP.

If you want to just access the data, Get Hiren's BootCD: http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/
Burn it to a CD, Boot to it, and select "Mini Windows"

If you want to repair the error:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/cont...-windows-7.htm

You could also select the DOS Prompt and type: bootrec /fixboot then type: bootrec /fixmbr

Unc
 




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