MBR Issues
(BIOS Machines Only)
The Master Boot Record or MBR is a small block of machine code that controls the boot of your PC. It is the first thing to run once the BIOS process completes at boot time. This code is not run when you boot in EFI mode.
On Windows systems, the MBR is created when Windows is first installed. This is the Windows Native MBR.
In many cases, Linux destroys the Windows MBR and replaces it with code that varies depending on the particular Linux distribution.
Grub2Win in BIOS mode requires that you boot the Windows Native MBR. If it has been overwritten by Linux, Grub2Win will not work properly.
You can restore the Windows Native MBR in a couple of ways:
** Caution: These instructions are for BIOS machines only. **
** Do not attempt to restore the MBR to an EFI machine. **
The simplest way is to download and install EasyBCD to your Windows system.
This is a terrific product that is free for non-commercial use. It allows easy manipulation of the Windows BCD and MBR. EasyBCD is available here.
Once EasyBCD is started, select the BCD Deployment button. Select the MBR configuration option for your version of Windows, either Windows Vista + or XP. Then click the Write MBR button to restore the Windows Native MBR.
The other option is to boot your Microsoft Windows Install DVD.
You can then use the Repair Your Computer dialog to run Startup Repair. This will restore the Windows Native MBR.
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