Backup/Resote + MBR issue with Norton Ghost
Scenario - I have XP on my first partition, Linux on the second partition. As far as I can tell, the MBR jumps to the beginning of the linux partition where the bootloader splash screen loads. If I choose to load XP, it then jumps back to the beginning of the first partition and loads XP.
Scenario - I have XP on my first partition, Linux on the second partition. As far as I can tell, the MBR jumps to the beginning of the linux partition where the bootloader splash screen loads. If I choose to load XP, it then jumps back to the beginning of the first partition and loads XP.
Problem - I want to get rid of Linux and reclaim its partition for use by XP, either by repartitioning or reformatting the linux partition.
What I think I need to do - Take a ghost image of my XP partition, blow away the linux partition, re-stream my XP from the install CDs that came with the PC (This will put the MBR back to what it should be) and then restore my ghost image.
Question - will restoring my Ghost image put the MBR back to what it was? i.e. does Ghost copy the MBR as well? If so, I'm back where I started, with the MBR looking for the start of the second partition's bootloader and not finding one, causing a boot failure. I need to be able to restore the Ghost image without touching the MBR - is this possible?
Sorry for the long post, I hope you can help.
Problem - I want to get rid of Linux and reclaim its partition for use by XP, either by repartitioning or reformatting the linux partition.
What I think I need to do - Take a ghost image of my XP partition, blow away the linux partition, re-stream my XP from the install CDs that came with the PC (This will put the MBR back to what it should be) and then restore my ghost image.
Question - will restoring my Ghost image put the MBR back to what it was? i.e. does Ghost copy the MBR as well? If so, I'm back where I started, with the MBR looking for the start of the second partition's bootloader and not finding one, causing a boot failure. I need to be able to restore the Ghost image without touching the MBR - is this possible?
Sorry for the long post, I hope you can help.
Participate on our website and join the conversation
This topic is archived. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast.
Responses to this topic
Backup your files first
You could get rid of the Linux boot loader (lilo, grub) using Windows 98/ME boot diskette and executing "fdisk /mbr" at command prompt. This will rewrite the Master Boot Record (MBR) to boot from the primary (D)OS partition.
You may also need to run fdisk to specify the new active partition to boot. Then in XP, you can use the disk management to removed linux partitions and format them to use with XP.
<edit>
typos
</edit>
You could get rid of the Linux boot loader (lilo, grub) using Windows 98/ME boot diskette and executing "fdisk /mbr" at command prompt. This will rewrite the Master Boot Record (MBR) to boot from the primary (D)OS partition.
You may also need to run fdisk to specify the new active partition to boot. Then in XP, you can use the disk management to removed linux partitions and format them to use with XP.
<edit>
typos
</edit>
I suggest you use Partition Table Doctor to repair mbr.
First thing I recommend you download the demo version of
Partition Table Doctor.( http://www.ptdd.com/download.htm )
For more detail:
http://www.ptdd.com/mbr.htm
http://www.ptdd.com
First thing I recommend you download the demo version of
Partition Table Doctor.( http://www.ptdd.com/download.htm )
For more detail:
http://www.ptdd.com/mbr.htm
http://www.ptdd.com
