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How to repair Windows Boot Loader

· 2 min read
Luke Murray
Luke Murray
Author

First things first! In order to repair the Windows boot loaders you need the appropriate Windows CD/DVD for example: Windows XP Home/Professional CD for the Windows XP installation & Windows 7 DVD for Windows 7 install.

Windows XP

The instructions on repairing this are similar to the DDL Kernel fix.

To access the recover console follow the prompts below:

  1. First thing you need to have a Windows XP CD
  2. Put CD in drive and boot from it, you may have to press ESC or F8 to open Boot Prompt to select CD Drive.
  3. Once it has loaded choose Recovery Console
  4. Type: bootcfg /rebuild (This will generate a new Boot.ini file)
  5. Press Enter twice at the prompts that follow.
  6. Type: fixboot
  7. Press Enter
  8. Type: fixmbr
  9. Press Enter
  10. Type: exit (This will restart your computer, eject your CD)

Windows Vista/Windows 7

The bootloader fix for both Windows Vista and Windows 7 is luckily similar.

  1. First thing you need to do is get your Windows Vista/Windows 7 DVD
  2. Put DVD in drive and boot from it, once prompted select Repair This Computer (lower left hand side of the Windows dialog)
  3. Select your Windows install you want to repair and select Next
  4. Now you should be greeted with the Advanced System Recovery dialog box, select Command Prompt
  5. Type: bootrec.exe /FixMbr
  6. Press Enter
  7. Type: bootrec.exe /FixBoot
  8. Press Enter
  9. Type: exit (to close the Command Prompt)
  10. Restart your machine & eject the CD/DVD ROM.