Topic: Restore Win-7 default Boot-Order

[kamal kr]

Hello All

After selecting eScan Rescue Mode for scanning, In few cases, it’s found that eScan Rescue Mode comes every times instead of default windows 7 boot-Order.

To Restore Win-7 default Boot-Order, follow below steps

1. Boot your computer to the Windows 7 DVD (or to a "Repair CD"). At this screen choose to install now.
2. Select your language and click next, Click the button for "Use recovery tools”, Then select "Command Prompt"
3. The command we will use, bootsect.exe, is in a folder (named boot) on the DVD.

(We need to know what drive letter has been assigned the DVD drive to access the folder.)

Type: diskpart
and press Enter

Type: select disk 0 (zero)
and press Enter

type: list volume
and press Enter
Type: exit
and press Enter to close Diskpart

4. Use your DVD drive letter and

Type: G: (use the letter of your DVD drive)
and press Enter

Type: cd boot
and press Enter
(To Restore the "bootsector code")
TYPE: bootsect /nt60 SYS /mbr  and press Enter
When completed successfully, Type: exit and press Enter, This will close the command prompt window.

5. Now select Shut Down or Restart,

NOTE: If this method fails to restore the MBR, you can try the bootrec command as it is also a tool for repairing the MBR.

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

[devnullius]

thanx - might save my butt some day ; )

Karma!

Devvie

 
~~~ notemail@facebook.com ~~~
 
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——
All spelling mistakes are my own and may only be distributed under the GNU General Public License! – (© 95-1 by Coredump; 2-013 by DevNullius)

[Samker]

Nice, thanks 2K. 

[devnullius]

Did some further research...

Basicly, kamal kr describes how to fix the MBR (Master Boot Record).

You can follow his example, with screenshots too, here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/20864-mbr-restore-windows-7-master-boot-record.html .

But many different ways exist to fix the mbr - I once even did it with a disk editor* ; )

This is the official Microsoft way. In the old days, the unsupported fdisk /mbr would be enough.

On multiboot systems there is also a way to change the boot-order: the boot order in this case being the default Operating System that should be started by default. For Windows, since Vista, it's called the BCD. A great article about that is found here: http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/win8/windows8-bcdedit.htm#Editing_Your_Windows_8_BCD_Settings .

Personally, to edit the new "boot.ini" (BCD container) I use the following free Windows BCD management edit tool: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/EasyBCD.shtml .

Karma!

devnullius


* http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic429834.html/page__view__findpost__p__2511003

[Fintech]

Thanx for all here..

I've been this problem sometimes and I'll tried to find solution many times before that I seen this stuff in here!
I have been forced to return my system once on Norton Gost! 
Thanx a lot so good stuff. 

-F   

[devnullius]

After crawling through the dark a little too long for my taste and experience, I finally stumbled upon the next page... Thought I'd share it with ya' and show you how to remove Vista-part from an XP / Vista multi-boot system.

http://www.syschat.com/remove-vista-xp-vista-dual-boot-1852.html (Remove Vista from an XP/Vista dual boot), By William_Wilson, 03-28-2007.

Here's how to remove Vista's new bootloader from your system.

Since the Vista bootloader has control of the boot, there is no need to modify the boot.ini of XP.

Restart your computer with the XP cd in the drive, if you don't you will be prompted to pick an operating system. Once into setup, choose repair console.

A DOS prompt appears, and type the following:
fixmbr
*this will essentially separate XP and Vista

fixboot
*this will check that Vista is no longer present and put the XP boot.ini loader back in place.

Restart and Vista is history.

And to quote anonymous: This works!*

Maybe also of interest: HD Tools (http://scforum.info/index.php/topic,7955.msg19882.html#msg19882).

Karma,

devnullius


* disk layout, I logged on to Extended Partition 2.
160MB free space for the Gods ;p
Primary partition 1: FAT32, 1.5GB -> contains boot.ini
Primary partition 2: (hidden) FAT32, 1.5GB (will be backup of PP1)
Primary partition 3: PC-BSD
Extended partition 1: Windows XP, NTFS
Extended partition 2: Windows XP, NTFS, to be upgraded to Vista -> 7 -> 8
Extended partition 3 + 4 + 5 = Linux systems + swap partition Linux.

[devnullius]

http://www.ehow.com/how_4891476_reinstall-xp-bootloader.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_5127739_restore-vista-boot-manager.html
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/32523/how-to-manually-repair-windows-7-boot-loader-problems/

All solutions above need (original) installation dvd...

Karma,

devnullius

[stonecoldtx]

If you wish to maintain mutliple boot entries, a simpler way to set the default entry would be to use MCConfig:

1.) Go to "Start->Run", type "MSConfig"
2.) Select the "Boot" tab
3.) Highlight the OS entry you wish to make the default
4.) Click the "Set as Default" button
5.) Close MSConfig (note--this may require a reboot; if so, it is not necessary to reboot immediatly, and can be postponed)

[devnullius]

http://www.ehow.com/how_4891476_reinstall-xp-bootloader.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_5127739_restore-vista-boot-manager.html
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/32523/how-to-manually-repair-windows-7-boot-loader-problems/

All solutions above need (original) installation dvd...

I stumbled upon another interesting page...

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=556

Copy Paste:
How to Rebuild the Boot Sector for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8

When the Windows system (booting) partition's boot sector is corrupted or otherwise contains invalid code for the version of Windows on the partition, it must be repaired before the partition will boot properly. Since the Windows installer updates the boot sector of the system partition during installation, this problem usually occurs when the Windows booting files are relocated from their install partition to an alternate partition or when installing an older version of Windows on a system with a newer version already installed.

Two example scenarios that can cause this problem and the resulting error messages are described below:

Scenario 1: Windows XP was installed. A new partition was created and formatted using XP to install Windows 7 in a dual-boot setup. Windows 7 was then installed using default options, placing its booting files onto the XP partition in a standard Microsoft dual-boot configuration. Later, the user installs BootIt BM and decides to move the Windows 7 booting files to the Windows 7 partition to separate it from XP. After moving the files and attempting to boot into Windows 7, the following error message is displayed:

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

This happens because the partition's boot sector was not updated when Windows 7 was installed and still contains the XP code to load ntldr (Windows Vista and later use bootmgr). Note: This type of problem can be avoided by formatting the destination partition(s) as part of the installation process.

Scenario 2: Using BootIt BM as a partition manager, two NTFS partitions are created and formatted for installing Windows 7. The first partition is set active. Windows 7 is installed normally to the second partition, placing its booting files onto the first partition (similar to the default method used by Windows 7 when installing to an unpartitioned drive). Later, the user needs to remove the first partition. The booting files are moved to the Windows 7 partition and it's set active. Attempting to boot Windows 7 results in the following error:

This partition does not contain an operating system.
If you are about to install a new OS then insert the
installation diskette into drive A:

Press any key to run the BIOS bootstrap loader...

This happens because the partition's boot sector code contains the default BootIt BM code and not the code required to boot into Windows. When installing Windows, the installer will only update the boot sector of the system (booting) partition. In this case, the first partition's boot sector was updated, while the second one wasn't. Note: This type of problem can be avoided by formatting the destination partition(s) as part of the installation process.
These types of errors cannot always be repaired by doing a Startup Repair using the Windows DVD, Repair Disc or Recovery Drive. In any case, whether or not a Startup Repair was attempted, the boot sector can be updated manually by using the bootsect.exe program available on the following Windows media:

Windows Vista DVD
Windows 7 DVD
Windows 8 DVD
Windows 7 System Repair Disc
Windows 8 System Repair Disc or Recovery Drive
WinPE disc based on Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 (e.g. VistaPE, TBWinRE, TBWinPE)
If possible, it's recommended to use the version of bootsect that matches (or is newer than) the version of Windows being repaired. For example, use the Windows 7 version to repair a Windows 7 or Vista boot sector. However, either version should work in most cases. Also note that you need to use a compatible version when running in Windows. For example, you can't run the 64-bit version of bootsect (located on the 64-bit installation media) while running 32-bit Windows.


Using bootsect.exe from Windows

The boot sector repair can be performed directly from Windows if the following requirements are met:

The computer can successfully boot into a different Windows installation.

The partition needing the repair must be available to Windows so it can be assigned a drive letter.

A version of the Windows media is used that contains the bootsect program in a directly accessible state. The Windows installation DVDs or flash drives are good for this since bootsect.exe is located in the \Boot folder on the media. The Repair Discs, Recovery Drives, and other builds may have the program packed into the WIM file (accessible only when booted).

The bootsect program must be run from an Administrator Command Prompt.
For example, using Scenario 1, the computer could be booted into XP with the Windows 7 partition assigned F:. The bootsect program could then be run from the Windows 7 32-bit DVD, as follows:

Open an Explorer window (Start >> My Computer or Start >> Computer) and note the drive letters assigned to the DVD drive and the Windows 7 partition. In this example, D: will be used for the DVD drive and F: will be used for the Windows 7 partition.

Insert the Windows 7 DVD (if it auto-plays, close the window).

Start the Command Prompt (Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> Command Prompt). In versions of Windows with UAC enabled, right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

Run the following command at the prompt (make sure to use the correct drive letters for your system):

D:\boot\bootsect /nt60 F:

The computer should now be able to successfully boot the Windows 7 partition.


Using bootsect.exe from the Windows boot media

Though the actual steps vary a little between the different versions of the boot media, the instructions are generally the same:

Boot the computer using the appropriate Windows boot media.

Open a Command Prompt window:

Windows 7 or Windows 8 DVD: Press Shift-F10 (or follow alternate instructions below).

Windows Vista DVD, Windows 7 DVD, Windows 7 System Repair Disc: If prompted, select the language, time, and keyboard options. Select to Repair your computer, select to Use recovery tools..., and then start the Command Prompt. Make sure to cancel any automatic repairs.

Note: Booting a system with the wrong version of the Windows media (e.g. using a Windows 7 x64 DVD on a Windows 7 x86 system) may result in it reporting that it's not supported or not compatible and block you from proceeding to the System Recovery Options menu. To get around this, click the Load Drivers button, click OK on the Add Drivers window, browse to X:\Windows\System32, scroll through the list and find cmd (you may need to type *.exe into the File name box and press ENTER if programs aren't being displayed), then right-click on cmd and select Open. To get the other windows out of the way, click Cancel on the Open box and on the Add Drivers box.

Windows 8 DVD, System Repair Disc, Recovery Media: If prompted, select the language, time, and keyboard options. If booting the installation media, click the Repair your computer link. Click Troubleshoot, then Advanced options, then Command Prompt.

TBWinRE, TBWinPE, WinPE-based builds, etc.: Depending on the build configuration, it may boot directly to the Command Prompt window. Otherwise, the Command Prompt should be available in TBLauncher, the taskbar menu, or by running cmd.


Determine the drive letters assigned to the DVD drive and the Windows partition requiring the repair. Note that this partition must be accessible and be assigned a letter (it can't be a hidden partition). In this example, D: will be used for the DVD drive and F: will be used for the Windows 7 partition.

Run the following command at the prompt (make sure to use the correct drive letters for your system):

D:\boot\bootsect /nt60 F:

Note: When booted to versions of the Windows 7 or Windows 8 boot media, bootsect.exe is available in the path and can just be referenced by name (i.e. bootsect /nt60 F:).

The computer should now be able to successfully boot the Windows 7 partition.
 

Additional Information:

Using the "/force" option on locked or "in use" partitions

In certain situations, bootsect may display a message similar to the following:

Updated NTFS filesystem bootcode. The update may be unreliable since the volume could not be locked
during the update:
   Access is denied.

Bootcode was successfully updated on all targeted volumes.

This happens if bootsect can't lock the partition or the partition is detected as being used. Note that this error also occurs in WinPE and is not limited to partitions in a booted Windows system.

In many cases, the repair is actually written to the boot sector successfully and no further action is required. However, if needed, you can specify the /force option, which causes a forced dismount of the partition if the standard lock attempt fails. When using this option from WinPE it shouldn't cause any problems, but caution should be used when using it in Windows since it can cause unexpected behavior as all open file handles on the partition are invalidated.

Example: D:\boot\bootsect /nt60 F: /force



Using the "/nt52" option to repair XP boot sectors

Bootsect can also be used to repair the XP boot sector and offers an alternative to using the XP Recovery Console and fixboot. Usage is the same as shown in this article, just use /nt52 instead of /nt60.

Example: D:\boot\bootsect /nt52 F:



Additional bootsect options

More information on using bootsect.exe can be found by running bootsect /help at the Command Prompt. Relevant information can also be found in this Microsoft KB article.

Example: D:\boot\bootsect /help



Using bootrec.exe instead of bootsect.exe

The bootrec.exe program is available when booted to the Windows Vista or later installation or WinPE-based boot media. This program can also repair the boot sector code, but is limited to the system (active) partition only. As a result, this method will not work from a booted Windows system.

Example: D:\boot\bootrec /fixboot

Related Articles
   How to Rebuild the Boot Sector for Windows NT
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=113
   How to Rebuild the Boot Sector for Windows 2000/XP
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=209
   How to Restore the Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 Boot Manager
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=327



Karma?

;p devnullius

[devnullius]

Excellent technical information on what MBR is, what partitions are and what the difference between an active partition and a boot partition is, here: http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/does-active-partition-mean-t1489512.html - See more at: http://scforum.info/index.php/topic,8046.msg20852.html#msg20852 which will lead to this article:

Copy Paste:
" 22nd Aug 2003
"john wen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:05a301c36856$59c7ac40$(E-Mail Removed)
> What is the meaning of "active partition"?
> What is the difference between active partition and boot
> partition?

The partition table can only have 4 entries which can designate primary partitions and/or extended partitions. Only a primary partition can be given the attribute of "active"; i.e., you cannot make a logical drive in an extended partition the "active" partition drive. The MBR (master boot record) only knows how to read the partition table. It doesn't know how to interrogate logical drives within an extended partition.

The BIOS loads a bootstrap program that loads the MBR into memory.
The MBR then reads the partition table to see which of the primary partitions is marked with the attribute "active".
The MBR then uses the partitioning information to find sector 0 of the active primary partition. This is the boot sector for that primary partition. The MBR then loads the boot program in that boot sector of the active primary partition and passes control to it to continue the boot process. None of which has even involved Windows or any operating system at this point (except that it is possible to replace the MBR with a customized version for a particular operating system; the MBR normally can read the partition table only on the same hard drive as where the MBR was read which is usually the first physical hard drive, but replacement MBR programs can read the partition tables on other hard drives).

- BIOS loads MBR from first physical hard drive.
- MBR reads partition table on the same hard drive as the MBR.
- MBR looks for a primary partition marked as active. If no primary partition is marked active, boot stops with error.
- MBR loads the boot sector from the active primary partition.
- Boot sector (program) loads the rest of the OS starter files (the program in the boot sector may itself be an OS starter file). This is when the OS starts to load.

________________________________________
And if you want really detailed information:

At the completion of the Power On Self Test (POST), the BIOS bootstrap routine generates an INT 19. INT 19 is also called when the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys are pressed. On most systems, Ctrl-Alt-Del causes a
short version of the POST to be executed before INT 19 is called. INT 19 usually tries to read a boot sector from the first floppy drive. If a boot sector is found on the floppy diskette, that boot sector is read into memory at location 0000:7C00 and the BIOS checks that the last two bytes of the sector are a "55 AA" signature. If so, the routine jumps to memory location 0000:7C00 to execute the boot loader program in charge of loading and starting the operating system (IO.SYS for MS-DOS/Win9xME and NTLDR for WindowsNT4/2K). If the last two bytes are not "55 AA", a BIOS-dependant message such as "Non-bootable disk" or "Non-System" is issued and the machine halts.

If no boot sector is found on the first floppy drive because it was formatted as a data-only diskette or there is no diskette in the floppy drive, INT 19 tries to read the Master Boot Record (MBR) from the first physical hard drive. The MBR is not part of any partition. Creating, deleting, and resizing partitions will affect the partition table in the MBR but not the master boot code in the MBR. If an MBR is found, its master boot code is read into memory at location 0000:7C00 and INT 19 jumps to memory location 0000:7C00. The master boot code in the MBR will attempt to locate an active (bootable) primary partition in its partition table in a simple case. Since the partition table reflects partitions only on that physical drive, the master boot code can only load the boot program for an operating system on that same physical drive. The operating system must be in a primary partition; the master boot code can only read the partition table to determine the start of each primary partition; logical drives under an extended partition are not defined in the partition table in the MBR. The master boot code will load the operating system in the primary partition marked as "active".

The MBR is contained in the sector located at cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1 of the hard disk, and is created by a disk utility such as the DOS FDISK or FIXMBR utility. Each operating system has a program similar to FDISK that creates a functionally similar MBR. Each sector of a hard drive contains 512 bytes, and the MBR is no exception. The first 446-bytes of the MBR contains a program, the master boot code, that is executed each time the hard disk is booted. The rest of the MBR contains a 2-byte header, and, most importantly, four 16-byte partition table entries. Each partition table entry within the MBR contains valuable information about your partitions. The table below illustrates this:

Start End SectorsBefore # of Sectors
BI H S C SI H S C SB SB SB SB NS NS NS NS
0h 1h 2h 3h 4h 5h 6h 7h 8h 9h Ah Bh Ch Dh Eh Fh

Legend:
BI: Boot Indication.
H: Starting/Ending Head for the partition
S: Starting/Ending Sector for the partition
C: Starting/Ending Cylinder Number
SI: File System Indicator
SB: Number of sectors before the partition
NS: Number of sectors in this partition

The MBR contains information for up to four primary partitions, or three primary partitions and one extended partition. This is because there are only four 16-byte partition table entries. There are also other inherent limitations to the MBR. First, the MBR is written to strictly adhere to BIOS Int13 calls. This means that the MBR must be contained within the first 1024 cylinders, 256 heads, and 63 sectors/track (i.e., 8 GB) of the hard disk. There are other techniques used at the device level to overcome the BIOS Int13 limitation, but at the MBR level, this barrier remains. Second, the MBR does not contain any reference to logical partitions. This is why the operating system's loader program must be in a primary partition. Microsoft refers to this as the "system partition" which contains operating system loader file(s). The rest of the files for the operating system, called the "boot partition", can be in a different partition or logical drive on the same or different drive as the system partition. Typically the system and boot partitions are within the same drive partition.

As noted above for a floppy diskette, it is bootable only if its boots sector ends with a "55 AA" signature. The same is true for partitions on hard drives; they are bootable only if their boot sector (the first sector in their partition) ends with the "55 AA" signature. The function of the master boot code in the MBR is to load and transfer control to the boot program in the boot sector of the partition. However, the boot "sector" for a partition is somewhat of a misnomer; the boot "sector" can be up to 16 sectors long, so the loader program in the  partition boot sector could be up to 8,192 bytes long. However, this loader program is not necessarily the loader program for the operating system. For example, NTLDR for Windows 2000 is 209 KB in size and would not fit within the partition's boot sector. The boot code in the partition boot sector identifies what is the operating system loader program, loads that file, and then transfers execution to it. Whereas the master boot program is generally operating system independent, the boot sector of the active primary partition is dependent on both the operating system and the file system.

The master boot code in the MBR uses its partition table to determine which primary partition, the active one, is bootable. The partition's boot sector contains the loader program specific to the operating system in that partition. So the master boot code in the MBR need not be operating system specific, and in fact can be replaced by boot managers and drive overlay programs. The master boot code is critical to starting the operating system and it always executes and is why it is also a favorite target for "boot sector" viruses.

References:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;114841
]http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];140418
http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id34.cfm
http://www.pcguide.com
http://www.oberon.ethz.ch/bootstrap.html "

Also interesting:
- http://www.wikihow.com/Change-the-Active-Partition-in-Windows-XP
- https://support.microsoft.com/kb/228004

Karma!

devnullius