Fixmbr without XP cd

[Cyanide911]

I had installed Linux Mint, and now I want to uninstall it because it is useless. I read guides about this, and all they said was that, delete the partition, then FIXMBR using the XP setup disc. I broke it a few months ago, and I really want my 15 GB occupied by Linux on my small 80gig HD.

Any way?

[markwolfe Veteran]

I have a copy of the first 440 bytes of a standard XP MBR here:

http://markjensen.googlepages.com/mbr440.bin

You can save it someplace, and then write it to your hard drive with a dd command like this:

dd if=/path/to/mbr440.bin of=/dev/hda bs=440 count=1

Change the path to reflect where you saved it. Change the output file hard drive designation to your hard drive, likely sda, now that I think about it)

[Cyanide911]

I'm sorry mr veteran, but I didn't get a word of that. Can you please explain the command? And give the command as an example?

[markwolfe Veteran]

Ok... Here is one way to do this.

Boot a Linux LiveCD, like Ubuntu. Go to that link I posted with the 440 bytes of MBR code. Download it into your Linux home user's directory. Note this location, because you will need to know it in order to write it to your drive.

Then use the dd command. Let me explain what it is in a bit more detail: dd is a basic "data dump" app. It is designed to take data from a source to a destination.

if is the "input file". In this case, we want to use the mbr440 file with the executable 440 bytes of MBR data that I asked you to download.

of is the "output file". Here we specify where to put that data. In this case, it would be your first hard drive, starting at the very first sector (not inside a partition), so would be /dev/sda

bs is the block size. It defaults as bytes, so we ensure it stops after 440 (it should stop at End Of File, anyhow, but I like playing it safe). We will tell it to expect just 440 bytes.

count is the number of iterations, or blocks of the specified size to copy/dump. Since I specified a size of 440bytes, and we only want that copied - NOTHING else - we tell it to just do it once, and not repeat.

You will have to be root, or use sudo, if you can still boot into your old Linux install, or if you use a LiveCD, the command will only be different in how you get root permission:

sudo dd if=/home/username/mbr440.bin of=/dev/sda bs=440 count=1

or

su (and enter your root password when prompted to get root permissions)

dd if=/home/username/mbr440.bin of=/dev/sda bs=440 count=1[/b]

If you get part-way, and want to post back and confirm the next step for the dd command before you use it, that is fine. I will help to ensure the command is exactly right for your configuration.

[Cyanide911]

I'll try that out, but I'm sure an easier solution exists. Like a file that contains only FIXMBR and I can burn it onto a cd.

[BlueFiberOptics]

I had installed Linux Mint, and now I want to uninstall it because it is useless. I read guides about this, and all they said was that, delete the partition, then FIXMBR using the XP setup disc. I broke it a few months ago, and I really want my 15 GB occupied by Linux on my small 80gig HD.

Any way?

It would be nice if there was a utility to do this, I agree!

I'm just curious, what was it about Linux Mint that turned you off? Were you unable to perform certain tasks that you could in Windows?

[bloob99]

If you still have a flopy disk you can use it. Read more here

http://commandwindows.com/recovery.htm

[bloob99]

...and if you have neither a Windows XP CD nor a floppy drive

http://tips.vlaurie.com/2006/05/23/recover...out-an-xp-disk/

P.s.:sorry for two posts, but i don't know how to edit a post.

[Prophecy]

There are live cds out there like ultimate boot that I believe have a fixmbr feature

[redvamp128]

I'll try that out, but I'm sure an easier solution exists. Like a file that contains only FIXMBR and I can burn it onto a cd.

The "FIXMBR" command can only be ran from an NT prompt (Either that version or a Higher Version). But there are Boot CD's.

You could probably do this - Download A lightweight Linux like Puppy Linux- Use their G-Parted to format Over the Old linux... Then before you Reboot Create a Small 2 Gig Partition and Install Puppy linux There- (or if you want it can even install on a 1gig) Then Let it install Grub- and you Have your XP back and A Small Linux.

http://puppylinux.org/home

Just an Idea-

Not sure if the command would be availible on the Boot Disks- But here is where you can find them- I haven't used them since Win2k- but may have the fixmbr command built in.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/results...;DisplayLang=en

Just make sure to download the correct service pack level.

I probably would go with the puppy linux-

G- Parted can partition and format the LInux to NTFS

As well as Install to the partition To "Co Exist" In A .SFS file (Squash File)

On my other machine I have Win2k, Ubuntu- and 2 Different Puppy Linux Versions (3.01, 4.0) Running On the Ubuntu Partition. It can also be installed to an NTFS drive as well.