Deleted Linux Mint - Windows 8 won't boot (BOOTMGR missing)

[xenopeek]

I installed Linux Mint on a seperate partition than Windows 8 and deleted the Linux Mint partition to only boot into Windows 8. After deleting the Linux Mint partition, rebooted my computer, and the mbr on the Windows partition is not properly configured anymore giving me the error message, "BOOTMGR is missing" Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to restart. I'm able to boot into Linux Mint Live CD via usb. I tried this tutorial http://robert.penz.name/221/mini-howto-restore-windows-mbrbootloader-with-linux/, but it did not fix the issue. The tutorial has you follow the following commands:

1. Solution

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install syslinux

if the package got installed use following to write the MBR.

Code: Select all

sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda

2. Solution

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install mbr

if the package got installed use following to write the MBR.

Code: Select all

sudo install-mbr -i n -p D -t 0 /dev/sda

Common for both

Replace sda if you want to install the MBR to a different drive. Take a look at your hard disks with

Code: Select all

sudo fdisk -l

if you’re unsure. Finally reboot and your windows should boot.

Here's my partitions - I installed to the Windows system reserved partition /dev/sda1. Should I try the main Windows partition /dev/sda2?

Code: Select all

mint@mint ~ $ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 750.2 GB, 750156374016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders, total 1465149168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000e5cf3

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048      206847      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2   *      206848  1014096833   506944993    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3      1014097918  1229006847   107454465    5  Extended
Partition 3 does not start on physical sector boundary.


Update: I installed the mbr to /dev/sda2 (main Windows partition) and now I get a message at boot that says, "MBR 1234FA: ". There's a program called boot-repair for linux, but after trying to select the advanced options to fix windows boot files/mbr, the rest of the options that aren't default are unselectable.

[pluraldave]

Are you saying that you ran

Code: Select all

sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda1

and then when that didn't work you tried

Code: Select all

sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda2

?

Please say no...

The correct command (assuming the tutorial is right) would have been

Code: Select all

sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda

When it said to use fdisk it was to check that the drive was called sda and not sdb, hda or anything else. By using of=/dev/sda2 you told it to overwrite your windows install with the contents of the mbr file. You can try running the correct version of the command to get the mbr back but I think the partition itself will now be broken.

The mbr file would have only been 512 bytes so perhaps all that is now missing/broken on sda2 is the ntfs partition information (if that is 512 bytes or larger). Your best bet at this stage is probably to try to use testdisk to fix the boot sector of sda2. It will run from the Mint livecd/usb and you can read up about using it here: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

If that doesn't work then unfortunately you're probably looking at having to reinstall Windows but you might want to look for help on a Windows forum as they would be more likely to know what information/files you've deleted.

[viking777]

I have never seen that tutorial before android, but we have our own one here which works:

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=108274

Sadly you need to carry that out before you remove Linux, so if pluraldaves solution doesn't work you could reinstall linux carry out the tutorial and then remove linux again.

[android]

Are you saying that you ran

Code: Select all

sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda1

and then when that didn't work you tried

Code: Select all

sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda2

?

Please say no...

The correct command (assuming the tutorial is right) would have been

Code: Select all

sudo dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda

When it said to use fdisk it was to check that the drive was called sda and not sdb, hda or anything else. By using of=/dev/sda2 you told it to overwrite your windows install with the contents of the mbr file. You can try running the correct version of the command to get the mbr back but I think the partition itself will now be broken.

The mbr file would have only been 512 bytes so perhaps all that is now missing/broken on sda2 is the ntfs partition information (if that is 512 bytes or larger). Your best bet at this stage is probably to try to use testdisk to fix the boot sector of sda2. It will run from the Mint livecd/usb and you can read up about using it here: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

If that doesn't work then unfortunately you're probably looking at having to reinstall Windows but you might want to look for help on a Windows forum as they would be more likely to know what information/files you've deleted.

Yes, unfortunately I ran the two above commands you posted in the /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 partitions. When I look at Gparted, the two partitions (/dev/sda1 & dev/sda2) are in black (broken). I tried running the command as just /dev/sda, but after rebooting, I still get a similar message, "MBR MBR 1234FA:. I'll try out testdisk - is that what is broken on the two partitions is the boot sector? Maybe I'll see if a Windows forum can help me because I'd like to be able to recover files without wiping the partitions clean. Thanks for your reply!

I have never seen that tutorial before android, but we have our own one here which works:

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=108274

Sadly you need to carry that out before you remove Linux, so if pluraldaves solution doesn't work you could reinstall linux carry out the tutorial and then remove linux again.

Carry out removing grub? I installed ms-sys and installed the Windows 7 boot loader, but I'm using Windows 8 and it didn't fix the boot loader.

[pluraldave]

Yes, unfortunately I ran the two above commands you posted in the /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 partitions. When I look at Gparted, the two partitions (/dev/sda1 & dev/sda2) are in black (broken). I tried running the command as just /dev/sda, but after rebooting, I still get a similar message, "MBR MBR 1234FA:. I'll try out testdisk - is that what is broken on the two partitions is the boot sector? Maybe I'll see if a Windows forum can help me because I'd like to be able to recover files without wiping the partitions clean. Thanks for your reply!

Well at a minimum the boot sector will be broken. As to whether that is the only thing that is broken depends on how large that sector is for an ntfs partition. Try repairing it first and see if it makes it bootable, or at least mountable from a liveCD so you can copy across any files. If not then testdisk can also recover your files but you'll need a spare partition/drive big enough to hold them all (incuding files you've "deleted").

Obviously it's a bit late for this occasion, but regular backups really are a must.

[android]

Yes, unfortunately I ran the two above commands you posted in the /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 partitions. When I look at Gparted, the two partitions (/dev/sda1 & dev/sda2) are in black (broken). I tried running the command as just /dev/sda, but after rebooting, I still get a similar message, "MBR MBR 1234FA:. I'll try out testdisk - is that what is broken on the two partitions is the boot sector? Maybe I'll see if a Windows forum can help me because I'd like to be able to recover files without wiping the partitions clean. Thanks for your reply!

Well at a minimum the boot sector will be broken. As to whether that is the only thing that is broken depends on how large that sector is for an ntfs partition. Try repairing it first and see if it makes it bootable, or at least mountable from a liveCD so you can copy across any files. If not then testdisk can also recover your files but you'll need a spare partition/drive big enough to hold them all (incuding files you've "deleted").

Obviously it's a bit late for this occasion, but regular backups really are a must.

I ended up burning windows 8, booted into repair, automatic repair, command prompt bootrec.exe /FixMbr, bootrec.exe /FixBoot, bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd, bcdboot c:\windows, and finally fixed Windows! Everything boots perfect now and the filesystem ended up not being irreversible. Lesson learned - big time. Thanks a lot for your detailed replies. Helped me understand more of what is actually going on. Have a good night .