From: Sam on
"yirg.kenya" <yirg.kenya(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:5c584a1a-4f25-4670-8834-6f7decac1224(a)t26g2000prt.googlegroups.com...
On Jun 6, 3:47 pm, "Brian K" <remove_t...(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
> yirg.kenya,
>
> Does this help?
>
> http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixdesc.htm
>
> http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixpbr.htm

Thanks! Looks like I'll have to figure out how to make a cd with
ptedit. I don't have a floppy drive

But, shouldn't there be a (reputable) program out there that can edit
the mbr graphically (and meaningfully, i.e., not just in hex) while
you're in windows? It's just a sector on the disk.

Partition Wizard (free, not Partition Magic) has a "Rebuild mbr"
command and I tried that. It may have rebuilt the mbr correctly but I
can't tell because the disk still won't boot when the internal drive--
doesn't seem to get as far as before. It may have made it un-bootable
because it wasn't the boot drive obviously when I ran Partition
Wizard. As before, the data is still there and I can still see the
recovery disk as a folder with subdirs, which I don't think is
correct, although PW recognizes it as a partition.
--------------
reboot using old drive and mount
new one using your external sata->usb converter. After doing this, go to
manage disk, select the bad drive, mrke c: partition active, reinstall old
drive and boot up.





From: Sam on

"Brian K" <remove_this(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:39dPn.1633$Ls1.684(a)news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
> Try this with BootIt NG.
>
> Download BootIt NG. There is a one month trial usage. Unzip the file and
> make a boot CD.
>
>
>
> double click makedisk.exe, next
> dot in I accept the agreement, next
> no tick for Registration, next
> dot in Mouse Support Enabled, next
> dot in VESA Video, next
> dot in Partition Work (Don't put a dot in Normal), next
> don't choose any Default Device Options (if necessary, these can be chosen
> in BING), next
> leave Registration strings blank, next
> select your CD burner drive letter (you can use a CD-RW or a CD-R disc)
> Finish
>
>
> Boot from the CD....
>
>
>
> the BootIt NG CD boots to the Work with Partitions window
> Click Close to get to the BING desktop. Click Settings and put a tick in
> Full Partition List, click OK
> Click Partition Work
> Using the radio buttons on the left side of the Work with Partitions
> window, select the appropriate hard drive. (It should be HD 0)
> Select each partition in turn and click Properties (If you have 4
> partition you will have to check each)
> In the File System field up the top, is the File System correct? If not,
> click the drop down arrow and choose the correct entry
> When finished, click OK, Close on the Work with Partitions Window, click
> Reboot and remove the CD
>
> Is that better?
>
>
>
>



PBR-1 is the utility partition, PBR-2 is the system, PBR-3 is the recovery.
PBR-3 was made active and you have no boot system. If you make PBR-2 active
which is the system partition it should boot up ok