master boot record (MBR) problems [master boot record] [laptop harddrive]
Q: The other day I had the bright idea of taking my laptop hard drive and hooking it to my desktop with a converter that I bought. Well when I did nothing, the computer wouldnt boot developed or something. So I took an old hard drive I had (was not in the computer @ the time), reinstall Windows and it works, but . all my hard drives in my old system will not boot / load windows and when I have them connected, windows does not recognize them in my computer, but they are included in the device manager.
When I tried to install Windows on them They all said: “Windows can install on this partition” or something to that effect, and it had [MBR] named as the partition type.
Any ideas on how I get my drives to be recognized? I have a lot of important information on those drives that I would hate to lose
Thanks
Best Answer: Hi ! There is this tool called TestDisk that can edit MBR. Since it is a windows application, you cant run it on linux, and windows aint booting up. So, I recommend downloading this live XP cd image, extract the exe archive to get a ISO, burn the ISO to cd and boot using it. You can find test disk application there, use it to repair your MBR.
http://www.mediafire.com/?myy0nlmyzyi
Note: Once desktop appears, click on GO button, and on all programs. There you will find TestDisk.
Good luck !
Re:Originally posted by: guy
The other day i had the bright idea of taking my laptop harddrive and hooking it up to my desktop with a converter I bought. Well when I did that nothing worked, computer wouldnt boot up or anything.
It is probable the drive jumpers were not properly set for the new configuration, assuming these are IDE drives with ribbon cables.
Drive jumpers have the purpose of determining which of the two possible attached drives will be the Master and which will be the Slave (Primary/Secondary). Check the top of the hard drive for a jumper setting diagram or lookup the drive model in the manufacturer's support section of their website for the jumper diagrams.
So i took an old hard drive I had (wasnt in the computer @ the time), reinstalled windows and it works, BUT…all of my hard drives that were in my old system won't boot/load windows AND when I have them hooked up, windows does not recognize them in MY COMPUTER, but they are listed in the device manager.
When i was attempting to install windows on them, they all said "Windows cannot install on this partition" or something to that effect, and it had [MBR] listed as the partition type.
Any ideas on how to get my drives to be recognized? I have a lot of important information on those drives taht I would HATE to lose
Thanks
The rest of the explanation is confusing since it seems you have attempted to install windows on all of your drives. Hopefully your data is safe. The problem in this second situation is also probably due to incorrectly set jumpers on the drives but may be due to disks that are too large to be recognized without the proper drivers or Service Packs installed.
Review drive jumper settings, properly set up your primary drive with the operating system and your secondary drive with your laptop drive and then see if this will work so you may transfer your data from your laptop drive to your desktop system. You will not be able to use your laptop drive as the primary (Master) drive in your desktop due to different the different hardware drivers (HAL) required for each system. Your laptop hard drive contains drivers specific for the motherboard contained in the laptop and this drive will not be able to control the desktop system without a repair installation.
Re:Originally posted by: guy
Originally posted by: guy
Are they dynamic or basic disks (per disk manager)?
I dont even know what that means
right-click on My Computer | select Manage | A window appears titled, Computer Management | select Disk Management
You will see the drives that windows recognizes in the right panel. Across the top of the right panel are the items
Volume | Layout | Type | File System | Status | Capacity | Free Space | % Free | Fault Tolerance | Overhead
What is the type of the drive?
Re:Originally posted by: guy
Are they dynamic or basic disks (per disk manager)?
I dont even know what that means
Re:Are they dynamic or basic disks (per disk manager)?
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Tags: laptop harddrive, master boot record