I messed up my dual boot MBR I can boot up windows 7 but not windows 8. What are my options? Reformat and reinstall? Any idea's?

A couple of things come to mind.

1) Insert your Win 8 DVD and run the Repair My PC option. This should easily find the missing MBR Win 8 entry and fix it.

2) Use an app such as EasyBCD (http://download.cnet.com/EasyBCD/3000-2094_4-10556865.html) in Win 7 to add an entry for Win 8 RP. Use the Add New Entry and add a Win 7 like entry. Name it something like Win 8 RP

828

That's the very reason, why some of us Old Timers refuse to put more than one OS on a single hard drive.
If something can go wrong...... IT WILL !!!

Good Luck!
TM :cool:

I just did a reinstall and everyone works fine!Thanks for the tips.Interestingly some the bugs I had before are gone'
,like having my printer working with windows8.

Overhard, great to hear that you're up & running again! Sometimes these beta installs don't work right the first time.

Which is why at first, both with Win 8 CP & RP, I installed them to a 40GB HDD all by itself. That way, if anything went wrong, it was just that one HDD. My desktop can only hold one HDD, but even if it could hold more, I'd disconnect the others before proceeding with the install.

As well as have a Full Disk Image taken right before the Win 8 RP (or other OS) install. This is especially important with Linux OS's, their GRUB bootloader will overwrite the Windows one, even if it's installed in a USB enclosure/docking station. The installed HDD's must still be removed in this case.

Unless it's a dual or tri boot onto the same HDD (no other drives), always remove any extra ones. And regardless of the install method, do a Full Disk Image of your computer prior to doing anything. This provides the best fallback there is when troubles arises, & normally it does at some point. HDD failures are a common reason for needing a disk image.

Cat

We have stated repeatedly in these forums that reinstallation on those PC's that have very strange problems often solve those problems. Glad your problems are solved.

If nothing else,,,,, when you become a Beta Tester, you learn one thing, and usually learn it well and that is how to install and re-install the OS. To date, I've installed Win-8 over a dozen (12) times.
I anticipate installing it a few more times, before the Beta Testing is completed in October.

But in all this, there is one thing I absolutely refuse to do..........install Win-8 on the same hard drive with another OS. The chance for mass destruction is just too great, with two OS's on the same drive.
I applied the same rule, when I was testing Vista and Win-7.

It reminds me of an old railroad saying, "Never the trains shall meet!"

Cheers Mates!
TechnoMage :cool:

catilley,
I don't have any extre HDD which is why I do a dual boot. No way I'm using a beta OS as more then a learning tool.I have windows7 as the other OS with the install disk,I also use Acronis on line to back windows7,also an external hard drive for backup(WD) also burned a disk image to CD's. I'm like a backyard mechanic I don't always know what I'm doing but I find a way to fix what ever mistakes I make, at least so far.
I ran into the Grub bootloader problem but found it easy to fix compared to someother problems I created. My most awesome act of stupidity was when I first started using computers and wanted to use Hyperv, instructions said to use hyperv download windows sever. I down loaded a server that overwrote my OS. I didn't have a license and couldn't afford to buy one. I didn't have a internet connection and the only way to shutdown was thru command prompt. I couldn't boot to my recovery partition. The fix I came up with was to use a live Linex CD and reformat the partition the server was on and then I could boot into my hidden recovery partition. I stilll laugh about that! The dumbfounded look on my face when I understood just how dumb I was would have worth something.

overhard, welcome to our Forum.

I have a similar situation in that I use laptops for most of my computing needs. So I also set up a dual boot scenario to test Win 8 although I use Win 8 RP 100 % of the time. The only time I go to Win 7 is on patch Tuesday.

When I create Images, using Acronis, I include both OS's in each Image. (my latest Image was only Win 8 RP since there were no changes with Win 7) In this manner I can restore either OS easily.

My idea is to install Win 8 Pro over Win 7 (formatting in the process) after creating an Image of Win 7 of course. Then when I have Win 8 Pro customized and fully operational, I will delete Win 8 RP and reclaim the space.

I have another idea, an experimental one for me, installing a 2nd HDD inside of my notebook, where the CD/DVD RW drive is. There is a SATA connection there, just as with a HDD, & there are adapters that one can place a 2.5" HDD inside of, look.

JacobsParts, Inc. - SATA Hard Drive Caddy to Optical CD Bay Adapter (http://jacobsparts-inc.store.buy.com/p/sata-hard-drive-caddy-to-optical-cd-bay-adapter/221162195.html)

What this can do is allow me to keep Windows 7 on my present SSD, & buy a smaller one (60GB) for a Win 8 Pro install. All that I'll need to do at boot is press & hold the ESC key at startup, this controls what drive boots. I'll have 8 RP on the new HDD (or temporarily a spare one), have the one containing Win 7 removed, so that at purchase, the installer will see no other OS, just 8 RP. It's been stated numerous times that Win 8 Pro can be clean installed over 8 RP, so I'm going for it.

As for the CD/DVD RW drive, there is a cable to run it from USB3, here.

SATA (slimSATA) to USB Cable , connect optical drive externally [slimSATA-USB-C07] - $26.95 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks (http://www.newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=348)

These folks are geniuses for what they come up with! If I were that intelligent, I'd opt to be a brain surgeon (joking!).

I could have just as easily placed my original HDD in this 2nd bay, but heat concerns me. Especially with a notebook. And there are no ventilation holes or slots in that area. I feel that a small capacity SSD there would serve me better, with far less heat. Or I could have placed my original HDD where it was for storage & install the one that I recently bought in the adapter. Problem is, the installer would "see" the Windows 7 Pro install & may try to take it.

No, they're (MS) not going to take what I've paid for. Mine's not just the OEM install, I paid extra for a Windows Anytime Upgrade key from Win 7 Home Premium to Pro (Home OS's are watered down versions of the real thing, they go as soon as they come through the door).

Being that my notebook totally supports Hyper-V, has USB3 ports, & is overall just plain out better in every way over my desktop, I'm going to make a makeshift desktop out of it. It does have an HDMI connection, as well as a 1GB NVIDIA DDR3 GT 425M card, so I've been looking at Acer monitors at Newegg. A 24" would fit perfectly on my computer desk, & I can slide the desktop that I now have over into the corner for my wife to use.

Need to get her off XP & onto a modern OS anyway. This will kill two issues with one shot.

If anyone has done this notebook upgrade to 2 HDD's with success, please let me know. On the other hand, if it was a disaster, let me know that as well.

overhard, hope to see you around more. It's good to get new members, especially those who aren't afraid to learn/try new things, even at the expense of possibly having to fix something. Looks like you know what to use those Linux OS install disks for, too. Having one on hand has saved the day for me also. Like you, I was able to boot into a recovery partition with it.

Best of Luck to you.

Cat

Ted,
You use Acronis also it seems.So I want to see what your thoughts are about this.I did a refresh and when I did I had to uninstall Acronis.So I did then reinstalled it.Why did I have uninstall Acronis?

I am unsure why that was necessary. I have never had to Refresh. Since I deleted my partition ahead of time and did a Custom install of Win 8 RP, my OS seems to work very well. Did you make an Acronis Boot Disk? If so, Acronis does not need to be installed. To create Images I boot to the Acronis Boot Disk, then create the Image using the Acronis Console. To restore, you would do the same except choose Restore rather than Backup.

I assume Acronis installed properly after the Refresh!

Catillet1092,
Sounds like something I'd like to try. However the hang up is it has to be an upgrade. No way that I'm going to upgrade windows 7 to windows 8 I've got to much invested and I truly like windows7. I have some old laptops that I bought off of Ebay that run XP I'll have to check the specs to see if any of them are up to running windows8.I would love to run windows 8 as a full install and use it for a dual boot and see if I fall in love with like I did with windows 7.

Acronis installed just fine. Another question I have is how do you know if a disk image will actually work. I only tried it once and that was with my first attempt so I'm sure I didn't do something right but I still wonder how do you know if your disk image will work? Unless something happens and you have to use it. I did do disk image with Acronis but that was before installing windows8. I wasn't to worried about windows 8 since its a beta that you can easily reinstall.

Acronis is a good backup app, at least ATI 2010 Home is. I have it installed on my ThinkPad that runs XP. The really cool thing about ATI 2010 is, that there's a feature that can be activated that requires no CD to recover/backup with. Just press F11 at the prompt, it'll take a minute or so, then the option to backup or restore will be there.

Of course, the CD should still be created, as software is prone to failure. Seems that the newer versions of the app doesn't rank as high as the older ones, at least 2 retailers (Newegg & Amazon) gives ATI Home 2011 & 2012 progressively worse ratings. However, there's one recent version that does a good job of transferring a backup (or clone) a mechanical HDD to a SDD & it'll be properly aligned. This is critical for a successful reboot & longevity of the new SSD. My version (ATI 2010) won't do that.

overhard, you can create a disk image of Win 8 RP with Acronis. In fact, if the OS is running good, you should do so. As I'm sure that you know, it takes a lot less time to restore an image than a clean install, or even a refresh.

As far as knowing if it works or not, should you need to do a reinstall, you'll find out then. I've found that Win 8 RP is particular about the restore though, seems that when I try to restore to a different HDD, though on the same PC, it fails. If it's the same HDD, it'll restore. That's weird, because I've restored Win 2000, XP & Win 7 countless times to different HDD's on the same computer. I mean, that's part of the reason for creating the image, is for protection against HDD failure.

However, this install of Win 8 RP that I'm using now, which runs fine, was imaged, then placed on a new HDD that I got last week. It booted, but remained in this automatic repair phase for at least an hour. At that point, I knew that it wasn't going to work, so I done a clean install to that HDD. Took 3 to 4 attempts (as with this one), but finally it installed. At the 74% progress (after the 1st reboot), it would BSOD on me.

I don't know why, as I downloaded a fresh image, burned it super slow (3x), & it worked perfectly on my notebook the 1st time, no repeats were needed. It's got to be the computer, being that this happened on 2 different HDD's. Must be a driver issue somewhere, I have a feeling that it's the wi-fi card (that worked perfectly on 8 CP). It's the only thing in the Device Manager that's not right (Qualcomm Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter). I don't get where they come up with "Qualcomm" from, as no other OS that I have lists it as that, that was just added on to the name of the component.

The other reason that I feel that this is the issue, is that I've had wireless network cards in the past (the express, slide in type) causing BSOD's with XP. If this PC wasn't an AIO one, & easy to disassemble, I'd remove the dang card, as it's a POS anyway, it's a "G-54" card, I have 2 USB "N-150" cards that outperforms it by leaps & bounds.

Like you, & I've already stated so in my post above, I'm not giving up Windows 7. I have many HDD's laying around with active OS's on them for that (for my desktop). My notebook, is another issue. I have a thread there in the Hardware Forum in regards to my idea of a setup, I'll monitor that for answers, I'm not going to hijack your thread over it.

Like I stated, provided that your install is fine, I don't see why you can't create an image with Acronis & recover if necessary. Look for that Recovery Manager option within the setup, if you have it, you just activate it, no need for a CD to backup/restore with.

Good Luck.

Cat

I don't know why anyone would BUY backup software, when all you could ever want is FREE! :confused:

ATI (Acronis True Image) at least used to be downloadable for FREE from Seagate or Maxtor as a part of their hard drive maintenance program.
I installed the ATI program on my computer, made the recovery CD and then Un-Installed the program from the HD.
You don't need it on the HD when you have the CD. It's no good to have a backup program on a HD anyway, when the HD crashes. Eh? I could equate that to some other very foolish things that people do, , , but I won't.

Don't BUY what you can get for FREE, unless you just have a passion for throwing money away.

For years, I have used a FREE backup program, GHOST, that I got off of a motherboard drivers CD. It was designed to be run from a DOS boot floppy disk.
I now run it from either a Flash Drive or CD. It works great for all OS's from '98 to Win-8.

But in answer to one question, I read, doing backups is a four step process.
First you clean all the garbage off of your hard drive, to save space in the backup.
Next, you perform the backup from a bootable disk.
Next, you verify the backup image file.....(never trust a backup unless you verify it)
And finally you do a Restore of the backup file. Job done!

If your backup program can't verify the backup file, then you're using the wrong program.

TM :cool:

That's correct, TM. There still are such backup apps, there's a WD Acronis True Image & Seagate Disk Wizard (at one time this included Maxtor). Disk Wizard may as well cover Samsung now, they're under the same top dogs.

It is a good disk imaging app, but it must have changed since you last used it. One can recover with the CD, but not backup with it. This is to try to lure one into buying the Full ATI Backup Suite (Corporate America, so to speak).

There's another, I created a thread on it, Todo Workstation 4.0, there was a Free link for it, it's normally $35, let me take a peek to see if it's still there. Here it is, near the bottom of the page, in Bold Blue words "Download EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation", click it. Large download (over 200MB), but it's a damn good backup app. 100% Free for Visitors of the site!

EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation Full Version License For Free - Learn With Nirab (http://www.learnwithnirab.com/2012/05/easeus-todo-backup-workstation-full.html)

It does as you said, one can create as many Emergency Disks (& images of them for later use) as desired to have on hand, pass them out, whatever. But that's how I installed my OEM backup to my new SSD. It also runs backup from the bootable CD.

I created the thread to advertise the backup software for the members, but there didn't seem to be much interest. As much as we harp on backup, seems that this one would get attention. Todo's a A-1 Backup app, on the same par as the rest. This version is only 1 behind, but it does have a LOT of FEATURES.

Best of All, it's 100% Free! Get it while you can! I have no commercial interest in who downloads it, I simply found it, began using it myself, everything works from the Bootable CD. Try it.

Cat

Most of us, who believe in doing backups and have been doing them for years, already have our backup system established with our favorite backup program and see no reason to change.

I use Ghost. Actually I started using it in 1997, although today I use a slightly updated version.
I still run it from Bootable media, and never from Windows.
The advantage to staying with one program is that I can restore backups that I made many years ago, or open them up to restore a single file. That would probably not be true, if I jumped around from program to program to program. Too many things can get lost is the shuffle, if you change backup programs.

Cheers Mates

TechnoMage :cool:

As TM states, the best way to check if your Image will work is to restore from your Image. The first time this scared the you know what out of me. Since then I do this every time.

I insert my Acronis Boot Disk, then boot to it to start the Acronis App. I then choose to Backup, choose the partition I wish to Image, choose where to put it and what to name the Image, then proceed.

To verify my Image works, I again boot to the Boot Disk, start the Acronis app from the Boot disk and choose Restore. The app asks where to restore from and what Image to use (I store my Images on an ext HD so it has to be plugged in), it then asks where to restore to (Point to the partition you just created an Image for) and then choose proceed.

As part of the restoration, the first step is to format the partition, then restore the Image. You can see why it takes some kahunas to do this. It is truly the only way to ensure your Image will work when needed.

It's been quite a while since I used ATI, so forgive the loss of memory......

Does ATI have a "Check" or "Verify" function, to test the viability of a backup image file?

Ghost does, that's why I mentioned that I do that after every backup.

Nothing is worse than needing to use a backup image file someday and then finding out it's no good.

TM :cool:

It does when run from within Windows, but not when booting to the Boot Disk, at least that I can find.

Perhaps when using ATI during the initial phases, creating a first Image from within Windows would be best as there is an option to verify after creating.

Hmmmm, well I guess you could use the one in Windows for the Verify function.
Kind of a clumsy way to do it, but...................

:cool:

I feel more than comfortable without the verify. If all else fails I can go back to the last one and update, no sweat. For the original OP, perhaps the first time or two make your images from within Windows, until you feel more comfortable using the app from the boot disk.

I did try from within windows only to to get an failed or error about 2/3 thru tried more then once. What I plan to do is use several different backup software and make more then one imagine. I know that's overkill since I have a install disc but I believe in being ready for the worst!
One question I have is what brand and type of disc do you recommend? I use Verbatim DVD+R 4.7.

I actually have this software on my computer and plan to use it. I went with Acronis because I liked the online feature just in case the external hard drive failed and my disc images didn't work. When you screwup as often as I do you need every protection you can get.

I've used the verify function within ATI Home 2010, it works. As does the one in the app that I linked. The backup apps that I use does a verify function after the backup is done, it's part of the process. One can also manually verify, but as Ted points out, the only sure fire way of knowing the image is true is to do the recovery. If it boots, as it should, it should be fine, although a reboot may be required.

I also realize that most of the long time computer users has a backup plan that he/she uses on a regular basis, most probably has a preferred brand. And that's fantastic! Backup is one of the most important maintenance items that any computer user should do, ASAP after buying new, installing a new OS, & create an additional image at least monthly, keeping the 1st & last ones.

My intended target for the backup plan that I linked was towards the around 90% (yes, it's that high) users who don't backup at all. One of the more common reasons is "lack of decent backup software". While there are quality Free backup apps, such as Macrium, Todo 4.5 Free, WD ATI & Seagate Disk Wizard, all of those lacks the ability to backup with a Bootable CD, which is invaluable.

Why is that? Because by using that Bootable CD to backup with, the backup is not hindered by Windows functions that are still running. We can disable the internet connection, followed by any security (in that order) & other things, but there are some things that we cannot pause/disable. By backing up with the CD, not only are these processes that can contaminate the backup bypassed, the backup is also faster.

Personally, I like the way that ATI 2010 does it, there's an option to activate the Rescue & Recovery at startup, by pressing the F11 key when prompted. No CD is needed to backup or restore if this feature is activated & working. But that copy that I have is only good for 1 PC, not 3. It also doesn't perform the more modern functions needed for a HDD to SSD restore (partition alignment), which is why it's on the older computer.

So I have to hunt down what's available. Like TM stated once, there's backup apps all over the net, just look for them. Well, I do, & have found some free goodies over the years. One of the earlier versions of Todo Workstation that I still have (2.5.1), I got on Giveaway of the Day, & a later one, Todo Pro 3.5, I won for writing a review, direct from EaseUS Todo.

The last one, the one that I linked, is the best that I've found to date. Not everyone is giving away $35 software, & this negates the excuse that I mentioned above, there IS high quality backup software that's free, & performs the same functions as professional backup software (in fact, it is professional software).

I feel that it's the duty of us who are fortunate enough to know these things, to share with the inexperienced, not only what to do, but what to do it with, when there's high quality software available for free download. The thread title, "MBR corrupted", happens to many daily, not only the OP of this particular thread. A quality backup app, like the one that I linked, could prevent this in most cases. The OP had Acronis, but many users has nothing, because they're uneducated on these things. This is where the Forum comes in, to provide the education, as well as solutions when possible. Prevention is part of the education process. So is access to decent software, where possible. Remember the DVD Ripping software posted a couple of months back? I still have it.

And I would never suggest a software that I wouldn't use myself. When I search the net for software, I always look for free versions of paid software, it may be a version back, but it gets the job done. I also scan the apps with multiple security scanners to verify that they're clean. There are many sites, looking for traffic, that hosts these types of software to attract & keep it's viewers coming back. But I don't look for illegally obtained software hosted on Torrent sites, that's dangerous, I avoid this altogether.

Last year, I got a 1 year version of F-Secure IS 2011 from the same site, ran it on XP Mode for a year. It was genuine software, a promo to attract users to F-Secure.

I feel that Backup is not harped enough, according to estimated usage of the software. 90% non-backup users is totally unacceptable. In 2012, I find that to be an amazingly high number. Here's one of many sites that agrees with the percentage, there are others.

2012 - World Backup Day - MARCH 31 | Photography by John Michael (http://www.john-michael.net/2012/03/world-backup-day-2012/)

Cat

I did try from within windows only to to get an failed or error about 2/3 thru tried more then once. What I plan to do is use several different backup software and make more then one imagine. I know that's overkill since I have a install disc but I believe in being ready for the worst!
One question I have is what brand and type of disc do you recommend? I use Verbatim DVD+R 4.7.

Perhaps that was your problem. I, and many others I am aware of, use an Ext HD for back up purposes. These drives can be had very reasonable for 1 Tb or larger drives.

I am not sure how this thread was closed, but I am unable to open it again, sorry.

The thread should now be reopened for further discussion. I don't know the cause of it being closed, but I did delete a post that doubled itself earlier. That shouldn't have caused the thread to close though.

Cat