WINDOWS VISTA RESCUE DISK - RECOVERY DISC - 32 BIT / 64 BIT (x86 / x64) MBR BOOT SECTOR REPAIR - WORKS ALSO WITH WINDOWS 7 [WINDOWS SEVEN]

WINDOWS VISTA RESCUE DISK - RECOVERY DISC - 32 BIT / 64 BIT (x86 / x64) MBR BOOT SECTOR REPAIR - WORKS ALSO WITH WINDOWS 7 [WINDOWS SEVEN]Instructions:Sometimes you are faced with a situation where the boot sector of your MBR (master boot record) is damaged, is missing or was replaced with a "non-standard" non-Windows boot sector and you no longer can boot your Windows, as was my case when I deleted the Linux partition of a dual-boot "experiment" I run on an old laptop and was faced with the message "error: no such partition - grub rescue>" and was unable to boot it.



According to what you will find on the Internet, to solve this missing boot sector (with an intact active C: Windows partition) is SUPPOSEDLY a straightforward and easy task: simply boot your system with your Windows Vista / 7 installation disk, choose your language, your country and the layout of your keyboard, click "next" and pick up the option "repair your computer", select "command prompt" from "system recovery options" and run "bootrec.exe", right? WRONG!



In most cases (when you have an intact "C:" partition) after you select the layout of your keyboard and click "next" you will be sent straight to a table which shows your partitions and asked to select where to INSTALL Windows and if you foolish enough and choose your "C: partition" and hit "enter" you will simply ERASE your otherwise intact partition and WILL have to reinstall your Windows (and losing EVERYTHING you had on that otherwise good partition!).



Then, if you were wise and quit the installation without losing your otherwise good partition you use another computer to find on the Internet a tool to fix your missing boot sector, you will find out that:



(a) They charge you US$ 20 to US$ 50 for it (MiniTool / Easy Recovery Essentials) and it does NOT do the job...



or



(b) They charge you NOTHING for it (Super Grub2 Disk / Ultimate Boot CD) and it also does NOTHING to fix your problem...



So, what you do?



EASY:



(I) From another computer running EXACTLY the same OS you have on your dead computer, burn a recovery disk from inside Windows (and you will find out that it ain't that easy - and sometimes it's simply iMPOSSIBLE - to do such a simple task!)



or



(II) You simply download the appropriate ISO image 32-Bit or 64-Bit version of the WINDOWS recovery disk I was able to burn after 2 days of tryouts and burn a blank CD / DVD, boot your system with this disk and:



- choose your OS, your language, your keyboard layout and hit "Next"



- click on "Repair Your Computer"



- In "System Recovery Options", click on "Command Prompt"



- Type the following commands (in the sequence given!)



bootrec.exe /FixMbr

bootrec.exe /FixBoot

bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd



- Reboot your computer



and voilà: you were able to fix your boot sector in 5 minutes flat, without any of the angst I had to suffer to fix mine!



After rebuilding your boot sector your Windows will have to be reactivated. So, if you do not have your activation key anymore, simply unzip the Windows activation tool (which I also provided on the torrent and which works well both in 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows) with the password "Salvador", run the activation program and reboot your computer.



P.S. 1: The zip file containing the activation program is password-protected to hide the program from your antivirus/antimalware programs, which will flag/quarantine/delete the activation program because it "activates Windows"!!! If you are not confortable with that, simply do not download the zip file and instead find and use your own Windows activation key.



P.S. 2: although these recovery disks were produced using the latest released Windows VISTA SP2 ULTIMATE installation disks, it should work fine with ALL Vista editions (and it should work well also with ALL Windows 7 editions) - just remember to burn the 32 or 64-bit disk appropriate to your own system.



P.S. 3: although these recovery disks were produced using the ENGLISH language installation disks, it should work well regardless of the LANGUAGE of your own system.



P.S. 4: although I only used (the 64-bit) rescue disk to repair a laptop's MBR these disks are full-fledged Windows recovery / rescue disks and may be used on ANY situation where Microsoft itself recommend their use to fix a problem.



P.S. 5: in case you are curious, my Linux dual-boot "experiment" failed not because of some problem with Linux itself but because that laptop is equipped with a SIS graphic card (on my case with that infamous, good-for-nothing SIS 672 chip) for which SIS consistently REFUSES to issue a Linux driver. Unless you also have a SIS graphic card on your system I strongly advise you to at least test the best operating system available TODAY, namely Linux MINT Xfce (try Linux Mint 17 Xfce, codename 'Qianna', for newer PC's with Windows 7/8 or Linux Mint 13 Xfce, codename 'Maya', for older PC's with XP or Vista): you will be pleasantly surprised how much better Mint is compared to Windows and it is FREE, FOREVER FREE [and you will be forever free not only from the expenses associated with Windows but also from all the angst, all the hassles, all the troubles, all the virii and all the spyware associated with Windows!]. MINT ROCKS!