Oh noes. windows wont boot any more.

[it30rivers]

basically i was messing around in BT4 and i dont know exactly what i did but now when i try to boot to windows as i normally would it will show the splash page, where i can get to BIOS or change boot order (not the issue believe me) but when i let it go, where it should move on to the windows loading page, it shows a large mass of 08 08 08 08 08 's over and over and over. so there are about 200 08's sitting there. no matter how long i leave it there it wont do anything. i have tried re-flashing the BIOS but to no avail. i really dont want to have to format my HDD. also might be good to note here i have a Acer Aspire one and there is no dvd drive and i am not getting one for a couple of weeks.

one more thing, i can still boot to BT4 running from a live USB and in bt i can access the HDD (c:\) and look through all the files. its just when it tries to load into windows that it wont work

i am runing BT4 off a Live USB and i also have BT3 on a Live USB too if that will help me in any way

if anyone needs screenshots i can PM a link



thanks in advance

[Re@lity]

Did you install the bootloader to your hdd maybe

There are a few threads around here relating to that.
You can re-install the windows ntldr bootloader with a simple "fixmbr" from the recovery console.

[TAPE]

Not that I have this problem, however I do tend to muck around after a few beers which is usually a recipe for disaster..
So out of intertest in avoiding similar problems Did the "fixmbr" work for this problem ?

[isdigit]

Did the "fixmbr" work for this problem ?

Of course, now you can only boot to windows.

[it30rivers]

unfortunately this has not fixed it -.-"

any other ideas? its still showing the mass of 08's

[it30rivers]

i have just tried a different tutorial so i will copy paste it here for your convenience:

Fix:
There are two approaches to fix the missing boot loader in windows XP.
If your Windows is installed on FAT32 Partitions:
1. Boot your computer with a Win98 startup floppy.
2. Now, copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files from the i386 directory on your floppy to your windows installation drive (e.g in “c:\” in case the windows is installed on c.
If your Windows is installed on NTFS Partitions:
1. Arrange for the bootable Windows XP setup CD.
2. Boot from CD select R=Repair option, by pressing R key during the setup.
3. Select the windows installation.
4. You need to enter in the administrator password when requested, if you had not set any password for the administrator account just press enter without typing.
5. Type the following commands to repair the bootloader, where X is the drive letter for your CD / DVD drive.
COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C\:
COPY X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C:\
6. Eject CD-ROM and type exit to restart.
We hope this helps to fix the trouble.

[Archangel-Amael]

Not that I have this problem, however I do tend to muck around after a few beers which is usually a recipe for disaster..
So out of intertest in avoiding similar problems Did the "fixmbr" work for this problem ?

Like that old saying goes, friends don't let friends drink and pen-test.

[it30rivers]

fixed using this solution
here have some copy pasta

Fix:
There are two approaches to fix the missing boot loader in windows XP.
If your Windows is installed on FAT32 Partitions:
1. Boot your computer with a Win98 startup floppy.
2. Now, copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files from the i386 directory on your floppy to your windows installation drive (e.g in “c:\” in case the windows is installed on c.
If your Windows is installed on NTFS Partitions:
1. Arrange for the bootable Windows XP setup CD.
2. Boot from CD select R=Repair option, by pressing R key during the setup.
3. Select the windows installation.
4. You need to enter in the administrator password when requested, if you had not set any password for the administrator account just press enter without typing.
5. Type the following commands to repair the bootloader, where X is the drive letter for your CD / DVD drive.
COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C\:
COPY X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C:\
6. Eject CD-ROM and type exit to restart.
We hope this helps to fix the trouble.