No one could ever imagine that a segment of just 512 bytes would become the cornerstone of the entire operating system on a personal computer. This sector is the one that practically orders the start of Windows, since there is the information of each and every one of the partitions, their arrangement and the information of the hard disk.
If malware or some other type of element damages this sector, simply Windows operating system will not start, giving a message in which the user is made aware that the operating system is not present. There are a few alternatives that we could use to recover this MBR, which will depend primarily on the version of the operating system we have.
Repair MBR sector in Windows 7 and later versions
In Windows 7 there is the possibility of being able to create a "startup disk", which reaches recover this important sector it deteriorates at a certain point. A similar situation is the one that occurs in versions of Windows 8.1 although, in these revisions of the operating system a USB pendrive is used. If you have a Windows XP operating system you will necessarily need make a backup of any system to recover it at any time of disaster. Regardless of the type of operating system you currently have, below we will mention a few other alternatives to use easily.
- 1. MBRWizard
Despite the fact that this alternative was born as a small tool that had to be executed with the help of a command terminal, there is currently a more advanced version, whose interface practically makes things easier when restoring the lost MBR.
There are certain conditions to be able to use these functions, since the user would have to previously save a backup of that sector for later, recover it with the same tool in case it has been lost or damaged.
- 2. MBR tool
This tool has a very similar functionality to the one we mentioned earlier; This means that the user must previously make a backup copy of this MBR sector, which will help them to easily recover it in the event that it has been damaged.
The tool works in DOS, from where there is an interface that will help us to be able to make this backup, restore the MBR based on it and also, to verify the state of the boot loader. In addition, with this tool you can also get to edit partition table or to remove some blank space inside the hard drive. To use it you only have to burn it to a floppy disk (very difficult these days) or to a bootable CD-ROM disk.
- 3. HD Hacker
Unlike the previous alternatives, with this application you can manage the boot sector in an easier way due to the friendly interface with the user that it has.
From there it is possible to read a previously made backup; You can check the default values in the screenshot that we have placed at the top, where the tool considers that the MBR is in the first sector, situation that could change if you have used a different partition. Right there you will have to define this aspect to be able to recover this boot sector effectively.
4.MBRFix
Although this alternative may be one of the easiest and simplest to use, the user should have previously created a backup copy of his MBR, having saved this file on the system drive (generally the C: /) .
In the capture that we have placed in the upper part you can realize the easy and simple way it would represent to recover a damaged MBR, which is simplified only to a command line. If you have had problems starting Windows due to a failure like this, now you have a few alternatives that will help you easily restore the operating system.