Lost my MBR

flickflucker

Hi I am semi computer literate and have no common sense. I now need help.

My son got some virus/malware on his IQON desktop pc.
It made it so that the computer stopped during the boot up.

Someone said to try fixmbr which admittedly did allow the computer to boot.

The problem I now have is that I want to reset the computer to factory settings but the mbr I used was from a standard xp disk so doesnt point to the hidden partition with the xp on it.

Is there anyway that I can restore the IQON MBR or access the partition to do the restore?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

fwor

You might like to try TestDisk, which is able to recover "lost" partitions.

The same utility is available on SystemRescueCD, along with a load of other useful utilities.

Good luck!

cmatt

fwor wrote: »

You might like to try TestDisk, which is able to recover "lost" partitions.

The same utility is available on SystemRescueCD, along with a load of other useful utilities.

Good luck!

fantastic app :beer:

Richie-from-the-Boro

flickflucker wrote: »

Hi I am semi computer literate and have no common sense. I now need help.

My son got some virus/malware on his IQON desktop pc.
It made it so that the computer stopped during the boot up.

Someone said to try fixmbr which admittedly did allow the computer to boot.

The problem I now have is that I want to reset the computer to factory settings but the mbr I used was from a standard xp disk so doesn't point to the hidden partition with the xp on it.

Is there anyway that I can restore the IQON MBR or access the partition to do the restore?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Which IQON desktop pc, what model is it ?, general IQON info below.

.. .. assuming you have not killed the recovery partition .. ..

Restore & recovery are different things, recovery is nothing to do with the WinXP disk. Its an ACER mobo kit built for a supermarket chain, recovery to factory default .. .. .. not restore is as follows :

.1. Power on the machine
.2. At the white ACER BIOS screen, hold the “Alt” key and press the “F10” key simultaneously to start Acer eRecovery
.3. Once eRecovery has loaded, click “Restore to Factory Default Settings”
.4. Click “OK” to continue
.5. From here, the eRecovery process will update all the data on the C: drive and restore a fully functional factory image (approximately 10 minutes).
.6. Once eRecovery has run, press “OK” to reboot unit

The problem you may have is that you may have :

- completely ' goosed ' the restore partition and recovery / restore is not possible
- not goosed the partition but reversed the drive letters so it can't be found
- originally it would have had a big C: and a 4GiG - recovery partition .. .. like this :



If your lucky you may not have completely goosed the MBR, and the 1-6 above will return you to a nice shiny orgininal ' the way it was when you bought it ' position.

You will of course loose all info on the active C: \ HDD

If your lifetime accumulation of important documents / irreplaceable photographs of your kids is on the drive - stop~right~there, and come back here for advice first.

Stop me$$in with MBR's, they rarely solve anything and almost always ' goose ' everything, we all have pro tools and know how to use them .. .. you don't

asbokid

As Dylan used to sing...

Well, they’ll goose ya when you’re trying to be so good
They’ll goose ya just a-like they said they would
They’ll goose ya when you’re tryin’ to go home
Then they’ll goose ya when you’re there all alone
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get goosed.

flickflucker

Ok so i meddled a little more before you replied. Sorry.
As I said I have little common sense.

But in reply.

1-6 didnt work

I am not sure what iQon it is. I checked all 6 sides of the case.
All I could find was a serial number 173025242

The MOBO bios is AMI not Acer.

After using SystemRescueCD I checked and found there is a partition called recovery. It is about 2.5GB.

I tried to boot from this partition first and is started with system recovery. Then it said it was protected by PC Angel. Then it went to BSOD. ( I can post the error if needed )

In my C drive there is a folder called iQon
inside there is a word doc called STcdRecovery XP (I don't have a cd)

this is the contents

Reinstalling XP with a recovery Partition







BEFORE YOU START REINSTALLAION, NOTE THAT EVERYTHING ON THE HARD DISC DRIVE WILL BE OVERWRITTEN AND THEREFORE ANY INFORMATION ON THE HARD DISC DRIVE WILL BE LOST.





Turn the on and keep tapping the DELETE key (above the arrows on the KB).



Move to Advanced Bios features and press ENTER (you have to use the keyboard for this part)

Find where it says First Boot device

Beside this it will probably say FLOPPY. Move down to this so it is highlighted.

Change it to CDROM by pressing the Page-up key (above the arrows on the KB)

Press ESC

Place the CD into the DVD drive.

Press F10 to save changes and exit (place Y in selection box)

Press Enter

Keep tapping on the letter “R” as the PC is restarting

When a display appears that windows is checking files, stop tapping Enter

When the PC boots from the CD it will ask some questions.

Type R for the recovery option. There is then a 5 second countdown.

Press F to format

Press Y to confirm this

This starts the format and installation process.

Allow the Format to run to 100% (usually takes between 20-50 minutes).

At the end of the installation, it will tell you to restart. Click restart.

Take the CD out of the drive

I will now await further instructions

fwor

If you have no recovery CD and the recovery partition results in a BSOD then things are looking tough, but you knew that already...

Some things I'd try:

Run Memtest86+ to check that the cause of the BSOD is not memory errors

Remove any hardware (e.g. graphics cards) that has been added since it was supplied and try the recovery partition again.

Boot it from a Linux LiveCD as a check that there are no major hardware problems - if it runs Ok there are probably none.

Contact the supplier/iQon to see if they will provide (possibly at cost) a recovery CD.

Richie-from-the-Boro

I've no idea which particular one you have - the CD's are here, but the are pay~for.

AMI is a BIOS - not a MOBO