Fix NT Loader under Knoppix

[MichaelYoung]

Because of failing in installing Debian on my Desktop PC on which the Windows Xp operating system already exists, my computer now crashed,that is, since the MBR sector has been unsuccessfully overwritten, the computer cannt boot of itself. I think there might be something wrong with the Debian Installation DVD or the DVD drive, more chance is the DVD drive,since all the hardwares are new and havnt been tested. My question is how to fix the MBR so that it could still boot Windows Xp, or how to install NT Loader onto the MBR sector under Knoppix? Please notify me ASAP if you guys know the answer. Thanks in advance!

[MichaelYoung]

I tried to type the command "sudo testdisk" under the root console, yet the error message was prompted :
testdisk: error while loading shared libraries: libntfs.so.9: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
And it's been said that typing in "sudo testdisk" and then typing in "writembr" works to recover the MBR by someone
on another forum, named Computing.Net. Yet the failure on my Knoppix really let me down, does anyone know how
to fix the MBR in another way? or should I download another version of Knoppix to try the same commands under root
console?

[kirol]

If you are certain only the MBR is hosed and the actual windows partition, boot loader and boot.ini configuration files are intact, you can use "install-mbr" (e.g. "install-mbr /dev/hda"). This will re-install a 512-bytes MBR that preserves the existing partitions and chainloads to the partition marked active. I suggest you check what your partitions(s) look like first (e.g. by means of "cfdisk") then run install-mbr (hda for primary IDE master, but possibly sda for newer kernels and/or sata - be careful).

The alternative would be to use an XP install/boot disk, then use the fixmbr and possibly fixboot commands.

What can also happen is that after re-partitioning your HD for installing linux, partitions can occasionnally get renumbered and the boot.ini file needs to be fixed accordingly.

The main thing is not to panic, not reformat/re-install windows in a hurry - if you can see your windows files from live knoppix, chances are the system can be fixed. Been there, done that