Master Boot Record

[mbaldw]

Hi,

Following the saga of my "Missing Operating System" error on my laptop after converting the drive from FAT32 to NTFS, I tried using BootIt NG to rectify the situation.   This didn't work and now it simply continually restarts after completing the POST, rather than displaying the missing O/S message.   I expect that the MBR has become damaged.   Nonetheless, my new copy of XP Home (OEM) arrived in the post this morning and I plan to install it tomorrow.

What I need to know is whether, if the MBR has become corrupt, formatting the HD and installing XP from scratch will rectify the situation (i.e. create a new MBR), or whether I need to try and rapair the MBR first?

Any infor would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Marc.

[pat]

Formating the drive should erase the old MBR.

I would erase all the old partitions and set up new ones as part of the new install or download the drive manufacturers utility for erasing the drive and start with a ââ?¬Å?freshââ?¬Â drive and then partition and format and proceed to install.