Restore, Fix, Repair Master Boot Record (MBR) in Windows 11/10

One of the effective troubleshoоting steps, to fix boot issues is to repair Master Boot Record or MBR. One of the common reasons why an MBR can get corrupted is due to malware infections. Improper shutdowns can also lead to MBR corruption. Sometimes we may find issues where Linux Grub is installed, and Windows is not able to detect it. On some occasions, you may get the Bootmgr is missing error. In such cases, you can run the rebuild or repair MBR to fix these issues.

Repair Master Boot Record MBR

The process is almost the same for Windows 11/10/8/7. First and foremost, you need a Windows installation DVD. Without that, it will be hard to proceed.

1] Press F8 while booting the system to go into the Windows Recovery Menu.

2] Click on Troubleshoot.

3] Click on Advanced options to get into the Automatic Repair menu.

4] We need to use the Bootrec.exe tool. Click on command prompt and type in the following commands, one after the other:

bootrec /RebuildBcd

bootrec /fixMbr

bootrec /fixboot

Exit and now go ahead and reboot your system. In some cases, you may need to run some additional commands.

bootsect /nt60 SYS or bootsect /nt60 ALL

It’s wise to backup MBR or create a System Recovery Disk so that in case something like this happens you don’t have to run for the Windows Recovery Disk. To create a system recovery drive in Windows, follow these steps:

Press Win + R and type in RecoveryDrive.exeClick NextOnce you insert the USB drive, it will start creating the Recovery for your USB drive.

I hope you find the article helpful. In case if you have any questions, please feel free you post them under our comments section or in our forum.

MBR Backup & HDHacker are two freeware that can help you backup and restore the MBR & Boot Sector. This post shows how to rebuild BCD.

Related read: The boot configuration data store could not be opened.