Demetri:
fdisk /mbr restores the boot sector of the hard drive to its original
state so that Windows can boot. Some of the reasons for using it are:

1. You have been hit with a boot sector virus. (In that case, you should
not use the version that is on the hard drive, but rather run fdisk from
a known virus-free floppy.)

2. You are uninstalling a bootloader program that enables you to select
from several operating systems. For example, my system dual boots
between Win98SE and Mandrake Linux 7.1. Mandrake overwrites the boot
sector with either Lilo or Grub so that I can select either Windows or
Linux. If I want to reinstall either OS, the first thing that I have to
do is restore the boot sector.

3. Your boot sector has become corrupted for some other reason.

Although the /mbr option is not documented (for reasons known only to
Microsoft), I've never had a problem with it. It's a good starting point
for the kind of problems that you are having, and it's fast -- for slow
typists, it takes more time to type the command than it will to execute
the program.

Regards,
Carroll Grigsby


Demetri Kolokotronis wrote:
>
> Thanks, did virus check, but chances were low that was it, as new build,
> never been online or had other outside contact. I am not sure what /mbr
> switch is for with fdisk.
>
> Demetri Kolokotronis
>
> On Wed, 25 Apr 2001 18:59:18 -0700 Gary Tennesen <[log in to unmask]>
> writes:
> > It sure sounds like a boot sector virus to me.  System files
> > corrupted and
> > low conventional memory problems.   If running
> > C:\windows\command\fdisk /mbr
> > doesn't help, you might want to check your hard drive with an anti
> > virus
> > rescue disk set.
> >
> > --gary
> > [log in to unmask]
>>>>>>>>>>> snip

              The NOSPIN Group is now offering Free PC Tech
                     support at our newest website:
                          http://freepctech.com