Sep 23, 2024 • Filed to: Windows Computer Solutions • Proven solutions
The MBR is the master boot record, and when you fire up your PC the first thing the PC does is look for where the operating system is located. It finds this by looking at the MBR. If there are any problems with the MBR, the operating system cannot be loaded and the PC will grind to a standstill.
You may get a message indicating that there has been a boot failure because the operating system cannot be located, or you may be given no indication at all of what has gone wrong and face only a blank screen. The error may be MBR error 1, MBR error 2, or MBR error 3 (or MBR 3 error). All of these point to corruption or failure within the master boot record. Restarting your system from a restore point should be the next step.
The cause of such a problem boils down to two things. The less likely one is that your PC is trying to load the operating system for an external device or drive, such as an external hard disk, and finding that it can't reboot because there is nothing there. Try disconnecting the external drives to see if that is the problem.
More likely, the MBR has become corrupted or gone missing for some reason. If this is the case, the ideal solution would be to restore it along with any other missing files from your system backup device. However, many people have mislaid this or have never made a backup, so it will not be an option for them.
To fix MBR Error 1, MBR Error 2, or MBR Error 3, you will need to enter the Recovery Console. Type "fixmbr" and then press Enter. If the master boot record has been corrupted, this command will fix it. You will then need to remove the system CD, type "exit" and then restart the machine.
The instructions are:
bootrec /rebuildbcd
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
MBR errors often come along with data loss on your hard drive, and it`s also possible that some files/data on pc are accidentally deleted or formatted during the process of fixing this issue, under these circumstances, you`ll probably need a powerful data recovery tool to make sure no important photo, video, email or document file get lost because of the MBR errors.
David Darlington
staff Editor