MbrFix.exe
Copyright (C) 2004, 2005 Systemintegrasjon AS
MbrFix /drive <num> <command> { /yes } { /byte }
The program is made for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows PE.
You need administrative privileges to make it work!
MbrFix /drive <num> driveinfo Display drive information
MbrFix /drive <num> drivesize Returns drive size in MB as return value
MbrFix /drive <num> listpartitions Display partition information
MbrFix /drive <num> savembr <file> Save MBR and partitions to file
MbrFix /drive <num> restorembr <file> Restore MBR and partitions from file
MbrFix /drive <num> fixmbr Update MBR code to W2K/XP/2003
MbrFix /drive <num> clean Delete partitions in MBR
MbrFix /drive <num> readsignature {/byte} Read disk signature from MBR
MbrFix /drive <num> writesignature hex Write disk signature from MBR
MbrFix /drive <num> generatesignature Generate disk signature in MBR
MbrFix /drive <num> readstate Read state from byte 0x1b0 in MBR
MbrFix /drive <num> writestate <state> Write state to byte 0x1b0 in MBR
MbrFix volumeinformation driveletter Get volume information for partition
Drive numbering <num> starts on 0.
Commands restorembr, fixmbr, generatesignature, writestate and clean will ask for confirmation unless /yes is included.
If the /byte option is given for the readsignature command, the signature is returned as a byte array instead of as a DWORD.
The program reports an errorlevel as 0 for OK and other values for errors.
The exception to this is the ReadState command which returns the state as a
return code as well as printing to stdout. Any errors for this command are
returned as negative values because of this. The DriveSize command returns
the drive size in MB, and 0 in case of error.
Well, I was testing Windows Embedded XP using a virtual PC, and was booting Windows PE from a CD-ROM to partition a brand new harddisk (quite cheap, since it was virtual !). Using the diskpart.exe utility (found in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, available as a download for Windows 2000), I created the partition, made it Active, assigned it a drive letter. I then used the format.exe utility to format it to NTFS (format C: /fs:ntfs).
DISKPART> detail part
Partition 1
Type: 07
Hidden: No
Active: Yes
Volume ### Letter Lable Fs Type Size Status Info.
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
* Volume 1 C WinXP NTFS Partition 149 MB OK System
I then mounted a network drive to my physical computer and copied the boot.ini, ntldr, ntdetect.com, windows folder, program files folder, etc. from the Windows Embedded XP image directory. Everything to make it boot.
Well everything should be OK, so I rebooted the (virtual) computer and expected it to boot up Windows Embedded XP.
But not so! It just sat there with a nice black screen. No error message at all.
Some investigation later on the Internet, I found this very informative page by Daniel B. Sedory: http://www.geocities.com/thestarman3/asm/mbr/MBR_in_detail.htm, containing a wealth of MBR info. The info on one of the pages states that the MBR code is installed on the drive when the Windows setup program runs and no MBR code exists already. Hmm.., seemed to be right on the mark.
I searched further on the Internet, but the only utilities I found which could install MBR code was for other operating systems, like FDISK.exe /MBR for DOS (but I wouldn't boot to DOS...) or the fixmbr command in the Windows 2000/XP/2003 Recovery Console. Didn't want that either. Wanted something to work on a Windows 32 bit platform, to be able to fix the problem in other cases when using Win PE and just plain copying in the operating system files. So, then I was left to make the utility myself!
Problem solved: After booting up Windows PE from CD again, the command MBRFix /drive 0 fixmbr /yes solved it all. Embedded XP booted like a charm.
C:\> MbrFix /drive 0 listpartitions
# Boot Size (MB) Type
1 Yes 151001 6 DOS 3.31+ 16-bit FAT (over 32M)
2 1623 12 WIN95 OSR2 32-bit FAT, LBA-mapped
3 0 0 None
4 0 0 None
C:\> MbrFix /drive 0 savembr Backup_MBR_0.bin
C:\> MbrFix /drive 0 restorembr Backup_MBR_0.bin
You are about to Restore MBR,
are you sure (Y/N)? Y
C:\> MbrFix /drive 0 fixmbr /yes
The commands readstate and writestate use a byte at offset 0x1b0 to store state. The commands are only useful in a scenario where you use Windows PE to roll out other MS operating systems, and you have no other place to store information about where you are in the installation process. This location in the MBR is unused as far as known.
Daniel B. Sedory, for his compilation of information on http://www.geocities.com/thestarman3/asm/mbr/MBR_in_detail.htm and for his feedback on the program.
The program is delivered AS-IS, that is without any form of guarantee. You may freely use the program for any legal purpose, and you may freely distribute it as long as this file is distributed along the program file.
Incorrect use of this program may cause loss of all data on your disk-drives. All use of this program is at the risk of the user. Systemintegrasjon AS does not accept any liability for any damage the program might cause.
If you do not accept these terms, you must delete the program, MbrFix.exe, at once!
Developed by Kåre Smith, 21. april 2005