Repair Vista MBR/BOOT.INI changed by XP install?

[CZroe]

I had to use a Vista machine to get some XP installation files on a laptop's drive before installing it in the laptop and continuing the installation. This, of course, left my PC trying to boot and resume the installation on a drive no longer present because references were edited into the BOOT.INI and/or Master Boot Record. I should have just disconnected that drive while doing my partial install so that the MBR and BOOT.INI would stay intact.

It's probably just that the MBR is pointing to the other drive because it says "No Operating System Found" when I boot. Now, there's nothing like the good ol' FDISK/MBR, but I didn't know if FIXMBR still existed in the Vista equivalent to the Recovery Console, and my disc wasn't handy, so I tried the XP disc to run FIXMBR. It refused the Administrator password. I can only assume that this is because it is a different file system version.

Now, I won't have the Vista disc until my brother gets back from work, but how do I do this properly with the Vista disc? Is FIXMBR still around?

 

[CZroe]

OK. For the record, I found that I have to use the Vista Recovery Console to run:
Bootrec /fixboot
Bootrec /fixmbr
Bootrec /fixboot (again)

I'll see if that works.

 

[CZroe]

OK, I didn't need to do all that. The Vista disc had an option to repair startup problems and that cleared it right up.