I thought that Linux had advanced to the point where I could install it and switch over to it, so I went ahead and tried to install SuSE Linux 10 on my laptop in a dual-boot configuration. I had done dual-boots with Linux in the past, although Linux was more of a novelty and I didn't use it very much. One of the changes that Linux makes to your system is to install it's own bootloader. In the past, I found this to be very difficult to work with, as the bootloader often defaulted to Linux and you had only a few seconds to type "Windows" at the prompt or else you would find yourself booted into Linux. In days past, I found it best to tell Linux to put the bootloader on a floppy so if I specifically wanted to boot into Linux, I could, otherwise Windows would boot by default.
Those days are now over. My laptop doesn't even have a floppy, so that option is no longer available. However, the Linux bootloader has come a long way. It is now graphical and you have several seconds to select Windows. But what happens when Linux doesn't install properly and you decide you just don't have time to work with it? You can easily delete the Linux partitions, but the bootloader remains with no Linux operating system to boot into. This applies to Windows XP only.
This is actually a lot easier to fix than I originally thought. It is a very simple fix. All you have to do is boot from your Windows XP CD, select "R" for Recovery Console, enter your administrator password if any, and type FIXMBR. That's it. You will get a warning that nothing could work after this fix, and you will have to give your consent to proceed.
That is how simple it is to fix a Windows Master Boot Record.
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