How to fix the crash with the code “MBR Error 1” in Windows?

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MBR stands for Master Boot Record. This disc entry is the first thing that the computer does when it starts up. Displaying MBR error 1 at boot indicates corruption in the MBR files. The complexity of the problem is that the user does not have access to Windows and the problem must be solved in other ways. Still, we managed to find a number of effective solutions to the problem that can fix MBR Error 1. For detailed instructions, please refer to the thematic section.

Causes of MBR error 1 in Windows

The good news is that today there are only a few known causes of the problem. This way, you can quickly find the real source of the failure.

The reasons:

  • Incorrectly set BIOS boot order. There is a possibility that the BIOS was changed by the user or by switching devices. Instead of booting from the main storage drive, it has a flash drive or additional storage without an OS.
  • Damage to the MBR. There are special utilities for setting up and restoring the MBR. This can take a long time, in such a case, this is the only option for fixing.

Solution 1: change the BIOS boot order

Often, MBR Error 1 indicates an incorrect bootloader configuration in the BIOS (UEFI). The cause of the problem is that the computer is trying to start the operating system from a device that is not intended for this task. If the bootloader tries to navigate to Windows on the storage drive, the message MBR Error 1 appears.

Important! There are many flavors of BIOS (UEFI), so in a particular case, the partition names may differ slightly.

Instructions:

  1. Turn off your computer and turn it on again.
  2. Go to BIOS at boot time. To do this, press the F8, F9, F12 or Del button. Typically, the monitor displays prompts for when and which keys to click.
  3. Using the arrows on the keyboard in BIOS or the mouse pointer in UEFI, go to the “BIOS Setup Utility” tab (may be called Boot Options, Boot Order, etc.) and open the “Boot” section. Additionally, the specified items can be placed in the “Advanced BIOS Features” or “Advanced Options” tabs.
  4. Inside the target tab, a list of devices is displayed, the location of which reflects their boot order. The first on the list is to install the operating system disk or the drive with the MBR recovery tool.
  5. Go back to the original tab and select “Save Changes and Reload”.

If the problem was only in the wrong boot order of the devices, there should be a solution. In case of errors in the MBR, it is worth continuing to fix it.

Solution 2: MBR recovery

Given the lack of access to your own operating system, repairing the MBR will require creating a DVD or USB stick with the Windows distribution. This requires a working computer. In the case of older versions of Windows, you can use the original installation disc.

Instructions for creating a bootable media (you can skip if you already have such a media):

  1. Download the image of the recovery tool from the official Microsoft site…
  2. Run the resulting file MediaCreationTool.exe and agree to the terms of use by clicking the “Accept” button.
  3. Select the “Create installation media” option on one of the available drive options and click “Next”.
  4. Check the correctness of the specified computer data (language, OS version, architecture) and “Next”.
  5. Specify the type of device on which the tool will be stored and start creation.

After completing the procedure, the user should have the necessary tool to restore the MBR. Further repair steps differ in different versions of operating systems, so they will have to be considered separately from each other.

Windows 7

Algorithm of actions:

  1. Insert the created drive and restart the PC.
  2. Go to BIOS and change the boot order so that the system will immediately process this media. A simpler option is to press F8 or another key at the time of launch to go to the Boot menu and select a device with a recovery tool.
  3. Select language, keyboard layout and continue.
  4. Activate the item “Use recovery tools that can help solve problems with starting Windows.”
  5. Select the appropriate OS and continue. You may need to use the Download Drivers tool if your system does not appear in the list.
  6. In the “System Recovery Options” section, click on the “Command Prompt” item.
  7. Insert the following commands one by one, after each pressing Enter: bootrec / rebuildbcd, bootrec / fixmbr, bootrec / fixboot…
  8. Exit the console, remove the drive, and restart your PC.

Windows 8, 8.1 and 10

What you need to do to resolve the MBR Error 1:

  1. Boot from the installation drive and click on the “Restore your computer” option.
  2. Open the “Problem solving” tab, then – “Advanced options”, then – “Command line”.
  3. In the opened console, paste the command bootrec / FixMbr bootrec / FixBoot bootrec / ScanOs bootrec / RebuildBcd and press the Enter key.
  4. Type exit, press Enter, remove the image media and restart the PC,

One solution is to fix the MBR Error 1 problem completely. If you are lucky, you will be able to get by only by changing the Windows startup parameters. Otherwise, you will have to restore the MBR, which will take longer (up to 20-30 minutes).

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