Recovery When Fixmbr makes the Partitions on the Hard Disk become Inaccessible

There are times when you have to repair the master boot records of the computers system. This is required, in case some of the operating system files need to be repaired or replaced. Such situations occur when these files prevent Windows from starting up. Generally, the process that is carried out to recover partition, writes a new code to the partition specified by the user. This procedure calls for execution of fixmbr command in the Recovery console of your system. But there is a possibility that all your data becomes inaccessible after running the fixmbr command. In such situations, you will have to opt for Windows Data Recovery.

Consider, you are trying to boot your Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional installed computer that has been refusing to start. For this, you have followed the under mentioned steps:

Inserted the Windows installation CD in the disk drive.
After this, you booted the system from the CD.
And then entered the recovery console.
But, when you tried to run the fixmbr command, you encountered the following error message:

'This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record. FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible. If you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue. Are you sure you want to write a new MBR?'

In such a situation, you have little choice but to proceed further. The computer will keep you informed about the status of the fix job. You will soon find the below mentioned message displayed on your system:

Writing new master boot record on physical drive
\Device\Harddisk0\Partition0.
The new master boot record has been successfully written.

After this, you need to check your system to verify if all the partitions are accessible or not. In case they are not accessible, you will need to recover partition data, using the latest backup that is available. But in case you do not have the backup available, or it is not validated, then you will need to opt for partition recovery software to perform complete windows data recovery. The software are third-party tools that apply complex algorithms to the hard drive to read through the data that is unavailable, and performs recovery of the same, when prompted. But don't buy a software without checking its functionalities and recovery capabilities. A free trial version of the same can be downloaded from the company website.

One of the most user-friendly and easy to understand utility is Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery, which extends various recovery options. For example, partition recovery, deleted file recovery, drive cloning and imaging, email recovery, selective format recovery, and so on. Compatible with all Windows installations, including, Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2000, and support for FAT16, FAT32, VFAT, NTFS, and NTFS5 file system, this partition recovery software, is an answer to all recovery needs.