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This article explains <strong>how to use the bootsect (bootsect.exe) utility</strong> to rebuild your computer's boot sector code.

bootsect.exe is available only for these Windows versions: <strong>Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 </strong>and<strong> 10.</strong>

[toc]
<h2>Bootsect on Windows</h2>
<h3>Bootsect on Windows Vista</h3>
<strong>If you have the installation disc</strong>

If you have your original Windows Vista installation disc, you can boot from the disc and run bootsect.exe from Command Prompt:
<p class="warning">If you don't have the Windows Vista disc, go to <a href="#Repair_boot_sector_with_Easy_Recovery_Essentials">Repair boot sector with Easy Recovery Essentials</a>.</p>

<ol>
 	<li>Insert the Windows Vista CD/DVD and restart your computer</li>
 	<li>Boot from the CD/DVD. Press any key when presented with the "Press any key" screen to boot from the disc.</li>
 	<li>Click <strong>Repair your computer</strong>

[caption id="attachment_2109" align="alignnone" width="393"]<img class="size-full wp-image-2109" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/06/windows-vista-repair-your-computer.png" alt="Windows Vista Repair Your Computer Menu" width="393" height="277" /> Windows Vista Repair Your Computer Menu[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Select your operating system, click <strong>Next</strong></li>
 	<li>Click <strong>Command Prompt</strong> at <em>System Recovery Options</em>

<strong>If you don't have the installation disc</strong>

Certain computers with Windows Vista pre-installed may have the System Recovery Options installed on the hard disk (the same System Recovery Options you'll find on an original Windows Vista disc).

If your computer has the recovery tools pre-installed, follow these steps to access Command Prompt and run bootsect:
<ol>
 	<li>Reboot your computer and press the <kbd>F8</kbd> key as soon as your computer starts to boot</li>
 	<li>At <strong>Advanced Boot Options</strong>, select <strong>Repair Your Computer</strong>

[caption id="attachment_1397" align="alignnone" width="1024"]<img class="size-full wp-image-1397" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/09/Advanced-Boot-Options-menu.png" alt="The Advanced Boot Options screen in Windows Vista" width="1024" height="768" /> The Advanced Boot Options screen in Windows Vista[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
 	<li>Select <strong>Command Prompt</strong>

[caption id="attachment_2110" align="alignnone" width="340"]<img class="size-full wp-image-2110" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/06/windows-vista-system-recovery-options.jpg" alt="Windows Vista System Recovery Options" width="340" height="255" /> Windows Vista System Recovery Options[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>bootsect /nt60 sys</pre>
This command will attemtp to repair your Window Vista's boot sector.</li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ol>
If you don't have the Repair your computer option listed at the Advanced Boot Options, you can use Easy Recovery Essentials and launch Command Prompt:
<ol>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/EasyRE/">Download Easy Recovery Essentials</a></li>
 	<li>Burn the ISO Image. Follow our <a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/creating-a-bootable-cd-or-dvd/">instructions on how to burn a bootable ISO image</a>. If you’d like to have a recovery USB instead, <a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/easybcd/tips-and-tricks/easyre-recovery-usb/">follow our instructions on how to make a recovery USB</a>.</li>
 	<li>Boot Easy Recovery Essentials from the CD, DVD or USB</li>
 	<li>Select <strong>Launch Command Line</strong><img src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/EasyRE-Home.png" alt="Easy Recovery Essentials screenshot" /></li>
</ol>
<h3>Bootsect on Windows 7</h3>
<strong>If you have the installation disc</strong>

Here are the instructions on how to access bootsect on a Windows 7 using the installation disc:
<p class="warning">If you don't have the Windows 7 disc, go to <a href="#Repair_boot_sector_with_Easy_Recovery_Essentials">Repair boot sector with Easy Recovery Essentials</a>.</p>

<ol>
<ol>
 	<li>Insert the installation disc and restart your computer</li>
 	<li>Boot from the Windows 7 disc</li>
 	<li>Click <strong>Repair your computer</strong> or press <kbd>R</kbd></li>
</ol>
</ol>
[caption id="attachment_1505" align="alignnone" width="800"]<img class="size-full wp-image-1505" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/10/Install-Now-Windows-7.jpg" alt="Windows 7 setup Install Now dialog, with repair your computer link" width="800" height="600" /> Install Now (Windows 7)[/caption]
<ol>
 	<li>Select the operating system</li>
 	<li>Click <strong>Next</strong></li>
 	<li>Click <strong>Command Prompt</strong>

[caption id="attachment_1972" align="alignnone" width="485"]<img class="size-full wp-image-1972" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/05/windows-7-system-recovery-options-screen.jpg" alt="Windows 7 System Recovery Options Screen" width="485" height="362" /> Windows 7 System Recovery Options Screen[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>bootsect /nt60 sys</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ol>
For more commands and parameters, go to <a href="#Parameters_you_can_use">Parameters you can use</a>.

<strong>If you don't have the installation disc</strong>

If you don't have the Windows 7 installation disc, your computer most likely has the recovery tools pre-installed on the hard disk.

To access these, follow these steps:
<ol>
 	<li>Restart the computer</li>
 	<li>Press the <kbd>F8</kbd> key as soon as your computer boots, but before the Windows 7 logo appears</li>
 	<li>At <em>Advanced Boot Options</em>, select <strong>Repair your computer</strong></li>
 	<li>Select <strong>Command Prompt</strong> from <em>System Recovery Options</em></li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>bootsect /nt60 sys</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ol>
If you don't have the recovery tools installed, use Easy Recovery Essentials:
<ol>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/EasyRE/">Download Easy Recovery Essentials</a></li>
 	<li>Burn the ISO Image. Follow our <a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/creating-a-bootable-cd-or-dvd/">instructions on how to burn a bootable ISO image</a>. If you’d like to have a recovery USB instead, <a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/easybcd/tips-and-tricks/easyre-recovery-usb/">follow our instructions on how to make a recovery USB</a>.</li>
 	<li>Boot Easy Recovery Essentials from the CD, DVD or USB</li>
 	<li>Select <strong>Launch Command Line</strong><img src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/EasyRE-Home.png" alt="Easy Recovery Essentials Screenshot" /></li>
</ol>
<h3>Bootsect on Windows 8 or 8.1</h3>
If you have the installation DVD or USB of your Windows 8 or 8.1, you can use it to run bootsect.
<p class="warning">If you don't have the Windows 8 media, go to <a href="#Repair_boot_sector_with_Easy_Recovery_Essentials">Repair boot sector with Easy Recovery Essentials</a>.</p>

<ol>
 	<li>Insert the installation media and boot from it</li>
 	<li>At the <em>Welcome</em> screen, click <strong>Repair your computer</strong>

[caption id="attachment_2111" align="alignnone" width="610"]<img class="size-full wp-image-2111" src="/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/06/windows-8-repair-your-computer-screen.png" alt="Windows 8 Repair Your Computer Menu" width="610" height="430" /> Windows 8 Repair Your Computer Menu[/caption]</li>
 	<li>Select <strong>Troubleshoot</strong></li>
 	<li>Select <strong>Command Prompt</strong></li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>bootsect /nt60 sys</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ol>
<h3>Bootsect on Windows 10</h3>
If you have the installation DVD or USB of your Windows 10, you can use it to run bootsect.
<p class="warning">If you don't have the Windows 10 media, go to <a href="#Repair_boot_sector_with_Easy_Recovery_Essentials">Repair boot sector with Easy Recovery Essentials</a>.</p>

<ol>
 	<li>Insert the installation media and boot from it</li>
 	<li>At the <em>Welcome</em> screen, click <strong>Repair your computer<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5053" src="https://neosmart.net/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/12/Win10_setup.png" alt="Windows 10 Setup screen" width="603" height="419" /></strong></li>
 	<li>Select <strong>Troubleshoot</strong></li>
 	<li>Select <strong>Command Prompt</strong></li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>bootsect /nt60 sys</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Press <kbd>Enter</kbd></li>
</ol>
<h2>Repair boot sector with Easy Recovery Essentials</h2>
[easyre error="boot sector error" bootscreen="xp-vista-7-8-10"]
<h2>Parameters you can use</h2>
The bootsect utility has the following parameters you can use:

<code>/nt52</code> - use <code>nt52</code> parameter to repair a Windows XP boot sector. The command you need to run would be <code>bootsect /nt52 D:</code>, where <code>D:</code> is the drive's letter

<code>/nt60</code> - use <code>nt60</code> to repair the boot sector for Windows Vista, 7 or 8. The full command would be: <code>bootsect /nt60 D:</code>, where <code>D:</code> is the drive's letter

<code>SYS</code> - the <code>SYS</code> parameter is used to update the MBR code on the system partition, the partition used to boot Windows.

<code>ALL</code>- the <code>ALL</code> parameter is used to update all MBR codes on all partitions. It updates the MBR code only on volumes that can be used to boot Windows.

<code>/force</code> - you can use the <code>/force</code> parameter if the targeted partition is being used.

Run the utility with the <code>/force</code> parameter if you receive this kind of message:
<pre>Updated NTFS filesystem bootcode. The update may be unreliable since the volume could not be locked during the update:
Access is denied.

Bootcode was successfully updated on all targeted volumes.</pre>
<p class="warning">Use /force with extra caution. Using this parameter can invalidate open files on the selected volume.</p>

<h2>Download bootsect</h2>
You can download the bootsect.exe file by any of the following options:
<ul>
 	<li>Logging into your Microsoft account</li>
 	<li>From the original installation disc</li>
</ul>
<p class="info">If you need to use bootsect to repair your computer's boot sector, go to <a href="#Repair_boot_sector_with_Easy_Recovery_Essentials">Repair boot sector with Easy Recovery Essentials</a>.</p>
<strong>Method #1:</strong> Login to your Microsoft account

If you purchased Windows 7 or Windows 8 through Microsoft.com Store, you can login into your account and download a copy of bootsect.exe from there.

To do so, follow these steps:
<ol>
 	<li>Login to your Microsoft Store account</li>
 	<li>Go to your purchases</li>
 	<li>Click the <strong>Additional download options</strong> menu</li>
 	<li>Select <strong>32-bit ISO</strong></li>
 	<li>Right-click on the link and save the bootsect.exe file</li>
</ol>
<strong>Method #2:</strong> From the original installation disc

If Method #1 isn't available to you, use the original installation disc to copy-paste the file:
<ol>
 	<li>Insert the installation disc in the optical tray</li>
 	<li>Open My Computer</li>
 	<li>Right-click on the optical's drive</li>
 	<li>Click <strong>Explore</strong></li>
 	<li>Go to the <strong>Boot</strong> folder</li>
 	<li>Find the bootsect.exe file</li>
</ol>
<h2>Troubleshooting</h2>
<h3>Unable to run bootsect</h3>
It's common to have this error appear when using the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from Microsoft:
<pre>Files copied successfully. However, we were unable to run bootsect to make the USB device bootable. If you need assistance with bootsect, please click the "Online Help" link above for more information.</pre>
Follow any of the tips below to fix this error.

<strong>Fix #1:</strong> Check if USB is already bootable

The error may appear if the USB drive you're trying to make bootable <strong>is already bootable.</strong>

<strong>Fix #2:</strong> Format it as FAT32

If the USB drive already has partitions, you should delete them first before running the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool:
<ol>
 	<li>Insert the USB drive</li>
 	<li>Go to Command Prompt</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>diskpart
list disk</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>select disk 2</pre>
Make sure 2 is the USB Drive!</li>
 	<li>Extra-caution on selecting the right drive (the USB Drive). The following diskpart steps will use the clean parameter that will format your USB drive.</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>clean</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>create partition primary</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>select partition 1</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>active</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>format quick fs=fat32</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>assign</pre>
</li>
 	<li>Type:
<pre>exit</pre>
</li>
</ol>
After you've performed these instructions, run Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool again.
<h2>More Information</h2>
<h3>Linked Entries</h3>
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/bootrec/">bootrec</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/diskpart/">diskpart</a></li>
</ul>
[partial name="partial_moreinfo" versions="xp,vista,7,8,10"]