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Restoring the Vista / Windows 7 bootloader after a Linux dual-boot

I often flip-flop back and forth between Windows and Linux. I'm sort of bipolar about it.

This time, I decided it was time to just use Windows for a while. I was dual-booting Windows 7 and Linux Mint. I used Acronis Disk Director to delete the Linux partitions and used EasyBCD to restore the Windows bootloader — I thought I was all set.

For whatever reason, it didn't work this time (that combo has always worked well for me in the past). When I rebooted, I was greeted with "Grub Rescue >". Not good. I tried the easiest solution first: I stuck in the Windows 7 disc and tried an automatic startup repair. Unfortunately, it claimed there weren't any problems!

So here's how you fix it when all the easy methods fail (and this is still pretty easy):

1. Boot using a Windows 7 CD/DVD/bootable USB disk
2. If prompted, press any key to start Windows from the installation disc
3. Choose your language settings, and then click Next
4. Click Repair your computer
5. Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next (there will probably only be one)
6. On the System Recovery Options menu, click Command Prompt
7. At the prompt, type:

bootrec /fixmbr

And then:

bootrec /fixboot

8. Reboot your PC

That solved it for me! Shout below with questions.

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