BOOTMGR is missing Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart

Hi All - I've searched the forums but can't find a solution to my problem (please forgive me if there is already a thread on this dealing with Windows 7 x64). I have a newly built system (5 weeks old). Everything worked perfectly until I purchased an upgraded video card. After installing a new graphics card, my PC would not boot - it stopped at "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER". Mind you, the ONLY thing I changed was pulling out a Radeon 5770 and replacing with a Radeon 5850 (no need to remove and reinstall Catalyst drivers since both cards use the same drivers) - again, NOTHING was changed in my system before and after the gfx card swap. I disconnected and reconnected my HD cables, cleared the mobo CMOS and tried again - I then got "BOOTMGR is missing Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart". I attempted all the command line bootmgr fixes I could google - all to no avail.

So I brought my pc in to Microcenter where I purchased all the parts - they helped me troubleshoot it last night for several hours. We checked all connections, pulled the HD (Win 7 boot drive - the only drive connected) and check that the HD was OK on another system - it found everything and it looked healthy. We checked BIOS to make sure everything was OK - still got same error. Replaced and rechecked all HD and DVD drive SATA and power cables. Still had same error, so they swapped my WD Caviar Black 1 TB for a new identical drive. We attempted to install Win 7 on the brand new drive - once Win 7 did the normal restart part way through install, it gave me "BOOTMGR is missing Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart" AGAIN!!!!

So, having an old IDE DVD/CD drive in the pc that sounded like it was no longer happy, I bought a new LG super multi DVD writer (SATA this time) and installed that - again rechecked ALL connects in pc case (also disconnected my internal media card reader, just in case that was an issue). I still get the same "BOOTMGR is missing Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart". I followed the instructions to torrent a Windows 7 x65 Recovery CD - I tried that, but same Bootmgr missing error - basically, the pc will not get past that error anymore - it will NOT run from DVD/CD at this point - just stops at "BOOTMGR is missing Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart", so I thought of using EasyBCD to try repairing this, but since I cannot get into Windows or even run a CD on it, I'm totally stuck.

Is it possible that something went bad on my Motherboard once I rebooted after installing the new video card? (we tried connecting HD's and DVD to multiple combinations of SATA connections on the mobo, but that didn't make a difference).

Thanks in advance for anyone that can help with this. FYI - I am unable to get into the BIOS when I'm at home, because it appears my (new) Gigabyte GA-P55 UD3 motherboard won't do anything when I use a USB keyboard - the only way BIOS responds on it is with a PS/2 keyboard they used at Microcenter (any ideas on why that is the case, I'd also love to hear - how could a mobo purchased in 2010 still require a PS/2 keyboard to work in BIOS? That just crazy talk!).

Hi,

You need to configure your BIOS to boot from the USB CD first.

What do you mean to have it boot from the USB CD first? Do you mean I need to change the BIOS to boot from the SATA DVD/CD first? (because I don't have a USB CD drive - only a SATA internal DVD/CD writer). Thanks!

Err, yeah, that's what I mean

Thanks for that help. Here's where I am now. Microcenter swapped my mobo for a fresh one and they formated the HD that I will be installing Win 7 on again (get this - they have pc's all over the place, but the guy formatted my HD on a Mac so he could only format in FAT32! That was encouraging!).

Anyway, I have now gotten everything screwed back together in my HAF922 and am loading Win 7 again - yes, it appears the original mobo had gone belly up on me (disk controller issues or something). Of course, since this was my first DIY pc and now I have a second chance at putting it together, I have learned some things - learned the correct way to apply thermal paste (instructions that came with the Intel processor and the Thermaltake cooler didn't provide much useful info - Googled 'how to install thermal paste' and watched several Youtube vidoes - amazing what you can find on the internet these days!) - I also realized I could route my cables much better so had a chance to redo that also.

So many thanks to you - and good gaming (or productivity) to all of you!:booyah:

Hiyya fattuesday, glad to hear your up and running once more.

DIY PCs are incredible always fun, and ever so informative!