Corrupt BCD in Vistad

archerboy

Member
Hey everyone, I've got a problem that has too many solutions which none have worked so far :frowning: Please forgive the exceedingly long length :wtf: and the really bad OS (VistaD? really?)

So basically I've started my computer and I get:
"File: /boot/bcd
Status: 0xc000000f
Info: an error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data."

I}
And of course I did my research and I found the convenient guide:
Recovering the Vista Bootloader from the DVD - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki


And I tried the first steps (1 + 2) and did not get it to work; when I tried using magicISO to add the bootsect.exe to the vista boot-up disc [which worked with no apparent problems] my computer was told me "NO BOOT MANAGER FOUND" when I tried booting from CD. This makes no sense since the ISO worked fine [and clearly had bootmgr] and I simply added one file.

II}
Regardless I tried the following site:
Technical Blog for Jim Beveridge: Corrupt \Boot\BCD in Windows Vista
Which solved their problem using a previous hd image backup/restore

The problem is:
a) I have never made an image-level backup
b) I really do not know how to do it - and besides that, I am currently using Vista Hide 'n Seek, so I'm not sure if it will even work
b2) And I'm not 100% sure how to "uninstall" Hide 'n seek ~ which prob. won't solve anything.

III}
So to no avail, I tried to use the perfect advice of Microsoft:
Error message when you start Windows Vista

Method 1: Obviously the first thing I did - no success
Method 2: It did not even find bootbcd when it says Y/N
Method 3:

First I tried to delete the BCD through cmd prompt with BCDedit.exe
But it would not even work until I used bcdedit.exe/createstore - even so, after creating bootmgr, I had no clue what the GUID was and regardless it told me
"boot config data could not be opened"

IV}
Lastly I tried some other random comments including
1) Chkdsk \f \r \b = nada
2) going to disk partitions and setting the Vista part. active = nothing.

V}
So the only thing I can possibly think of is the previous thread with the same problem that seems eerily similar to mine (except they got bootsect.exe to work):
BCD Error Single OS Vista Ultimate - The NeoSmart Forums

And essentially the solution was: "Transfer and wipe that HD"
Anyone have any clue that would let me actually do something without wiping? Thank you SOO much.
 
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Did you run the "startup repair" several times, like it says in the wiki ?
Once won't be enough.
Also you might have a damaged block in the boot sector.
Try running a chkdsk /f against your "system" partition from the recovery disk recovery console, then try the repair 3 times.
 
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Did you run the "startup repair" several times, like it says in the wiki ?
Once won't be enough.
Also you might have a damaged block in the boot sector.
Try running a chkdsk /f against your "system" partition from the recovery disk recovery console, then try the repair 3 times.

well I left out some vital information:
In the initial part of the Vista restore CD, it allows you to pick your OS by finding the right drivers...well mine's not on there. And I'm not sure what/where the drivers are they tell it it exists. So when I run repair it states that long error in the other NeoSmart Thread: which basically says "Tried repairing Partition Table but cannot find the OS"

However, something interesting/bad happened when doing chkdsk:
When I went from x:\sources -> C:\Windows\system32 and ran chkdsk it asked me (like before): Do you want to dismount? And like the previous times I had said Yes and it worked. But now it states: "An unspecified error has occur" and doesn't run the check.
So that's probably not a good thing ~ this may because I set the volume to active?

I feel like the wipin' is a comin'
 
The "active" flag is solely there to tell the MBR which partition contains the boot manager. You shouldn't ever change it unless you have been deliberately moving boot files for a specific purpose. If you move it without proper reason, you're just telling lies to the MBR, with predicable consequences.
 
Reset the previous "active" partition to "active", and try booting.

Um...this may seem like I dumb question...but how do I know which one was the active one?...I can't recall them :frowning:

The "active" flag is solely there to tell the MBR which partition contains the boot manager. You shouldn't ever change it unless you have been deliberately moving boot files for a specific purpose. If you move it without proper reason, you're just telling lies to the MBR, with predicable consequences.

I'll definitely remember that - and stop listening to some people's advice on certain sites haha. The only problem is that I did this kinda after all the previous steps ~ so the repair option still never worked. What should I do about that? [Thanks for all the help so far -btw]

---Random/Learning Question---
Oh something I also noticed -- this is completely off topic, but a while a go, before I used Vista Hide 'n Seek, I used Neogrub and I recieved the error: \NST\NeoGrub.mbr ---- 0xc000000f --- Application is missing or corrupt.
What I find interesting is that it had the same error code as mine. Out of curiosity, is 0xc000000f for any boot config errors? (Seeing that my old problem was my mbr and now it's the bcd)
 
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From Command Prompt on vista install dvd, use:

Code:
diskpart
select disk 0
list volume
select volume x
active
where "x" is replaced with the correct volume number your previous "active" partition has. If you're not sure which one that is, then use the "dir" command on each partition until you find the one that contains BCD and bootmgr. Then set whichever partition that is to "active".
 
From Command Prompt on vista install dvd, use:

Code:
diskpart
select disk 0
list volume
select volume x
active
where "x" is replaced with the correct volume number your previous "active" partition has. If you're not sure which one that is, then use the "dir" command on each partition until you find the one that contains BCD and bootmgr. Then set whichever partition that is to "active".

Okay thanks, but this may illuminate my problem: my active partition for Vista does not show a BCD file in it. The bootmgr was there, but not the bcd...
On the plus side, the chkdsk works but doesn't find any errors. And I cannot sill use the repair option either ~ it cannot find my OS...where are the drivers that tell the computer that the OS exists? I don't think its in the System32 file :frowning:
 
Did you check your other partitions to see if they have a bootmgr and BCD?

The BCD is inside the \boot folder which should be in the same place as bootmgr.

Well the Vista partition has bootmgr but only in the \boot folder does it have the BCD; the bootmgr is not in the \boot folder. However this is the same as the DVD "partition"/recovery disk; except that the Vista states BOOTMGR 332,497 and the recovery CD says bootmgr 188,681; I really doubt that matters. Should there be a bootmgr in the boot folder? I doubt that would change much..?
 
Well the Vista partition has bootmgr but only in the \boot folder does it have the BCD; the bootmgr is not in the \boot folder. However this is the same as the DVD "partition"/recovery disk; except that the Vista states BOOTMGR 332,497 and the recovery CD says bootmgr 188,681; I really doubt that matters. Should there be a bootmgr in the boot folder? I doubt that would change much..?
The bootmgr does not belong in the /boot folder like the BCD does. It belongs in the root, so no problem there.
Is that partition set to "active"?
 
Ok, please post the output of the following command run from the Command Prompt on the vista disk:

Code:
bcdedit
The is essentially the same as
Code:
bcdedit /enum active
but shorter. :wink: It will print out what your BCD contains, and you can then post it here.
 
I said the boot folder (ie C:\boot\) is in the same place as bootmgr (C:\bootmgr), not that bootmgr was inside the boot folder,
 
Ok, please post the output of the following command run from the Command Prompt on the vista disk:

"There are no matching objects or the store is empty." i got this before, but then I did bcdedit.exe/createstore and then followed method 3: Error message when you start Windows Vista.

Did I just screw up? Was it deleted? This could have been when I messed up the active partition. I'm not sure what the GUID is either.
 
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