Missing BootMGR

D

Distortedvortex

Member
Ok I don't know what happened. I was burning a dvd and downloading Partition Magic when the computer froze and wouldn't respond to anything so I turned it off and turned it back on. When I did this it came back with the error:

Boot MGR Missin
ctrl+alt+delete to restart.

Did that nothing worked.

Checked the forums on how to recover boot load and all that none of it worked. When I try doing the bootrec.exe /FixMbr in the command prompt all I get is Device not ready. Please somone help! My wife is going to kill me if I don't get our PC running again.

It's a good thing we have a laptop too though lol.

HELP ASAP PLEASE!!

Thank you

Addendum:

Oh I was using windows to shrink a partition on my disk and then I expanded it again but that was on the partition that doesn't have windows on it. Could that be part of the problem?
 
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Thank you

I have gone through all that. Like I said the repair thing isn't working downloaded you iso and it does nothing and when I try to go into the cmd prompt when I enter bootrec.exe /fixmbr I get the message that does device is not ready

Addendum:

Is it possible to fix the bootloader using a Linux live cd? or Possible to use EasyBCD with a live cd? Any thoughts?
 
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The bootmgr entry in Vista's BCD store may be missing. Grab a recovery DVD and boot from it. Access a command prompt from the recovery options menu after selecting your Windows installation.

I'd check to see that bootmgr is not missing. To do this, i'll assume bootmgr is at the root of your Vista volume and that it is drive C:. Use the following command to see if it exists:

if exists c:\bootmgr echo "Bootmgr Exists" else echo "Bootmgr doesn't exist!"

You should then see a return message telling you wether or not the file is present. Next, use the following command to try to rebuild the BCD store, in case bootmgr's entry is missing or corrupt:

bootrec /rebuildbcd

If this does not work and you have a backup of the BCD store when it was functioning, try these commands:

bcdedit /export <path to backup file> <-- Export your backup into the BCD store
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old <-- Get Vista to stop using the old BCD store by renaming it
bootrec /rebuildbcd <-- Rebuild the BCD store using your backup

If that doesn't work, you'll need to re-install Windows. Backup your important data beforehand using a bootable CD imaging tool.
 
When I typed the first command it said c:\bootmgr was unexpected at this time

And When I tried the bootrec /rebuildbcd it scans says total windows installations is 0 and the operations was complete sucessfully but it stil doesn't boot into windows
 
I had a situation last week where my systems were invisible to the Vista DVD when booted, caused by a problem with a second hard disk (not a windows disk).
The only way I could repair my boot was to physically disconnect the non-windows disk first, then repair the boot, then reconnect the other disk.
The symptoms were like yours. No systems visible, run the repair, says it worked, still no systems.
Do you have a second HDD ?
 
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Does your BIOS even detect the hard disk? It might be a hard disk failure. Run chkdsk /f if you want, but it wont fix the boot problem for Windows.

Like I said, backup your data, boot from a Vista DVD and try to re-install. If you do not see your partions as your going through the setup, you definetly have a failing hard drive. You'll prob. need a new one and should see if you can get it replaced by manufacturer of your computer if you have a warranty.

EasyBCD only runs in a Windows OS and hast to be "installed", not ran from a CD.
 
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I gave up and took it into geeksquad. Like you said it was a harddrive failure. Nothing they could do either. Somehow I inadverently formatted the main partition I guess so there was no saving anything so since I just bougt 2 weeks ago I opted to just have them swap the whole system. Got me a new one to start fresh and I got a free spare mouse, keyboard and set of speakers to go with . lol thanks everyone.
 
Sometimes it is just best to start with a clean system :smile: Make sure to backup your data on a regular basis in the future. Hopefully you didn't have anything too important on there.

Glad they replaced the system for you. I used to work for Best Buy and there is always a question as to what they will or will not do for a customer.
 
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