Really need help fixing "missing bootmngr" on start up

[Asleepdan]

ve tried everything i could possibly find related to fixing this on the net, i really really dont wanna reinstall windows and all that, this would be my last resort and is the reason im reaching out here for some help.

Recovering the Vista Bootloader from the DVD - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

I have tried step 2 and 3 from this site, second step works but does not stick, once i turn off my PC i get the error again.

Step 3 i tried earlier today hoping this would be what i needed to fix it i got as far as
this in command prompt. (worked and executed fine)
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
x:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force




The next set of commands did not work (the error was something along the lines of, could not find what it was looking for, should have wrote down the exact error)

del C:\boot\bcd
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

So from here i restarted the PC hoping it would work,
But i still got the error and now one of my vista cds cant even be read.

I heard about EasyBCD and that this would easily fix my problem,
but im not very good with these kind of programs so i really dont kno where to start.


Any help anyone can offer on how i can fix this problem with easyBCD or any other way is really appreciated.


System specs are (not sure if this is needed but more info helps)
e8500 wolfdale 3.0
ep45-ud3p gigabyte motherboard
4850x2 GPU
4gigs of ram

*edit*
you could have used EasyBCD's "Reset BCD Data" this is stated on that same site but i didnt see anything like this in easyBCD.

 

[JustinW]

EasyBCD | Diagnostics Center | Rescue My System!

It does some of the same things startup repair would, but in order to use it, you must be able to get into a copy of Windows on your machine as EasyBCD is ran from Windows.

In regards to any errors regarding locating bootsect.exe on step 3, navigate to the bin directory of where EasyBCD is installed on the machine if it is and use it from there from the command prompt.

To change to the directory in the command prompt where bootsect is located, use:

cd /d "<drive letter (probably C:)>\Program Files\NeoSmart Technologies\EasyBCD\bin"

 

[Asleepdan]

EasyBCD | Diagnostics Center | Rescue My System!

It does some of the same things startup repair would, but in order to use it, you must be able to get into a copy of Windows on your machine as EasyBCD is ran from Windows.

In regards to any errors regarding locating bootsect.exe on step 3, navigate to the bin directory of where EasyBCD is installed on the machine if it is and use it from there from the command prompt.

To change to the directory in the command prompt where bootsect is located, use:

cd /d "<drive letter (probably C:)>\Program Files\NeoSmart Technologies\EasyBCD\bin"

Thanks for the quick response, im going to give easyBCD a try, im a little confused on what step3 you're reffering to, im assuming its step 3 of the manual way to fix it as thats what i posted.
I didnt have a problem locating the bootsec.exe from the vista CD when i ran these commands in prompt

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
D:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force

It was however this set of commands that did not work.

del C:\boot\bcd
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

(after this command didnt work i restarted and the vista CD was unreadable and gave me an error)
Sorry for my newbness but im really not too tech smart, as im still trying to figure out what you meant by the second part of your post.

 

[Terry60]

If you've been fixing the boot successfully, only for it to be broken again the next time you power-up, it sounds as though you either have a malware infection that's playing with the boot, or else you have a bad block on the HDD in the boot sector.
When you boot the recovery disk, try entering the recovery console before you try fixing the boot again, and issue a chkdsk /f command to see if it can find and fix any dodgy HDD blocks. When it's finished, try the "startup repair" (2 or 3 times in succession is normally necessary before it fixes everything)
If the boot breaks again after this, try as many malware scanning programs and sites as you can find to eliminate the 1st possibility.

 

[Asleepdan]

Recovering the Vista Bootloader with EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

I followed steps 1 and 2 they did not work.

I attempted to try the 3rd but i get to a point where it gives me a error "bootfiles already preasent"


Taken from the website.

"EasyBCD will recreate (if possible) your boot files and re-configure your bootloader from scratch.
If EasyBCD fails, that means a process has locked your BOOT folder. Manually delete this folder with a Live CD, recovery console, or other method, then try Type Three again"

I have been kinda offish in deleting that folder and retrying the step (not sure if my pc will even boot after deleting that folder)

And im assuming that reinstalling is my only option if easyBCD didnt work

Addendum:

If you've been fixing the boot successfully, only for it to be broken again the next time you power-up, it sounds as though you either have a malware infection that's playing with the boot, or else you have a bad block on the HDD in the boot sector.
When you boot the recovery disk, try entering the recovery console before you try fixing the boot again, and issue a chkdsk /f command to see if it can find and fix any dodgy HDD blocks. When it's finished, try the "startup repair" (2 or 3 times in succession is normally necessary before it fixes everything)
If the boot breaks again after this, try as many malware scanning programs and sites as you can find to eliminate the 1st possibility.

Ok im going to give this a try

(2 or 3 times in succession is normally necessary before it fixes everything)

sorry for sounding like an idiot, but what exactly do you mean by this?
(im assuming that i will have to chkdsk/startup repair a few times)

The only way i have been able to fix it is with the start up repair, but like i said it doesent stick and once i power down completely, and start the PC the error returns.

This may be helpful info to helping me solve this not sure, but when i restart the pc (as in start->restart) it will boot fine, only when i completely power down and start it this happens.

and im almost 100% it has nothing to do with malware as this is a freshly built PC from parts to fresh install of vista, only has a few programs on it other than drivers and warhammer online, so we can eliminate that.

 

[JustinW]

Yes, startup repair doesn't always fix everything in one use for some, so multiple attempts are needed in some cases where startup repair can fix thier problems. But as Terry said, problems like these where they keep re-appearing indicate that you may have have malware present on the system that is causing it.

 

[Asleepdan]

I guess im gonna go ahead and assume that my HDD is just a piece of trash(and like terry said i have some sort of blocking going on) if i got malware from downloading drivers for all of my stuff and patches from mythic im going to be pretty upset, as this PC is only a week old, parts and all.

I guess the last thing i can try is the suggestion terry gave.

So my question i guess is, if terrys solution dosent work

1.) will this happen again if i freshly istall vista
2.)or is my HDD just fubar and i need a new one.
I never had any problems like this with Xp (same HDD used)

Also the whole multiple attempts, do you mean one after another, or wait and see if the error occurs, then re run the auto repair.

One more question, if i do delete the BOOT folder, and try step 3 of the easyBCD, will this effect my computer from starting at all?
Only reason i havent tried that step yet is b/c im worried i wont be able to fully boot my PC like i can now with the recovery CD.

THe folder BOOT on my pc has files in it like winload/winresume EN-us

I dont kno what will happen if i delete this folder, or if thats even the one i should delete

The only other BOOT folder is said to be on the CD drive, and i cant open it w/o a vista CD inside the drive.

Addendum:

Terry, i tried what you suggested

Booted up the recovery cd, went into the command prompt and tried to run the command chkdsk /f
But was told that it could not check because the drive is NTFS (i do not know what this means)

 

[JustinW]

If you re-format the entire drive and do a fresh re-install of Windows you should be fine. Only download drivers for your OEM's webiste (nver from a third-party site that may host them) and only install programs on your main machine when you trust the author/company and have downloaded from the offical sites/obtained install media. It shouldn't be giving you ntfs error saying it can't check since that is what chkdsk was designed for, so you definetly have some corruption/malware issues there.

 

[Asleepdan]

If you re-format the entire drive and do a fresh re-install of Windows you should be fine. Only download drivers for your OEM's webiste (nver from a third-party site that may host them) and only install programs on your main machine when you trust the author/company and have downloaded from the offical sites/obtained install media. It shouldn't be giving you ntfs error saying it can't check since that is what chkdsk was designed for, so you definetly have some corruption/malware issues there.

Really huh...

I mean i got all my drivers and software from the OEM sites, and i did have warhammer installed on my other PC before i got this one.

what are the odds its my HDD completely and not malware issues? im just findin it hard to beleive i picked up a virus or something like that, as it happend to me the day after i got the computer put together and installed windows, and drivers.

For the past week i have been using the recovery cd each time i start up to research on how to fix it.

EDIT
I did do everything right when trying terrys suggestion correct?

 

[JustinW]

Well hard drives either typically die right away (within a few months) or last a half way decent life. Depending on how long you've used it in the other machine than it may be on its way out, but doing a reformat reinstall well be the best way to determine this if you continue to have problems.

As far as Terry's instructions go, yes, unless you didn't specify the partition to use with chkdsk. Say your Windows drive is C: than you would type in the command prompt: chkdsk c: /f to scan the C: drive for errors.

You can also try system file checker for specific system file corruption scanning and repair: sfc /scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows

 

[Asleepdan]

Well hard drives either typically die right away (within a few months) or last a half way decent life. Depending on how long you've used it in the other machine than it may be on its way out, but doing a reformat reinstall well be the best way to determine this if you continue to have problems.

As far as Terry's instructions go, yes, unless you didn't specify the partition to use with chkdsk. Say your Windows drive is C: than you would type in the command prompt: chkdsk c: /f to scan the C: drive for errors.

Then i did it wrong, the only thing i typed was chkdsk /f

Im gonna give this another try before i go ahead and reformat

I never had any problems with this HDD while using XP, i may go back to that.

Not sure what and how to use system file checker

I did use the error checking tool, from right clicking on my HDD going to properties and then tools, and tried the "scan for and attempt recovery of any bad sectors" this check came back ok and nothing was found. not sure if that is similar to the SFC option you put out there.



*EDIT*
If EasyBCD fails, that means a process has locked your BOOT folder. Manually delete this folder with a Live CD, recovery console, or other method, then try Type Three again.

can you explain this to me please, i dont really understand how to do what its asking.

 

[Coolname007]

*EDIT*
If EasyBCD fails, that means a process has locked your BOOT folder. Manually delete this folder with a Live CD, recovery console, or other method, then try Type Three again.

can you explain this to me please, i dont really understand how to do what its asking.

Navigate to your "system" partition (as shown in Disk Management), and open up Folder Options in the Control Panel. Click on "Show Hidden Files and Folders", and uncheck "Hide protected system files". Now, go back to your "system partition, and look inside the root. You will see a folder called "boot" which contains your BCD file that Vista uses. That is the one it is referring to.

Cheers,

Jake

 

[Asleepdan]

Navigate to your "system" partition (as shown in Disk Management), and open up Folder Options in the Control Panel. Click on "Show Hidden Files and Folders", and uncheck "Hide protected system files". Now, go back to your "system partition, and look inside the root. You will see a folder called "boot" which contains your BCD file that Vista uses. That is the one it is referring to.

Cheers,

Jake

Awesome, assuming i did it right, the folder i now see in the HDD contains alot of stuff such as

cs-CZ
da-dk
bcd
bootstat, and so on this is the correct folder yes?

also if i do delete this and the easyBCD step 3 fails to recreate the boot folder/files, am i still going to be able to boot up with the recovery CD, the only reason i ask and this concerns me is this is the only working PC i have atm in my house so even tho its not working correct, as long as im able to boot it up with the CD, its the only way i can access the internet etc and keep checking this thread among other things for help.


EDIT -- kairozamorro
I just tried the SFC with the commands you listed above, i was able to get through with the sfc /scannow it came back good no problems found
When i try to use this command /offbootdir=c:\ nothing happens, a window breifly opens up then closes immedietly, same happens with /offwindir=c:\windows.


EDIT
I just noticed this and im not sure if this MAY have something to do with whats going on. it was in the problem reports and solutions.

Compatibility issue between a chipset in your computer and Windows

 

[Coolname007]

Awesome, assuming i did it right, the folder i now see in the HDD contains alot of stuff such as

cs-CZ
da-dk
bcd
bootstat, and so on this is the correct folder yes?

Yep. That's the correct folder.

also if i do delete this and the easyBCD step 3 fails to recreate the boot folder/files, am i still going to be able to boot up with the recovery CD, the only reason i ask and this concerns me is this is the only working PC i have atm in my house so even tho its not working correct, as long as im able to boot it up with the CD, its the only way i can access the internet etc and keep checking this thread among other things for help.

Yes, if step 3 fails, you will always be able to boot from the Recovery CD, and run Startup Repair 3-4 times to repair Vista's boot.

Jake

EDIT: And as an alternative, you can try all the manual steps suggested in the wiki article on Recovering the Vista Bootloader from the DVD

 

[Asleepdan]

Do you mean run start up repair back to back 3-4 times(can i run it back to back without restarting and reloading the recovery disc)

also i tried the manual steps first before i tried easyBCD if that makes any sense heh.
In command prompt i was able to use these commands

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
D:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force

After those went through i was unable to get these commands to work
del C:\boot\bcd
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

I tried steps 2 and 3, i didnt try number 4 of the manual way, since i had no luck in command prompt with the 3rd step

Again just wanna say thanks to everyone for all the responses i really appreciate it, im pretty lost when it comes to anything but gaming.

 

[Coolname007]

Do you mean run start up repair back to back 3-4 times(can i run it back to back without restarting and reloading the recovery disc)

Don't know...
Try it the first way you mentioned first, and then if that doesn't work, try it the other way. My personal experience has been I restarted and reloaded the Vista disk each time, and then it worked, but I'm not sure if that's necessary or not.

also i tried the manual steps first before i tried easyBCD if that makes any sense heh.
In command prompt i was able to use these commands

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
D:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force

After those went through i was unable to get these commands to work
del C:\boot\bcd
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
.

Looks like you needed to run the commands:

del [B]D[/B]:\boot\bcd
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

if your "boot" folder is located on the (D) partition. If Step 3 doesn't work, move on to Step 4 (Nuclear Holocaust). :brows:

Jake

 

[Asleepdan]

well i followed the instructions on that page

Replace x: in the commands below with the letter to your CD drive as detected by the Windows Recovery environment

That is the reason this command is D:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force (x:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force was the original from the site)

My boot folder is located on the (C) partition.

 

[Coolname007]

well i followed the instructions on that page

Replace x: in the commands below with the letter to your CD drive as detected by the Windows Recovery environment

That is the reason this command is D:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force (x:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force was the original from the site)

My boot folder is located on the (C) partition.

Sorry...my bad. I didn't realize that the first command uses the bootsect.exe on the Vista DVD...and on that line of thought, the reason it didn't work is because there is no "bootsect.exe" on the Recovery CD. I remember discussions elsewhere on the forums that the Recovery CD downloadable on this site does not contain "bootsect.exe" (though I have never actually used it myself, since my computer came with the reinstallation disk), and so obviously that wouldn't work.

So, time to move on to the Nuclear Holoclaust...

Windows Vista doesn't have its share of haters for no reason: when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
So Windows Vista can't even fix itself - god, that's what we love about EasyBCD! If you were in Windows Vista right now, you could have used EasyBCD's "Reset BCD Data" feature to have EasyBCD actively search for any and all discrepancies in your bootloader, zero out your old BCD data, and re-create it all from scratch. But you're not and it's no use lamenting what you could be doing with our super-cool app if you can't even use it in the first place now, is it?

Go ahead and select "Command Prompt" yet again from that list. Roll up your sleeves, and prepare to be tortured.
The first order of business is to make sure the MBR and bootsector contain the right references to the Vista bootloader:

Replace x: in the commands below with the letter to your CD drive as detected by the Windows Recovery environment
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
x:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force


Now we get rid of the old BCD registry, and create a new one instead.
Note: We're assuming that the boot drive is drive C: below. If your computer is configured differently, be sure to use the appropriate drive letter here instead.
del C:\boot\bcd
bcdedit /createstore c:\boot\bcd.temp
bcdedit.exe /store c:\boot\bcd.temp /create {bootmgr} /d "Windows Boot Manager"
bcdedit.exe /import c:\boot\bcd.temp
bcdedit.exe /set {bootmgr} device partition=C:
bcdedit.exe /timeout 10
del c:\boot\bcd.temp


Now we have a clean, working Vista bootloader. But we need to add a Vista entry to it:
bcdedit.exe /create /d "Windows Vista" /application osloader


bcdedit.exe should return a message with a GUID for the newly-created entry, something like this:
The entry {c0dfc4fa-cb21-11dc-81bf-005056c00008} was successfully created.
You'll need to use the value that bcdedit.exe returned for you below, along with the drive letter for the drive that Windows Vista is installed to:
bcdedit.exe /set {c0dfc4fa-cb21-11dc-81bf-005056c00008} device partition=C:
bcdedit.exe /set {c0dfc4fa-cb21-11dc-81bf-005056c00008} osdevice partition=C:
bcdedit.exe /set {c0dfc4fa-cb21-11dc-81bf-005056c00008} path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
bcdedit.exe /set {c0dfc4fa-cb21-11dc-81bf-005056c00008} systemroot \Windows


And, last of all, tell the Vista bootloader to boot the new entry by default:
bcdedit.exe /displayorder {c0dfc4fa-cb21-11dc-81bf-005056c00008}
bcdedit.exe /default {c0dfc4fa-cb21-11dc-81bf-005056c00008}


Now the Vista bootloader has been nuked and rebuilt from scratch. If you got this to work, feel free to consider yourself one of the finest graduates of the NeoSmart Technologies Institute of BCD Learning.
At this point, you have a clean, untouched, and (hopefully) fully-working bootloader with one entry for Windows Vista. Go ahead and reboot your PC, get into Windows Vista, and use EasyBCD to further tweak the bootloader to your heart's content. We advise backing up the BCD registry immediately with EasyBCD before making any changes.

Cheers,

Jake

EDIT: And as Justin stated in Post #2, it is possible to navigate to the bin folder in EasyBCD's program files, via the command line, and then run the bootsect.exe found in there, so don't count the bootsect.exe commands completely useless to you.

 

[Asleepdan]

The cd i have does contain bootsec.exe on it the first set of commands in step 3 worked for me these did not
del C:\boot\bcd
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

Also i just noticed windows telling me i have compatibility issues with
my chipset and windows could this be the root of the problem?

And if the CD isnt supposed to contain the bootsect why does it insist on this step in the nuclear holocaust

Replace x: in the commands below with the letter to your CD drive as detected by the Windows Recovery environment
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
x:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force

 

[Coolname007]

The cd i have does contain bootsec.exe on it the first set of commands in step 3 worked for me these did not
del C:\boot\bcd
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

Also i just noticed windows telling me i have compatibility issues with
my chipset and windows could this be the root of the problem?

Deeply sorry...:shame: I'm totally spacing out over here, probably due to the fact it is pretty late, and I need to be getting my beauty sleep... :brows: Ok, so I'm not sure what Recovery disk you're using, but it can't be the one downloadable from this site, unless of course someone has incorporated bootsect.exe into the Recovery CD, and I'm not privy to it.

Ok, those chipset problems could be due to not having the latest drivers. Try going to Device Manager, and try updating your chipset driver, and see if it fixes the issue. I'm not sure if it is the root of this particular problem or not, but its likely causing you trouble, so it needs to be fixed anyway, regardless.

Cheers,

Jake

Addendum:

And if the CD isnt supposed to contain the bootsect why does it insist on this step in the nuclear holocaust

Replace x: in the commands below with the letter to your CD drive as detected by the Windows Recovery environment
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
x:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force

Just noticed your edit...
The reason is, I think, those particular instructions are supposed to be for the Vista DVD (which to my knowledge, at least, does contain bootsect.exe). I'm thinking that maybe the Recovery CD was uploaded to this site after the wiki article had already been written with the Vista DVD in mind, and then they simply added the link to it to point to the Recovery Disk for users whose computers didn't come with the reinstallion disk.