BOOTMGR missing

gunner1 · Dec 17, 2008

OK so I get this BOOTMGR missing message at startup and with some Googling I found it to be a common issue. So I tried the solution suggested by a ton of differnt sites - startup with the Vista DVD and choose the Repair option. The problem is that at the next step, Windows Vista doesn't show up as an OS in the System Recovery Options window! It's just blank so obviously when I pick "Startup Repair" nothing happens. It also says "If you don't see your OS, click on Load Drivers to load drivers for your hard drive." But if I do this I have no idea where to look and what to look for! Any pointers on where I should go next would be much appreciated.

mansrm81 · Dec 17, 2008

Just click next and then go into comand prompt and type in bootrec.exe/fixmbr and bootrec.exe/fixboot and it should fix your problem.

gunner1 · Dec 17, 2008

Sorry, but it doesn't work. I get a response in the command window that both commands were successfully executed, but after that it's the same thing - I still get the Bootmgr missing, press ctl+alt+del message, and when I start with the dvd it still can't locate my OS in the System Recovery Options window

limneos · Dec 17, 2008

How many partitions do you have? Your Vista partition might not be set to active...just a thought.

In this case:

Boot again with the Vista cd and go into the command prompt.There, type:

diskpart <enter>

diskpart> List disk

You will get something like:

Code:

Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
--------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
Disk 0    Online          250 GB      0 B

diskpart> select disk 0 (or your disk number)

diskpart> list partition

If you have more than 1 partitions, you will get something like :

Code:

Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset
-------------  ----------------  -------  -------
Partition 1    Primary            100 GB   0 MB
Partition 2    Primary            150 GB   100 GB

diskpart> select partition 1

"Partition 1 is now the selected partition."

diskpart> active

diskpart> exit

REBOOT.

Repeat with the other partition if it doesn't work.Might help.

SCSIraidGURU · Dec 17, 2008

Are you running RAID 0? Does your hard drive show up on POST?

gunner1 · Dec 17, 2008

That doesn't worlk either. I DO have two partitions, from what I recall C: was the main stuff and D: was something for recovery that HP had put in when they shipped the machine to me. When I list the partitions in the command window they show up - a 228Gig one and a smaller 22Gig one. The smaller one seems to have been selected but Vista doesn't show up when I try to Repair. When I select the larger one Vista doesn't show up either, but this time something called HP Recover Manager shows up in the OS column in the window! That appears weird since I would have expected Vista to be in the larger partition and the Recovery thingie to be in the smaller one. Either way, I can't get things to work from slecting either partition.

I'm just foxed - it seems like the Hard Drive is OK since it can obviously find both and list their contents when I browse through after loading. But I can't seem to get the Vista OS to show up where it appears that it should be defalult so that I can fix it. I'm not sure what I can do short of reinstalling from scratch and losing everything I have on the machine right now - unless I can figure out some way to get the Recovery thingie to work and at least put me back to the factory condition.

Thanks anyway...

limneos · Dec 17, 2008

Since it's an HP machine, you must have a "press F11 for recovery" at boot time...if not, check your bios to enable this feauture. Had a similar case yesterday with a client, eventually I made a clean install cause he had tampered with the recovery partition...

gunner1 · Dec 17, 2008

I do - except that nothing happens when I press F11! It just goes on trying to boot. I'm not sure if it needs to be enabled separately when it is already an option (at the bottom of the window) and whether I need to set the partition containing the Recovery as "active" or something else...

SCSIraidGURU · Dec 17, 2008

What changed on your computer? What did you install?

mansrm81 · Dec 17, 2008

It will load the windows boot screen then its suppose to go into the recovery area. Did you make the recovery DVD's when you first got the computer. You may have to go to HP's website and order the recovery discs and you will only have to pay for shipping and handling.

gunner1 · Dec 17, 2008

In response to SCSIraidGURU - I haven't loaded anything on to it. There was a power outage and it went off. When I restarted I ran into the problem.

Mansrm - I assume you're referring to HP's recovery DVD? I don't recall making anything... I should probably go check their site. Thanks.

mansrm81 · Dec 17, 2008

You will need to find your computer so you will be able to get the right DVD's for you model.

KV43 · Dec 17, 2008

Check hard drive priority in BIOS. It must boot on the drive that
contains the boot files

The computer must be configured to boot from a CD or from a DVD. For
information about how to configure the computer to start from a CD or from a
DVD, see the information that came with the computer.
Insert disc into PC
Restart the computer.
Set your language preference
Click Repair your computer.
In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click the operating system
that you want to repair, and then click Next.
In the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair to start the
repair process.

johngalt · Dec 20, 2008

@KV43 - seeing as it is a laptop, and seeing as it only has 2 partitions, regardless of which partition is active, the boot files will be where the original OS was installed - therefore, this advice is not really relevant here.

In addition, also being a laptop, there is *no* recovery DVD shipped with the machine - and the user stated that he had never made one....

z3r010 · Dec 20, 2008

This maybe worth a shot for a startup repair - http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/141820-create-recovery-disc.html

johngalt · Dec 20, 2008

creation is pretty much impossible here - downloading one, though, may be an option....

Let;s me just say that I have never had a successfully use of the neosmart disc, ever. Perhaps it was because my Vista is a MAK version, but it never worked on a previous retail version of Vista 32bit Ultimate either.....

dprez · Jan 1, 2009

Actually the BOOTMGR is missing, literally mean the file bootmgr is missing from the root of the system drive. I have W2K8 server x64, but the methods are the same. the boot dvd and the system drive has the bootmgr file under \windows\boot\pcat\

I copied the file to the root of my boot drive and the system started very slowly but did boot up. Also it is a good thing to rebuild the BCD just in case.

johngalt · Jan 2, 2009

However, if you read the entire thread, you'll notice that the user mentions having 2 partitions available - C and D - the user sees both there, but one is obviously (by virtue of its size) the HP recovery partition. Just copying the the bootmgr may not be enough in this case, as it sounds like the HD had write caching enabled and yet the power outage cause a write back failure on the drive.

Also, if the system had *2* partitions in addition to the recovery partition, but only shows 2 partitions now, copying the bootmgr is simply not going to work - as the 2 partitions at this point are hosed into one unpartitioned space.

Remember, the Vista Boot DVD does not even recognize that there is a Vista installation on the HD anywhere....

gunner - when you attempted to boot to the Windows Vista DVD, and then it didn't show your OS, and you clicked next anyway, you were at a command prompt, right?

what drive letter was showing on that command prompt? If it was something like X or G or anything besides C try running this:

Code:

dir c:

And tell me if you get anything at all.

BOOTMGR missing

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