Missing BOOT MGR + BSOD/nvstor.sys

[Mark M]

(I am posting here because i came across information via google that indicated the root cause to this problem was a windows update).

I have ASUS P5N-E SLI which has nVidia nForce 650i SLI, with Vista Ultimate 64 - all latest service packs installed. I purchased this system pre configured from a 3rd party vendor.
Recently, the system spewed forth "Missing BOOT MGR" message while attempting to power up the system. A bit of research lead me to attempt to boot from my Vista Ultimat 64 SP1 DVD. In the middle of starting up, my system spews forth a blue screen of death message that ends with:
nvstor.sys - address ffffa6000012f923e base at fffffa60012f3000, datestamp 46671a38
I have a lot of time invested on my current system configuration and would like to overcome this problem with the minimum changes.
Any suggestions?

 

[delphin]

(I am posting here because i came across information via google that indicated the root cause to this problem was a windows update).

I have ASUS P5N-E SLI which has nVidia nForce 650i SLI, with Vista Ultimate 64 - all latest service packs installed. I purchased this system pre configured from a 3rd party vendor.
Recently, the system spewed forth "Missing BOOT MGR" message while attempting to power up the system. A bit of research lead me to attempt to boot from my Vista Ultimat 64 SP1 DVD. In the middle of starting up, my system spews forth a blue screen of death message that ends with:
nvstor.sys - address ffffa6000012f923e base at fffffa60012f3000, datestamp 46671a38
I have a lot of time invested on my current system configuration and would like to overcome this problem with the minimum changes.
Any suggestions?

Hi,

nvstor.sys is the nvraid storage driver(as far as i know). Yes u are right windows update is the cause of this problem.
Download the nvdia raid driver from this manufacturers site. update raid driver.

Let me know the result.

 

[Mark M]

(I am posting here because i came across information via google that indicated the root cause to this problem was a windows update).

I have ASUS P5N-E SLI which has nVidia nForce 650i SLI, with Vista Ultimate 64 - all latest service packs installed. I purchased this system pre configured from a 3rd party vendor.
Recently, the system spewed forth "Missing BOOT MGR" message while attempting to power up the system. A bit of research lead me to attempt to boot from my Vista Ultimat 64 SP1 DVD. In the middle of starting up, my system spews forth a blue screen of death message that ends with:
nvstor.sys - address ffffa6000012f923e base at fffffa60012f3000, datestamp 46671a38
I have a lot of time invested on my current system configuration and would like to overcome this problem with the minimum changes.
Any suggestions?

Hi,

nvstor.sys is the nvraid storage driver(as far as i know). Yes u are right windows update is the cause of this problem.
Download the nvdia raid driver from this manufacturers site. update raid driver.

Let me know the result.

I got the files you suggested (attached is a list of files). But without the ability to boot and run Vista how am i to install these drivers?

 

[Mark M]

The files list is attached.

 

[delphin]

(I am posting here because i came across information via google that indicated the root cause to this problem was a windows update).

I have ASUS P5N-E SLI which has nVidia nForce 650i SLI, with Vista Ultimate 64 - all latest service packs installed. I purchased this system pre configured from a 3rd party vendor.
Recently, the system spewed forth "Missing BOOT MGR" message while attempting to power up the system. A bit of research lead me to attempt to boot from my Vista Ultimat 64 SP1 DVD. In the middle of starting up, my system spews forth a blue screen of death message that ends with:
nvstor.sys - address ffffa6000012f923e base at fffffa60012f3000, datestamp 46671a38
I have a lot of time invested on my current system configuration and would like to overcome this problem with the minimum changes.
Any suggestions?

Hi,

nvstor.sys is the nvraid storage driver(as far as i know). Yes u are right windows update is the cause of this problem.
Download the nvdia raid driver from this manufacturers site. update raid driver.

Let me know the result.

I got the files you suggested (attached is a list of files). But without the ability to boot and run Vista how am i to install these drivers?

Hi,

If this is my case, I'll install os in Recovery partition and move my data from c drive to another drive then i'll do clean installation on my c drive.

Am sorry to say that.

 

[dinesh]

Hi Mark and Welcome to Vista Forums. Did you try this:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/204930-bootmgr-missing.html

 

[Mark M]

Hi Mark and Welcome to Vista Forums. Did you try this:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/204930-bootmgr-missing.html

Thank you for that. The problem is that i get a BSOD when i boot from my Vista DVD - so i cannot reach the repair menu. I am in sort of a dead lock. The solution requires me to load the OS, but the loading of the OS is prevented by the BSOD because of nvstor.sys. I am guessing that some how i have to create a custom Vista boot disk that has the GOOD driver (or doesnt try to load the BAD driver). Since the consensus is that Microsoft caused the prblem, perhaps they will solve it with a nice custom boot DVD etc. I have a $59 call into them.... i will keep you all posted.

 

[delphin]

Hi Mark and Welcome to Vista Forums. Did you try this:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/204930-bootmgr-missing.html

Thank you for that. The problem is that i get a BSOD when i boot from my Vista DVD - so i cannot reach the repair menu. I am in sort of a dead lock. The solution requires me to load the OS, but the loading of the OS is prevented by the BSOD because of nvstor.sys. I am guessing that some how i have to create a custom Vista boot disk that has the GOOD driver (or doesnt try to load the BAD driver). Since the consensus is that Microsoft caused the prblem, perhaps they will solve it with a nice custom boot DVD etc. I have a $59 call into them.... i will keep you all posted.

Hi,

If u are going to re install os then i'll tell u the procedure.

1.download the nlite deployment tool.

2. Follow the procedure and deploy ur os with the drivers which u already downloaded. Write the deployed image into a dvd and install os with that cd.

I assure u ill not get any error.

 

[dinesh]

Dude it seems that you Geforce card is causing this problem. try removing the card and run the system on integrated video.

 

[H2SO4]

What Dinesh said.

And stay away from nLite - the machine has enough problems already.

 

[delphin]

What Dinesh said.

And stay away from nLite - the machine has enough problems already.

H2so4,

Am using nlite for almost 6 months. But i was not found any problem with that. If u tell me the reason why you are afraid of that It will be helpful for me too

 

[H2SO4]

I fear nothing, except my mother-in-law.

Joking aside, your question is mature and logical, and I'll do my best to explain my stance. Let's restate the OP's immediate problem:

* Inability to boot from the Vista disc. BSoD references nvstor.sys driver *

As you know, BSoDs when booting from known-good OS installation media are almost always indicative of some type of hardware problem, since OS install routines tend to be very heavily tested and therefore robust. To have a driver which is included with the OS seemingly linked to a BSoD says more about the specific hardware than about the driver - it works fine for 000,000s of other installations. Therefore, for what it's worth I agree with Dinesh. The non-embedded video card would logically be the first thing to pull out in the act of troubleshooting.

What is nLite/vLite? A utility that yanks those portions of the default OS components which someone has deemed unnecessary, and "repackages" other bits in weird 'n' wonderful ways. Who makes the decision as to what should go? Is it a Windows programmer? Mark Russinovich? Dave Cutler himself? Nope. It's Mr. HomeUser.

The last thing the OP needs is to add more variables into the mix by arbitrarily removing bits of the OS they didn't think they'd need, or by attempting to slipstream something themselves. You seem like an advanced user, and probably a professional too, so what you do on your own machine is nobody's business, but I'd advise you to take care when making recommendations to others, especially on public forums. Some of these computers are people's livelihoods. It's important to adopt low-impact troubleshooting techniques and not to run the risk of needlessly wiping out their configuration (I'm referring to another thread).

I hope this makes sense. Have a great day

 

[Mark M]

I am happy to tell you that the problem has been solved!

My BIOS had been setup to boot from DVD first. Even so, the system BSOD after a few minutes of hanging during boot up.

I isolated the problem to the hard disk by disconnecting its SATA cable and power. Once the drive was disconnected, the system would boot the Vista DVD.


Clearly a problem with my harddrive. The problem was my Seagate drive (Barracuda 7200.11) had a firmware defect that prevented it from working. I found this out by searching seagate's website and eventually finding this: Seagate Knowledge Base

And this very encouraging paragraph from there:
"In the unlikely event your drive is affected and you cannot access your data, the data still resides on the drive and there is no data loss associated with this issue. If your drive is no longer accessible, click here to contact us directly for further assistance."

I attempted a self fix using Seagate firmware flash utility, which did not work. I tried again on an older MB - and that did not work. I then contacted Seagate support and they took a crack at it - and it was successful.

I got the drive this afternoon, hooked it up and everything is back to normal. Any guess what the first thing i did was?

Thank you all!

 

[stumpman13]

I know this is an old thread, but I am having the exact same problem. The only change is that my system is a Dell Inspiron 531. It started with a system hang overnight. The next morning I tried to solve the problem by rebooting. Then I got the "Boot Manager is missing" error. I have tried going into the bios to insure that I only boot from cd device and it still gives me that blue screen referencing the nvstor.sys error. The stop error code is 0x000000D1. I am totally baffled as to what to do next. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The video is onboard, there is no card plugged into the mobo. I have tried running hdd tests to see if it would register and the tools I have used, including the Dell utility doesn't even recognize the hard drive anymore. Thanks for any help you can provide. Also to see the issue being resolved above, I checked the samsung site for any assistance and found nothing referencing this error.

 

[raj1402]

even i get missing boot something but after few seconds it continue to boot

i installed from pendrive and not from DVD!!!

 

[stumpman13]

Is there a tool that will allow you to boot Vista from a pen drive?