BOOTMGR is missing Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart (Windows 7)


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A mate of mine has just given me his Windows 7 laptop to look at - when he starts it up, it displays the following error message:-

 

BOOTMGR is missing

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

 

I've tried the following to try and repair it:-

 

Booted the laptop from Windows 7 DVD and went into Setup and clicked on 'Repair your computer'

 

System Recovery Options couldn't find an operating system so I click on 'Use recovery tools that can help fix problems....................'

 

I then clicked on Startup Repair - this ran but said 'Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically' When I clicked on 'View problem details' it showed the following (including other text)

 

Problem Signature 07: MissingBootManager

OS Version 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1

Locale ID: 1033

 

I then tried 'Command Prompt' and then tried the following commands:-  (Rebooted after each option)

 

bootrec.exe  /fixmbr

 

bootrec.exe  /fixboot

 

bootrec.exe  /RebuildBcd

 

None of these commands worked and I'm now pulling out my hair....I can't re-install windows because my idiot mate has saved all of his data on drive c!

 

HELP!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Did you try this:

 

1. bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup, press ENTER
2. ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old, press ENTER
3. bootrec /rebuildbcd, press ENTER

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http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/6889cf1b-17d3-4647-8e1e-edac6bc73c48/boot-manager-missing-window-7?forum=w7itproinstall

 

If you try what Javik and I posted and no dice then I doubt there is much else you can do other than the Linux backup and re-install solution. This could be signs that there is something else at play besides just a corrupt boot loader (e.g. bad disk). 

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Thanks guys - I booted up a live version of Ubuntu to see if I could recover the data but the Windows Partition doesn't show, So I can only presume that this partition has become corrupted

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Tried removing the BCD store before rebuild?

bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup

ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old

bootrec /rebuildbcd

Reboot.

 

Allthough sounds like you say, could be beyond help...

 

Good luck

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Tried removing the BCD store before rebuild?

bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup

ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old

bootrec /rebuildbcd

Reboot.

 

Allthough sounds like you say, could be beyond help...

 

Good luck

 

Thanks but when I go into the recovery options and command prompt and look on the c:\ partition all that's there is a directory called Temp

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Can you remove the drive, and connect it to a Windows desktop machine? You're looking at a complete re-install of the OS, but you should be able to backup the data that way as a last resort.

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Thanks but when I go into the recovery options and command prompt and look on the c:\ partition all that's there is a directory called Temp

 

You just probably need to mount the partition. The easy method is to click on Files in the Unity dash, then look for your partition to be listed on the left side when Nautilus loads up. Just click the partition and it's mounted and you should be good to go! Alternately if it's not listed, there's a process you can use to find and mount the partition manually. All you need to do is open a terminal in Ubuntu and type in the following in...

sudo fdisk -l

It should list all partitions. If you see your partition listed then use the following command to mount it...

sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdaX /~/Windows

Change the /dev/sdaX field to exactly match your partition listed under boot device from the command above. If successful, your Windows partition *should* be mounted under the Home directory.

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If it was me I would start by scanning the hard drive with Spinrite for bad sectors before I even start troubleshooting it.

 

I actually have a laptop hard drive scanning with spinrite at this moment. It would just instantly reboot when it tried to boot windows. So far it's coming up clean.

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If it was me I would start by scanning the hard drive with Spinrite for bad sectors before I even start troubleshooting it.

 

I actually have a laptop hard drive scanning with spinrite at this moment. It would just instantly reboot when it tried to boot windows. So far it's coming up clean.

 

He probably doesn't have spinrite and you can lose data by causing sector reallocation if you use the wrong tools.

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You just probably need to mount the partition. The easy method is to click on Files in the Unity dash, then look for your partition to be listed on the left side when Nautilus loads up. Just click the partition and it's mounted and you should be good to go! Alternately if it's not listed, there's a process you can use to find and mount the partition manually. All you need to do is open a terminal in Ubuntu and type in the following in...

sudo fdisk -l

It should list all partitions. If you see your partition listed then use the following command to mount it...

sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdaX /~/Windows

Change the /dev/sdaX field to exactly match your partition listed under boot device from the command above. If successful, your Windows partition *should* be mounted under the Home directory.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the info but how do I open a terminal in Ubuntu?

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It is one of the applications you get from their equivalent of the start menu. Just search for terminal and it should show up. Also, if that sudo mount command fails with a file or folder does not exist error, run this and it should work:

 

mkdir ~/Windows

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How can I mount the following:-

 

Device                            System

 

/dev/sda2                       HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

 

/dev/sda3                       W95 Ext'd (LBA)

 

I just want to see what's on them

 

Thanks again 

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Let's try mounting the first one, shall we? Open Ubuntu's terminal and input the following...

sudo passwd

This command will allow you to set a password you can use when prompted for one. You'll have to input the password twice so make it simple and easy to remember because you'll need it for the next commands. Next, you'll want to use the command Unksi posted...

sudo mkdir /home/ubuntu/Windows

What this command does is creates the directory in the Home folder for which the partition will be mounted upon. Finally, use the following command to mount the partition...

sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda2 /home/ubuntu/Windows

If that's successful with no errors, you should have access to that partition, hopefully. You can find it under the Home directory (just open Files from the Unity dash to access it). :)

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Hello,

Someone correct me if Im wrong but shouldnt his Windows 7 CD allow him to "upgrade" his Windows 7 installation? This would just reinstall Windows 7 without formatting the drive (assuming the FS is intact)

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