Bootmgr missing after restore

Hi Robert

I too had a similar problem but managed to get my pc up and running. Firstly a warning that I'm a complete beginer in this area, but here's what I did if it helps.

Insert windows installation disk into drive and reboot pc.
Press F8 as its booting and select that the pc boots from the dvd drive.
When asked, entered the UK regional settings for pc followed by next.
I then selected the repair my pc section.
One of the options on that screen was to look for backups on the system created by other software. I selected that and it brought my pc back to life although some of the most recent files were missing.

Regards
Steve

Robert:

When you restored the image did you restore it as Active? If not, this can produce the symptom you're seeing.

If you did restore the partition as Active, then what partitions were on your original HD? It could be that you forgot to transfer the files needed to boot Windows 7 if they were on one of these other partitions. The needed items are the file bootmgr and the folder boot. Both are located in the root of the active partition on the original HD.

I do have multiple partitions, both are bootable, one windows 7 and one windows vista. I made a backup of the windows 7 partition but did not copy those files. Is it as simple as copying those two files from the partition I want to the new Hard drive? Does it require a special location?

And the partition is active.

thank you very much for the responses!

robert lindeman wrote:

I do have multiple partitions, both are bootable, one windows 7 and one windows vista...

I thought that was the case. If you had installed Vista first and then Windows 7 next, the Windows 7 installer would have put its boot files on the Vista partition.

robert lindeman wrote:

Is it as simple as copying those two files from the partition I want to the new Hard drive? Does it require a special location?

You will need to copy the files and then fix the Boot Configuration Database (BCD). The files need to be copied to the root of the Windows 7 partition (C:\). Copying the files can be done in a number of ways. Perhaps the simplest is to attach the disk to a working PC and transfer them. But they are hidden, protected operating system files so if you try from a working Vista or Win 7 PC you may not be able to easily move them. You may have to resort to doing the move while booted to a command prompt on a Windows 7 DVD.

This article: http://themudcrab.com/separatevistaxp.php was written by forum member MudCrab specifically for extracting Vista's boot files from a dual-boot XP-Vista system, so it isn't exactly what you need to do but it's similar. Instead you need to extract the Windows 7 boot files from a dual-boot Vista-Win 7 system. So in your case, read section 2 of the article for help locating the boot files and section 5 from the beginning to figure 5.4 for help booting to the repair environment. Skip the stuff about changing the BCD and then continue with the steps that follow after figure 5.9 for help moving the boot files to their correct location on the Windows 7 partition. Just mentally change "Vista" to "Windows 7" in the text (both operating systems use the exact same principle for booting). Stop when you get to figure 5.12. ***If you want to keep the original disk intact then just copy the files and skip the step(s) in the instructions that have you rename the original files. Just leave them intact.***

After moving the files you will need to repair the BCD so that Windows 7 will boot. Since you've copied the old BCD as part of the procedure you'll have an orphaned entry in the boot manager for booting Vista and all of the partition references will be wrong. Probably the simplest way to fix this is to use the third command in your original post to rebuild a new BCD. So from the command prompt, enter bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd. Hopefully this will get Windows 7 booting correctly.

I haven't gotten around to updating my separation guide to use robocopy. The files can be copied while Vista or Windows 7 is running by using three commands run from an Administrator Command Prompt:

reg unload HKLM\BCD00000000
robocopy D:\ C:\ bootmgr
robocopy D:\Boot C:\Boot /s

This assumes that D: is the partition with the booting files and C: is the one without them.

The BCD file will still need to be updated, of course.

Alright sweet! Attempting to follow the guide as I type this. Lets hope it works out.

just used the robocopy method. going to rebuild bcd right now....if the damn cd ever loads up. dang thing takes forever.

Followed the steps and got the same error. When I do the rebuild bcd should I run the win7 cd without the original hard disk plugged in?

Yes - so that you don't add entries for the other operating systems to the BCD, run with only the SSD connected.

Doing that now.

Im going to restart but after running the rebuildbcd it says

total identified windows instillations: 0. the operation has completed successfully.

Not sure if thats a bad sign...

guess so. bootmgr still missing on trying to boot up with the ssd. Ill try and do the whole thing again, starting with the robocopy then doing the rebuildbcd correctly.

is there any way to be sure robocopy has completed its operations successfully?

After the robocopy operation, check the Windows 7 partition on the SSD to verify that the file bootmgr and the folder /boot both exist. Remember that they're hidden, protected OS files.

yea they are both present

If you boot from the Win 7 DVD and go to a command prompt, type bcdedit and post the output here. Let's see if the rebuildbcd operation worked correctly.

After doing rebuildbcd, still got the bootmgr is missing message. sigh

Aight Ill do that, gotta run the cd again.

first off, when I have the other hd removed, there are 2 windows entries that show up on the selection screen where the 2 partions from that hd were but show up as empty, as they do when I run bcdedit.

Other than that, what Info should I post from the bcdedit screen...I cant really do a screenshot here.

The windows boot loader is showing up on the partition that the win7 cd is labeling as C: in this case, or the ssd. There are also 2 unknown boot loaders present, presumably from the other hd that has been disconnected.

It's sounding like rebuildbcd didn't work correctly. You should see something like this when running bcdedit:

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier             {bootmgr}
device                  partition=C:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {globalsettings}
default                 {current}
resumeobject            {f39f5da3-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
displayorder            {current}
toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag}
timeout                 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {current}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows 7
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence        {f39f5da5-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
recoveryenabled         Yes
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \Windows
resumeobject            {f39f5da3-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
nx                      OptIn

The items in bold are of primary interest at the moment. Do each of them point to the C: partition or do they say "unknown"?

For the boot manager it is showing up as unkonwn where it should say c. \

I also have 2 additional boot loader entries, both saying unknown, then a 3rd saying C where device and osdevice are showing up. Does that clarify?

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device unknown
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {f39f5da3-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device unknown
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {f39f5da5-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice unknown
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {f39f5da3-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
nx OptIn

then another similar to this boot loader entry and then a final boot loader entry that shows C for the device and osdevice but is shorter and is missing a few of the rows.

Robert:

Your previous post shows that the partition references in the BCD are incorrect because they are listed as "unknown". To fix, boot from the Windows 7 DVD, go to a command prompt, and enter the following four commands exactly as shown:

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=C:
bcdedit /set {default} device partition=C:
bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=C:
bcdedit /set {memdiag} device partition=C:

That should get Win 7 to boot. Later we can remove the unwanted entries that were probably carried over from your previous installation.

alright, the bootmgr showed up in the c drive now. lets hope it works! haha

nope. got bootmgr is missing again...booting win 7 cd again.

I really do appreciate your continuned help through this. Its mildly frustrating but I have a good feeling that with your help I'll be able to ge tthis going!

just a further clarification, this is what BCDedit shows

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device unknown
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {f39f5da5-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice unknown
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {f39f5da3-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
nx OptIn
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device unknown
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice unknown
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {f39f5da3-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
nx OptIn

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows

Robert:

It sounds like your current BCD is really messed up. Perhaps a better approach is to delete it and completely rebuild it. Try this suggestion from a Microsoft KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

Note If rebuilding the BCD does not resolve the startup issue, you can export and delete the BCD, and then run this option again. By doing this, you make sure that the BCD is completely rebuilt. To do this, type the following commands at the Windows RE command prompt:

* bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
* c:
* cd boot
* attrib bcd -s -h -r
* ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
* bootrec /RebuildBcd

It's almost midnight here so I have to call it quits for tonight. Perhaps MudCrab can jump back in and help; he's on California time.

Aight, I probably should call it a night as well. I just tried their advice and got the same message but at least the previous two entries are gone and im simply left with

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=C:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {f39f5da3-8475-11de-afe4-aa346e953af9}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 10

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows

Anyways. thanks for the help so far. maybe come up with more attempts tomorrow.

Robert,

I'm back at my computer now. If you want to try some more tonight, give me a few minutes to read up on the thread.

kk im here

If I'm understanding things correctly, your BCD file now has the two entries correct (as posted above). They're pointing to the C: partition, which is the Windows 7 partition.

However, you are still getting the "bootmgr not found" error message when you boot. Is that correct?

You have verified the C: partition is set Active. What method did you use?

Is there more than one partition on the SSD?

Is the SSD drive currently the ONLY drive connected?

Have you tried rewriting the boot sector of the C: partition?

The last post I showed before you came back is what bcdedit shows but I still get the bootmgr not found message at bootup. I verified that it was active by looking checking the drive in the disk manager admin tool on my other windows 7 hd. If there is another method i would be willing to try it to make sure.

there is only 1 partition that Im aware of. Is there a method to confirm this? im pretty sure but it would be better to know for sure.

the ssd is not the only drive connected, I have a storage drive connected but it does not have a windows installation.

and I have not tried rewriting the boot sector by any other means than the one listed on the microsoft site
* bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
* c:
* cd boot
* attrib bcd -s -h -r
* ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
* bootrec /RebuildBcd

Also, when you're at the Command Prompt and you run dir c:\ /ah do you see bootmgr and the Boot folder?

both are there.

Have you verified in the BIOS that the SSD is set as the booting drive?

Is it possible to disconnect the storage drive? It's possible that it's trying to boot. Check the boot order first, though.

If you're getting the "bootmgr not found" message, it means that the partition being booted doesn't have the file on it. If the C: partition DOES have the file, then another partition is being booted and not C:.

Im almost 100% positive its the first boot drive but I can try removing the drives. Thats quick and easy.

Any other bios settings that could possibly iterfere? There werent any that i could think of but you never know.

other hard disk removed, external disconnected and its the only boot drive in the list and its still giving me the same error.

When booted to the Windows 7 DVD's Command Prompt, what does DISKPART show?

Start DISKPART by running diskpart at the prompt.

Then run: list disk

It should show only one disk (Disk 0).

Run: select disk 0

Then run: list partition

You should get a list of partitions on the drive. Is there only 1? If not, let me know. If so, then run: select partition 1

Then run: detail partition

You should get the partition's information. Type, Hidden, Active. Post what they say.

active says that diskpart marked the current partition as active
hidden just lists out the different commands available under diskpart. It isnt on the list of commands

oh, and there is only 1 partition.

Sorry. I didn't mean to "type" Hidden and Active. I meant that it would display it. For example:

Type: 07
Hidden: No
Active: Yes
Offset in Bytes: 1048576
etc.

No harm in setting the partition Active. It should have been already. Can you post the rest of the output from the detail partition command?

ohhh duhhrr

type is 07, hidden is no, active is yes, offset in bytes is 32256

its labeled as volume 2, healthy. lol

That's okay.

What are the other volumes?

Run: list volume

If C: is volume 2, what is volume 1? Can you post the list?

volume 0 is a dvd drive, vol 1 is dvd drive with win7 disk and the hd is volume2, probably b/c the SATA slots they are in.

When you ran the "list volume" command, what is in the "Info" column for the C: (Volume 2) row?

nothing is in the info column

It should say System in the Info column. That would mean it's the partition containing the booting files. Let me check something on this.

Volume 2 shows the "Ltr" as "C", correct?

yep it does.

I just booted to the Windows 7 DVD to check if it displayed that info and it doesn't so that should be okay. When you're booted into Windows 7, it shows "System" or "Boot" for the partition.

---

Exit DISKPART.

Run: exit

You should return to the standard prompt. Let's rerun the fixmbr and fixboot commands now that the SSD is the only drive connected.

Run: bootrec /fixmbr
Run: bootrec /fixboot

Then exit the Command Prompt, reboot and see what happens.

rebooting....annddddd not booting from cd...andddd bootmgr is missing.

Boot back to the Windows 7 DVD Command Prompt.

By the way, when you start the DVD now, does it find the Windows 7 installation or does it find nothing?

At the prompt, run: dir /ah c:\

What file size is shown for bootmgr?

It does find the windows installation.
the bootmgr size is 383,562