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Problem with bootmgr is missing

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Hi,

I am using Windows 7 64 and ATIH 2012. I have two harddisks. I have made a Backup of my first HD and
recovered it to the second one. Acronis has recovered it but when I try to boot from my second Harddisk, I am receiving the message : "Bootmgr is missing"

Is there any thing to do?

I would like to have the possibility , if I can't boot anymore from my first HD, to boot from my second HD and then eventually repairing my first HD.

Thanks for help.

Daniel

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Did you back up the System Reserved partition as well as the regular partition Windows is installed on? The System Reserved partition is not assigned a drive letter, but if created when Win7 is installed is required to boot. You would need to recover both partitions to the new hard drive. (In a normal setup the system partition would be assigned C:).

Thanks for your answer.

If I understand well, I can't boot from my second HD , if the first is not present or defective.

Would it be possible to boot with the "Acronis Rescue boot CD" and then starting with the second HD?

Daniel

If you didn't back up both the partitions I mentioned, assuming they both existed ont he first hard drive, and you don't have access to the System Reserved partition any longer then no - you won't be able to boot from your second hard drive. Unless you manually create the System Reserved parition and the needed files/sectors - which is beyond my current comprehension.

I am not sure if you'd be able to install the second hard drive, then boot from the Acronis CD and tell it to continue to boot from the hard drive. I would assume not, because you still wouldn't have the files in the System Recovery partition needed to direct control to the OS. However, I am not very knowledgeable in such things compared to others so perhaps someone else will be able to expand on my attempt to assist.

If you are able to start Windows7 on the first harddisk go to folder options in control panel and UnHide Protected Operating System files

Next open the root directory of the partition on the first harddisk where Windows7 is installed ( like C:\ ) and find the file bootmgr. Copy the file to the root directory of the boot partition of the second harddisk.

Try booting up the second disk now.

Hi Rajan,

The problem is that the bootmgr is not on the C but in a special partition called System Reserved.

Daniel

When you restored the image to harddisk #2 did you include MBR ? If not try restoring again with MRB included.

Yes, I restored with MBR but MBR is not on the the HD#2 but on a special partition called "System Reserved"

Daniel,

A simple way to fix this is to disconnect the other disk where the system reserved partition is, to boot on the Win7 installation DVD and to repair the startup.
This repair will put the boot files in the C:\system partition and the system reserved partition will become obsolete. If you don't intend to use bitlocker, this will work just fine.

You can still have a dual boot, regardless of where the boot files are. What will happen is that your boot files will be rebuilt in C:\systems. Then you can reconnect the other drives containing other systems and/or simply use bootrec /scanOS, or/rebuildBCD to enable a multi-boot.

You could also move manually the system reserved partition on the disk containing the Win7 installation (leave a 1MB offset before system reserved and put it as the first partition). Then you repair the startup as described before (by leaving only that disk in the system), then you rebuild your multi-boot (with bootrec or your favorite boot manager).

Assuming there is nothing yet wrong with harddisk #1, this is another method you can try:

Clone Harddisk #1 to Harddisk #2

That's it. There is nothing else to copy/rewrite/restore/rebuild.... If the cloning is successful you should be able to boot up the second disk

Note: Clone disk feature is under Tools and Utilities in AcronisTI