windows 7 bootmgr is missing-- resolved using WinRE

Question

original title: windows 7 bootmgr is missing HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have a sony vaio laptop with no partitions no nothing just a hard disk with pre-installed windows 7 64 bit home premium. Yesterday i has installing some widgets to my desktop and after i have restarted the laptop windows coudn't start....it says bootmgr is missing. I tryied to use the recovery tools of vaio but the only option is toformat everything and install again windows 7 but i dont want this option. I have tried almost everything finding on net many answers about this problem but none of them it worked to me. I downloaded a bootable disk to repair the windows i tryied to do it manually from the prompt command but nothing....Its very strange though when i open the vaio recovery tools i can save all my files to an external drive but it appears a partition d: which before didnt exist

and have one folder called boot and inside contains a file called bootmgr. I would like if somebody have any idea what to do cause i have this laptop 1 month it it drives me crazy when i am thinking that i need to format everything

thanks

Answer 1

Hi darofossss,

Perform the following methods to resolve the issue: 

Method 1: Startup Repair from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)

============================================

1. Insert the Windows 7 installation disc into the disc drive, and then start the computer. 
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD …". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer. 
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your Windows installation and click Next. 
6. At the System Recovery Options Dialog Box, click on Repair your computer.
7. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
8. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Startup Repair.

Refer the following link for more information:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-are-the-system-recovery-options-in-Windows-7

To know more about “Startup Repair” visit the following link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Startup-Repair-frequently-asked-questions

Method 2: Rebuild BCD using the Bootrec.exe tool

============================================

To run the Bootrec.exe tool, you must start Windows RE. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Put the Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when you are prompted. Select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard or an input method, and then click Next.
3. Click Repair your computer.
4. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
6. Type Bootrec.exe, and then press ENTER.

Refer the following link for more information:

How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

Method 3: Use the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to run System Restore

============================================

1. Insert the Windows 7 installation disc into the disc drive, and then start the computer. 
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD …". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method, and then click Next. 
4. Click Repair your computer. 
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your Windows installation and click Next
6. At the System Recovery Options Dialog Box, click on System Restore.
7. Follow the System Restore Wizard instruction as usual and choose the appropriate restore point.
8. Click Finish to restore the system.

To know more about “System Restore” visit the following link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/System-Restore-frequently-asked-questions

If the above methods do not help, you may try to follow the methods mentioned in this article:

Error message when you start Windows Vista: "The Windows Boot Configuration Data file is missing required information"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927391

Note: This article also applies to Windows 7 Operating system as well.

Regards,

Divya R – Microsoft Support.

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Answer 2

I've tried options 1 and 2 but neither worked.  I cannot do Option f3 ( Restore)  since I do not have a previous installation.  This is a new installation.

Answer 3

Hi,. I had this problem, I don't know what caused this but for those people who want to restore and reinstall windows I suggest you try and do what I did first. I've fixed it in few minutes but I don't guarantee it will work for you.         

''Go into the Bios and make sure your boot device 1 is the hdd that                                                          you have the OS installed on,

Also make sure it is the primary drive,  (First drive)  to boot''.

This worked for me. If you don't know how to do these steps then just research BOOT PRIORITIES or CHANGING BOOT DEVICE in youtube or google it,.

It is pretty simple.....

Answer 4

I know this probably is more specific to me. However, just wanna say how my situation got fixed.

At first, reading these responses, I thought, oh **** I just blew 2 TB of my main workspace without backup.

I was in panic.

After 2 hrs of trying to see if I can fix this in panic, I recognized in the BIOS boot sequence (or whatever it is called), external HDDs that I just plugged in were placed higher up in the priority list before my actual HDD. I had just plugged those external HDDs in to move some data, then happened to just decide to run an update (not windows update), so I just restarted the computer, only to be greeted with that "Bootmgr is missing" message.

I'm really glad it was something silly like that, but at the same time, I gotta wonder why in the heck that happened.

Answer 5

Hi!

I faced the problem with "BootMgr" is missing, and everything is now in order.

Thanks a lot, I wouldn't have figured it out by myself.

I suppose the boot-files didn't follow when I installed from my old samsung hard drive to my Western Digital 2TB disk, can that happen if I install from one hard drive to another and then remove the old hard drive?