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General => Technical Help => Topic started by: Hampshire Lass on Saturday 23 March 13 08:52 GMT (UK)
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Morning all,
I switched my computer on this morning to be greeted by a black screen and the message:
bootmgr is missing press ctrl +alt + delete to restart
I tried that and the screen tried to start but then reverted to the same message.
I switched off via the button on the side and the same thing happened again.
Really don't know how to overcome this problem.....other than write this message on my husbands pc and hope that some kind soul can help me :'( :'(
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This might help until someone with more knowledge comes along
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2622803
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Hi Hampshire Lass,
I'm no expert, but have had a bit of experience getting my own computers going.
Firstly, turn EVERYTHING off. unplug everything, then plug in only what's needed. That is, not printer, scanner. etc.
Turn on from wall, then computer main switch (if it has one) then switch on front of computer. This will also activate screen.
If all you get is the same message, turn OFF the front switch, then get fingers ready on [control] and [alt].switch on while holding down keys, and bounce another finger on F8. You may need to do this a few times.
If you get no joy then it's a job for someone with more tech knowledge than me.
Or the old NASA version is unplug averything, wait 10 minutes, plug it all up again and turn on. Works most times.
Good luck, Leonie.
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Hi
Please confirm that you are running W7/Vista?
Ensure that there are no cd/dvd in drive(s)
Ensure that there are no USB drives plugged in.
Restart your pc
If no joy then the likelihood is that your harddrive has an error or an update has gone awry.
Read this
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/bootmgr-is-missing.htm
Report back
Good luck
Ray
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HampshireLass posted:
Has my computer died?
The answer is quite possibly.
If you have the original OS installation disc this might be the only way of getting up and running again.
You may lose all of your 'saved' work though. Hopefully, you have it backed up on another hard drive! ! !
To fix your current problem, you need to access a command prompt and run the BCDEDIT.exe
which will reveal your boot options. This may show anomalies with the boot sequence.
I know this sounds easier said than done considering that you can only get to the Power On Self Test 'POST' screen then seeing the bootmgr is corrupt or is missing message.
Pressing ctrl +alt + delete to restart just causes an infinite never ending loop.
Also you may see a winload.exe is corrupt or is missing message too.
I am afraid that your only option would be to re-install Windows.
To overcome my own personal experience with this problem several months ago, after a Windows update ( I won't reveal which one!!) I bit the bullet and installed Linux and have never had an ounce of trouble since. ( I also have a Win7 Laptop which is never used on the internet)
Good luck
Jim
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Just to say thank you for all your quick replies. Things aren't looking good at the moment but you've given me plenty of pointers and I'll let you know how things go :'(
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Hi
"I am afraid that your only option would be to re-install Windows."
Incorrect,
it may be one(or more) of a number of things, including but not limited to,
* a disk failure (partial or otherwise)
* simple case of copying the (now) missing program from another source.
* a windows update failure
Please confirm
* the operating system you have?
* the absence (/presence) of a delivery cd/dvd for the operating system
* whether you have run a system backup recently
R
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If you have the start-up floppy disk, try firing it up with that disc in place. Just a thought.
Cheers, Tony.
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I have windows vista with norton security.
It turned out that my husband was chatting to a friend of a friend yesterday who has a lot of computer experience via his job. I gave him a ring and he's just spent several hours trying to solve my problem. He thinks it's a virus but because the boot manager is missing everything seems to result in an ever decreasing circle and at the moment it's not solved.
I'm really not good with such a severe problem so am having difficulty in describing the problem here.
He thinks that the only option open now is to wipe the disc clear and then restore. He's gone away to contact a collegue and is coming back tomorrow.
I'm sorry that I can't explain the problem in greater detail. I think the friend of a friend is knowledgeable but mystified by the severity of things. Certainly if it was down to me all your very helpful replies are over my little old head, so one way or another, I need a man who can.
I'm just keeping my fingers crossed because although I back up there is still a certain element that is going to be lost.
Thank you so much for your replies though. I do appreciate your time and I'll let you know how things turn out.
If it's a virus whatever pleasure do people get from spreading such misery.
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Hi
Do not wipe the disc.
If you really must go down that route, then buy another hdd and load a fresh copy on that.
(the data on the original hdd "should be safe", you "should be able" use it as a data drive and copy your old data from it)
If the hdd is faulty then you do not want to use it, buy another hdd.
Let's assume that the hdd is not permanently faulty (just bad sector(s) where bootmgr resides)
First step really is to copy "bootmgr.exe" from another drive/system
Your techsavvy buddy should be able to do that
Should he/she not know, then come back here
Ray
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If you have the Operating System disc then you can do a system repair with it. This will entail booting from the disc at start up. No doubt your friend will be able to do this if he hasn't already.
If all else fails I would do as Ray says, get another hard drive and reinstall on that. Your old drive can then be connected as slave drive where you can recover any imporant files you have.
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Hi
Do not wipe the disc.
If you really must go down that route, then buy another hdd and load a fresh copy on that.
(the data on the original hdd "should be safe", you "should be able" use it as a data drive and copy your old data from it)
If the hdd is faulty then you do not want to use it, buy another hdd.
Let's assume that the hdd is not permanently faulty (just bad sector(s) where bootmgr resides)
First step really is to copy "bootmgr.exe" from another drive/system
Your techsavvy buddy should be able to do that
Should he/she not know, then come back here
Ray
I think that's maybe what he was thinking of doing actually. Wiping the drive being his last option.
I ended up a little confused by the time he left today. He was talking of copying something from his system anyway but I'll discuss your advice with him tomorrow.
If you have the Operating System disc then you can do a system repair with it. This will entail booting from the disc at start up. No doubt your friend will be able to do this if he hasn't already.
If all else fails I would do as Ray says, get another hard drive and reinstall on that. Your old drive can then be connected as slave drive where you can recover any imporant files you have.
I do have the operating system disc and he tried to do a system repair (which took a very long time) and then the situation was exactly the same afterwards, hence why he was mystified. There was a bit more to it but I can't remember or understand what the problem was.
Thank you Ray and Midase anyway....I will keep you informed.
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Thank you all for your advice. :)
In the end I took the computer to the local repair shop. They were very good and I collected it yesterday. The HDD was faulty and I had to buy a new one. They managed to save almost everything and transfer it to the new HDD. I'm now busy installing a few things and changing a few things and rescuing a few things which were lost for some reason.
All in all, I was very lucky that I didn't lose more and I'm happy to have my pc back.
I'm really glad I kept hearing your words "do not wipe the disc" or the outcome would have been very different....so many thanks for your help once again.
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Hi
That's good news!
[get soapbox out, turn on microphone, turn up volume]
NOW TAKE A BACKUP OF ALL YOUR IMPORTANT DATA.
;D ;D ;D
Ray
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Hi
That's good news!
[get soapbox out, turn on microphone, turn up volume]
NOW TAKE A BACKUP OF ALL YOUR IMPORTANT DATA.
;D ;D ;D
Ray
A salutary experience for Hampshire Lass and big lesson for me and others no doubt, I am guilty of that sin, will take backups today, thanks. :)
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Just remember, a really easy way to take instant backups of your most important data is to register for a Dropbox account, install the software so you have a Dropbox folder on your drive and save things in there. As long as you are connected to the internet, anything saved in your Dropbox folder will be instantly uploaded to dropbox "in the cloud" and you will have a backup. Ideal for your family history data.
I also use XMarks to save my internet bookmarks to the cloud so it's easy to switch browsers.
But perhaps not a good idea if you have a very low broadband usage limit.
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I hear you loud and clear Ray ;D ;D ;D
I did back some of my data up though, so I'm refuse to sit on the naughty step :)
Having said that, it definitely was a learning curve for me....and I'm not too sure that I'm out of the woods yet. I asked them at the hospital ( :)) to try to save all my data and they did. When I collected it, I had documents with the correct titles and photographs in the correct folders. However, this morning I tried to look at some of these documents and photographs and in many instances was greeted by the message "cannot open, corrupt file".
Now I know I'm easily confused but I'm left wondering if the corrupt documents and photographs were damaged somehow on my old HDD or whether in the transfer, the original problem has transferred......if you see what i mean.
It's a strange problem because some of the more recent photos are fine and some of the photos from years ago are not.....likewise with the documents. In other words, there is no timeline for the damage.
I plan to delete the corrupt documents and photos and then transfer the photos I have on my external hard drive.....and then just hope for the best.
and remember to back up regularly in future
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Hi HL
No, do not delete, yet.
Let's first think about it, no harm in keeping bits .................. [ I'm an OCD / hoarder ]
Is there any other common link as to what you cannot read/view?
eg files of the nature .jpg .gif .tif .doc .pdf .............er? etc...... er? :)
Ray
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Ooops.....too late......just worked for many hours and have deleted lots. Well, they're in the recycling bin, not totally deleted.
I've restored all the photos and they're all ok, none lost. :) Apart from some images of parish records I've found over the past 3 weeks but they may be on my history on FindMyPast.
The photos actually came up with a message something like "file empty", not quite what I quoted earlier. The documents are the ones which had the corrupt file message. Some of them were pdf files. I did download the necessary.....whatever it is....adobe reader, adobe flash, java script.....and some of the pdfs were ok and some of the documents were ok. At the moment they're sitting in the recycling bin. Haven't quite got the courage to totally delete them, just in case.
Thanks for your help Ray :)