BOOT MGR is Missing/Compressed But No BSOD's So Far....

Hi I have a complicated problem... Here are my specs:


HP Pavilion Entertainment PC (Notebook)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 2.2ghz
Graphics - Mobile Intel (R) 4 Series Express Chipset
RAM - 4gigs
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1

A few weeks ago I noticed that my graphics card wasn't working. I don't know how long its been like that. Anyway I updated the driver through Windows and it was running again. But then about a week or so ago I noticed pc wasn't functioning properly. I've been doing multiple checks to try to find the source. I found some services that should've started automatically were either stopped or disabled, some were greyed out e.g. the task scheduler so I couldn't restart it. The Event Viewer wouldn't work either. Finally I got them both running by doing a regular system restore to 2 days before.

But there were still other services not starting that should've been. Plus one that was running that I had disabled months ago.



I ran chkdsk, memory diagnostics, a full computer virus scan and other tests I can't remember....all claiming nothing was wrong. I ran troubleshooting wizards but all say they can't find a problem. The I ran some utility apps and found a few things that confuse me.

DiskAnalyzer says my BootMgr is Missing/Compressed. I know I never compressed it and I checked to make sure. I looked in the BIOS - and the "Enable Boot from Hard Drive" option - which was first is gone. My PC has been starting and booting up with no messages or warnings and there have been NO BSOD's. As far as I can tell there's noting in the event viewer about it.

Another utility tells me that cpudrv.sys is missing from my computer I verified that by locating it in device mgr which says its not functioning and its turned off. I tried starting it but message pops up that says "File not found". Everything I've looked at online sends me to a Vista fix - even when I researched it at Microsoft Answers. I started in Windows 7 Help but every link sent me back to Vista. I tried several fixes but messages at cmd prompt say invalid code or syntax.

On some sites it lists cpudrv.sys as a driver for the Intel graphics card in my pc. The driver I used to update was a different Intel driver. I remembered reading online something about compatibility issue with this graphics card (GfxUI) So earlier I ran the compatibility wizard-fix in Windows 7 it adjusted the GfxUI to run in XP SP2 Mode but I see no difference.


In the Windows 7 Recovery I've tried the "Start Up Repair" option, as well as the System Restore option. Both said it did NOT fix the problem. System Restore said it didn't restore but when I restarted pc it said it did So I'm completely nonplussed about that..... The only option I have NOT tried is 'Restore to last good configuration'. I don't have a repair disc but I do have a new laptop (actually refurbished) that I haven't started using yet because I need to do a back up and create a repair disc first. It has Windows 7 Ultimate OS as well.


Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I just want to get my Boot Mgr back BEFORE I start getting BSOD's..... Should I just disable the GfxUI? or locate the cpudrv.sys driver to install?

Hello Joni,

You might see if this may be able to help with the compressed boot manager. :)

BootMGR Compressed Message at Boot Fix

Thanks but I've already checked this. The box was not checked I've never attempted to compress any drives on my pc. There would be no reason to do this since I have over 300 GB's of space on it.

Hi Greg

Sorry I haven't responded sooner. I never saw the email notifying me of your post. I just stopped in to update this thread. I actually got the boot manager back. I tried all the fix suggestions here plus multiple others on other sites which did not work. I never saw the one you posted on activating the partition. I continued searching & reading but got nothing. I kept going back to when it happened. It was right after I discovered my graphics card wasn't working - I had checked the history of the last driver update and found it had been updated by a Windows update 10 months earlier. But a utility program I ran said the cpudrv.sys was missing. When I looked that up I found some information that said there were compatibility issues with the driver.

Before I go further I should tell you that I bought this laptop new 7 years ago and it did come preinstalled with Windows 7 Home. there was very little bloatware - no more than 3 programs if that - but I hardly used it because I didn't like Windows 7. I mostly used my tower pc which had XP Pro. It was also an HP and yeah that one was loaded with bloatware but not the laptop.

However, It had many other issues there were literally hundreds of errors, critical errors, warnings etc. in the event viewer from the minute I first turned it on. Anyway, 3 years later I took it to a shop because it got a virus I couldn't fix and the repairman installed Windows 7 Ultimate - no bloatware though the guy screwed up a lot of other things (though that's another conversation....) but at least I started to like Windows 7 - having the Ultimate version made a big difference.

Anyway, Windows update installed an incompatible driver 10 months earlier (even though I've had it set to NOT update drivers). I searched online and found the right driver - uninstalled the one that Windows had put it and installed the one I found. Since then my boot mgr is back and all is well.

I don't know if that really was the cause because it had been 10 months since Windows had installed the driver anything could have happened after that. But I also don't understand how bloatware would cause the boot mgr to disappear. Especially after 7 years

I think my problem was unique due to all the other issues I have with this pc. The settings were never done properly in the first place. I figured this out by talking to HP support when I first got the pc 7 years ago.
But I thought it was important to at least let people know that they shouldn't give up when multiple fixes they've tried haven't worked. They should fix all other unrelated issues as well and that just might resolve the problem that that started them on the quest in the first place - like mine did.

gregrocker said:

Were you provided with a COA sticker proving that Ultimate installed by the shop was genuine and not some cracked verison that could have messed up your boot loader? It's an expensive OS. Did you pay the shop a lot for it?

It is sketchy behavior to replace an expensive license you already own for the life of the PC with a higher version no consumer needs and costs a lot more. No reputable shop would do such a thing unless you asked and paid them to install an unnecessary higher version.

Is the Product Key readable on the COA sticker for the $100+ Win7 license you already own? If so let us help you do a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. Be sure to follow the steps closely and pay attention to how drivers are handled.

I think you're getting carried away here. All operating systems are expensive or rather over priced in my opinion. The COA sticker on a laptop is merely evidence that the machine was originally sold with a pre-installed licensed version of Windows. My computer which I bought at Best Buy did not come with a COA sticker because Home versions on laptops don't typically have them. The license is still valid with or without the sticker. That standard changed with Windows 8 which now embeds the product key in the BIOS.


You can buy volume licensing if you're a business or have a teaching license here in California for very low cost. As a student you can buy full OS's for 1/3 of the retail cost at a college store either online or at a brick and mortar. I bought XP Pro a year before Windows 7 came out at school for $100. As a student, I also bought CS5 and CS6 for $350 each when they first came out with full licensing and support. They are perfectly legitimate, the cd/dvd's come with product codes and authentic verification by calling a Microsoft 800# to verify and activate Microsoft support with a live person. Same with Adobe only you don't have to call them you can register for support online.


And yes I did in fact ask for and paid extra but saying it's unnecessary is ridiculous. It's not about need its about want and that's what I wanted. There is a big difference between the Home versions and Pro or higher versions. I don't like the Home versions of any Windows so I asked for and got a whole new Legitimate OS which came with a product code under volume licensing - I paid a very low price - less than $50.


My boot loader was not messed up. I don't know why you would think that when I previously told you I've had this same OS for 4 years before the boot mgr went missing to which I've also explained above that I got it back. I have no need or desire to reinstall the OS.