Windows boot configuration data file does not contain a valid OS entry

thank you.. you have been a great help...once I eventually get this up and running I'll need to ensure that I have a backup regime in place.. firstly to buy a big backup hard drive..

I'll do as you recommended. I'll backup the drive first and then look for some tool that will be able to see beyond the errors..I'll search around the forums here to see what the best utility would be for this..

a quick question how can I use macrium to backup my disk when I cannot boot from the disk..has this program got the ability to access my broken pc from my second pc?

Thank you greatly appreciated....

Thanks again for all your help it was appreciated...A hard lesson learned eh... I'll sign off now thank you...

I had this exact same issue, almost to the letter. The only difference is that I initially had a different error message, but at the end when I was going through my disks, C: was completely empty.

Funny thing is, I was planning on doing a complete backup and upgrading to Windows 10 this weekend. So, if anyone else with this issue finds this thread: before you mess with partitions and start digging around in the BIOS, get the command line up with either a DVD or USB version of Windows, and then type:

c:

Then type

dir

If you see nothing, don't waste your time. Hope you have a recent backup.