Windows 7: BOOTMGR is missing

I started to do this on my desktop so i could install windows 7 on my laptop using a USB flash drive: How To Boot And Install Windows 7 From USB Flash Drive -Make Tech Easier
I got to the part where I made the partition on my flash drive active before i realized that it was a tutorial to boot from USB flash drive on that computer only.
When i restarted my computer, it attempted to boot from my flash drive (it was still plugged in) so i restarted and went to my boot devices and selected my RAID. It started up fine. I went back into the command prompt and made the partition on my flash drive inactive and went to my RAID and made sure that it's partition was active. Then i restarted. It sees my RAID 0 configuration (2x750GB WD Caviar Black, only one partition C:\) then it goes to the next screen and says detecting drives...no drives found then it gives me the "BOOTMGR is missing" message.

To try to fix this, I booted from my Windows 7 Professional x64 disk and went to repair computer. Under the System Recovery Options screen it does not list anything under the Operating System. I went to command prompt and used "bootrec /RebuildBcd" it says: "Scanning all disks for Windows installations. Please wait, since this may take a while... Successfully scanned Windows installations. Total identified Windows installations: 0 The operation completed successfully.

I also tried startup repair, but as i could not select my operating system, it does not work.



Help please?

Hello bvarn, welcome to Seven Forums!



It may take running a startup repair at least 3 separate times; have a look at this tutorial at the link below and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.


Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

I tried it 3 times, with a restart in between, but each time it said: Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically.

Problem Details:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline
Problem Signature 01: 0.0.0.0
Problem Signature 02: 0.0.0.0
Problem Signature 03: unknown
Problem Signature 04: 0
Problem Signature 05: unknown
Problem Signature 06: 1
Problem signature 07: unknown
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: unknown

You may have stuffed the RAID, Windows 7 and RAID are not the best of friends to start with and I don't have enough practical experience with RAID to be further help; keep checking back though as someone may have some help for you.

also, when i tried to use command prompt, it said this

DISKPART> list disk
There are no fixed disks to show.

i have not had any problems with RAID before

You may have removed the Active flag from Windows 7 which has caused it not to start.

To have a picture of your hard drives and partitions to see what you're doing better, use free Partition Wizard bootable CD to Modify>Set to Active your Windows 7 partition. Free Download Magic Partition Manager Software - Partition Wizard Online

If you have it, try marking the 100mb SysReserved partition Active first, then if the Repairs which follow don't work mark Windows 7 partition itself Active.

Now close the Command Line, choose from the Recovery Tools list Startup Repair to run up to 3 separate times with reboots until Windows 7 starts: Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

If somehow you un-RAIDED the HD's and cannot put RAID back together again, I would reinstall to one HD and add the other one after install as a data or backup drive.

when i start up my computer it says that the RAID 0 status is functional, but in the partition wizard it says:
Disk 1:
Partition: *: | File System: Unformatted | Capacity: 100.00 MB | Used: 100.00 MB | Unused: 0 B | Status: None | Type: Primary
Partition: *: | File System: Other | Capacity: 698.54 GB | Used: 698.54 GB | Unused: 0 B | Status: None | Type: Primary
Disk 2:
Partition: *: | File System: Unallocated | Capacity: 698.64 GB | Used: 0 B | Unused: 698.64 GB | Status: None | Type: Logical

I tried setting each partition to active and then did startup repair with the windows 7 disk (three separate times each) but it did not work. Each time when it came up with the System Recovery Options, it did not list any operating systems installed on the computer.

Is Disk0 your RAID containing both of the RAIDed HD's? If so it seems your 100mb Sys Reserved partition has been emptied. See if you can see any content by rightclick>Explore in PW CD. Either way, mark it Active to run Startup Repair 3 times to see if it will rebuild the partition and become the System partition again. If not, try activating Windows 7 again, run the Repairs to see if it will accept the boot files to claim System.

We see so many problems here with RAID that I wouldn't advise using RAID with Windows 7 unless you are a RAID expert or else one comes along to advise you. Most people here do not use RAID or advise doing so in Windows 7, which comes with built-in drive imaging that provides true redundancy that doesn't lose both drives' content if one dies.

If you're not able to reconstruct the RAID as it was configured to see if Windows 7 is reparable or your data retrievable, then I would Explore the remaining partitions which shows content to see if your files might still be intact: Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console

You can also run free Recuva to try to recover data in pieces and piece it back together.

Then I would wipe the HD to clean reinstall Windows 7 with all other HD's unplugged. SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation
Clean Install Windows 7
Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

Afterwards plug in the other HD(s) to use as data drive or storage. You can also wipe them using Diskpart from Windows 7 elevated Command Line.

Some tips to get a purrfect reinstall based on hundreds done here: re-install windows 7