Windows 7: Bootmgr missing ctrl+alt+del and more

i've actually taken the hdd out, because i'm having problems finding the battery and I really don't want to have to take apart this netbook as i'll never get it back together in one piece if i'm honest.
is there anything else I can do?

Why did you take the HD out. You don't need to remove the CMOS battery if you reset to defaults and it is holding the time/date settings.

If you have another netbook you can install HD into to wipe it first then that might help.

Otherwise put HD back in, boot the stick you have rewritten using the steps I gave you in Post 7 which you never replied to. Trigger the stick using one-time BIOS boot menu key, under USB, Removable or HD's.

If this fails explain exactly how it fails with any error messages. Then try booting Ultimate boot stick I also provided earlier to wipe the HD first.

You need to interact with the steps given as they are given and not days later when you get around to trying something that caught your eye. We have a 100% install rate with those who are cooperative .

Hi gregrocker
Did I miss one of your posts?
I've done everything suggested, and, did post prior that I cannot change the boot order in bios, have tryed setup defaults, have written suggested ultimate boot cd to USB stick but - as si said - I'm unable to boot any external media.
Now correct me if I'm wrong but isn't one of the three methods of clearing the bios, taking out the battery?
I've taken out the hdd as it just unslots, it's actually the easiest thing to take out, whilst looking to try to find the battery, which so far has been unsuccessful.

It's not necessary to remove the battery (and too difficult on most laptops) if you have the ability to reset BIOS to defaults in BIOS setup, unless it is not holding the date/time and needs replacement.

You do not need to boot Ultimate boot CD as it boots itself. What happens when you reboot when you plug it in? How about without the HD?

Check the HD's maker's diagnostics to see if they can be written to stick as they also normally boot themselves.

Have you checked all USB settings in BIOS setup? Is the stick showing up in BIOS boot order in BIOS setup, or on the one-time BIOS boot menu key. Your specs should be filled in by now in the bottom left of post for us to refer to.

It may be GRUB corruption on the HD which is blocking boot. Do you have another netbook you can swap in HD to wipe it? Or do you have access to an external DVD drive you can use to try install?

I previously set bios to defaults which made no difference.. Problem is/was at bootup, even by going into the bios settings, the left and right keys don't function, so being able to see and preview the set boot order was not an option.
I actually tested the USB stick and without the hdd in, it was loading fine.

Actually found a workaround which may well work for some people
I let the USB stick boot and then re-inserted the hdd, which was recognised. I loaded up the partition manager program and it was reading my 250gb hdd as ntfs for some reason, so I formatted drive to fat32, then rebooted. Got the message "no bootable media present, please insert media", and then put the other Windows install USB stick in and it's currently installing right now.
Weird thing is, it actually read the drive as ntfs, even though i'd formatted to fat32, with partition manager, so I re-formatted to fat32.

Sorry I'm not sure what you mean gregrocker as to where to put my system specs? I'm using my iPod to read and type messages so maybe cannot see it on here.

Also, restarted this several times since install and it's fine.
Main c drive still reads as ntfs but it's all working fine, do will mark this as solved, thanks.

You were risking your hardware if you hotplugged your HD while booted into flash stick unless you have AHCI hotplugging.

The fact the stick booted with HD removed confirmed my suspicion that GRUB code on HD was blocking installer boot, and it only needed wiping which solves nearly half of install issues we've dealt with here. You'd have been able to wipe with Diskpart Clean Command by pressing the Shift +F10 keys at installer's first screen to access a Command line.

I dont' know why you formatted a HD FAT32. It needed wiping and then creating and formatting partitions during install, or just clicking Next to let installer do it for you.

Will your stick boot on it's own now without the workaround? The boot sector is still not wiped.

Yes I do

Thanks I'll know now for the next time if I run into this type of problem.

Not sure what you mean. I installed windows. If you have a step by step recommended procedure then maybe it should have been posted here. Otherwise the hdd was formatted and windows was installed. The NetBook came with 250gb on a single partition, and that's the way it is now.

Will check and let you know, thanks

I linked you a week ago in Posts #4 and #7 to the steps to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. Also I gave you the steps to wipe the HD with Diskpart Clean Command in that same Post #4 and again in #27.

I also gave you a way to wipe the HD from self-booting bootable flash stick in post #15.

I continued to ask you why you were ignoring and not replying to these steps in subsequent posts over a week.

It's very discouraging to take time to carefully write out steps, have them ignored for a week and then to ask why I never posted them.

I actually did what was advise in post 15
and if you want to know the delay for posting its due to not having a screwdriver to open up my netbook, apologies for that.
i'm also not going to use diskpart when i've just installed a fresh os, because that would mean i'd have to install all over again.
I have done a clean reinstall of windows and have used the tools advised and the methods described.