Bootmgr missing need help clean install can't access bios or boot sele

iCompute · 29 Oct 2012

I created this account because a) I find this forum very useful and b) this specific problem.

My boss' laptop needed fixing. Its a Sony Vaio (VPCEE21FX). I boot it on and after post I get the 'Operating System not found' message. So I grab my handy dandy windows 7 disk. Boot it from that and get the installation going. It was on the "Expanding Files" part. Now at the same time I was restoring an old xp machine so my eyes weren't glued to the laptop's screen. I looked over and the laptop was off! I checked the power cord it was plugged and everything. I booted it back up and I get 'BOOTMgR is missing press ctrl alt dlt to restart'. I can't access bios or boot menu. I've been restarting it while press f1 f8 f12 and Del, as those are the known keys, but nothing. What do I do? Please help me and thanks in advanced.

DextrousDave · 30 Oct 2012

First of all, try booting your PC again with all removable media disconnected(eg. USB thumb drives, firewire, e-sata devices.). The only media in the laptop should be the Windows Installation disk. Try booting again.

If you get your computer to boot press F8 at boot. Select the "repair your computer" option at the top of the Advanced Boot Options menu. Now you'll be given a list of options (the first one being "Startup Repair"). Select the "Command Prompt" option and type the following in command prompt: (note these options can be found on the Windows Installation disc as well, just select "repair" when booting from the cd)
bootrec/fixboot
After you ran this command(above), run "bootrec/fixmbr" without the quotation marks.
Wait for it to finish and restart your computer and try to install windows again like you usually do. Those commands fix your boot partition's active boot sector as well as the master boot record for the boot partition respectively.

It sounds like your hard drive do not have an active boot primary partition.
Try it and let me know. Fixing the bootmgr is another thing that goes after the fixboot and fixmbr issues.

NOTE: If you do get into the "System Recovery Options" menu (Either from selecting "repair" from the windows installation media OR by pressing f8 at boot and selecting "repair your computer") but you couldn't get the commands to work in command prompt(bootrec/fixboot and bootrec/fixmbr) then try the very first option: "Startup Repair".

If you cannot boot to ANYTING at all, let me know, then we have a bigger problem

gregrocker · 30 Oct 2012

What do you mean you got "the installation going?" Did you actually choose a partition at the drive selection page and begin the install? Or were files only loading the installer?

Boot into BIOS setup to see that HD is detected. Set SATA controller to AHCI to try install. Boot into installer to choose Custom install, delete all partitions and create new as desired, begin install.

If this fails, wipe the HD using Diskpart Clean Command
to try install again.

If you haven't actually started the install and still have Win7 on the HD, it is detected in BIOS and set first to boot (after DVD drive) , then you can also work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start if you'd like to try repairing it first.

Report back results for more steps.