Windows Cleanup destroyed OS loader, unable to boot

Hi all,

last Friday I tried running Windows' own Disk Cleanup tool in order to purge a huge amount of temporary files from the system. The cleanup task somehow managed to destroy the OS loader in the process and rendered my system unable to boot. Now when booting Windows tries to run Startup Repair, which never succeeds. The problem details are as follows:

Code:

Problem Event Name: StartupRepairSoftware
Problem Signature 01: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 02: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 03: unknown
Problem Signature 04: 43
Problem Signature 05: AutoFailover
Problem Signature 06: 1
Problem Signature 07: MissingOsLoader
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

and the repair details include the root cause:

Code:

Boot manager failed to find OS loader.

Repair action: File repair
Result: Failed. Error code = 0xa

Repair action: Boot configuration data store repair
Result: Failed. Error code = 0x2

I have scoured through the web for help, but with little success. None of the solutions that have worked for other people are helping me. What I've tried includes:

* restoring the system from a restore point (fails with "incorrect parameter" regardless of the hardware configuration)
* restoring the system from a system image (also fails)
* running the automated startup repair multiple times consecutively both from system drive and from a USB boot drive (nothing changes, the repair is always unable to fix the system)
* fixing the MBR and boot sector with bootrec (it claims to succeed but nothing really changes)
* rebuilding the BCD with bootrec /rebuildbcd (it always finds precisely 0 Windows installations, as does /scanos)
* recreating the boot sectors with bootsect (nothing changes)
* running chkdsk and sfc (nothing exceptional found)
* unplugging all other HDDs than the system drive just to be certain I'm dealing with the correct volumes and partitions (I should note here that I did try restoring the system from a restore point with the original hardware configuration but it still failed)

I am running a Dell Optiplex with Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit. The system drive and its volumes are configured as follows according to diskpart:

* Volume 0 (C:) is the System Reserved partition. It is active and not hidden. (I've tried removing the drive letter from this drive but the system will reassign it to C: after rebooting.)
* Volume 1 (D:) is the Windows partition. Is it not active and not hidden.
(* Volume 2 (E:) is the USB stick I boot from. Nothing interesting there.)

What is interesting is that both C: and D: contain a Boot folder. I am uncertain if this should be the case. Nevertheless, trying to rename BCD and rebuild it using bootrec /rebuildbcd does not accomplish anything on either drive.

After hours and hours of tinkering I'm not getting anywhere. I would really love to get my system back without having to reinstall everything completely. There must be a way to fix the OS loader. Can anybody assist me?

ThrashZone said:

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Windows cleanup is a pretty generic name and doesn't sound like you used Disk cleanup or clean up system files inside of it :/
So was this registry cleaner downloaded and used and if so from where exactly ?

Sorry for the imprecision. I meant exactly the Disk cleanup tool that comes with Windows, not a third-party software. That's what baffles me the most about the whole mess.

I would boot the install DVD, get to the command prompt and try
How to Manually Repair Windows 7 Boot Loader Problems

bootrec /fixboot

See if this applies to you - 0xc000000e - HD crash, switched to cloned backup drive