Solved BOOTMGR is Missing, and WinRE doesn't fix it.

[Yusoex]

Hi, I am faced with a very serious problem and I'm starting to get really desperate.

I have an SSD with Windows 7 and Xubuntu dual boot with GRUB boot menu,
and two internal laptop hdds that I use for data, such as music, photos, software projects etc...

I recently changed some of the drive letters for the two internal laptop hdds, but NOT my SSD ( C: drive )
but now I get the "BOOTMGR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" message.

First thing I did was insert my recovery disk ( same as my installation disk for win 7 ) and attempted to rebuild my bcd.
And so I did the usual good stuff:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

I also had to rename/delete my old BCD store in order to recreate it.
I made sure that the relevant partitions are active, ran the commands, but still the problem persists.

I also noticed that my Drive letters changed. A partition on one of the laptop HDDS, which as E:\, became C:\ and my C:\ drive became E:\
So i unlugged all my hdds except for my SSD where my windows is installed, and repeated the whole process.
But no luck ...

I've been at this for hours, but yet nothing.
Even my Recovery disc is going bananas now. When I select the Windows OS and attempt to recover its says the Windows Recovery is not compatible with this installation.

I've also looked around in my C:\ drive to look for the BOOTMGR file. But its nowhere. Probably because its beyond hidden. I tried this:

dir /a

in C:\, C:\windows, C:\windows\boot etc..

Any help would be tremendously appreciated !!
Thanks

 

[Yusoex]

Never mind.
Yet again, a dead serious problem turned out to be something completely stupid.

For some reason, even with the other HDDs unplugged, the Windows Recovery attempted to recreate the bootmgr file on a different drive.
I simply copied it from one of the other drives using the Command Prompt from the recovery disc to my Windows 7 installation drive.

Now I just have to figure out how to change the Windows Vista loading screen back to Windows 7 >.>

 

[gregrocker]

If you'd like for us to look over your disk configuration to make sure its correct post back a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image .'

You want to be sure the correct partition is marked Active then run a few Startup Repairs from the disk to complete repairs to the boot loader.

 

[Yusoex]

That was actually the first thing I did after my PC finally booted into windows.
Though I'd greatly appreciate if someone looked over my current disk config.
My current knowledge on partitions is still only limited to their use, and not on the technicalities.

I have attached a screen shot.
Thanks

 

[gregrocker]

Please include the drive map.

Why are any partitions besides System marked Active? They should not be. Partition - Mark as Inactive - Windows 7 Forums

 

[Yusoex]

Oh I thought all partitions in use should be active. So only my Windows partition should be active ?
Is this the correct configuration ?

 

[gregrocker]

When the OS HD is not in Disk0 slot it risks having the System boot files moved to a preceding partition - especially if it is marked Active - during Repairs or Reinstall.

What are the two partitions preceding C for? If you do not want them I'd delete and recover the space using Partition Wizard boot CD to Resize Partition - Video Help. Have the disk or repair CD standing by as sometimes a few Startup Repairs must be run when resizing on the boot sector, and only use the PW Boot CD which is safest.