Bootmgr missing, won't boot from DVD drive

[Robering]

Hi, my father in laws PC started showing the message 'bootmgr is missing' after he installed something loaded with adware (binkiland land I think). I've created a few recovery discs that definitely work (I've tested them on my laptop which had the same version of windows 7) but the PC won't recognise them. I've checked the BIOS settings and changed the boot order but still no joy. The preinstalled repair manager runs after pressing F11 at startup but only gives the option to do a factory reset or scan the disc for errors and all the other repair options are greyed out. The scan option says the hard drive is fine but when I took it out and put it in an HDD enclosure I can't get it to work (it doesn't seem to turn one even tho the led on the enclosure lights up) Are there any other options for recovering the files from the hard drive before I run the factory rest and loose 6 years worth of holiday snaps :-(

HP Pavilion p6300uk
Windows 7 Home Premium x64

 

[whs]

I would try a Linux distro. Here is the one I made. Try that.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/287439-emergency-kit-save-your-files-dead-os.html

 

[gregrocker]

Mainly because valuable files are at risk, I'm writing out everything I would do to get to them under the circumstances, at least one of which should work. Always back up your files as the HD can fail at any time.

Your external enclosure might not be working correctly, so let's go with the HP Diagnostics which say the drive is OK. Can you install the laptop hard drive in another laptop to try rescuiing the files with a boot disk? Perhaps the Win7 repair disk will work on that PC, in which case you can Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console. You could even Adjust Win7 to boot on new hardware with Paragon Adaptive Restore CD for the purpose of repairing the install so it will start.

Download, burn to CD with WIndows Image burner, Boot the HD Diagnostic extended CD scan
which should autostart without user input.

You could also boot Partition Wizard to Resize C Partition to make a space to do a rescue Clean Reinstall Windows 7 that will give access to your files on the other partition, provides all the steps to get and keep a perfect install. If you had to do this with the hard drive installed in another PC because you simply cannot get the Win7 disk to start, you'd at least be able to rescue your files, then use PW to delete all partitions which will force the Win7 installation disk to autostart in the HP.

Make a bootable CD like was linked earlier or Paragon Rescue Kit Free Edition 11.0 Free to try to copy your files out to USB. If you can get the Win7 disk or Repair CD to boot on the HP then you can Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console

If you can't boot a Repair disk then obtain the Win7 disk as discussed in Step 1 of Clean Reinstall Windows 7 to work through the steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.

If disks continue to fail to boot, try resetting BIOS to defaults: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

If you want to report back results on the various steps, we might come up with others. I know that unless the drive was completely bricked (which should show up in HP Diagnostics) I would get the files out if not repair the OS to boot. Then the consolation is you get an install that is tons better than the HP Factory install which is worst in the industry, as long as you stick with the steps, tools and methods in Clean Reinstall Windows 7 which has been used by over a million consumers without a single complaint or return with problems.

 

[Robering]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give them a try and post how I got on.

 

[Robering]

Ok, so I've got an old XP machine and I've unhooked the cd drive and replaced it with the problem HD. When I boot the machine, it recognises the new HD and its partitions and has assigned them labels but the only folder visible in the main partition is 'rmtemp', which doesn't contain any data. Might this be something to do with incompatibility between the XP machine and how Win7 stores the files? I've also tried swapping the HDs but it refuses to boot from the CD still.

 

[AddRAM]

There`s no reason you shouldn`t see the files on the XP machine.

But, I would put the drive back in the W7 machine, then install Linux Mint on a flash drive and boot from that, don`t install it just try Linux, it gives you the 2 options, Install or try. You should then be able to mount the W7 drive and explore it.

Main Page - Linux Mint

Universal USB Installer

 

[Robering]

Thanks. I was going to try putting the repair files on a USB but I couldn't find an option in BIOS to boot from USB. Is there a way to add it without upgrading BIOS?

 

[AddRAM]

Are you saying you want to create a system repair disc, but put it on a usb drive ?

Not sure if that`s possible.

Why not just make the startup repair disc (CD)

The bios might say boot from usb directly, it might say boot from another device or external device etc.

Just use the 1 time boot menu key to bring up the boot menu then arrow down to the usb device.

 

[Robering]

I'll try the Linux method but I just wasn't sure how to boot from the usb. Thanks.

 

[AddRAM]

I just made a Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon Edition usb stick using Rufus, took 5 minutes. Download the 32 or 64 bit version where it says Torrents, or try one of the HTTP mirrors, but I think the Torrent download is faster.

The Linux Mint Blog » Blog Archive » Linux Mint 17.1

https://rufus.akeo.ie/

 

[Robering]

Hello again, I installed Linux mint cinnamon on a flash drive and it booted fine but froze as soon as I tried to click on a menu item. I tried an earlier edition too (forgot what it was called now) but that didn't even load and all I got was a screen full of code. Now that I know how to boot from a USB /-) I used rufus to create a bootable USB repair disk. The repair options loaded but when I went in to startup repair, there was no OS listed. I opened the command prompt option and followed an online tutorial and used some bootrec.exe tools including scanos which told me that it could not find an OS installed. Is there a way to get it to recognise the Win7 that's on there or might this mean that it's gone for good?

 

[Robering]

Hi, I've tried the Linux Mint cinnamon edition and it loaded but freezes when I click on anything. I tried an earlier version of mint too but that didn't even load. Now that I know how to boot from a USB /-) I used rufus to create a bootable USB repair disk which worked. However, there is no OS listed when I go into startup repair. I opened the command prompt option and followed a tutorial to use the bootrec.exe commands including /scanos and that also told me that there was no OS installed. Is there a way to get it to recognise the Win7 that's on there or might it be gone for good??

 

[Robering]

Sorry, didn't think the last message posted!!!

 

[Robering]

Hi , I installed Linux mint cinnamon on a flash drive and it booted fine but froze as soon as I tried to click on a menu item. I tried an earlier edition too (forgot what it was called now) but that didn't even load and all I got was a screen full of code. Now that I know how to boot from a USB /-) I used rufus to create a bootable USB repair disk. The repair options loaded but when I went in to startup repair, there was no OS listed. I opened the command prompt option and followed an online tutorial and used some bootrec.exe tools including scanos which told me that it could not find an OS installed. Is there a way to get it to recognise the Win7 that's on there or might this mean that it's gone for good??

 

[gregrocker]

Everything that can be done is here for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.

If there is no OS listed to repair when using a known-good repair disk or if necessary the Win7 disk for repairs, skip to the step for running bootrec/bootsect commands to see if it shows up.

 

[Midori]

Are you saying you want to create a system repair disc, but put it on a usb drive ?

Not sure if that`s possible.

Why not just make the startup repair disc (CD)

You can make a USB-Drive with System repair using Grub4dos and Winre:
95 - Make a bootable Windows Recovery USB Flash drive from a Windows 7 system - RMPrepUSB

Also if you want to try see if your HDD could be failing, you can use a software called Hard Disk sentinel:
Hard Disk Sentinel - DOS version
Dos version works best, also be sure to connect your HDD a Sata or Ide port cause USB has trouble sending SMART(HDD health Log) to programs.

Also, remember to make a Backup and make sure not to write as that will shorten the life of the drive.

 

[paul1149]

I wouldn't worry about Win7 yet, the first business is getting the data. I would go with Puppy Linux rather than Mint. It's very light and if anything is going to boot correctly, it will. Or on the windows side, I would go with a Win XP PE disk....

You should be seeing the data when you look into that disk. If you don't, then you need to stop and consider how important it is. Because the more you play with a failing drive -if that's the case here - the less chance you will have of rescuing data.

Windows can always be reinstalled. Data is a different matter.

edit: illegal reference deleted.

 

[whs]

I would go with Puppy Linux rather than Mint. It's very light

Puppy is light (so what) but a bitch to operate for data recovery. Mint is a lot more intuitive and familiar for a Windows user.

 

[paul1149]

Perhaps, but first he needs to get an OS to boot correctly.

 

[Midori]

Or on the windows side, I would go with a Win XP PE disk, which is already on Hiren's Boot CD.

Becareful suggesting Hiren, the MiniXP in hiren is a illegal version of Windows BartPE and is against the rules in some forums.

Best is to simply use a Linux based boot cd to try access the files on your HDD.

• Linux mint (Mate and Xfce are light and fast)
• Puppy Linux (Uses least memory, but does not look as good as the others)
• Ultimate Boot CD (Has a arsenal of tools)

Good luck ^^.