odriscoll27
Posts: 65 +0
Recently a few people who have attempted to build a PC, (perhaps for the first time), upgrade their OS or their PC is just simply playing up have received the error “BOOTMGR is missing Press Ctrl Alt Del to restart”. This article will try to help people understand why this may have happened and what they can do to resolve it.
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[FONT=Times New Roman]First things First:[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]BOOTMGR issues apply to Windows 7 and Windows Vista operating systems only. Windows XP does not utilize BOOTMGR. The equivalent function in Windows XP is NTLDR[/FONT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman]BOOTMGR Error Message:[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]There are few ways that the "BOOTMGR is missing" error may show up on your computer, with the first error I have listed being the most common:[/FONT]
- [FONT=Times New Roman]"BOOTMGR is missing[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Press Ctrl Alt [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]Del to restart"[/FONT] - [FONT=Times New Roman]"BOOTMGR is missing[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Press any key to restart"[/FONT] - [FONT=Times New Roman]"Couldn't find BOOTMGR"[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]The "BOOTMGR is missing" error displays shortly after the computer is turned on, immediately after the [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Power On Self Test (POST)[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] is complete. Windows 7 or Windows Vista has only initially started to load when the BOOTMGR error message appears.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman]Causes of BOOTMGR Errors:[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]There are a number of possible causes for BOOTMGR errors, including the most common "BOOTMGR is missing" error message.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman]The most common reasons for BOOTMGR errors include corrupt and misconfigured files, hard drive and [/FONT][FONT=Arial]operating system[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] upgrade issues, corrupt hard drive [/FONT][FONT=Arial]sectors[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman], an outdated [/FONT][FONT=Arial]BIOS[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman], and damaged or loose [/FONT][FONT=Arial]IDE cables[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman].[/FONT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman]Another reason you might see BOOTMGR errors is if your PC is trying to [/FONT][FONT=Arial]boot[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] from a [/FONT][FONT=Arial]hard drive[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] or [/FONT][FONT=Arial]flash drive[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] that is not properly configured to be booted from. In other words, it's trying to boot from a non-bootable source. This also would apply to media on an [/FONT][FONT=Arial]optical drive[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] or [/FONT][FONT=Arial]floppy drive[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] that you're trying to boot from.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman]Fixes for BOOTMGR Errors:[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Restart the PC. The BOOTMGR error could be a fluke.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Check your optical drives, [/FONT][FONT=Arial]USB ports[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman], and floppy drives for media. Often times, the "BOOTMGR is Missing" error will appear if your PC is trying to boot to a non-bootable disc, external drive, or floppy disk.
Note: If you find that this is the cause of your issue and it's happening regularly, you might want to consider [/FONT][FONT=Arial]changing the boot order in BIOS[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] so the hard drive is listed as the first boot device.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Perform a Startup Repair of Windows[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]. This type of installation should replace any missing or corrupt files, including BOOTMGR.
Even though a Startup Repair is a common solution for BOOTMGR problems, don't worry if it doesn't fix your problem. Just continue troubleshooting - something will work.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Write a new partition boot sector to the Windows system partition[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] to correct any possible corruption, configuration problem, or other damage.
The [/FONT][FONT=Arial]partition boot sector[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] is an important piece in the boot process so if there's any issue with it, you'll see problems like "BOOTMGR is Missing" errors.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Rebuild the Boot Configuration Data (BCD)[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]. Similar to the partition boot sector, a corrupted or incorrectly configured BCD could cause BOOTMGR error messages.
Important: The following troubleshooting steps are much less likely to help fix your BOOTMGR problem. If you've skipped any of the above ideas then you may have overlooked a very likely solution to this problem![/FONT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman]Check the hard drive and other drive settings in BIOS and ensure they are correct. The BIOS configuration tells the computer how to use a drive so incorrect settings can cause problems, including BOOTMGR errors.
Note: There's usually an Auto setting in BIOS for hard disk and optical drive configurations which is usually a safe bet if you're not sure what to do.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Reseat all internal data and power cables[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]. BOOTMGR error messages could be caused by loose or malfunctioning power or controller cables.
Try replacing the [/FONT][FONT=Arial]PATA[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] or [/FONT][FONT=Arial]SATA[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] cable if you suspect it might be faulty.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Update your motherboard's BIOS[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]. An outdated BIOS version can sometimes cause the "BOOTMGR is Missing" error.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Perform a clean installation of Windows[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]. This type of installation will completely remove Windows from your PC and install it again from scratch. While this will almost certainly resolve any BOOTMGR errors, it's a time consuming process due to the fact that all of your data must be backed up and then later restored.
If you can't gain access to your files to back them up, please understand that you will lose them all if you continue with a clean installation of Windows![/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial]Replace the hard drive[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] and then [/FONT][FONT=Arial]install a new copy of Windows[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman]. If all else has failed, including the clean installation from the last step, you're most likely facing a hardware issue with your hard drive.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman]Hope this helps some people and im open to any comments and questions[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]James[/FONT]
