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How to Resolve Windows BOOTMGR Missing Error By Kumar Gandharva Jha

Have you ever experienced "BOOTMGR is missing Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart" error? If you have, then the article is for you. The error befalls when your PC is unable to interact with Windows due to a corrupted Windows installation, or it is trying to boot from a wrongly configured or improperly connected hard drive or flash drive among other external medium.

Why BOOTMGR Missing Error Occurs?

Misconfigured or corrupted files
Corrupt⁄faulty hard drive or hard drive boot sectors
OS upgrade problems
Outdated BIOS
Loose or damaged IDE cables

Instructions

Reboot PC - Reboot your PC and check if the problem has resolved. One of the simplest methods, rebooting adjusts the settings and often fixes the glitch. If the problem still persists, then move on to follow the instructions below:

Check Cables - Check power and controller cables, if they are loose, then disconnect and reconnect them tightly to the jacks. If any cable is malfunctioning, then replace it.

Replace faulty hard drive - If the hard drive is faulty or corrupted, replace it with a new one.

Fix Registry Errors - You need to run the registry cleaner tool to wipe out registry entries-related issues. If you don't have a registry cleaner installed on your PC, download a free version from website registry-clean.net. Click on the "download now" link, save the file to your preferred location viz. desktop or C:\ etc. and run it. You can also copy and paste this link in your browser's address bar and get going.

Repair Windows 7 - You can repair Windows 7 by putting the installation disc (that came with the Windows 7) into the disc drive and reboot your PC. Press any key when you see this prompt "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD" on the screen. Set DVD-Rom as your primary boot choice. From the dialog box, choose your preferred language; Time and currency format; and Keyboard or input method (select US); and click on "Next".

Click on "Repair your computer", select "Microsoft Windows Vista", and click on "Next". Click to choose the first option that says "Startup Repair" in the "System Recovery Options" window. It will start scanning and repairing the issue(s). When finished, you will be prompted to reboot your PC. Remove the disc and click on reboot to let the changes take effect.

Note if the repair wizard finds any other problem, it may prompt you to boot again so that the repairing can be continued.

Re-build BCD (Boot Configuration Data) - You can re-build the boot management script by running the "Bootrec.exe" tool in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). You can do so by following the same abovementioned instructions to repair Windows 7. When you reach the "System Recovery Options" window, click on the last option that says "Command Prompt".

When the Command Prompt window comes up, type bootrec /rebuildbcd and hit [Enter] on the keyboard. If the process goes successful, you will be redirected to the Windows directory. Type Yes and hit [Enter] on the keyboard. It will show a message that the entry has been successfully added to the directory.

If the process was unable to locate missing Windows installation files, then delete the BCD store completely. Now rebuild the BCD by going into the "Command Prompt" option again. Type bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup and hit [Enter], type ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old and hit [Enter], type bootrec /rebuildbcd and hit [Enter] on the keyboard. Make sure that you type these commands one after another and press [Enter] after every command. Finally reboot the PC to let the changes take place.

Reinstall Windows 7 - If nothing seems to work, reinstall Windows 7 with the installation disc that came with the pack. Kindly, backup or restore all your data to a flash drive or another hard drive⁄CD etc. before performing the reinstallation.

Additional Information

The abovementioned instructions are designed to fix only software issues in Windows 7. If there is a hardware issue, replace the faulty or corrupted hardware piece.

The BOOTMGR is missing error occurs only in Windows 7 and Vista. The error is not applicable to Windows XP as it doesn't use BOOTMGR utility.


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