# BOOTMGR Missing! HELP!!!



## Squeegie

Can't boot into Windows because BOOTMGR is missing?
I boot up the XP PRO logo just about to come up and something comes up sayin BOOTMGR missing press ctrl alt and del to re-start.
I can't access my computer!

i tried reinstalling it and it loads all files then right before it asks me what i want to do it says BOOTMGR is missing so it wont let me reinstall windows!! is there a way i can do it differently?? are there some files i can download and then set the harddrive as slave and put in a master and put the bootmgr on the slave?? help


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## jancz3rt

*Try this*

Try the repair option of the Windows XP OS. You do this by booting from the CD. Wait till you get the welcome screen and then press R. Then type in CHKDSK /P and then CHKDSK /F. Then, after this is done, type in FIXBOOT and after that is complete, type in EXIT. This could fix yoru problem.

JAN


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## SubKamran

Alright, I am posting here because for this error message, this was the only helpful thing that came up when I googled "BOOTMGR is Missing." I want to add my solution so people searching it can fix it hopefully.

Here's how I fixed it... this was caused by me wanting to get rid of the Vista boot loader and some smart guy said to delete "boot" folder and bootmgr file from C:\. Obviously didn't fix it.

I tried booting from XP CD and running the console, I tried:

fixmbr
fixboot
chkdsk /p
chkdsk /r
bootcfg /rebuild

Nothing.

I tried doing a repair on the XP installation, didn't work either.
I tried installing Red Hat 8, didn't work, didn't like my SATA drives.

So, finally, I figured I'd reinstall Vista 5270 (the one I got rid of) on my other partition. Well, that didn't work... but it did sort of work and led me to the solution.

Here's what you do:

1. Boot from Vista DVD
2. Start a new install on some partition (dont need to format). Don't do it on your XP partition.
3. When it restarts, you'll still get the error message, BUT it already copied the boot files to the partition.
4. Restart and boot from Vista DVD again.
5. This time, click "Repair start up"
6. Select the installation, the password is blank so press Next.
7. Then select "Command Prompt."

Alright, here's the tricky part... we're going to copy the boot files from the X:\ drive to your XP partition (in my case, D:\)

So, I had some trouble with this... here's what you do:

Type in "d:\" (or your partition letter)
Then do:

mkdir boot

Type dir and make sure it shows up as a directory, it should say:

 <DIR>     boot

Now, from now on, ALWAYS type in "dir" whenever you do a "mkdir" command to MAKE SURE IT CREATES IT. I had some problems where it didn't always create it, or do it right.

Next, we're going to make the folder structure, type the following (while making sure to check the screen when typing "dir"; replace "d:" with your XP partition drive letter):

d:
cd boot
mkdir EFI
dir
cd EFI
mkdir Microsoft
dir
cd Microsoft
mkdir Boot
dir
cd Boot
mkdir en-US
dir
d:
cd boot
mkdir en-US
dir
mkdir Fonts
dir

Alright, the folder structure is ready. Now to copy the files.

x:
copy bootmgr d:\
cd boot
copy *.* d:\boot
cd efi
cd microsoft
cd boot
copy *.* d:\boot\efi\microsoft\boot
cd en-US
copy *.* d:\boot\efi\microsoft\boot\en-US
x:
cd boot
cd en-US
copy *.* d:\boot\en-US
cd..
cd Fonts
copy *.* d:\boot\fonts
exit

Then click Restart or press restart on your case.

If you get the message "cannot find file specified" then it means your folder structure is messed up. It needs to have the folder created to copy the files. Check and make sure your folder structure looks like:

D:\boot
D:\boot\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\en-US
D:\boot\en-US
D:\boot\Fonts


Voila, it should now start up... mine went to my repair that I tried earlier and as I speak it is finishing the repair install.


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