[chara33]

hi guys, I have a tri-boot system of XP, vista and win 7. When I try to log on to my PC, I get the following error msg "bootmgr is missing" I know all partitions are there because I can see them via gparted live cd. How do I go about fixing this?

thx

EDIT: Mak, what I did was restore win 7 and after that vista which caused the error of "bootmgr is missing". I see I can fix it using install cd by clicking repair. when i select repair, it lists both vista and win 7. Which one do I need to pick plz?

[Mak213]

Okay first your getting to far ahead. When does this happen EXACTLY? You say when you try to log on. It wouldnt get that far if you are at the login screen. Unless you are talking about the boot loader option screen where you choose the OS you want to boot. That is something totally different.

As for which one to pick, which one is not booting?? Both, Vista, win7 or XP? Sounds like this is going to be a major issue with trying to restore your OS's. Cause you had to restore XP not long ago and now both Win7 and vista?

Let me ask what your doing that you have to restore these so often? Heck even with my PC crashing and burning, literally, i still havent gone through that many OS reinstalls in the same time frame. Not to mention that i severely test out my stuff.

The fact is this. The BCD was set by Win7 cause it was installed AFTER Vista. So by restoring Vista AFTER Win7 you caused a problem. Cause the Vista boot loader (BCD) at that time did not have the appropriate entries for Win7. Cause it was installed later. So you would in theory have to restore Vista and then restore Win7, even if Win7 didnt need it to keep the boot loader working properly.

Again just a theory. But it most certainly seems to be what is going on.

[chara33]

Mak, I really messed up. I got bootmgr back, restored vista but when at the boot loader option screen and I select Vista, it brings up win 7. When I choose win 7 at the boot loader option screen, it does bring up win 7 which is correct.

Is there any way I can sort this mess up? Plz help.

I have to stop screwing around with things.

thx

edit:

Here is win 7



Here is XP



Sorry, can't get into vista which is why this thread is started.

thx all

[Mak213]

Well the only thing i can suggest would be to use EasyBCD, remove the Vista entry and then add it again. If that doesnt resolve the issue then i dont know what to tell you.

[chara33]

YES, i tried that already. what would happen if I uninstall vista parttion, format it and install vista again?

thx Mak.

[Mak213]

You cant just uninstall Vista. It is a OS. It isnt like a program. Even deleting the Vista partition and reinstalling it might not recover it. It might require a full reinstall of both Vista and Win7.

What were you doing that got it all messed up in the first place? Without knowing something that you were doing which could have helped cause this i cant really be of help.

[chara33]

Originally Posted by Mak213

You cant just uninstall Vista. It is a OS. It isnt like a program. Even deleting the Vista partition and reinstalling it might not recover it. It might require a full reinstall of both Vista and Win7.

What were you doing that got it all messed up in the first place? Without knowing something that you were doing which could have helped cause this i cant really be of help.

my nephew was fooling around with my computer yesterday when i wasn't home and later in the day I came home to these probs. So a reinstall of both will be the only way to fix this? I appreciate your help Mak.

thx

[Mak213]

It might be. But know this, reinstalling Vista will cause vista to take control of the BCD. So if you have to reinstall Win7 at a later date you might come across this issue again.

[chara33]

Mak, I fixed it...yeah. I restored vista, rebooted and received not bootmrg, which I kinda expected, put win 7 cd in and selected repair windows, selected win 7, fixed it and rebooted. Now I have access to all 3 again.

thx again Mak.

[Mak213]

Glad you got it sorted without having to do reinstalls.