[Robert]

I have tried a number of things to get my vista (32 bit) to boot with no success.
I went to the microsoft support site for help and got no success with the command prompt entries that were listed there.

1) I tried the "Repair the BCD store by using the Startup Repair." No help.
2) I tried "Rebuild the BCD store by using the Bootrec.exe tool." No Help.
3) I tried the "Rebuild the BCD store manuallyby using the BCDedit.exe tool," No help.

The following is a list of commands and responses to #2 above.

X:\sources>Bootrec /RebuildBcd
total identified windows installations: 0
completed successfully

Bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
store export has failed
sys. can't find the file specificed.

ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
the sys. can't find the file specificed.


Bootrec /rebuildbcd
total identified windows installations: 0
operation completed successfully


Computer did not boot, "displayed bootmgr missing"


The followingis a list of commands and responses to #3 above.

cd /c: Windows\System32
the system can't find the path secified

I stopped here and gave up. I hope that you can give me some advice as to what I need to do . Any questions and I will be glad to provide. I just purchased the DualBootPro but it is sitting on my good working XP computer. No clue on if it will work on the broken Vista computer.
Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Robert

[yeshuas]

Do you have your Vista install disk?

If so reboot with the Vista disk in the DVD drive and do a "Startup Repair" it will repair it automatically

[Robert]

Thanks for your response Yeshuas,'
I have tried using the Vista system restore/boot repair and startup repair tool options panel with no good response. Just will not work at all.

Robert

[yeshuas]

You may have a damaged harddrive if none of the repair options work when you use the Vista install disk to try to repair the bootmgr, that is the only thing that come to mind at the moment, but hang on there are much more qualified members than I, and they may have other options.

Another thing to try is to remove the cables to the drive and then re connect them to make sure you don't have a loose connection or something

[Grav!ty]

Are you dual booting on that system?

[Robert]

No, there is only one Vista OS (factory install). The computer is a HP and uses a toshiba HD. All wires have been checked for snugness. What else can we do or check?
At the time things went south, I ran a PC doctor test on everything and the computer was given a clean bill of health on the hardware but, it suggested that the problem is software related.

[Grav!ty]

Do you have a proper Vista DVD or is it a factory restore DVD which will restore your system to the state you got it in? If you have the former, I would suggest you make second installation of Vista to a separate partition. Should you decide to go this route check out the disk part command prompt commands to use from the Vista DVD (I think they will be the same as those for Windows 7), if you need to make space for a new partition for a second installation: using-diskpart-on-the-windows-7-dvd-t112571.html

Doing the above may well correct your booting issues to your current installation and at the very least will enable you to recover any data you need from that installation. Sorry but that's about all I can think of at this point.

[Robert]

Thanks for your help Gravity. I have only the factory restore disc to restore to original mfg installation, not the proper one. Is there any way to get the proper Vista OS disc that you know of without having to buy it again? Also, is there some other way to use the command prompt to replace the missing bootmgr? How about using the DualBootPro program that I just purchased which is sitting on my XP desktop? Is there a private vendor's software repair option on a CD that would fix the Bootmgr? Spotmau or other? I really do want to find a solution and not have to dump all my problems and data.
Thanks in advance!
Robert

[Grav!ty]

Other than borrowing a full installation DVD from a friend or downloading an illegal one (the latter is not recommended), I've got no ideas unless you have a spare hard drive you can install/restore the factory copy onto after unplugging current hard drive I can't see a way to use DVD. You can try to copy the file bootmgr and the folder Boot (plus contents) from your restore DVD from it's command prompt if you can access that. Note the file and folder may have slightly different names or incomplete names on the DVD as they would perhaps not be "unpacked" but the proper names as I've given them should do it:

copy X:bootmgr Y: (where X is your DVD drive and Y is your installation drive/partition)

For the folder Boot (plus contents) you will need to use the xcopy command:

xcopy d:\Boot /c (where d is your DVD drive and c is your installation drive/partition)

DualBootPRO will only be of any use when it is installed in Windows. It is intended for use in a dual boot scenario where at least one operating system is bootable. It is a BCD editor and not a boot manager.

I do not think that any alternative boot manager will be of any use unless it is installed prior to Windows being installed - the current installation would simply not recognize it. Good luck and let us know how you get on please

[Robert]

Thanks so very much again, Gravity.
I really do appreciate your time , wisdom and direction here.
Yes I do have an extra hard drive.
I do have a new re-install OS copy that HP sent me with the factory vista restore on it. Not quite the same as an original vista setup disc.
I will go ahead and install the HD, but not being a computer expert, I am going to have to ask you a number of questions.

1) Do I install the new HD as a master and no connection to the bad HD?
2) Do I install the bad HP Hard Drive as a slave to the to the new Hard Drive? Any special settings if that is required?
3) After I install the vista on the new HD, would you please explain exactly how to find, copy, and paste the new bootmgr into the old bad HD?
4) Also, if you will need me to use the command prompt, assume I need directions especially if spaces or upper case are required in the command.
5) IF you need me to use the vista recovery/repair (this is the DVD w/o a new factory OS setup installation program) panel's "command prompt" which now shows ( X:|Sources> ), am I going to need to change "X" to my DVD "E" drive or "C" drive designation or do I leave it alone and use as is?
6) How would I get the "Restore DVD's setup OS's" command prompt to do a copy as mentioned in your directions?
7) How would I get the copied "bootmgr" from either the new installed HD with the new OS installed or the set of installation DVDs and carry it over to the bad HD? Would I have to delete any files prior to copy or installing them? Best way to do that?
8) By the way, the new reinstall DVDs have on their "first disc" the following: Boot folder with BCD and Boot.SDI, plus Boo.Mgr, plus Preload, plus hp with apps, mls, Drv, plus Sources.
9) The HP's "System Recovery Disc set" contains a "Supplemental Recovery" disc which is part of the OS System Recovery set, do you know of any issues with this supplemental disc in doing what we are trying to do? Would I need to use it?
10) If required for any reason, I can connect a Floppy Disc drive to the computer.

I hope I didn't overload you with all these questions, I thought it would be easier to ask them now vs later.

I really hope that we can make this work somehow, and again, thanks for your effort!

Robert