Unable to boot to Recovery Partition

fhturner · Sep 14, 2010

Hey Everyone--

My first post here, so hope I follow protocol well enough! Working on a client's PC here, and could use a little help or suggestion. The machine in question is an HP Pavilion a1630n, and has a D: partition for Recovery. Currently I am unable to get it to boot from that partition using F11 to do a complete reinstall of Vista. When I try F11, I get BOOTMGR is missing. Here's what led up to this:

- PC would not boot and kept dropping into Vista Recovery Manager, which was unable to repair the startup problem

- I was going to pull the drive, backup the user data off onto another disk, then do a clean restore of Vista (which was an available option for recovery)

- Somehow when trying to back out of everything and shut down, I hit Yes at a prompt where I meant to hit No (or vice versa), and the Recovery Manager started to erase the C: partition (nice how it didn't pop up a dialog for me to confirm). I immediately held down the power button to make it stop, but it was too late-- the C: drive was empty :mad:

- From the user data standpoint, this wasn't a huge deal-- the main utility of this machine is Webmail and Web. So we elected not to worry about trying to unerase files and just install a fresh, working copy of Windows

However, now I cannot seem to make any progress toward reinstalling Vista from the recovery partition (naturally, if the client ever had any restore discs, she cannot find them now). Despite the D: Recovery partition still being intact, I only get that BOOTMGR is missing error. I've tried the ~120MB Vista Recovery Disc via downloaded ISO image. I can get that to boot, but I don't seem to have any way to interact w/ the D: partition other than looking through its contents w/ the Command Prompt.

Is there a quick way home here? I would think w/ an intact Recovery partition, I'd have what I needed to reinstall onto the C: drive.

Thanks for any help you can provide,
Fred

richc46 · Sep 14, 2010

Hope this helps Fred,

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/204930-bootmgr-missing.html

fhturner · Sep 14, 2010

richc46 said:
Hope this helps Fred,

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/204930-bootmgr-missing.html

Wow! That was FAST!!

Thanks for the link, I'll give this a try. I will know myself in a minute of course, but this should work w/ just the "non-install" Vista Recovery Disc as well?

Thx!
Fred

richc46 · Sep 14, 2010

The recovery DVD brings you to repair options. If you can get there try for repair. If you cannot repair the install DVD would be better, but try with what you have.

Lorien · Sep 14, 2010

Do a Startup Repair by booting to the genuine Windows Vista Installation Disk (or one you can borrow from ANYONE) or from a Recovery Disk. Here's the procedure: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial148.html. To boot to the CD you may need to change the BIOS to make the CD-drive first in the boot sequence. To do that, wait for the screen that tells you the F key to push to access the boot menu or boot setup. Push it quickly. Make the changes, save your work, and exit. Put the CD in the drive and reboot. When prompted, push any key to boot from the CD.

If you don't have either disk, you can make a bootable Recovery Disk using http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/ along with burning software like:http://www.snapfiles.com/get/active-isoburner.html and, of course, a blank CD.

If that doesn't resolve the problem, try the following:

To run the Bootrec.exe tool, you must start Windows RE. To do this, follow these steps: (you need a Vista Installation Disk to do this - I believe the Recovery Disk alone won't do it but you can try if it's all you have - the worst that will happen is that the procedure won't work or will give you an error that it isn't available)

1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when you are prompted.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard or an input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec.exe, and then press ENTER.

Note If rebuilding the BCD does not resolve the startup issue, you can export and delete the BCD, and then run this option again. By doing this, you make sure that the BCD is completely rebuilt. To do this, type the following commands at the Windows RE command prompt:

 bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
 c:
 cd boot
 attrib bcd -s -h -r
 ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /RebuildBcd

If you don't have the disk, try EasyBCD http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1 and see if that helps resolve the problem.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

fhturner · Sep 14, 2010

Thanks for all the info, guys! I am trying to run this at the X:\Sources> prompt:

bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup

But I get the message:

The store export operation has failed.
The system cannot find the file specified.

Bootrec.exe will run, but shows me the list of program options (/FixMbr, etc). I also have no "boot" directory on the C: drive. Is there an intermediate step I need to take to get where I can manipulate the BCD/boot info?

Sorry for the ignorant questions...my specialty is Mac support.

Thx,
FT

richc46 · Sep 14, 2010

Go down the page, look at the comments of SIW2, that may solve the problem

fhturner · Sep 14, 2010

richc46 said:
Go down the page, look at the comments of SIW2, that may solve the problem

My Vista Recovery CD does not appear to have the bootsect.exe utility in the "boot" directory. However, I do have a Windows 7 Pro install DVD, which does have this (as well as the Recovery Manager util). I went through SIW2's suggestions, but still am not having much luck:

bootrec /fixmbr

This appears to succeed, or at least it reports that.

e:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force

This shows success for the C: and D: drives, but...

del C:\boot\bcd

I never get a "boot" directory on my C: drive. There's nothing there, which I'm guessing is causing the bcdedit util's export to fail.

bootrec /rebuildbcd

I believe this appears to succeed also, but I'm not sure it's even doing anything.

EDIT: Forgot to add that the bcdedit command still returns:

The store export operation has failed.
The system cannot find the file specified.

Basically, I have a blank C: partition on the internal drive and the Recovery D: partition is about 9GB. If I ran an install of Windows 7 Pro (which the client does not have), then might I be able to access the Recovery partition and reinstall a fresh Vista (which the client does have)? Seems like a long way around, but if it'll work, I'll try it.

Thx for all the suggestions!
Fred

richc46 · Sep 14, 2010

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/261616-extract-files-vista-installation-dvd.html

fhturner · Sep 14, 2010

richc46 said:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/261616-extract-files-vista-installation-dvd.html

Okay, so I want to extract the contents of the "boot" directory then? The link shows this to work for Windows 7 also. Since my Vista disc is _not_ an install disc, are you thinking I can grab the needed files from the Win 7 Install DVD and use them for the Vista installation on this blank C: drive?

BTW, if I can ever get the "BOOTMGR is missing" error to go away, should I be able to finally run the HP Recovery util to reinstall the system at that point?

Thx,
FT

richc46 · Sep 14, 2010

We joke here at the forum and say the 7 is Vista under the hood. Many similarities. Its worth a try.

Yes if you can get to systme repair you will be all set. Actually, I have another idea,now
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/141820-create-recovery-disc.html

Lorien · Sep 14, 2010

I already suggested a System Repair above and assuming it was attempted, it didn't work.

From the command prompt, try bootrec /Fixboot instead of bootrec /FixMBR in the above process and see if that works any better.

I'm not sure using the bootsect.exe file from W7 is a good idea or will work - I don't know if the files are different between the two versions and that may be why it isn't working (but I'm not sure about that). I sure wish you had a genuine Vista Installation disk so we could know for sure if this is the issue.

I hate considering the process you proposed because the answer is in repairing the boot files somehow - but it seems like we can't do that - and perhaps more importantly, I don't believe the process you suggested will work (for reasons explained in the next paragraph). Earlier I posted a link to EasyBCD - it's a third party program for boot problems and there are no guarantees, but I've seen it help when the Vista processes didn't work for whatever reason. It may be worth a shot before you toss in the towel on repairing the boot problem.

Usually the process to access the Recovery Partition is built-in as a special keyboard command or accessed by a Recovery Manager program installed on the system drive - it really depends on the manufacturer, make and model of the computer (some have it in the BIOS instead - as I noted, they are all quite different from each other). I do not know if installing Windows 7 Pro (assuming it's compatible with the machine) will provide access to the Recovery Partition. Well, let me revise that. It will probably give you access to it, but I don't know if you will be able to activate the recovery process without the manufacturer's Recovery Manager program installed (this just came up on an HP system and the only choice was to purchase recovery disks from HP as without the system installed with the Recovery Manager software, there was no way to use the Recovery Partition to restore or to create disks - here's the link to that HP page just as an example: Recover Windows Vista Operating System Using HP Recovery HP Pavilion dv6-1100so Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)). I just noticed you mentioned the make and model and they're also HP, so here are the specific procedures for that one: Troubleshooting System Recovery Problems in Windows Vista HP Pavilion Media Center a1630n Desktop PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English) and again, it seems like the disks are required if you can't access the system. But since the system is there and it seems only the boot files are the problem, it is possible that you might be able to do one or both somehow (though I don't know how).

I recommend you contact the manufacturer's technical support department and ask them if this will work and/or how to go about doing it if it won't work. Even if you can't use the Recovery Partition to restore, you may be able to use the Recovery partition to create recovery disks and those disks can then be used to restore (but I suspect not from what I read in the above article though the issue here may be different if the system is essentially intact except for the boot files - something we're not entirely sure about either from what you posted). It may be that the only real option here is to purchase a set of recovery disks from the manufacturer and use those to do the restore - but you should get that from the manufacturer as all we have to go on is the article and there may be ways that aren't officially documented.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

fhturner · Sep 14, 2010

Lorien said:
I hate considering the process you proposed because the answer is in repairing the boot files somehow - but it seems like we can't do that - and perhaps more importantly, I don't believe the process you suggested will work (for reasons explained in the next paragraph). Earlier I posted a link to EasyBCD - it's a third party program for boot problems and there are no guarantees, but I've seen it help when the Vista processes didn't work for whatever reason. It may be worth a shot before you toss in the towel on repairing the boot problem.

I'm very close to throwing in the towel on this...it just doesn't make sense to sink this much time into something that, IMHO, should be quite simple (yeah, recovery partitions are a GREAT idea...works so well! I can see it, but it won't DO anything!). Anyway, in what setting would I run EasyBCD? Do I need to integrate it into my Vista Recovery Disc or something?

While reading these other suggestions, I went ahead and installed Windows 7 Pro anyway-- can't make things any worse. The system now boots fine to Win 7, but I still cannot get the Recovery util to launch upon boot (in this HP's case, pressing F11 is supposed to do that). It just skips right ahead and boots Windows 7. Seems to flash some text up very quickly, which _may_ be "BOOTMGR is missing", but it goes so fast I couldn't say for sure.

BTW, all of these terminal commands are referencing the "boot" folder on the C: drive. Is that really what I need to be working with? Seems like I should be doing something to address the ability to boot from the D: drive where the Recovery Manager is...

Usually the process to access the Recovery Partition is built-in as a special keyboard command or accessed by a Recovery Manager program installed on the system drive - it really depends on the manufacturer, make and model of the computer (some have it in the BIOS instead - as I noted, they are all quite different from each other).

See above about F11. Just doesn't seem to "kick in."

I do not know if installing Windows 7 Pro (assuming it's compatible with the machine) will provide access to the Recovery Partition. Well, let me revise that. It will probably give you access to it, but I don't know if you will be able to activate the recovery process without the manufacturer's Recovery Manager program installed

Yeah, since under the Win 7 install, I don't have

Start > All Programs > PC Help & Tools > Recovery Manager

that HP directs you to, I have no way from within Windows to launch the Recovery Manager. So that leaves me w/ launching it upon boot. Why can't I get that to launch? More importantly, what's the point of a separate D: partition w/ recovery software if it depends on files on the C: drive (that you're trying to recover!)?!?

Sorry to keep bugging,
FT

Lorien · Sep 14, 2010

EasyBCD creates its own boot disk and you go from there.

I don't make these recovery processes so I can't answer your question. I guess he should have made the recovery disks as suggested when he first got the computer - then he'd have an easy way out now. HP's process seems to depend on the Recovery Manager program (even if that's on the drive you're trying to recover) and I guess they assume if you can't restore using that process, you can always use the disks they told you to make.

You can't boot to the D: drive because it is just a bunch of files and not an active operating system. There's no OS there to boot to. I don't believe that activating the restore process on the recovery drive involves booting to it even when everything is working as it should though I could be wrong - I think it activates using some other methodology but I don't know how. You really need to ask HP these questions as I am only vaguely familiar with their procedures and do not know how they programmed the recovery processes.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but I believe the only solution here is to get a set of recovery disks from HP (assuming EasyBCD doesn't work - and while it's worth a shot, I'm not convinced it will be any more successful than anything we've already tried - but it might).

Good luck!

fhturner · Sep 21, 2010

Hey Guys/Gals--

Wanted to say thanks for your quick replies and help on this. Since the C: drive was completely erased previously, that apparently meant that HP's recovery partition was useless. I must say, it doesn't seem like a great system to me-- the very drive you're trying to restore must be intact to a certain degree in order to restore it! Kooky! So, anyway, I wound up just wiping out that partition altogether and installing a fresh, new copy of Windows 7. Hated to give in after all that effort and help from you guys, but even chatting to an HP support person didn't give me much hope. Thanks again for the info and attempts. I'll add what I've learned to my knowledgebase and hopefully be better equipped next time.

Thx,
Fred

richc46 · Sep 21, 2010

Fred
Thanks for reporting you have helped many, in the same way that you wanted to be helped. To avoid problems in the future make monthly backups. You can use the free Macrium Reflex; many here use it and feel comfortable with its performance.

Lorien · Sep 21, 2010

I'm sorry we weren't able to help you more, but not having made recovery disks at the very beginning and the way restoring from the Recovery Partition works on that system gave us (and you) no real choices short of buying recovery disks from the manufacturer (or, of course, what you ended up doing).

We appreciate the feedback and you letting us know how it all turned out. Perhaps someone reading this thread whose system is working but hasn't made the recovery disks will now do so and be better prepared as a result - so who knows how many you may have helped here.

Good luck and best wishes!

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