Facing Boot MGR missing in Vista

I planned to install Vista on a pretty old laptop to check if it worked properly. It ran like for some time until I installed Quicktax on it.

When I tried Safe Mode, it would load half of the files and freeze (on the screen showing the initial files loading). So I put in my full Vista installation disk and repaired a bunch of times to the point where the PC would show the Vista loading screen (the green moving bar), then black, then black with a movable mouse cursor and it would stop there (frozen but the mouse cursor still moved). And Safe Mode would load the files then freeze on a black screen. I loaded my Vista disk and ran the Command Prompt, got to my c:\ and typed in:

bootrec /RebuildBcd

The PC asks if I should add "D:\Old Data\Windows" to the list and I say yes

bootrec /FixMbr
bootrec /FixBoot

and tried repairing again with the Vista disk. Now the PC is saying BOOTMGR is missing and I try typing in the same commands again and the same BOOTMGR is missing. My Vista installation is on C:\Windows so I don't know what this D:\Old Data\Windows is. When I load the Vista disk it now shows that Vista is on (D. Is it actually on D:\ now? Or does that matter?

I really don't want to format cause I have a ton of programs and I haven't exported any of the settings. If I could do that just from plugging in my hard drive to a USB port on my other PC then I would just reformat it, but I'll just loose a lot of programs that I need the settings for.

In my experience, if you try to reinstall Vista without wiping the drive, it will create a folder called C:\Windows Old. Never heard of the Old Data. Maybe they're the same thing. It can be a handy feature since you might want to do things like copy the Desktop settings of the old set up to the new settings. That's just one example.

If you can get into the BIOS, you might check which drive it is set to boot from first. It's possible you have it set to a optical drive that doesn't have it's drivers installed.

If you can get Vista running from the D: drive, you can always change the volume name to C: in Computer Management.

I installed it Windows 8 on it once but figured it was lagging so I removed it. However, it enabled fast boot so I don't know how to login into BIOS now bc it loads up directly. :/

This is what I think you should have typed to rebuild MBR
Start the computer in safe mode with command prompt
Open command prompt and Type C: and press enter
at the C:\ prompt type cd boot
At the C:\Boot prompt type the following and press enter after each
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildBcd
Close command prompt and restart your computer in normal mode.

"I installed it Windows 8 on it once but figured it was lagging so I removed it. However, it enabled fast boot so I don't know how to login into BIOS now bc it loads up directly. :/"

On my system, I hit the "esc" key as soon as I startup. Others might use the "del" or "F2" keys.

I'll try with Esc, Del & F2. Atleast one would work, no?

On my system, Del takes me into the BIOS. Esc takes me to the Boot menu. I'm on the fence as to which way to go- you can go into the BIOS and change the Boot device or you can go to the Boot menu and just select the hardrive with the OS on it to see if the error goes away.

I was re-reading your first post and it seems like you can get to Safe Mode. I was thinking you were getting the error before you could get there. If that's the case, use the procedure provided by ilikefree.

Any progress?

ilikefree said:

This is what I think you should have typed to rebuild MBR
Start the computer in safe mode with command prompt
Open command prompt and Type C: and press enter
at the C:\ prompt type cd boot
At the C:\Boot prompt type the following and press enter after each
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildBcd
Close command prompt and restart your computer in normal mode.

Click to expand...

Yes, this helped. Also, I found a post related to fix Bootmgr is Missing in Windows. This mostly had solutions for Win 10 but I figured it out.

Also, if anyone else wants to disable fast boot, try this -

1. Right-click the Start button.
2. Click Search.
3. Type Control Panel and hit Enter on your keyboard.
4. Click Power Options.
5. Click Choose what the power buttons do.
6. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable

Thank you guys so much for being so helpful.