BootMgr missing problem after a restore of Vista system

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by Sidb, Nov 17, 2007.

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  1. Sidb

    Sidb Registered Member

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    Hi

    I recently had a fresh copy of vista ultimate install on my computer, and I used Acronis true image 11 to image that system. I selected the whole system partition while imaging. But after I restored it, I got the Bootmgr missing. And for an unknown reason, when I put the Vista DVD to repair it, I could not get that page to choose between repair startup, command etc. I just got a message to inform me that a problem was found in the startup and to click OK to repair and restart. I did and it didn't work.

    Any I don't understand why I get this error. previously under Xp, I was having ndldr missing problem on this same system. So is there something particular I should do to avoid that error? Also can anyone suggest any other way to repair the Bootmgr thing?

    Thanks in advance
    Sid
     
  2. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    Did you run Vista Repair several times? Sometimes it takes two or three times to fix everything.

    Also, make sure the Vista booting partition is Active. When you restored the partition, did you select Active or Primary?
     
  3. Sidb

    Sidb Registered Member

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    I did select Active, although it was on primary by default. Another weird thing, when I was trying to restore (using acronis media), when browsing for the backup file, my system was on D and my data files on C. But I think it was ok when I restored.

    Still does there exist another way to rebuild that Bootmgr? I heard of bartpe but doesn't know how it works
     
  4. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    Is your Vista DVD a standard Microsoft OEM or Retail version?

    If you boot the Vista DVD again, can you now select the Repair option?

    When it says it found problems, does it give you the choice to select NO and continue to where you can select the Command Prompt or Startup Repair options?
     
  5. Sidb

    Sidb Registered Member

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    When I boot with the DVD again I do get the several options when I enter the repair section.
    I can't remember what happened if I didn't choose to repair the startup found problems. Maybe it could get me the access to options but I would prefer having another alternative to repair bootmgr before retrying to restore.3

    Thanks in advance
     
  6. Sidb

    Sidb Registered Member

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    I forgot to say that when when I did not have the choice of the repair options, windows did not seem to localize the system location (I could not choose the system, and was immediatly prompted about repairing startup)
     
  7. Sidb

    Sidb Registered Member

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    I went back restoring again and tried to click no and I was able to get the options. But the startup repair couldn't manage to repair the boot: an error message came out saying it couldn't be repaired automatically, and if I wanted to report the issue to Microsoft.
    So I tried to use cmd prompt of vista DVD and followed the instructions given here https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=184900#14 . First I was getting error messages, I rebuilt bcedit and the cmd lines were finally working. But it would still not boot.
    Before restoring I followed instructions given here https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=185731 and imaged. Fortunately this one worked (thanks MudCrab for these).

    Any tip how to make my older images work? (While restoring i noticed the older images have a green mark on them instead of red for the new one)

    Thanks
     
  8. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    Hello Sidb,

    Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

    Please make sure you use the latest build (8053) of Acronis True Image 11 Home. To get access to updates you should first register your software. Don't forget to recreate Acronis Bootable Rescue Media after updating.

    If updating doesn't solve the problem, could you please clarify your exact actions in the Restore Wizard and at what step do you see those red/green marks?

    Thank you.
    --
    Marat Setdikov
     
  9. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    The green flag means the partition is Primary. The red flag means it's the Active partition. Vista boots from the Active partition. If you restored the partition, and selected Active as the restore type, it should have been restored as the Active partition.

    Do you only have ONE hard drive and ONE partition (the Vista partition)?
    If not, can you please post you layout (or a screenshot of Disk Management)?

    When the restored partition wouldn't boot because of the missing Bootmgr file, did you check if the file was in the Vista partition's root folder? Did you check if the Vista partition was Active?

    I'm assuming the Vista partition was active because the error message you're getting is in the boot sector code. However, if you have any other partitions and one of them was active and it got fixed, then Vista would be trying to boot from it and not find the Bootmgr file.

    If you need to set the Vista partition Active and fix the boot sector using Vista's Command Prompt from the Vista DVD, you can do the following:

    Boot to the Vista DVD
    Skip any "auto" repair options and select the Command Prompt

    In the instructions below, <ENTER> means to press the ENTER key.

    Start Diskpart
    Code:
    diskpart <ENTER>
    List your disks
    Code:
    list disk <ENTER>
    Your Vista disk is probably Disk 0, but you should be able to tell from the size if it's not.
    Select your disk
    Code:
    select disk 0 <ENTER>
    List your partitions
    Code:
    list partition <ENTER>
    The list of partitons will show on the screen. If you only have one, then only one will be listed.
    Select the Vista partition (in this example, partition 1)
    Code:
    select partition 1 <ENTER>
    Make it Active
    Code:
    active <ENTER>
    Exit Diskpart
    Code:
    exit <ENTER>
    Fix the boot sector of the Active partition
    Code:
    bootrec /fixboot <ENTER>
    Now, change to the Vista drive letter (usually C: if it's the booting partition, but may be different if a different drive partition was Active). If you need to find you Vista partition, change to different drive letters and run dir until you find the one with the Windows folder in it. Also, if you have labeled your partition, the label name will show up in the directory listing.
    Code:
    c: <ENTER>
    Change to the root directory
    Code:
    cd \ <ENTER>
    See if the bootmgr file exists on the partition
    Code:
    dir /ah <ENTER>
    If the bootmgr file is there, it should be displayed in the directory listing (shown in the example below).
    bootmgr_file_in_dir.jpg

    ---

    If the original backup image contains only the Vista partition and the partition was not the Active partition, then Vista was booting from another partition when you created the image. This is why you need to state the exact partition layout of your computer. You may need to do a BCD rebuild in addition to the above steps.
     
  10. Sidb

    Sidb Registered Member

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  11. GroverH

    GroverH Registered Member

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    Sidb,
    Why not upload your attachment to this forum so it can be seen as part of your posting.... If more info needed, check my signature for attachment link.
     
  12. Sidb

    Sidb Registered Member

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    I've done the same restore as previously and followed your steps, and changing to the root folder of VISTA partition, there was NO Bootmgr file. So I guess that is the problem. How to rebuild it again?

    Sid
     
  13. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    You can't "rebuild" the bootmgr file. If it's really missing from the Vista partition and Vista's Repair function won't replace it, then you'll need to explore or mount the partition image that does boot and copy it out (save it to a flashdrive or another internal drive, etc.). You could also copy it from you Vista system that does boot. Then place it in the root folder of the Vista partition that doesn't boot and see if Vista will boot.

    If you can't get the file any other way and don't care about erasing your existing Vista partition, you could reinstall Vista to the partition and then copy the file off and save it so you can copy it back to the restored system that won't boot.
     
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