“Bootmgr Is Missing”- Solution’s Encyclopedia

Every morning I get up and look at my phone and for sure it’s not possible that I won’t get a single mail about people asking me for getting this problem on their PC. So, I finally decided to write a complete tutorial article about it.

And in this article, I’m going to tell you everything about this error, like what it is, why it’s happening on your computer and mostly, how to fix it?

I know it’s a tricky problem but I’ll do my best to make everything clear for you!! And Sorry for making this article a little bit long but I bet you, you can’t find any other working solutions besides those what I’ve written below. Yeah!! Thank me later in the comments.




Let’s start with:

What Is BOOTMGR (Windows Boot Manager) By The Way?

Boot Manager or I say Bootmgr whatever you call, it’s a Windows Operating System’s Boot Manager Service which is normally located in your computer’s operating system boot volume (normally C:\ drive).

The main work of this Boot Manager is to control boot volume which helps your Bios to start the system loader mainly when a computer starts to load pre-installed operating system, like starting “winload.exe” in Windows OS.

If you still don’t get it, then let’s split this word, BOOT+MGR, In a technical language Boot means startup and you know what manager is, that means it’s your computer’s service which is fully responsible for starting your computer’s Operating System.

Bootmgr is only located in Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Window Vista, you can’t find this Bootmgr file in the previous version of Windows OS like Windows XP, but that doesn’t mean XP won’t have their own boot managing department. Windows XP does having its own boot manager which is named differently and called NTLDR.

This Error Can Be Shown As:

  1. “BOOTMGR is missing
    Press Ctrl Alt Del to restart”
  2. BOOTMGR is missing
    Press any key to restart




When And Why Our Computer System Starts To Show BOOTMGR Is Missing?

Normally “BOOTMGR Is Missing” error occurs right after when we start our computer system and mainly that error means your computer’s BIOS can’t be able to find the boot file in your Hard Disk’s Boot Volume to start your Windows OS and it only remains by displays the error message on the plain black background screen.

The bad thing about this error is, it does not rely on a single cause and just because of that you’ll need to try some different solutions on your computer or laptop in order to fix your PC.

But don’t worry about it because you will fix it quickly, just continue to read;

Here’s The List Of Those Different Reasons Why We Get This Error On Our Computer’s Screen:

  1. Operating System’s Boot Volume Files Corruption
  2. Operating System Problem
  3. Hard Disk Problem
  4. Bios Problem

Note: This error means your Windows isn’t in running condition so, you’ll need to do things by using your Bootable Windows Installer disc or USB.

So, Let’s Fix BOOTMGR is Missing Problem


Solution #1. Remove Every Connected USB

When a computer starts, it will scan every bootable device connected to it and in case, if anything bootable is connected to it beside your computer’s keyboard and mouse then it quite possible you are seeing this error on your computer’s screen.

So, if you are having any connected external hard disk drive or pen drive or maybe any kind of bootable disc inserted in your PC, then the first thing I want you to do is to disconnect or remove anything from your laptop or computer beside the keyboard and mouse.

Feedback By Lola On 4.Jan.2016

Hii desk, it’s my 500 GB WD external hard drive who’s creating this problem, thanks, I successfully fix my computer. 🙂

Solution #2. Fixing Boot Volume By Startup Repair

Most of the times some of our Windows files got corrupted and forget their boot volume, where mainly the Bootmgr is located and that’s why a computer starts to showing this type of an error.

In this second solution, I’m going to teach you to fix your Windows Boot Volume corruption by using a Windows Installer Disk (yes you can use a Windows Bootable USB).

I only suggest you to use Windows DVD/USB according to the version which is installed in your computer system. That means, if you have a Windows 7 installed in your computer then use a Windows 7 installer Disc/USB or maybe if your computer is having Windows 10 in it, then use a Windows 10 Setup Disc/USB.

Related Helpful Link: >> How To Make A Bootable USB Pen Drive?

#Let’s See The Instructions:

  1. First, you’ll need to boot your Windows Disc or USB by using the Boot Menu or maybe by the Boot Sequence Priority. If you don’t know how to do that, these given link below will help you to boot your Disc or a Flash Drive easily.

2. After booting, you’ll see your computer will ask you to “press any key to boot from CD or DVD/ or USB” to boot the Windows Setup. So, just press any key as fast as you can or otherwise that option will disappear.

  1. Now you’ll need to get to startup repair or automatic repair according to your windows version for repairing your windows and make it back to normal.

Now: Click to expand the Sub-Topic selection according to your Windows version, by clicking on the blue outline rectangular box

[toggle title=”Solution No. 2.1 – Startup Repair Instructions for Windows Vista & 7” state=”close”]
Note: Move to Solution No.1.2 for Windows 8 & 10 Startup repair.

Right after when the booting was done you’ll able the see the Setup’s first menu option on the screen and in that options you’ll need to click on the “Next” button and after that, click on “Repair your computer” to start the startup repair function.

After that, it will scan your computer’s drive and shows you your previously installed Operating System. Now Select your listed OS version and click on “Next >” button to start Windows Startup Repair process.

If you can’t find your windows listed in there, then you’ll need to follow all the steps given in this suggested link >> How To Fix Unlisted Windows in System Recovery Options Problem?

Now, wait until the startup repair gets complete.

[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Solution No.2.2 – Startup Repair Instructions for Windows 8/8.1 & 10” state=”close”]
Right after when the booting was done you’ll able the see the Setup’s first menu option on the screen and in that options you’ll need to click on the “Next” and after that, click on “Repair your computer” to start the startup repair function.

After that, it will show you the three options and now you’ll need to select the second one called “Troubleshoot” and then right under the troubleshoot menu, select the third option called “Advanced options”.

Now select Startup Repair on Windows 10 or Automatic Repair on Windows 8 to repair your computer.

[/toggle]

Feedback By David On 26.Jan.2016

I had the same “BOOTMGR is missing” whenever I tried to start up my PC.  I ran the Windows Startup Repair as described above and I’m back up and running. Thanks a Lot !!!

Solution #3 – Fixing Hard Disk Boot Volume By CMD

The best way to fix our Hard Disk Boot Volume is to fix it by using the CMD Command Prompt and I know it’ll be little tricky for you but, what can I say, it’s the only best and quickest way to fix this kind of an issue.

First, you’ll need to open your Windows CMD on your computer’s screen and then just type all the recommended command’s in it to fix your Boot Volume.

I know now you won’t be able to use your operating system, but we really need to open the command prompt and to do that, there is link given below which will help you out to open CMD on your computer’s screen even without a running Operating System.

Suggested Link >> 4 Different Ways to Run Cmd on Your Computer?

After when you’ve opened the Command Prompt, now I want you to do three important things step by step as all mentioned below:

  1. Make Partition Active
  2. Fix Boot Files
  3. Rebuild Boot Files.

After performing every single step, I want you to restart your computer and test it, because maybe it’s possible that the problem can be solved by just following a single step.

#Solution 3.1 – Steps To Make A Partition Active

An active partition is a partition in your computer’s hard disk which known as bootable partition who actually contains your PC’s Operating System.

Normally, only one partition can be active at the time like C: drive, mostly where our windows is installed. But sometimes that partition got inactive due to some reasons and we’ll need to reactive it in order to start our PC.

Feedback By James on 21.Jan.2016

DUDE, I GOOGLED PEOPLES WITH THE SAME ISSUE AS I HAD, AND I FOUND YOUR WEBSITE WHICH REALLY HELPED ME A LOT, AND MAKING THE C: DRIVE ACTIVE WORKES FOR ME (IT WAS INACTIVE) I LOVE YOU MAN, I’LL KISS YOU OR MAYBE NOT  <3  @JAMES

First, open CMD on your computer’s screen then type all the suggested commands which I’m all listed below:

  • Command #1 – diskpart
  • This command will start disk part utility in your command prompt. When diskpart will start you’ll be able to see “DISKPART>” sign on the left side of your command prompt.
  • Command #2 – list disk
  • This will list all of your connected drives in your computer.
  • Command #3 – select disk 0
  • In this step, we’re selecting our main hard disk drive where your windows is installed. In my example, I’m selecting disk 0 because that’s the only disk drive shown in my CMD and that’s also the one where my OS is actually installed.
  • Command #4 – list partition
  • This command will show you all the partitions created in that disk that you’ve selected.
  • Command #5 – select partition 2
  • Normally we are selecting partition 2 because that’s our windows partition but that does not prove that you will always need to select the 2nd one because sometimes partition 1 can be our windows partition too. So, select only that partition where your windows is installed.
  • Note: Never Select 100 MB, 350 MB And 500 MB Partitions.
  • Command #6 – active
  • That will make your partition active.
  • Command #7 – exit
  • Now restart your computer and test it.

#Solution 3.2 – Steps To Fix Boot Files

It’s possible that your boot files got corrupted by some recently installed Software, Viruses or Windows/Software updates and it’s better to get it repair as soon as possible.

=> Open The Command Prompt & Then Type These Commands One By One What I’m All Listed Down Here:

  • Command 1# – Diskpart
  • Command 2# – List volume
  • Command 3# – Exit

Now you’ll need to find your Windows Drive letter in that list like mine is ’29 GB’ ‘D: drive’ as shown in the example picture and after when you find what your drive letter is, just use that drive letter in the next command which is given below:

  • Command 4# – D:  (Your Windows Drive Letter)  
  • Command 5# – Bootrec /fixmbr
  • Command 6# – Bootrec /fixboot
  • Command 7# – Chkdsk /f /r
  • Command 8# – Y
  • After when the “chkdsk” command gets completed, just restart your computer and I hope your problem is solved.
  • If not, then you can repeat this whole MBR repair process again and use this “Bootrec /rebuildbcd” command before “Chkdsk /f /r” like in the given picture below:
  • After that, just restart your computer system and test it.

Solution #4 – Finding & Fixing Harddisk Problem

There is a change that you having this BOOTMGR Is missing problem because of a damaged and improperly connected hard disk drive of your computer and the best way to find does your hard disk status is to check your HDD/SSD connection status in your computers bios to ensure that the HDD is working or not.

First, open your computer’s bios and go to the “Boot Setting” or “Standard CMOS Features” or may be on that page which can show you your computer is having a hard disk drive attached to it.

If you found your HDD/SSD status connected in your BIOS, then you can try to change the boot priority setting in your BIOS and give your Hard disk or SSD as the first priority, link given below will help you out with boot sequence configuration. Just set your hard disk as first boot device and save that setting.

>> HOW TO CHANGE THE BOOT ORDER (BOOT SEQUENCE) IN BIOS?

If you can’t find your HDD/SSD listed on your computer’s bios then it’s possible your HDD/SSD is not connected properly because of a faulty connection wire or maybe your Hard disk drive got dead.

Both of those things can be possible and to check that what’s happen to your computer, you’ll need to open your computer casing and change the SATA cable with some new one or otherwise you can also try to disconnect the SATA cable from the old slot and insert it in some another free SATA slot.

You can also try to change your Hard disk’s Power connector with some other free connectors which are normally coming from the PSU (Power Supply) of your computer, and one more thing you can’t replace any cable in laptops. So, if you’re having this problem in your laptop and find the HDD in the BIOS then now you should need to change the hard drive of your computer.

Sometimes replacing SATA Cable won’t works either or if your laptop is also having some problem to find the HDD/SSD in BIOS, in both conditions, it’s 99% possible that your HDD/SSD drive got faulty and to confirm that, you can also use some other HDD/SSD in your computer or laptop for testing purpose.

If you found your HDD or SSD is dead, then you can check out these guide listed down below to help you out to find a new perfect drive for your laptop or computer.

@What To Do – If You Still Having This Problem:

At last, there are a couple or more things remaining which you can still try and I think that will definitely going to help you out to get rid of this Bootmgr is missing problem from your computer. And for your information, corrupted Operating System is the most common reason for this error and now there are only three options what you have left with which you can still follow in order to fix your OS and make everything back to normal, and those are:

  1. System Restore – System restore is a great utility tool made by the Microsoft in their Windows Operating System and with the help of this tool, you can make your computer’s OS back to normal if it gets faulty or corrupted. Link>> System Restore – Explained With Uses And Features
  2. Reinstall Windows– Just reinstalling your Operation System by deleting the old one. Click here to see >> How To Install Windows?
  3. Old Bios– If you can’t find any reasons for this error even a not bad hard disk or OS, then at last maybe it’s possible that your computer’s BIOS is having some minor problem in it, and for your relaxation, it’s also possible that you can fix your BIOS by updating it to the new version and that will really work for you.

I think under 100 dollars you can actually hire a computer technician who can visit your home or office and fix your PC in front of you.

@What To Do – If You Fixed This Problem:

If you successfully fixed your computer or laptop, then it’s really great and if you don’t want to get this error ever again on your computer then i can highly suggest you to use a best registry tuner or cleaner in your computer because mainly this issue starts from a corrupted registry of your windows and there are so many of different reasons what can happen to corrupts your windows registry and most of are like, virus attack, installed spammy software etc.

If you don’t have any registry tuner or cleaner in your computer, then install a best in class cleaner in your PC to get the perfect performance and an error-free system’s lifespan. Here are two top-rated software’s what I recommend to all my websites guest users as listed below.




19 COMMENTS

  1. This ( your fix for a missing boot manager) doesn’t work. I built the miniXP you recommended and booted it from a USB drive. Runs Great. Thanks. BUT solution 3.2 doesn’t work. bootrec is not a recognized command. Apparently these commands don’t work outside a recovery environment, and if I could bring up an RE I wouldn’t have gone through all this…

    Am I missing something?

    • Sometimes this (3.2 solution) commands doesn’t work on some windows and in that case, I want you to use startup repair and that’s the only option which can help you to repair your windows, or otherwise use system restore if startup repair wont works.

      • I tried to install windows 7 on my pc but on installation of upto 6 %it showed error missing corrupt files and upon starting for installation i had formatted my hard disk, after that when i restared my pc it showed me bootmgr is missing .. What to do

        • Ask a friend if you could download an iso of win7 make sure it’s correct edition? Same as yours. Run a hash check on it and then if its a sound download burn it to a disc. Then to be even more reliable use universal USB creator and make a windows 7 live USB. Go into your bios on your machine make sure your pc can boot from USB then set your cd drive as first device and USB as 2nd device. Leave this as your default setting. This way you can always run either windows or Linux rescue and diagnostics discs and/or USB sticks on your machine in case you run into such issues or even completely bork your harddrive. I had the same problem as you. I used puppy Linux live cd copied all of my sensitive data off the drive onto an external drive and then reformatted the drive to “unallocated” don’t repartition it as windows is too stupid to install in this manner. It prefers to set up it’s on boot sector! So very crucial to leave it unallocated after formatting it. I couldn’t be bothered with recovery, 9 out of 10 times it fails, don’t have that kind of time to waste!!!! So I’d advise to just do as i did, get your data off, wipe the drive and reinstall windows. If you have a licence your windows should automatically reregister with this? I can’t guarantee win 7 will do this as i can only speak of experience doing this with win 10 pro!;-) good luck. All else fails, just dump windows and use Linux mint !:-)

    • The commands do work but you have to leave out the hyphens I.o.w. just type disk part and hit return. I got as far as list partitions as I deleted mine as per someone else’s instructions and created a new one. But for some strange reason I could not reinstall as error of bootmanager missing?!!! So I really don’t know what to do other than give up on windows and just run Linux on this machine, I had the feeling the day would come???!!!!!

  2. Before getting this error, it was showing me “This windows copy is not genuine” and yesterday i took apart my cpu to clean it, and since then it hasn’t started. Is it possible that not genuine windows is the cause of this error?

  3. Thanks for your help, Madhur Tj!

    In my case, my USB external hard drive was causing some sort of interference in the boot procedure. To fix, I removed the USB, launched BIOS, changed the boot order so UEFI boot was top priority (instead of CD/DVD drive), rebooted and viola. Then plugged the USB back in after another test boot and everything’s back to normal.

    Cheers again.

  4. I performed Solutions 1 through 3. Still encountered the error. On a whim, I reran the Windows Startup repair option again. It found a problem, fixed it, and the computer booted fine.

  5. I was facing the same issue that in my Macbook the bootmgr was missing due to which the hard disk was not working properly and this problem was solved by the tips you have provided and also by contacting Apple iPad Support.

  6. There are so many ways to fix the BOOTMGR Is missing error if your computer or laptop is facing which are windows based.here we have seen a solution to fix it on windows.there are also many more ways to fix it.you may know those in detail.It will really prevent your computer to be affected or crashed down.

  7. I like the way you mention the good points about to Fix Bootmgr Is Missing Error On Windows Desktop Or Laptop. here i seen some good solution to fix it. keep updating such type of information.

  8. I was facing this issue since very long. Thanks for posting this solution with us. looking forward for some more informative post. keep sharing.

  9. be sure upload an antivirus for secure your device and many things related to security have discussed so read carefully and follow them. really great post with the best information.

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