(?) on fixing bootmgr is compressed

[slee95]

I accidentally somehow compressed something on my computer and am getting this message "bootmgr is compressed". I think I did it when i was compressing stuff on my hard to conserve space. How do i fix it?

 

[slee95]

Is there a way to go into to my operating system to fix bootmgr is compressed?

 

[rcgldr]

I did a web search for "recover bootmgr". This was one of the hits:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8435342_recover-bootmgr.html

If this doesn't work for you, try doing the same web search for "recover bootmgr" to look for alternate methods.

 

[slee95]

k thanks i'll try it.

 

[r4z0r84]

try http://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/

EasyBCD has helped me recover old installations of windows that either randomly disappear from readwrite errors or remove themselves when installing a new OS the program recently helped me when i upgraded the firmware of my new SSD as it went to an old boot loader. this is by far my choice when fiddling with the bood loader in windows 7 as i can no longer edit a batch bootloader.ini file like in windows xp

 

[slee95]

r4z0r84 You have solid state? How much did it cost and how well does it perform?

 

[rcgldr]

easy bcd ... this is by far my choice when fiddling with the bood loader in windows 7 as i can no longer edit a batch bootloader.ini file like in windows xp

Other than the beta versions of Windows 7, you can still right click on my computer, properties, advanced, and still select some of the bootmgr parameters, such as which os to boot into by default (and the time to wait) on a multi-boot system, but this wouldn't fix a broken bootmgr problem.

 

[slee95]

damn well mom took it to work for the tech support guys to look at since it was a lab top/ tablet it has no cd driver so I'm waiting from someone from moms tech support to bring in a portable cd drive :(

 

[rcgldr]

There's probably a hidden "recovery" partition on your hard drive. To access it, you usually need to press some function key, like F8, F9, F10, ... and perhaps shift, ctrl, or alt, during a reboot of your laptop. This will boot up your lap top into "recovery" mode. If you have a manual it should specify which key combination you need to press to get into "recovery" mode.

You need to be careful at this point. One common "recovery" option is to restore your laptop back to it's "original factory condition", which would mean all files and programs you added to the laptop would be lost. Don't choose this option.

What you're hoping for is that the "recovery" mode includes the normal Windows 7 recovery mode (or whatever OS you're running) or something similar, which should let you fix or recreate a new bootmgr without modifying anything else on the hard drive.

The tech guys that are trying to fix your laptop are probably already aware of this.

 

[slee95]

it had vista then changed to xp i think and changed it to windows 7 ultimate the brand is hp.

 

[rcgldr]

it had vista then changed to xp i think and changed it to windows 7 ultimate the brand is hp.

How did you change it to Windows 7 without a cd driver?

For an HP system, press F11 during a reboot to get into recovery manager (I'm assuming this doesn't require a working bootmgr). I don't know of HP's recovery manager will let you just restore bootmgr. What you don't want to do is restore to factory condition, which would delete all your files and programs.

 

[slee95]

k thank you i took it to a friend and he had a friend that had a external to use to load 7 but i thought it would be quicker having one of the the tech guys look at it at moms work that was a mistake they take forever :(

 

[slee95]

Ok during setup i get f9 boot device menu, f10 based setup, f12 network net work service boot.

 

[slee95]

do need the specs of the lab top? hp compact 2710p energy star

 

[rcgldr]

Ok during setup i get f9 boot device menu, f10 based setup, f12 network net work service boot.

Use F9 in order to boot from the external cd/dvd drive you borrowed. You didn't explain how you upgraded your system to Windows 7, did you use an external cd/dvd drive back then also?

 

[slee95]

no a friend had the windows 7 disk and a friend of my friend had the external cd drive.

 

[slee95]

can i connect it to my working computer and transfer the files i need?

 

[rcgldr]

can i connect it to my working computer and transfer the files i need?

You're laptop needs to be running in order to transfer files from it's hard drive. Windows 7 cd/dvd should have an option to just repair the bootmgr.

Go to this web page, scroll down to Bootrec.exe options, then click on Click here to show/hide more information. You probably want to run Bootrec.exe /fixboot to fix bootmgr, but I'm not sure:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392#method1

If that doesn't work you can try system repair as described here:

bootmgr_fix.htm

 

[slee95]

ok but the computer idea won't work?

 

[rcgldr]

ok but the computer idea won't work?

You'd need to remove the hard drive from the lap top and connect it to the working computer, if that is possible.

 

[slee95]

really?

 

[rcgldr]

You'd need to remove the hard drive from the lap top and connect it to the working computer, if that is possible.

really?

Maybe I don't understand what you're trying to do. You want to backup the files from the hard drive inside your laptop, but you laptop won't boot because bootmgr is compressed. If your laptop won't boot, then how are you planning to access those files?

Did you try using Windows 7 recovery and using bootrec.exe to fix bootmgr yet?

 

[slee95]

i need to get my friends disk but was wondering if you could copy bootmgr from a working computer to m computer?

 

[slee95]

m is a typo i meant my

 

[rcgldr]

i need to get my friends disk but was wondering if you could copy bootmgr from a working computer to my computer?

There's stll the issue that you can't boot from the hard drive on your lap top. So you'll need to bood from the cd. If you boot from the cd, why not use Windows 7 recovery (bootrec.exe /fixboot) to fix bootmgr.

At the minimum, you would need to boot from the cd with some type of operating system, and use a USB flash drive or similar device to transfer files.

 

[slee95]

I'll get my friend to bring his cd and external thanks for the help :)

 

[r4z0r84]

you may also use Ubuntu in trial mode/live cd using this is basically a secondary OS for viewing all your files for backup before reinstalling windows on your laptop, all this requires is either the USB install (installs from usb drive or runs from usb drive) or a CD version of the software, all the information and downloads are available for free from the unbuntu website, this is what i use for hard drives that get the error "drive is not formatted would you like to format it now?" error, this allows me to backup the clients data without actually changing a single thing, also helps if you can't boot your computer as the hard drive windows is installed on is the one with the issue.

/Fixboot used to work great in windows xp when you got mtdlr is missing or something along those lines error, i have yet to fix this issue with windows 7, but booting up with windows 7 cd doing a recovery of sorts should fix the issue, windows 7 by default tries to start this after a power failure or hard drive error, but due to windows being installed on the problematic hard drive it sometimes fails due to corrupted data, anyway best of luck, personally if i understand the issue your having, i would try the windows 7 disc first as it sounds like you should have everything you need (might not have the windows 7 disc due to it being a laptop) if not i would definately go for the ubuntu work around, it should allow you to recover all your files and folders without needing to install another operating system and without damaging your sensative data.

 

[r4z0r84]

insert your OS CD
go to DOS window and type in your OS drive (usualy C:\)
type in bootrec /FixMbr
then type in bootrec /fixboot
then type in bootrec /rebuildbcd
then type in exit
restart your computer

this apparently worked for someone else with the same issue. good luck

 

[slee95]

Ok thank you :)

 

[rcgldr]

/Fixboot used to work great in windows xp when you got mtdlr is missing or something along those lines error.

It's ntldr, used by Windows NT -> Windows XP. Windows Vista and Windows 7 use bootmgr. I assume Windows 8 also uses bootmgr.

bootrec /fixmbr - this rewrites the boot code portion of the first sector of a hard drive, which is sometimes called the partition sector, since it contains partition information also (primary and extended partitions, but not logical drives within extended partitions. Logical drive info is stored in extended partitions).

bootrec /fixboot - this rewrites the first few sectors (9 sectors used for windows 7) of a bootable partition, which contains the boot code to load in bootmgr. It should also rewrite bootmgr.

bootrec /rebuildbcd - this rebuilds \boot\bcd on a bootable partition.

You probably just need to run bootrec /fixboot to fix bootmgr.

 

[slee95]

Ok thanks i'll try the disk when my friend brings in his external.

 

[r4z0r84]

on a separate issue, you said your actual dvd drive does not work in the laptop, if it doesn't show up in bios its definately a hardware issue or firmware, i have had issues in the past of a dvd drive not showing up in windows and usually its due to a recent software installation that gives you a virtual drive of some discription, like norton 360 live update, majority of usb internet dongles ect. there is a simple fix through regedit.exe to fix the registry errors, depending on the laptop and if it is still in the warranty period they should replace the drive, if not there should be firmware updates online, i know this doesn't actually help you at the current time due to not being able to load windows but for future reference.

the upper and lower filters that are in the registry that can cause your dvd/cd drive to magically disappear are here

Open regedit.exe (windows key + R) type regedit and push enter/ok

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

you really only need to look for the first 4D entry.

on the right you may see upper filters and lower filters, delete both and restart your computer.

upon restarting you will see your dvd drive has magically come back to your my computer.

This is a common issue and cause for dvd drives to go limbo

 

[rcgldr]

on a separate issue, you said your actual dvd drive does not work in the laptop.

It's not clear if there is a cd/dvd drive and it's broken, or if this lap top never had an internal cd/dvd drive.

 

[r4z0r84]

i was going off the "cd driver" comment from the first page, I am just assuming it does have a physical drive there and the driver/firmware/hardware is failing. unless it was a typo and there is no cd drive. so yes i agree it is unclear although those troubleshooting steps would help figure out exactly what is wrong with the drive if it is physically there.

 

[slee95]

It never came with a eternal and it can't have one which sucks :(

 

[slee95]

You two know your computer a lot better then i do.