BOOTMGR is missing

Factual Questions
1

I built a new computer. I didn’t start out to, but it ended up that way.

Anyway, everything is new except the hard drive. I had a stack of IDE hard drives sitting around, so I decided to reuse one or more of those.
I had everything together and an 80G drive with XP on it in the box. It had been the master in a Dell desktop that died a couple of years ago.
When I turned the box on it displayed the ASUS post screen and then went to the XP loading screen.
It sat there for a few seconds, and then went to the BSOD.
I tried 2 other HDDs with XP on them and got the same result.

I decided to buy a new OS install, and found a Windows 7 install on EBAY.

I formatted one of my HDDs and mounted it, and loaded the new Windows install disk into my portable optical drive and turned the box on.
The ASUS post screen comes up and stays.
If I go to the BIOS screen or the Boot menu it seems fine.
The BIOS screens display the CPU specs fine and shows my 4GB of ram.
When I exit, I get the message: ‘BOOTMGR is missing. Press CTL + Alt + Delete to restart’.
Lather, rinse, repeat.

I tried booting from the optical drive, I tried booting from the HDD, no joy.
I tried a different HDD with XP on it. Same result.
I tried both the 64-bit disk and the 32-bit disk.
:frowning:

I believe that I have a full retail install disk. The box looks right. It does not say upgrade on the upper left corner. The product code is FQC-00129. It came in a shrink-wrapped package. The disks have a holographic effect on the top, if that matters.

Could there be something wrong with my hardware? How could I find that out?
Could I have gotten an OEM version of Windows 7? How would I know?

My setup, in case it matters:

CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX

Motherboard: ASUS M4A88T-M/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9K2/4G

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W

Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer USB 3.0 Mid Tower ATX Case
It’s a kinda goofy looking gamers case, but it got real good reviews and it was real easy to work with so I like it.

I will probably have to call Microsoft on Sunday or Monday, when I have a couple of hours to spend on the phone, but I thought I’d ask you guys first. I hate talking to customer support. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

2

BOOTMGR is missing is telling you that the computer is trying to boot off the drive I’m pretty sure. I am pretty sure at this point the drive seems fine but Windows will need to be reinstalled pretty much (unless you’d like to try some more complicated ways to fix it). I am thinking that you’re not booting off the disc correctly. Pull up the boot menu in your bios it may be like F8 when you see bios that it will show you a list of cd drives and stuff to boot from and make sure you’re picking the right cd/dvd drive. Make sure if it says press any key to continue… that you hit a button but I think that Windows 7 auto loads. To double check that it’s not the copy of windows try booting off another disc like even a xp install cd or some kind of drivers disc or something.

3

Just to be extra clear here; I can’t RE-install or fix Windows because it is not installed. I am trying to install Windows 7 onto a clean, formatted drive that I know is good.

And I did try to boot off of the CD drive. I set the boot priority in the Bios AND I went to the boot menu and selected the CD drive.

For simplicity’s sake, the only drives I have hooked up are the HDD and the CD drive. I figured I could add stuff later, after I got the operating system installed.

4

Win 7 is on a DVD, not CD, no? When you say CD drive you mean DVD drive, right?

Do you have another DVD drive to swap out to see if that is the problem?

Weird problem…good luck!

5

did you try booting off of a different disc? to determine whether this boot issue is with JUST the windows disc or with all bootable cd’s / dvd’s?

6

your system specs are missing the dvd/cd drive? do you have one in there?

7

Simply put, your computer is not successfully booting from the DVD, it rolls over to the next item in the boot order and is not finding anything there either.

It could be that you need to tell it to try and boot to “USB device”, that may solve the problem since you are not truly accessing a normal drive interface.

If that fails many portable DVD drives are not bootable. Get a real drive, plugged into a SATA or PATA interface on the board.

8

Is it even trying to boot off the DVD drive in the first place? Is the BIOS seeing the DVD drive? Check the cables! The OP should go into the BIOS and set the PC to boot from the DVD drive. There may also be a hotkey to press during the BIOS boot phase which will bring up a boot device menu.

9

Concur w/ Quartz. It sounds like a boot order problem to me.

10

The DVD drive I am using is one I removed from a defunct desktop computer and put into a portable docking station thingee. I could mount it in the case I suppose, but didn’t think it would make any difference. I use this device to load things onto my netbook. It also works on my big laptop.

I did set the boot order in the BIOS. When that didn’t work, I went to the Boot menu and selected the DVD drive there. I hear the DVD spinning up when I do so, so I assume it’s reading.

I tried to boot off of both the 64-bit DVD and the 32-bit DVD. I don’t have any other install disks to try except an old, old copy of red hat linux.

Is there any way I can tell if what I was sent is an OEM version of Windows instead of the full retail version the seller advertised? That;s my best guess at this point.

11

Booting is a whole nuther ball of wax from using on an already running machine. You dont have to screw it in, but plug it into the SATA or PATA interface as appropriate.

12

Hes using an external USB optical drive, boot support to USB devices can be spotty at best. It may fire the drive, but BIOS does not know how to talk to it.

13

Okay, I’ll mount a dvd drive in the case tomorrow and give that a try.

Got to go to a concert tonight. Our granddaughter is playing.

Thanks for all your comments so far.

14

darn yeah I need to start getting into the habit of reading more thoroughly, I haven’t read in years and need lots of practice but yeah I’d say the fact that it’s a USB drive is the reason it’s not booting right into the disc.

15

The disks are functionally identical, the differences are in licencing rules.

If you paid around $100, you got an OEM. Retails are more like $175-$200.

16

Well, you guys were right! I plugged a DVD reader directly into my IDE controller and it loaded Windows 7 just fine.

Thank you all very much! :D:D:D

17

Very welcome.

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