BootMGR is compressed :-(

Infidel

Hi.

I've had (and read) some pretty good computer advice here in the past - so it's always my first port of call these days

Basically to cut to the chase, my computer is stuck in a loop and won't boot up.

It just goes to a black screen with white writing at the top which says "BOOTMGR is compressed"
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

When I do this it just returns to the same screen.
If I press any other buttons they just make a beep and nothing happens. The only way I can turn it off is it I cut the power.
The off button doesn't even work in this state.

To make matters worse my CD drive is broken and I do not have a Windows installation CD - As It came installed on the laptop and stupidly i never ever made a CD copy of it.

So...........is all lost or is there some way I can recover my laptop. The good news (if any) is that I did indeed move all my data onto an external HD a month or so ago - so I won't really lose that much data-wise.
So perhaps if it's not possible to 'repair' windows I could somehow re-format the whole laptop and use it again.

Is this possible without a CD?

Well here's hoping.................

Mirno

Firstly, perhaps you could give us some salient details:
What version of Windows do (did) you have?
Do you know the product key?
Do you have access to another PC (you could be posting from a tablet or phone)?

It's possible to boot from a USB stick, once you've got that set up, you may be able to repair the file system from that.

psychic_teabag

I'm not a windows expert, but taking a wild guess... bootmgr is presumably the first program the system loads to try to bootstrap the system. ntfs allows files to be compressed on the fly, but perhaps bootmgr must not be compressed. (Might have hoped the system would prevent you doing that if it is the case.)

did you recently compress any files on your disk ?

google for 'bootmgr is compressed' finds various matches. If it's vista,
http://smallvoid.com/article/winnt-recovery-environment.html
suggests there might be a windows recovery installation on your system (pressing F8).

Otherwise you will have to boot from alternate media (USB) as Mirno suggests.

ETA: if you can't get hold of windows media, you might be able to repair it by booting temporarly into linux from USB, but probably as a last resort.

Infidel

Mirno wrote: »

Firstly, perhaps you could give us some salient details:
What version of Windows do (did) you have?
Do you know the product key?
Do you have access to another PC (you could be posting from a tablet or phone)?

It's possible to boot from a USB stick, once you've got that set up, you may be able to repair the file system from that.

Did did DID, yes . I had Windows 7 installed when it finally went down.

Product key uknown.

I have access to another PC for a while yes.

Infidel

psychic_teabag wrote: »

I'm not a windows expert, but taking a wild guess... bootmgr is presumably the first program the system loads to try to bootstrap the system. ntfs allows files to be compressed on the fly, but perhaps bootmgr must not be compressed. (Might have hoped the system would prevent you doing that if it is the case.)

did you recently compress any files on your disk ?

google for 'bootmgr is compressed' finds various matches. If it's vista,
http://smallvoid.com/article/winnt-recovery-environment.html
suggests there might be a windows recovery installation on your system (pressing F8).

Otherwise you will have to boot from alternate media (USB) as Mirno suggests.

ETA: if you can't get hold of windows media, you might be able to repair it by booting temporarly into linux from USB, but probably as a last resort.

I didn't compress any files. I can only think it's some kind of virus - but I'm only guessing.

Windows 7 so no F8 - I tried pressing every single key and they all just emit beeps when pressed solo.

Yeah, I think the only thing i can try is to see if it will boot up from a USB (I actually have an unused 8gb USB lying around). But that's where I fall down I'm afraid.
Like how can I create the USB and with what program etc.

As with most non-experts I always learn as I go; the hard way.

psychic_teabag

Infidel wrote: »

I have access to another PC for a while yes.

If it is also windows 7, you might be able to ask it to create a repair disk, and then boot your laptop from that.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/Create-a-system-repair-disc
suggests you can create a repair disk if you don't have the installation media. Unfortunately, does seem to mandate cd or dvd.

Might be possible to let windows write the cd, and then use that to create a boot usb disk manually.

psychic_teabag

psychic_teabag wrote: »

Might be possible to let windows write the cd, and then use that to create a boot usb disk manually.

This sounds promising...

http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-repair-windows-7-from-usb-flash-drive-repair-without-installation-dvd-disc/

Infidel

psychic_teabag wrote: »

If it is also windows 7, you might be able to ask it to create a repair disk, and then boot your laptop from that.

.

Unfortunately not. It's Windows 10 :eek: It's an experience just using this as It's my first time.

So I could possibly create a Windows 10 disk? But..........

...Like I said. The last option (before just confining it to the bin) would be to reformat - but I don't know how I'd even do that without being able to access anything.

And I can't just give my broken laptop back and I keep this newer one...as they might notice

psychic_teabag

Hmm.. okay, makes it slightly more challenging.

it seems that you can download windows 7 media from microsoft, provided you can provide your product key. So that reduces the problem to figuring that out.

If windows was preinstalled, there ought to be a sticker with the key. If not, it seems that it can be extracted from the disk of the laptop if you can attach it to the working pc.
http://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys
(I haven't read it all in detail.)

Reading the registry does seem to be something you can do with a linux boot image. So that would be a way to get hold if it without having to physically remove the disk from the unhappy laptop.

http://lifehacker.com/5584762/edit-the-windows-registry-from-a-linux-thumb-drive

Infidel

Arrgghh! I just realised that I forgot to add a possibly vital detail (insert embarrassed emoji here).

The Laptop was originally installed with Windows Vista Home Premium (of which the product key is indeed on a sticker just about readable on the back of the laptop).

It was upgraded to Windows 7 about three years ago, but the installation disk for that is long gone.

So I'm not sure if this makes things better or indeed worse....or just about the same.

esuhl

If it's just the boot manager that's causing the problem AND you can download a legit Windows 7 ISO, then all you need to do is boot into the Windows Recovery Environment and use bootrec.exe to overwrite the corrupt MBR with a new one.

The options /fixmbr and /fixboot should fix the problem.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/927392