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not able to boot with windows 7 os
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
To access the System Recovery Environment in Windows 7, simply boot your PC, just before the system loads the Windows operating system; hit the [F8] Function 8 key on your keyboard which will launch the Advanced Boot Options Menu. There you will see a new option 'Repair Your Computer', select this option and hit 'Enter' on your keyboard.
Andre Da Costa http://adacosta.spaces.live.com http://www.activewin.com
Interesting. Someone at another site posted with the same problem when helping a friend fix their Windows XP machine.
I suggest starting with checking that there are no CDs or DVDs in the drives or removable drives (backups) plugged in to the USB ports. If that is not the problem, see if this KB article helps: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315261/
Corrine, Microsoft MVP (Consumer Security). This posting is provided "AS IS" without warranty, and confers no rights.
Forgetting to unplug my Maxtor external hd before startup cause this problem for me!
I got the "NTLDR is missing" error when performing a custom installation of Windows 7 to replace Windows XP Pro. Windows 7 installs in 5 steps and you are forewarned that the install will reboot your PC a few times during the process. I got the error message on the 1st reboot which occurred about a quarter of the way through the 2nd step. I, too, was confused by the message which should not apply to VISTA or Windows 7 start ups. I followed the advice of some others on this and other forums and rather easily surmounted the problem as follows (I have no idea which of these changes made the difference): 1) I removed and reinserted the button battery on my motherboard; the battery was out for about a minute; 2) I cleaned the dusty interior of my PC (a good idea but not likely a solution to the missing NTLDR problem); and 3) I started the PC and immediately BIOS halted with serious error messages (like cannot locate any hard drives); so I entered the date and time in BIOS and changed the boot device order for my two CD/DVD drives to insure the drive with the Windows 7 installation DVD in it booted ahead of the empty one, then saved the BIOS settings and continued. Windows 7 installation launched again and proceeded steadily, if slowly, to completion, with only one more reboot, which went smoothly.
I can't tell you how many boot records I've blown up over the years. GRUB, NTLDR, and now BCD are enough to turn your brain into ski wax.
Ran into this error trying to get into my Windows 7 Home after I installed Linux Mint on a second drive. It was obviously an artifact from prior XP / XP_x64 / Linux installs and dual boots I had set up, where I had mismanaged placement of the boot records across different disks.
In order to fix, I used the sharpest Occam's Razor I could find (a must in every tinkerer's toolkit) and disconnected the 2 other hard drives (Mint & NTFS data), insured no externals were plugged in, leaving only the Win7 HD and CD. Booted from my installation CD, selecting my language, and clicked the repair link. It didn't see my Win7 in the little box in the backgrounds while it ran, but it sounded like it stuck something on the HD.
Rebooted, same error, back to CD, clicked again on the Repair link. Aha! This time it sees my install in the little background box.
Rebooted again, this time to an install and diagnostic screen originating from the HD (no NTLDR error). Ran the installation from that screen, again selecting Repair. Again it saw my Win7, and asked to reboot.
Rebooted again, this time into the F8 switch which was recommended above. I selected Start Normally, and it started fine. Rebooted, and am no longer running into the NTLDR error. Plugged in my other two HDs, and I have my data and Linux drives ready to go and accessible from the secondary BIOS-level boot disk screen.
Fixing MBRs are an interesting exercise but can be a huge time sink, especially if you've bolluxed up the works by playing with different OS and their boot setups. Sure, it's nice having Linux show up on your Windows boot option screen, and vice-versa in GRUB. But....
If your machine has at least BIOS level boot drive choices, UNPLUG ALL YOUR OTHER DISKS before installing Windows or Linux. Then plug them back in and use the BIOS or secondary level boot selectors to get into the OS you want. Best. Advice. Ever.
