"bootmgr is missing" (Yes, another thread on this but can't seem to find the right solution)

[ColdFyre2112]

So I finally got a new HD to replace my old old main HD. I install win7 home premium on it with no problem. Works great. Get all my updates taken care of, mobo drivers installed, etc. Again, works great.

Here's where the problem comes in: I re-connect my storage drive to it's sata cable and start it up. As soon as the post screen goes away I get the dreaded "bootmgr is missing" message. All I did was plug in my 2nd drive. Odd, I thought. So I try to get to my BIOS to make sure it's not trying to boot to that drive. I restart again and hit DEL to get to the bios... won't even go there. I can hit DEL all I want. It never gets to the bios and it still gives me the error message.

I unplug the sata cable and reboot. Works perfect. WTF? I'm scratching my head now. So, I leave my system on and just plug the sata cable into my storage drive. Nothing at 1st but then eventually it pops up and I can use it no problem. Everything is there, no issues. Ran a chkdsk on it and it came back fine. I restart my system again with it plugged in and boom... error message again. Unplug the sata cable, restart and the system starts no problem.

I thought maybe I need to start up with my Win7 DVD but it won't even do that when my storage drive is connected.

Any ideas what I may be missing?

Thanks!

 

[Dogsnake]

If your "storage drive" had windows on it then that is the source of the issue. There is a normally hidden 100MB partition on the boot drive that contains the boot info. Did you somehow try to uninstall the original windows? If you look in the storage section of Computer Management you will see it. The issue may very well be that the bios is seeing more than one OS or what it thinks is and OS. Since it is almost impossible to totally remove all traces of a windows install you might consider a temp. move of the data you store to the new drive and then do a format of the old drive and move the data back. Also plugging or unplugging the cables is risky as it could cause a major system failure. There is voltage on those lines and when you hot plug they can arc. Avery small arc or surge could fry that storage drive, the MB port it is connected to and a number of other MB items.

 

[ColdFyre2112]

The storage drive did not have windows installed on it. It was just my storage drive. I DID have a few applications installed on it though so I would imagine that it was associated to my previous install of Win7.

 

[Dogsnake]

Was it your "C" drive? Try giving it a new letter name. Check it it the storage section as above and see if it shows more than one partition. Last trick is to plug the data line from your current boot drive into the port that you are plugging the storage into. Swap MB headers for the drives and see if it works. Windows may first expect to see the boot drive at the old location.

 

[ColdFyre2112]

Looks like it was a cable order issue. Not sure why but it was. I never changed the order when I installed the new drive.
Anyhow, I plugged my new drive ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178380&cm_re=ST2000DX001-_-22-178-380-_-Product ) into my 3/gs port #1, my dvd drive into port #2 and my old storage drive into port #3. Now things are peachy.

Only bad thing is that I'm not using the full 6/gs my mobo can support. I think I may be using an old 3/gs cable. Not sure how to tell which is which to be honest!. I'm just happy its working

 

[Dogsnake]

As I thought. The reason is that the MB devices that support the SATA ports are all not the same one(s). There are separate chips (devices) for SATA 3 or 2. So the OS is looking where it has recorded the drive to be and does not find it. The error message is boot.mgr is missing which is just a generic reason for not finding the boot drive as expected. The cable should be marked in some way or at least many are to tell you is is a high speed one.

 

[ColdFyre2112]

Thanks again Dog. I appreciate the assistance