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I bought a Dell Laptop recently which has Windows 7 operating system in it. I did not get the operating system CD/DVD. Recently I got a problem while starting the machine.

I really don't know what happened. It says "Bootmgr is missing. Press Alt+Ctrl+Delete to restart".

I have Dell recovery CD. But I don't know how to resolve this issue. Can anyone help me ?

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Maybe try on superuser.com – DrDro Jun 10 '10 at 13:37
Is the recovery CD a Windows 7 CD? You should boot into it and go into a recovery console. I can't remember what the command is from there, something like 'bootfix', but you should look at the 'help' list - there'll definitely be something there. – Rup Jun 10 '10 at 13:38
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@Rup:Thanks for your comment. That's not Windows 7 recovery CD. It is Dell recovery CD. Using this CD I am able to go the Dell drivers installation/recovery options. – Purushotham Jun 10 '10 at 13:54
just an FYI in response to all the answers talking about using the automated Startup Repair option that's on win7 recovery and install cd's if you do end up getting access to one. In my experience it rarely works. The easiest way is to forget about the startup repair option, click the command line option, and type: bootrec. see helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/fix-mbr-xp-vista – Robert S Ciaccio Jul 28 '10 at 16:40

migrated from stackoverflow.com Jun 10 '10 at 14:03

3 Answers

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Find somebody else who has a computer with a CD burner and running windows 7. Use their computer to burn a recovery disk. Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore, then click on "Create a system repair disk." It will guide you through creating a bootable disk with the recovery console.

Then, boot off of your new recovery disk. Select the option to repair the boot process. It should fix the boot manager.

You may also want to check to see if a Windows installation DVD came with your computer. Dell usually does ship an install disk (separate from the drivers disk). If you can find that, then you can skip the first step above and just boot off the install disk, then click on the option for "repair windows" when you get to the first screen.

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You may need to do the "Startup Repair" 3 or more times in a row before the system will boot successfully.

Warning Using the F8 Dell Factory restore feature on a Dell will wipe all your data. email, pictures, ect.

Dell does not actually make a "Recovery CD", usually it is a W7 re-installation DVD, you can boot from this DVD to run the startup repair.

**Do not Install W7 from this DVD, it will break the F8 Dell factory restore feature and it cannot be repaired.

I suggest trying the Startup Repair 3 or more times before using F8 Factory Restore.

Here is how you can back up your important data before doing the Factory Restore.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/use-ubuntu-live-cd-to-backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

. .

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up vote 2 down vote

If you didn't get a Windows CD with your PC it usually indicates the software can be found on a hidden partition and thus repaired from that location. If I remember correctly, On earlier Dell laptops, if you press Ctrl + F11 during boot-up, it will take you to the restore utility. On later models I believe they use F8. When you have the 'Advanced Boot Options menu', select 'Repair Your Computer'.

It might be worth checking that Dell CD carefully, sometimes Dell put the OS files on that CD too.

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