• Oct 30, 2017  The same problem has again cropped up. This time bootrec /scanos sends a message as Total identified windows installations: 0 However it says operation completed successfully. The same is happening for bootrec /rebuild. Kindly advice, Which of these steps were you able to complete and what where the results? 1) make a brand new restore point.
  • Jun 28, 2018  Successfully scanned Windows installations. Total identified Windows installations: 0 The operation completed successfully. Now you can repeat the same command we tried in the beginning where we received the 0 Windows installations message: bootrec /rebuildbcd.
  1. Bootrec Rebuildbcd Finds No Windows Installations
  2. Bootrec Rebuildbcd No Windows Installations For Sale

Bootrec /RebuildBcd will scan for installations on your hard drive and allows you to select which to add to the BCD. Download Bootrec.exe You cannot download bootrec.exe as it’s a command line utility part of Windows.

If the Windows boot configuration data (BCD) store is missing, becomes corrupted, or isn't properly configured, Windows won't be able to start, and you'll see BOOTMGR is Missing or a similar error message pretty early on in the boot process.

The easiest solution to a BCD issue is to simply rebuild it, which you can do automatically with the bootreccommand, fully explained below.

If you've already scrolled down through this tutorial and it looks like too much, don't worry. Yes, there are several commands to run and lots of output on the screen, but rebuilding the BCD is a very straightforward process. Just follow the instructions exactly and you'll be fine.

These instructions apply to Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. Similar problems can exist in Windows XP, but since boot configuration information is stored in the boot.ini file and not the BCD, correcting XP issues with boot data involves a completely different process.

How to Rebuild the BCD in Windows 10, 8, 7, or Vista

Rebuilding the BCD in Windows should only take around 15 minutes:

Windows
  1. Start Advanced Startup Options if you're using Windows 10 or Windows 8. Start System Recovery Options if you're using Windows 7 or Windows Vista.

  2. In Windows 10/8, select Troubleshoot and then Advanced options.

  3. Command Prompt won't start immediately. Your computer will show a 'Preparing' screen for a short time while it readies the computer.

    You may need to choose your account name and enter your password to get to the Command Prompt.

  4. At the prompt, type the bootrec command as shown below, and then press Enter:

    The bootrec command will search for Windows installations not included in the BCD and then ask you if you'd like to add one or more to it.

  5. You should see one of the following messages at the command line.

    If you see Option 1: Move on to Step 7. This result most likely means that Windows installation data in the BCD store exists but bootrec couldn't find any additional installations of Windows on your computer to add to the BCD. That's fine; you'll just need to take a few extra steps to rebuild the BCD.

    If you see option 2: Enter Y or Yes to the Add installation to boot list? question, after which you should see The operation completed successfully, followed by a blinking cursor at the prompt. Finish up with Step 10 toward the bottom of the page.

  6. Since the BCD store exists and lists a Windows installation, you'll first have to remove it manually and then try to rebuild it again. At the prompt, execute the bcdedit command as shown and then press Enter:

    The bcdedit command is used here to export the BCD store as a file: bcdbackup. There's no need to specify a file extension. The command should return the following on screen, meaning the BCD export worked as expected:

  7. At this point, you need to adjust several file attributes for the BCD store so you can manipulate it. At the prompt, execute the attrib command exactly like this:

    What you just did with the attrib command was remove the hidden, read-only, and system attributes from the file bcd. Those attributes restricted the actions you could take on the file. Now that they're gone, you can manipulate the file more freely (specifically, rename it).

  8. To rename the BCD store, execute the ren command as shown:

    Now that the BCD store is renamed, you should now be able to successfully rebuild it, as you tried to do in Step 6.

    You could delete the BCD file entirely since you're about to create a new one. However, renaming the existing BCD accomplishes the same thing since it's now unavailable to Windows, plus provides you with another layer of backup, in addition to the export you did in Step 5, if you decide to undo your actions.

  9. Try rebuilding the BCD again by executing the following, followed by Enter:

    It should produce this in Command Prompt:

    This means the BCD store rebuild is progressing as expected.

  10. At the Add installation to boot list? question, type Y or Yes, followed by the Enter key.

    You should see this on the screen to show that the BCD rebuild is complete:

  11. Restart your computer. Assuming that an issue with the BCD store was the only problem, Windows should start as expected.

Depending on how you started Advanced Startup Options or System Recovery Options, you may need to remove a disc or flash drive before restarting.

If rebuilding the BCD didn't solve the problem you were having, continue to troubleshoot whatever specific issue you're seeing that's preventing Windows from booting normally.

Active2 years, 8 months ago

I know this question has been asked before but I've tried all the usual fixes and nothing works.

Basically the hard drive had two partitions with Vista and Windows 7. I've deleted the Vista partition to make more room and expanded the Windows 7 partition to fill the drive (using GParted).

I've tried:

  1. Running Startup Repair - it doesn't find any problems.
  2. Setting partition to Active - worked.
  3. bootsect /nt60 c: - worked.
  4. BootRec /FixMbr - worked.
  5. BootRec /FixBoot - worked.
  6. BootRec /ScanOs - I get the message 'Total identified Windows installations: 0'
  7. BootRec /RebuildBcd - I get the message 'Total identified Windows installations: 0'

BcdEdit shows a Windows Boot Manager and a Windows Boot Loader, both on C: partition.

[Update]

Bootrec
  1. Rename BCD and rerun BootRec /RebuildBcd - worked.
  2. Copy bootmgr from DVD - blocked because the file's already there.

[Update 2]

I found an article here that mentioned some other commands.

  1. C:chkdsk /f /r - worked.
  2. sfc /scannow /offbootdir=c: /offwindir=c:windows - worked (see here).

What else can I try?

parsley72
parsley72parsley72
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8 Answers

I fixed it by:

  1. Back up the partition to an external drive (using GParted).
  2. Delete the partition.
  3. Reinstall Windows 7 on the (now empty) drive.
  4. Copy the contents of the partition over the fresh install of Windows (using System Rescue CD).

Windows now boots correctly and looks exactly the same as before.

parsley72parsley72
6025 gold badges13 silver badges32 bronze badges

I guess that you had Vista on the disk as partition 1 and then Windows 7 as partition 2, then deleted Vista, meaning that Windows 7 is now on partition 1.

Unfortunately, Windows identifies its partitions by their numbers, so that all partition references in the Windows 7 registry are now incorrect and unusable.

I believe that you will have to reinstall Windows 7. A simple Repair Installation should be enough, and will only refresh Windows and not disturb the installed applications.

Or, for the sneaky solution, you could create some small empty space on the disk before the Windows 7 partition and format it as NTFS, in effect recreating a surrogate dummy partition 1 that will restore the Windows 7 partition to its number 2 position on the disk. You might still need to do again Startup Repair.

[EDIT]

You could force Windows to recreate the BCD store partition by booting from the DVD into the Command Prompt option of Repair and entering :

In case of a permissions problem, use the command attrib bcd -s -h -r before the rename.Reboot, and if it doesn't work then do Startup Repair again.

Another desperate solution is to assume that bootmgr got corrupted and boot as above and do :

If nothing works, just reformat the entire disk and install from scratch. Not every problem can be analyzed or has a solution.

harrymcharrymc
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Please make sure that the Windows 7 Recovery partition is set as the active!!

I was having trouble because the active partition was set to C:

Felipe TenorioFelipe Tenorio

Had the same issue and the below fixed it for me, assuming that you already know and started the rescue disk in Command Promt, I used the tool bcdboot.exe to recreate BCD:

Where x is the drive that has the System label.

Eduard FlorinescuEduard Florinescu
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Windows boot loader identifies partitions by offset in sectors + 4-byte disk signature in MBR. So when you moved your system partition with GParted, two odd things happened:

1) Disk offset of Win7 system partition changed, all references stored in BCD and SYSTEM registry hives are now broken.

2) Win7 system partition now has the same ID as WinVista system partition used to have, so two references now collide: bootloader with old settings tries to boot Win7 as Vista, but fails.

Basically you need to remove BCD registry hive and rebuild it from scratch, and also fix reference to disk C: in Win7's MountedDevices in SYSTEM registry hive.

Using Emergency Boot CD you can delete BCD in the 'File Manager', then recreate BCD from scratch and fix MountedDevices in 'Mount & Boot Center'.

Mikhail KupchikMikhail Kupchik

Try the fixes listed here: bootmgr is missing fixes

There are a whole number of various fixes. Solution #2 worked for me. Hope this helps others.

Mithras AdamMithras Adam

I want to improve the solution parsley72 gave:

Instead of copying the partition, install windows, then copy back:

You can boot to CD (either System Rescue Disk or windows set up disk) - I use the SRD to fix mine - then, select the Fix your windows option. It does the magic!

I think the reason is that you already have everything on C: (the restored OS, the MBR, etc.), the only thing left is for Windows to find the boot information (something only Windows software can do).

Logical huh?

Bootrec Rebuildbcd Finds No Windows Installations

Jan Doggen
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minhminh

This is just a clarifying comment on Narkevich's remark (I wanted just to add a comment but seemed to be barred from doing so

Bootrec Rebuildbcd No Windows Installations For Sale

The reason you didn't need the /s x: option is that by default, bcd boot changes the bcd on the volume which is currently active. That's almost always what you want. If one specifies /s and a drive letter, then either 1. The drive letter is the active volume, and the command would do the same thing without /s x: as with it ;or 2. The drive letter is different from the current active volume. In this case what actually happens at boot time could only affected if either the bcd on the active disk is corrupt, and or 2. At some later time you change which disk is marked active to the one named after /s.

Cheers

Scott PetrackScott Petrack

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