http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ How-To Geek Forums Topic: Vista: Boot Manager Problem en Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:16:03 +0000 http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem/page/2#post-98560 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:57:27 +0000 takeatoke 98560@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>put in the recovery cd and go to cmd, type bootrec/fixboot then press enter, then type bootrec/fixmbr then enter, after that restart pc and that shoud do the trick </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem/page/2#post-97792 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:36:52 +0000 pkrsccr 97792@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Apparently this is a problem with no solution. The "Rescue my System!" button did not 'rescue' my system as I had hoped. I am just going to accept this unexplainable annoyance for what it is: an unexplainable annoyance. Thanks ScottW. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97786 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:20:21 +0000 ScottW 97786@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>pkrsccr, be sure to backup your important data on a regular basis in case that system dies at some point.</p> <p>Meanwhile, if you are willing to try a slightly risky procedure, I have an idea that might get rid of the boot manager screen. For this, be sure that you have your important data backed up. In EasyBCD, click the "Manage Bootloader" tool, then click on the "Backup Settings" button. This will make a backup copy of your current Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store to the filename given. You can change that filename if you wish. Next, go to the "Diagnostics Center" tool, choose "Reset BCD storage", the click the "Rescue my System!" button. This operation will create a new BCD store from scratch. Finally, go back to "View Settings" and make sure the Overview looks pretty much like it did before, looking at your post above.</p> <p>The thinking here is that there may be some corruption or a bad setting in the BCD store that we can't see, so this will create a new one. Hopefully after this procedure, you won't see the boot manager screen on every boot. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97768 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:33:32 +0000 pkrsccr 97768@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Thanks for all of your help ScottW. Dell techincal support is pretty worthless. I have had many bad experiences with Dell. I do not believe money spent on Dell is well spent; especially for their technical support. I guess I will just ride this problem out; if it is just a harmless boot manager annoyance, then lucky me. If it a serious hardware problem; then so be it, and I will finally be rid of this Dell P.O.S. Time will tell I suppose. Thanks again, ScottW; I really appreciate your input. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97712 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:48:30 +0000 ScottW 97712@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>It could be that due to an error from the BIOS, the system stops at the Boot Manager. It could also be that these two occurrences are unrelated. However, while the boot manager screen is certainly annoying, a beep code from the BIOS could be something very serious, such as a hardware problem. The beep code problem should be addressed first. Any luck with the PSA diagnostic? I can't seem to find a list of beep codes for your system, just those PSA code numbers. If you only ever get a beep code, you could have a chat with Dell tech support and they should be able to look up the code. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97648 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:47:22 +0000 pkrsccr 97648@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Do you think this boot manager issue could be due to some type of hardware problem? I guess I had never considered that. It is strange how I did not have any type of issue with this until I changed the partition sizes when I reinstalled vista. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97647 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:44:10 +0000 pkrsccr 97647@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>I am having trouble doing this. The instructions are easy enough; power down computer, hold fn key + power key and release both. A few times, I heard 4 beeps-pause-a lot of beeps (like 12 or more). Other times, I only hear 4 beeps, and other times I hear three beeps and then see the boot manager appear. So I am not sure what the deal with that was. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97644 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:11:08 +0000 ScottW 97644@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>If the error is coming out of the BIOS, then reinstalling Windows will not fix it. And if the problem is hardware-related, updating the BIOS won't change that either.</p> <p>Try the Pre-Boot System Assessment (PSA) diagnostics for your system -- it's the first link on <a href="http://support.dell.com/support/dsn/dsnsearchresult.aspx?c=us&#38;l=en&#38;s=gen&#38;Query=YmVlcCtjb2Rl&#38;SystemID=XPS_M1710&#38;ServiceTag=&#38;contenttype=-1&#38;os=-1&#38;component=-1&#38;lang=-1&#38;customersearch=False&#38;toggle=true">this page at Dell support</a>. If you hear a beep code, note the number of beeps and the pauses between beep groups. For example, you might hear (beep)(pause)(beep-beep-beep)(pause)(beep-beep). That would make the beep code, 1 - 3 - 2. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97639 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:44:52 +0000 pkrsccr 97639@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Is there a way to totally reset my laptop? Like beyond reinstalling the latest bios version and reformatting and reinstalling windows? I do not see how doing those two things does not resolve any type of issue that I might be having. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97637 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:23:40 +0000 pkrsccr 97637@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>I have a Dell XPS M1710 with windows vista business 32bit. The latest bios version is A07 and was released 7/5/2007. I have had this version of the bios nearly since the time it was released. I have just recently reinstalled this same versions of bios, hoping that it might correct this problem I am having but it seemed to have no effect. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97636 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:15:56 +0000 ScottW 97636@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>What model of Dell laptop is this? Those beeps are an error code put out by the BIOS. It may be that the system is stopping at Windows Boot Manager because it thinks there is an error that you should address. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97633 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:00:13 +0000 pkrsccr 97633@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>When I change the time to display the list of operating systems to 10 seconds, and restart my computer. The boot manager menu does not load, but instead there is a series of short fast beeps (like 15 of them) before windows loads. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97632 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:57:51 +0000 pkrsccr 97632@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>That is the screen I see. There is only one operating system listed (windows vista). I do not see the countdown. Even when I have a time limit set in settings, I do not see the countdown. Thanks for your help and time so far ScottW. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97624 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:10:37 +0000 ScottW 97624@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>I've been doing some experiments here to try and understand what is happening. When I uncheck the "time to display..." on a system with two operating systems, it boots right into the default OS without stopping at the boot manager. Also, on a system with only one OS, if I check the box and set a time it still does not stop at the boot manager. So, basically, I can't re-create the conditions that you are seeing.</p> <p>I would like to see what your boot manager screen looks like, so I am posting an example below so you can describe yours based on this one. Is there more than one entry in the list (maybe a hidden one)? Is there a countdown timer as shown here, "Seconds until the highlighted choice..."?</p> <p><img src="http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/8300/vistabootmanagerscreen.png" /> </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97593 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:03:32 +0000 pkrsccr 97593@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Anyone? Any ideas? </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97457 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:16:42 +0000 pkrsccr 97457@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Unfortunately this did not solve my problem. Even after unchecking that (and I could have sworn I had both of those unchecked/set to 0 before now), boot manager still shows up when I boot my computer. I really am at my wit's end.</p> <p>Any other ideas? I have already reformatted/repartitioned my hard drive a various number of times in an attempt to resolve this annoyance, so I am willing to try anything (it isn't even a real issue for my computer; I just find it very irritating because I know it isn't supposed to be there. lol) </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97451 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:41:41 +0000 ScottW 97451@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>I think this is simply a matter of the boot manager having a timeout when you don't need one. You don't even need EasyBCD to fix this. Go to Start -&gt; Control Panel -&gt; System (under System and Maintenance in the Home view). On the left side, select "Advanced System Settings", then find the "Startup and Recovery" section and choose the Settings button there. In System Startup, you should see the Default OS is Windows Vista and you probably have a check mark by "Time to display list of operating systems". Remove the checkmark which will set the time to 0, click OK, then OK. Now when you restart you should not see the boot manager screen.</p> <p>The only odd thing is in the first output above, you have a timeout of 30 then in the second it says timeout 5. Either way, lose the timeout and you should be golden. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97443 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:01:33 +0000 pkrsccr 97443@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Even though there is only one entry, "Windows Boot Manager" prompts me to select an operating system every time I start my computer. I have tried everything I can think of to no avail. Please don't give up on me ScottW! I have done the proactive task of selecting the detailed (debug) view setting in hopes it will give you some sort of suggestion for me. Here it is:</p> <p>Windows Boot Manager<br /> --------------------<br /> identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}<br /> device partition=C:<br /> description Windows Boot Manager<br /> locale en-US<br /> inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}<br /> default {e8709fb6-fa5f-11db-be4d-e219ece5282e}<br /> displayorder {e8709fb6-fa5f-11db-be4d-e219ece5282e}<br /> toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}<br /> timeout 5</p> <p>Windows Boot Loader<br /> -------------------<br /> identifier {e8709fb6-fa5f-11db-be4d-e219ece5282e}<br /> device partition=C:<br /> path \Windows\system32\winload.exe<br /> description Windows Vista<br /> locale en-US<br /> inherit {6efb52bf-1766-41db-a6b3-0ee5eff72bd7}<br /> osdevice partition=C:<br /> systemroot \Windows<br /> resumeobject {e8709fb7-fa5f-11db-be4d-e219ece5282e}<br /> nx OptOut</p> <p>I am not sure if this is of any help. But I greatly appreciate any further assistance you can provide. </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97440 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:17:28 +0000 pkrsccr 97440@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>Thanks for your help ScottW. I appreciate your interest.</p> <p>There is one entry in the Vista Bootloader.<br /> Bootloader Timeout: 30 seconds.<br /> Default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista</p> <p>Entry #1</p> <p>Name: Microsoft Windows Vista<br /> BCD ID: {current}<br /> Drive: C:\<br /> Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe<br /> Windows Directory: \Windows </p> http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/vista-boot-manager-problem#post-97435 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:24:56 +0000 ScottW 97435@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ <p>pkrsccr, hello. Get a copy of the freeware utility, <a href="http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1">EasyBCD</a>. This program will show you the boot manager settings and let you change them. Click the "View Settings" button, left-click in the text window that shows up on the right, select all the text with Ctrl+A, then paste it here (Ctrl+V) in a reply. This information will help us figure out what the extra entry is and which one can be deleted. </p>