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bootmgr is missing after applying WIM to new machine

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Im trying to put together my companies first Windows 7 image, we are using Windows 7 Pro x64.
I followed this link here on how to set do a sysprep for Windows 7 and also im using their WinPE boot environment all seems to go well, it syspreps fine, captures the WIM image to a network share and then the reference machine reboots and works fine.
The problem i have is when i have to then apply that WIM to a new machine. It applies fine but after the WIM is on the new machine I restart and it comes up with the message "bootmgr is missing"
Ive managed to fix this issue on that one machine by running WinPE again then from command prompt typing "C:\windows\syswow64\bcdboot c:\windows", but my problem is this will happen to every new machine I goto deploy the WIM to a machine.
Is there a way i can stop this from happening? Is it something in the sysprep? or the way i use gImagex? (FYI yes i make sure i tick the boot check box in gImageX before i capture the image).
Thanks in advance
Question
Answers
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Like Don said applying image doesn't create partitions.
I would start with:
diskpart
select disk 0
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs
assign letter c
Active
Exit (diskpart)then
ImageX /apply c:\Win7Image.wim 1 c:\
and then as a final step
bcdboot c:\windows /s c:
- Proposed as answer by Josh in Edmonton Monday, January 23, 2012 5:17 PM
- Marked as answer by Niki HanModerator Friday, January 27, 2012 3:38 AM
All replies
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Hopefully someone will have a better answer than mine, but when I was also experimenting with different deployment methods (WDS not available in my environment), I ended up using Windows Setup to deploy my wim file rather than imagex /apply. It wipes the drive and creates the partitions required as well as make the system bootable.
Of course if you have WDS available then that with MDT is the best way to deploy the image. I'm stuck using usb hard drives.
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Hi,
applying a WIM doesn't create partitions, write the BCD store nor does it write the MBR nor set a partition active/bootable etc. This is because WIM is file-based imaging (unlike other "whole-partition" or sector-based imaging solutions)
So you have to use Windows Setup, or some other method to do those bits.
(solutions like MDT and/or ConfigMgr, just use a script/utility plus Windows Setup to do that work)
Don -
I strongly recommend you to use Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) to do deployments of Windows. There are a lot of benefits, such as the deployment being 100% customizable, it includes partitioning, patching via WSUS, possibility to deploy applications etc etc. You can find MDT here: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=25175
Blogging about Windows for IT pros at www.theexperienceblog.com
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Like Don said applying image doesn't create partitions.
I would start with:
diskpart
select disk 0
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs
assign letter c
Active
Exit (diskpart)then
ImageX /apply c:\Win7Image.wim 1 c:\
and then as a final step
bcdboot c:\windows /s c:
- Proposed as answer by Josh in Edmonton Monday, January 23, 2012 5:17 PM
- Marked as answer by Niki HanModerator Friday, January 27, 2012 3:38 AM
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Thanks for the advice guys
Im not sure if i can use MDT in my environment as we are spread across 7 locations, and apart from 2 of the locations, every office just have a small Mbps line. So would i need to have MDT on each local file server and surely that would get a bit manic when i update the main image then i would have to deploy it to all the file servers? but i will have a look into it.
I think JS210 could have something, when i go into gImagex i pick the C drive to capture from, but i dont select the recovery partition that was created when Windows 7 was installed as its not displayed.
I will also look at the Windows setup deployment method as well just in case if the MDT route doesnt fit my enviromnet
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Thanks for the advice guys
Im not sure if i can use MDT in my environment as we are spread across 7 locations, and apart from 2 of the locations, every office just have a small Mbps line. So would i need to have MDT on each local file server and surely that would get a bit manic when i update the main image then i would have to deploy it to all the file servers? but i will have a look into it.
I think JS210 could have something, when i go into gImagex i pick the C drive to capture from, but i dont select the recovery partition that was created when Windows 7 was installed as its not displayed.
I will also look at the Windows setup deployment method as well just in case if the MDT route doesnt fit my enviromnet
Yes it sounds like you need to create the partition, best done using diskpart. Brano Lukic's post should do perfectly. -
Im not sure if i can use MDT in my environment as we are spread across 7 locations, and apart from 2 of the locations, every office just have a small Mbps line. So would i need to have MDT on each local file server and surely that would get a bit manic when i update the main image then i would have to deploy it to all the file servers? but i will have a look into it.
You can use DFS-Replication to replicate content to the branch offices with the minimal impact on data transfer. Bear in mind that you can do deployments from within Windows just using a shared folder (deployment share) if you start the installation from within Windows. If you want to PXE boot you need the WDS role on the local servers.So the bottom line is that you can have one deployment share and then replicate it to the other locations!
Blogging about Windows for IT pros at www.theexperienceblog.com
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Boot to your WinPE command line and run this command. Then paste the output into this thread to view.
BCDEDIT
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Most likely, your boot record was altered or removed. Use the following commands to repair your BCD boot record:
If you have the OS on partition C:\ then run:
bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {default} device partition=C:
bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {default} osdevice partition=C:If you have the OS on partition D:\ then run:
bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {default} device partition=D:
bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {default} osdevice partition=D:You must run both of these commands from within WinPE. This should help solve your bootmgr missing issue.
_JoeG
Dell - Systems Integration Consultant
Twitter: @8bits1bytePlease remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
- Edited by _JoeG Tuesday, January 24, 2012 6:00 PM missing command