Bootmgr is missing - Ctrl alt delete

First off, why is reinstalling windows 7 such a pita? I've done it several times and it's soooooooo bad. With that aside, tonight I was attempting to reinstall 64 bit from 32 bit. I reformatted my hd using dos because advanced recovery simple does not work. After formatting and restarting I'm getting te bootmgr error. After reading countless threads with fixes nothing is helping. I CANNOT get past this error. I have the disc in, it won't go past the error. Pushing f2, f8, and f12 does not work. I can't do anything in the bios. Most of the solutions simply assume you can get PAST the error.

The next step I tried was unplugging the hd I formatted and installing to a different hd. This gives me an error of missing a device required. At this point I have no idea what to do besides maybe reformatting the hd again using another pc. Is there a recovery program I should dl to a blank cd?

Help!!!!

Have you tried booting from the install disk and choosing repair? I'm assuming you can enter the bios and change the boot order to CD/DVD first?

This was the first thing I tried. Boot from DVD leads straight to bootmgr error.

In spite of your experiences, Windows 7 is actually the easiest OS to install so far. Unless your system is not compatible in some way, and it sounds like that might be part of the problem. I notice you did not fill in your system specs. It might help in case some device has a known problem.

Where did you get your install Media, and have you tried downloading a SP1 version of the .iso online?

When you boot to the DVD, you should see a Boot to DVD message about hitting a key, do you see that?

Some DVD drives have problems with the Windows 7 Install DVD, it may be having problems reading it. Possibly try different media or a different DVD drive.

If you ever get the system to boot to the DVD, we can use Diskpart to clean the hard drive.

Some folks that have possible DVD problems have chosen to go the Flash Drive route and been successful.

Like he said....

I successfully got around the error. Unplugged both hard drives, plugged in a USB external drive, turned it to hdd mode in bios, and rebooted. I was able to get to the windows install screen at that point. I then plugged in the hd and went to advanced methods in cusom install. I deleted and reformatted the hd and still had an error with not being able to install to that hd. After a reboot, I am now installing.

Originally Posted by Paulcharles84

I successfully got around the error. Unplugged both hard drives, plugged in a USB external drive, turned it to hdd mode in bios, and rebooted. I was able to get to the windows install screen at that point. I then plugged in the hd and went to advanced methods in cusom install. I deleted and reformatted the hd and still had an error with not being able to install to that hd. After a reboot, I am now installing.

When installing Windows 7, or most any OS, any "extra" HDD's should be removed. It was not in the first post about 2 HDD's being installed, had it been mentioned, plenty of time (as well as nerves) could have been saved.

As always, when anyone joins a forum, it helps to get the best answers by posting your specs. It doesn't have to be perfect, but the more info provided, the better.

Glad that you're now installing.

Cat