Windows 7, "Repair your computer" F8 boot option not working (SOLVED)
In fact when I start without a Repair disc, I boot automatically in Recovery tool and always get an unsuccessful automated repair: missingOsloader. Same with Repair disc.
Christophe:
I can't see anything wrong with the BCD; in fact it's almost identical to mine, other than the {ID} and long folder names. I'll attach both as text files so that you can see.
From your post immediately before this one it sounds like the machine boots and selects the {default} boot loader entry (for Windows 7) and then something bad happens and the machine goes immediately to the recovery mode.
Can you try this? Reboot the machine and right after the BIOS completes its self-test and before Windows starts, press and hold down the spacebar. This causes Windows Boot Manager to display its menu, which is normally hidden. Do you see something like this one?
At this menu you can press F8 to get to the repair options. Does this menu look like the one below?
I am impressed.
By pressing space bar, I get the first screen but then pressing F8, progress bar Windows loading files (in French) then Recovery tool again (missingOsloader). I can't get to the 2nd screen.
I confirm that both BCDs look identical.
Bedtime in France now, thanks so much and hopefully hear from you soon.
Christophe:
What happens on the first Windows Boot Manager screen if you press "ENTER" instead of F8? If it goes directly to the recovery mode again then the Boot Manager is working correctly (and your BCD is correct). This would then indicate a problem in the next phase of the boot process when the program Winload.exe is running. I don't understand the details of how Winload.exe works, so I'm afraid I can't offer any further troubleshooting hints other than this one.
I suppose that you could try looking for C:\System32\winload.exe when booted from your recovery CD to verify that it exists. These are the file statistics from my system:
C:\Windows\system32>dir winload.exe
Volume in drive C is Windows 7
Volume Serial Number is CC7D-D203
Directory of C:\Windows\system32
02/05/2011 12:06 PM 605,552 winload.exe
1 File(s) 605,552 bytes
0 Dir(s) 25,987,567,616 bytes free
It is curious that when you press F8 at the Boot Manager screen you then proceed directly to recovery mode. I don't understand what this means. I thought that the program Bootmgr was responsible for presenting the list of Advanced Boot Options, but maybe not. Does this mean that the Advanced Boot Options menu is displayed by Winload.exe? Does anybody know?
**Edit** Answered my own question by examining Winload.exe with Notepad. The text for the Advanced Boot Options menu is in this file, so we can conclude that the Boot Manager is working correctly, your BCD is now correct, and the problem exists later in the boot process after the Boot Manager has transferred control to Winload.exe.
Well well well... It looks like fixing BCD wasn't the good track but a necessary one.
C:\windows\system32\winload.exe is there.
Le volume dans le lecteur C n'a pas de nom.
Le num‚ro de s‚rie du volume est 58A8-5A9A
R‚pertoire de c:\Windows\System32
05/02/2011 18:06 592896 winload.exe
1 fichier(s) 592896 octets
0 R‚p(s) 17241133056 octets libres
There is also C:\windows\system32\winload~1.exe
Le volume dans le lecteur C n'a pas de nom.
Le num‚ro de s‚rie du volume est 58A8-5A9A
R‚pertoire de c:\Windows\System32
05/02/2011 18:06 605552 winload~1.exe
1 fichier(s) 605552 octets
0 R‚p(s) 17240875008 octets libres
I noticed there were different permissions on the files (all for winload~1.exe and none for winload.exe). Since I wasn't able to change permissions from Recovery tool, I replaced winload.exe by winload~1.exe and was able to reboot!
I am now back to my previous password problem (can't automatically log in my administrator account) but that's a huge relief. I'm confident I'll fix this minor problem soon, I just have to study now Security Accounts Manager and Local Security Authority!
Thanks a lot to you Mark for your perseverance (thanks to Colin too, whose little interference did help).
Any suggestions on cleaning the system (bcd.backup.0001, bcd.old1, bcd.old2...) or can I just keep going as it is now?
Christophe:
That's great news! The original Winload.exe file has the wrong file size, so it probably got corrupted.
After you've verified that the Advanced Boot Manager menu works correctly now, and have tried the F8 "Repair Your Computer" menu choice to verify that the recovery environment boots correctly, then it should be safe to delete old versions of the BCD and its backups. I'd probably make one backup of the working BCD for safekeeping.
Hope you can sort out the password issue. Sometimes it's easier to just delete the offending user profile and create a new one.
Hi Mark Wharton,
please can you also help me. My repair computer function under F8 is not functional. When i press this i always get back to main boot loader.
Attached you can find my bcdedit /enum all.
Thanks in advance,
regards
Herbert
Herbert:
The variable "recovery sequence" in the {current} bootloader entry is pointing to the wrong entry.
Incorrect: recoverysequence {332f8574-74c3-11e0-baaa-00e04c860b03}
Should be: recoverysequence {332f8573-74c3-11e0-baaa-00e04c860b03}
To fix, enter the following at an elevated command prompt window:
bcdedit /set recoverysequence {332f8573-74c3-11e0-baaa-00e04c860b03}
Thank you so much for your help! This was the problem!
Best regards
Herbert
Will you take a look at mine?
Joshua:
I don't see anything wrong. What are your symptoms?
I go to Advanced Boot Options (F8 button). But when I click "Repair Your Computer", it goes straight to the REGULAR logon page. I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out what's wrong.
Joshua:
The recovery sequence entry looks correct, assuming that the files being referenced (Winre.wim and boot.sdi) are in the locations shown. You should check to be sure. First, assign a temporary drive letter to partition 2, which is currently hidden, using Windows Disk Management. Then browse to the /Recovery folder and check for the files Winre.wim and boot.sdi. Verify that the paths are the same as shown in your BCD and that the files are present:
\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim
\Recovery\WindowsRE\boot.sdi
You will need to set Windows Explorer to view both hidden and protected operating system files in order to see these files. Here is the directory listing from my PC running Windows 7 x64 (your file dates and sizes may differ if you're using 32-bit Windows 7):
Z:\Recovery\WindowsRE>dir /a
Volume in drive Z is Boot
Volume Serial Number is 0E3F-4067
Directory of Z:\Recovery\WindowsRE
11/29/2009 05:10 PM <DIR> .
11/29/2009 05:10 PM <DIR> ..
06/10/2009 05:06 PM 3,170,304 boot.sdi
07/13/2009 11:43 PM 168,390,841 Winre.wim
2 File(s) 171,561,145 bytes
2 Dir(s) 1,243,369,472 bytes free
Z:\Recovery\WindowsRE>
When you're finished checking you can use Disk Management again to remove the temporary drive letter from the second partition.
Check this out. My "winre.wim" is smaller than yours.
My "winre.wim" is smaller than yours
I think that you've found the problem. The file WinRE.wim is a self-contained operating system so it can't be only 208 bytes.
I just checked a recovery CD made from Windows 7 (Create a System Repair Disk) and it contains a boot.wim file that is the exact same size as the WinRE.wim file in my Recovery folder. So you can probably recover as follows:
1. If you haven't already done so, create a System Repair Disk from Windows 7 (type "Repair Disk" in the Windows 7 Start/search box)
2. On the CD created, look in the folder "Sources" for the file "boot.wim"
3. Copy this file to F:\Recovery\WindowsRE
4. Rename WinRE.wim to WinRE.old
5. Rename boot.wim to WinRE.wim
Give this a try and let me know if it works.
Can you give me an example of the commands I would use?
Joshua:
You can use Windows Explorer to drag and drop the file and to rename it. No need to use the command prompt.
This is as far I can get with Windows Explorer. It won't let me access WindowsRE folder.
If you have already made a disk image, you could try altering the folder permissions so that you can gain access.
I assume you don't have an Administrator account on your system (not the same as an Admin permissions confusingly) which may well allow you direct access. Try right clicking on the 'recovery ' folder, select properties, then click on the securities tab, click on the Edit button, select your user name in the top group box and click on Add - enter your user name, click on the 'Check Names' button just to make sure it appears correctly. Click on OK and then tick the permissions required. If yWindows won't allow that or it makes no difference, click on the 'advanced' button select your user name from the Permissions tab, click on 'change permissions' and then click 'add' select your user name OK out and Windows will then change the secuirty indicators on the contents of the folder, this might take a moment or two. Ensure that the tick box 'Include inheritable permissions.......' is ticked.
OK, the command prompt it is. First open an elevated command prompt window by typing CMD in the Windows 7 Start/Search box. Right-click on cmd.exe and choose Run as administrator. For the rest, assume that your CD has the drive letter E: (change my commands if different) and the recovery partition has the drive letter F:. To work with hidden, protected system files you first need to remove the hidden and system attributes from the file and then change them back when finished by using the attrib command:
Copy E:\Sources\boot.wim F:\Recovery\windowsre\boot.wim
F:
cd \Recovery\windowsre
attrib -S -H WinRE.wim
ren WinRE.wim WinRE.old
attrib +S +H WinRE.old
ren boot.wim WinRE.wim
attrib +S +H WinRE.wim
I just did a binary file comparison between boot.wim on the Repair CD and WinRE.wim on the recovery partition and they are absolutely identical, so this should work.
This didn't work either.
Joshua:
From looking at your picture I'm assuming that the file "boot.wim" that you copied from the Repair CD and renamed to "WinRE.wim" ended up also being 208 bytes. Is that correct?
If so, that means that the Windows 7 built-in function that creates a repair CD must obtain its file from the recovery folder, so if you have a bad file in the recovery folder then you'll end up with a bad CD.
Do you have access to any other computers running Windows 7 of the same bit level (32-bit or 64-bit) as your Dell PC? If so, you can create a repair CD from another computer to get a good copy of the boot.wim file.
I can't think of anyone. I have a laptop that has Vista. Everyone I know either has Vista or XP. Is there any other way to get this file?
I have another question? What could cause the "WinRE.wim" file to go bad?
Joshua:
I don't know why the WinRE.wim file would have changed. Maybe disk errors? Did the F8 "Repair your computer" option ever work on your PC? If it used to work and then just stopped working for no apparent reason then it may be due to disk errors. You may want to run chkdsk F: /f from an elevated command prompt window to see if Windows can find and fix any errors on the recovery partition. But this probably won't fix the file itself.
There used to be several sites on the web that hosted copies of Windows 7 and Vista repair disk ISOs for download. You could search for "Windows 7 repair disk download". However, Microsoft made most of these sites remove the downloads. Amazon.com has copies for under $5.
It has always worked. Last week I was going to restore my PC to the factory state and that's when I noticed it didn't work.
Take a look at one of your older images from when the F8 function was working. If you can find a copy of the WinRE.wim file in an old image that is the correct size then you could obtain a copy that way. I'm making the assumption here that you are an Acronis True Image user since that's the topic of this forum. If not, the only options that I see for you are to either buy a repair CD from Amazon or to have someone who has Windows 7 make you a repair CD. Also, replacing WinRE.wim with the correct file will restore the "Repair your computer" option that is part of Windows 7. It has nothing to do with the Dell function that restores the PC to factory state. If that's your intent then perhaps Dell has restoration media available. Check their forums.
Hi Mark, thanks for all the help you've given, I would be very grateful if you could try to help me out too. I read over the previous posts but can't figure out what's going wrong. I am trying to restore my Dell to factory settings but I'm getting stuck because choosing "repair computer" after pressing F8 during startup just makes Windows load.
Here is my BCD output:
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume2
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-us
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {8439ae02-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-us
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {8439ae04-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {8439ae02-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
nx OptIn
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {8439ae04-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
device ramdisk=[\Device\HarddiskVolume2]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{8439ae05-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
path \windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows Recovery Environment
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice ramdisk=[\Device\HarddiskVolume2]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{8439ae05-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
systemroot \windows
nx OptIn
winpe Yes
Resume from Hibernate
---------------------
identifier {8439ae02-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winresume.exe
description Windows Resume Application
locale en-US
inherit {resumeloadersettings}
filedevice partition=C:
filepath \hiberfil.sys
debugoptionenabled No
Windows Memory Tester
---------------------
identifier {memdiag}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume2
path \boot\memtest.exe
description Windows Memory Diagnostic
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
badmemoryaccess Yes
EMS Settings
------------
identifier {emssettings}
bootems Yes
Debugger Settings
-----------------
identifier {dbgsettings}
debugtype Serial
debugport 1
baudrate 115200
RAM Defects
-----------
identifier {badmemory}
Global Settings
---------------
identifier {globalsettings}
inherit {dbgsettings}
{emssettings}
{badmemory}
Boot Loader Settings
--------------------
identifier {bootloadersettings}
inherit {globalsettings}
{hypervisorsettings}
Hypervisor Settings
-------------------
identifier {hypervisorsettings}
hypervisordebugtype Serial
hypervisordebugport 1
hypervisorbaudrate 115200
Resume Loader Settings
----------------------
identifier {resumeloadersettings}
inherit {globalsettings}
Device options
--------------
identifier {8439ae05-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
description Ramdisk Options
ramdisksdidevice partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume2
ramdisksdipath \Recovery\WindowsRE\boot.sdi
I've attached a screen shot of the Disk Management tool as well.
There is no C:\Recovery folder on my computer (although there is a C:\system recovery. ?) When I add a drive letter (D:) to the RECOVERY volume using the Disk Management tool I can use Windows Explorer to see that there is a D:\Recovery folder but I can not figure out how to get into that folder to see if winload.exe and boot.sdi are present. I have the hidden and system files set to be visible but I get a warning screen from Dell and can't see what's in there.
Anyway, when I changed the RECOVERY volume to D:, I noticed my BCD output changed to this:
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=D:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-us
inherit {globalsettings}
default {current}
resumeobject {8439ae02-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
displayorder {current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-us
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {8439ae04-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {8439ae02-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
nx OptIn
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {8439ae04-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
device ramdisk=[D:]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{8439ae05-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
path \windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows Recovery Environment
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice ramdisk=[D:]\Recovery\WindowsRE\Winre.wim,{8439ae05-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
systemroot \windows
nx OptIn
winpe Yes
Resume from Hibernate
---------------------
identifier {8439ae02-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winresume.exe
description Windows Resume Application
locale en-US
inherit {resumeloadersettings}
filedevice partition=C:
filepath \hiberfil.sys
debugoptionenabled No
Windows Memory Tester
---------------------
identifier {memdiag}
device partition=D:
path \boot\memtest.exe
description Windows Memory Diagnostic
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
badmemoryaccess Yes
EMS Settings
------------
identifier {emssettings}
bootems Yes
Debugger Settings
-----------------
identifier {dbgsettings}
debugtype Serial
debugport 1
baudrate 115200
RAM Defects
-----------
identifier {badmemory}
Global Settings
---------------
identifier {globalsettings}
inherit {dbgsettings}
{emssettings}
{badmemory}
Boot Loader Settings
--------------------
identifier {bootloadersettings}
inherit {globalsettings}
{hypervisorsettings}
Hypervisor Settings
-------------------
identifier {hypervisorsettings}
hypervisordebugtype Serial
hypervisordebugport 1
hypervisorbaudrate 115200
Resume Loader Settings
----------------------
identifier {resumeloadersettings}
inherit {globalsettings}
Device options
--------------
identifier {8439ae05-3c15-11df-9fcc-9f6fedf62adc}
description Ramdisk Options
ramdisksdidevice partition=D:
ramdisksdipath \Recovery\WindowsRE\boot.sdi
Any ideas about how to get the Repair Computer function to work from F8?
Thanks again for your time.
Bob
Bob:
When the recovery partition is hidden (does not have a drive letter assigned) then when you list the BCD contents you'll see the locations referred to as \Device\HardiskVolume2 (in your case). When you assign a drive letter to the recovery partition then the locations will be listed by drive letter when you list the BCD contents. That's normal.
I don't see anything wrong with your BCD, so the next thing to check is to verify that the files boot.sdi and WinRE.wim actually exist in the locations shown in the BCD. You can compare to the listing in blue text in reply #164. If you enter the following command into a command prompt window, a listing of the contents of the Recovery folder will be copied to a text file on your desktop (you can copy/paste the text below):
dir D:\Recovery\WindowsRE\ /a >%userprofile%\Desktop\List.txt
Please attach this output to your next post. Also, are you using 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7?
Thank you for the quick response Mark. Here are the contents of file.txt:
Volume in drive D is RECOVERY
Volume Serial Number is 22E1-0586
Directory of d:\recovery\windowsre
03/17/2011 05:25 PM .
03/17/2011 05:25 PM ..
06/10/2009 03:06 PM 3,170,304 boot.sdi
03/17/2011 05:25 PM 324,262 WIMC28E.tmp
03/17/2011 05:24 PM 9,010,532 winre.wim
3 File(s) 12,505,098 bytes
2 Dir(s) 10,799,230,976 bytes free
I am using 64 bit Windows 7.
Thanks again.
Bob
Bob:
The file WinRE.wim should be 168,390,841 bytes on a 64-bit Windows 7 system, so the file on your disk must have gotten corrupted somehow. The steps in reply # 167 (do step 1 on a PC with a working recovery function; not on your PC) and 172 should work, provided that you can get a copy of a 64-bit Windows 7 repair disc. Do you have another PC with Windows 7 installed on it, or a friend who has a Windows 7 PC that could make you a repair disc? Or, do you have an Acronis image of your system from when it was working properly?
Hi Mark, thanks for the reply. I don't have a recovery disk made but I do have the Windows 7 OS reinstallation disk that came with the computer. The CD/DVD drive doesn't work on my Dell anymore (don't know if it's related) but I used my other computer and found a boot.wim file in D:\sources\, the only thing is that it's 349,215,426 bytes... Is there any other way to get a good copy of winre.wim?
Bob:
I can't vouch for the contents of a Dell reinstallation disc but the file can be extracted from a retail Windows 7 installation disc. Here is an article that describes the procedure: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/42776-extract-files-windows-7-inst…. The file that you want to extract should be located inside the install.wim file on a retail Win 7 DVD. After extracting the contents of install.wim per the article, you should be able to locate WinRE.wim at \windows\system32\recovery\WinRE.wim. Whether you can do this from a Dell disc remains to be seen.
I was also going to suggest testing to see if the Dell reinstallation disk was bootable. If it was made the same way as a retail Win 7 DVD then you could try booting from it to enter the recovery environment, but in your case you said that your DVD drive isn't working.
Your best bet for obtaining the 64-bit version of WinRE.wim is to find a friend with a Windows 7 PC and ask them to make you a repair CD.
Thanks Mark, I tried using the installation disk following that procedure and the WinRE.wim file was 373 MB so apparently that won't work. I tried replacing the original corrupted file with the new one just to see and this time it got stuck on the "loading recovery files (?)" screen after F8 and "Repair your computer". A friend is making a recovery disk for me so hopefully it will all be fixed soon. Thanks so much!
Bob:
It sounds to me like Dell has customized the WinRE.wim file, probably to include their "restore to factory default" function. Perhaps their forum may have additional information about this.
Replacing the file with one from a repair CD will restore the standard Windows 7 recovery environment, so you may be unable to use Dell's "restore to factory default" function after doing this. But you have the Dell restore disc that you could always use if you need this feature, providing that you can get your optical disc working.
Hi Mark,
After much searching I found this forum and your solutions.
You seem to be the only person who has a grip on this type of problem, so I hope you can help me.
My problem began when I found I could not invoke System Repair from my Recovery Disc or from the Windows 7 install disc.
I received the message:-
"This version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair. Try using a recovery disc that is compatible with this version of Windows."
I recovered the system from a month old backup and redid the updates etc then created a new repair disk, but got the same error when I tested with that.
I then tried "Repair Your Computer" from the advanced boot options and got status 0xc000000e.
I have attached the result of BCDEDIT /ENUM ALL and also a screen shot of c:\recovery.
Thanks in advance.
Scot:
The error message about the recovery disk will occur if you try to repair a 64-bit Windows 7 installation with a 32-bit installation or recovery disk, or one from Windows Vista. Is there any chance that this might have occurred? Your screen shot implies that you are running 64-bit Windows 7; is this correct? Is the Windows 7 installation disk being used to attempt a repair also 64-bit? Retail Windows 7 boxes contain two DVDs; one for 32-bit and one for 64-bit. Any chance that you accidentally picked up the 32-bit DVD when attempting a repair?
Are there any other Windows installations on your PC? One of the entries in your BCD mentions Vista -- do you have a Vista installed on some other disk?
I understand why the "Repair your Computer" option isn't working; its entries are missing from the BCD and there are several items in the BCD that don't belong in there, but first things first...
Scot:
The error message about the recovery disk will occur if you try to repair a 64-bit Windows 7 installation with a 32-bit installation or recovery disk, or one from Windows Vista. Is there any chance that this might have occurred? Your screen shot implies that you are running 64-bit Windows 7; is this correct? Is the Windows 7 installation disk being used to attempt a repair also 64-bit? Retail Windows 7 boxes contain two DVDs; one for 32-bit and one for 64-bit. Any chance that you accidentally picked up the 32-bit DVD when attempting a repair?
Are there any other Windows installations on your PC? One of the entries in your BCD mentions Vista -- do you have a Vista installed on some other disk?
I understand why the "Repair your Computer" option isn't working; its entries are missing from the BCD and there are several items in the BCD that don't belong in there, but first things first...
Hi Mark,
The installation disc is for Windows 7 Pro x64, and is the disc I used to install the system.
I do not have the disc for the 32 bit system.
Both recovery discs were created on the 64 bit system.
There are no other versions of Windows on either of my HDDs, however I did upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 Pro.
Scot:
I don't have an explanation for why the repair disk or the 64-bit Windows 7 Installation disk didn't work for you unless the leftover entries from Vista in the BCD are confusing the repair routines.
There are a lot of unwanted and missing entries in your BCD. The attached file "bcd new.txt" illustrates what I think your BCD should look like. If you want to change your existing BCD into the one described in the attachment then do as follows. Open an elevated command prompt window and enter the following commands (in bold text). It's easiest to copy/paste them from the attached text file bcd commands.txt:
1. Make a backup copy of the current BCD:
bcdedit /export C:\boot\bcd.old
2. Add these three missing items to the Windows Boot Manager portion of the BCD:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} inherit {globalsettings}
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} resumeobject {7a2d4154-6c34-11e0-a0a6-806e6f6e6963}
bcdedit /toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
3. Delete the leftover entry from Vista:
bcdedit /delete {678c9590-4c3f-11df-97f9-6cf04902152e}
4. Add the following missing entries from the Windows Recovery Environment section of the BCD:
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} device ramdisk={C:}\Recovery\6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e\Winre.wim,{6bc35a33-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e}
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} osdevice ramdisk={C:}\Recovery\6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e\Winre.wim,{6bc35a33-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e}
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} description "Windows Recovery Environment"
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} inherit {bootloadersettings}
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} nx OptIn
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} locale en-US
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} path \windows\system32\winload.exe
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} systemroot \windows
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} winpe Yes
5. Add the following missing entries from the main Windows 7 loader:
bcdedit /set {current} description "Windows 7 Professional"
bcdedit /set {current} nx OptIn
6. Delete the erroneous Recovery Environment Loader and the leftover from Vista:
bcdedit /delete {6bc35a32-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e}
bcdedit /delete {9bf2a95f-4c62-11df-b970-6cf04902152e}
7. Fix the description for the Resume from Hibernate entry:
bcdedit /set {7a2d4154-6c34-11e0-a0a6-806e6f6e6963 description "Windows Resume Application"
8. Add these two missing entries from the Memory Diagnostic entry:
bcdedit /set {memdiag} inherit {globalsettings}
bcdedit /set {memdiag} badmemoryaccess Yes
9. Add this missing description from the RamDisk Options entry:
bcdedit /set {6bc35a33-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} description "Ramdisk Options"
After making these changes, list the BCD contents and compare them to the attached file bcd new.txt, and let me know if there are any discrepancies. Then try booting to the "Repair Your Computer" option in the Boot Manager's Advanced Boot Options to see what happens.
Hi Mark
Took backup and ran commands. One or two gave "not valid" responses.
Have attached file showing commands and responses and file showing latest ENUM listing.
I still get 0xc000000e when I select "Repair Your Computer".
Scot:
The three commands that produced error messages were long commands that must be entered entirely on one line each. Your file shows line breaks in the middle of the commands and I'm not sure if they were entered with a line break or if you had Notepad set to word wrap and it's just displaying breaks. Could you try these three commands again, making sure that there are no line breaks in the commands when they are entered into the command prompt window?
The Windows Recovery Environment entry didn't come out right because of the above, so that's why it still doesn't work.
It's late here, so I'll check your new BCD carefully tomorrow morning when I'm coherent.
*Edit* Never mind, I see the problem. Try the three commands again but this time copy/paste them. The first two that failed need square brackets on the drive letter [C:] not {C:} and the third one is missing a closing curly brace on the {id}.
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} device ramdisk=[C:]\Recovery\6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e\Winre.wim,{6bc35a33-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e}
bcdedit /set {6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e} osdevice ramdisk=[C:]\Recovery\6bc35a2f-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e\Winre.wim,{6bc35a33-7342-11df-9316-6cf04902152e}
bcdedit /set {7a2d4154-6c34-11e0-a0a6-806e6f6e6963} description "Windows Resume Application"
Mark,
You are a star!!
The 0xc000000e issue has gone. I can now get into System Repair from the Advanced Boot screen.
Thanks a million.
As for the incompatible repair/install disc issue I have found that if I disable my second HDD and just leave the disc with the Windows Partition then I can get into the Repair options.
Hi Mark, I'm having the same problems as some people here, after reading these pages and trying to understand it, i thought it would be best to get help from someone who knows what they're doing.
I'm trying to do a factory setting restore but the problem is that my screen just locks up when i try to run "repair your computer". My laptop does not have a dvd drive so i can't use recovery cds.
Your help would greatly be appreciated. Thank you.
Scot:
Glad to hear that you were successful. The other problem must be related to having Vista or some other operating system installed on the second HDD at one time in the past. If you're not booting to an OS on this HDD then search for remnants of an installed OS on the disk and try removing them. If it was Vista, search for a /boot folder.
Hilton L:
I don't see anything wrong with your BCD entry for Window Recovery Environment (the second entry that boots to WinRE on the main C partition). The other recovery entry must be for a manufacturer's restore to factory settings feature. This entry has an unusual path to winload.exe. Usually this file would be at \Windows\system32\winload.exe but your BCD shows it at \Windows\system32\boot\winload.exe. That might be correct if that's where the manufacturer put it.
Otherwise, the recovery files on the main C partition are the correct file sizes (for 64-bit Windows 7) and are in the correct locations. There is a possibility that the WinRE.wim file is defective, and that could be the reason that the PC locks up when attempting to run the "repair your computer" function. So the only suggestion I have is to try replacing WinRE.wim with a known good file. Make a repair CD on a working 64-bit Windows 7 PC and then copy the file WinRE.wim from the CD to your hard disk. You could do this by first copying the file to a flash drive and then copy from the flash drive to your laptop since your laptop doesn't have an optical drive. See reply #167.
Scot:
Glad to hear that you were successful. The other problem must be related to having Vista or some other operating system installed on the second HDD at one time in the past. If you're not booting to an OS on this HDD then search for remnants of an installed OS on the disk and try removing them. If it was Vista, search for a /boot folder.
I have never used that disc as anything other than a store for my video collection.
It contains one partition of 2TB.
The system disc precedes it in the Boot Priority list.
When time permits I will do some tests with the disc on different channels.
Now that 0xc000000e problem is solved, and I have a work around for the "incompatibilty' problem, the only issue is to satisfy my curiosity.
Thanks again Mark.
Hello again, I did the steps in reply #167 but it's still locking up during the "windows is loading files" screen. I actually had a virus that made windows unable to load, I was only able to get in using this method http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/139576-startup-repair-infinite-loop-recovery.html (from step #4 onward). Perhaps it could of left some system files corrupted?
If Winre.wim from C:\Recovery is the same as Boot.wim from the system repair disk then I don't think it will help me as I have ran the system repair from bios and there is no option to reset it to factory settings. What I'm trying to do is get to this screen 
but all I get are the screens in reply #153
Am I right in thinking that ramdisk=[\Device\HarddiskVolume1]\winre.wim is where windows recovery is on the hidden partition? Would it be possible to access this by changing the boot manager to load from the hidden partition instead of the C:?
Hilton L:
Yes, it is possible to change the boot manager temporarily to cause it to boot into your recovery partition. I am assuming that the following entry is for booting to the hidden recovery partition:
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {572bcd56-ffa7-11d9-aae0-0007e994107d}
device ramdisk=[\Device\HarddiskVolume1]\winre.wim,{ad6c7bc8-fa0f-11da-8ddf-0013200354d8}
path \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
description Windows Recovery Environment
osdevice ramdisk=[\Device\HarddiskVolume1]\winre.wim,{ad6c7bc8-fa0f-11da-8ddf-0013200354d8}
systemroot \windows
nx OptIn
detecthal Yes
winpe Yes
You can use the bootsequence command in bcdedit to specify the boot manager entry to be used for the next boot only. The system then resumes booting to the {default} boot manager entry thereafter. In your case the ID of the loader for the recovery partition is {572bcd56-ffa7-11d9-aae0-0007e994107d}, so you would use the following command:
bcdedit /bootsequence {572bcd56-ffa7-11d9-aae0-0007e994107d}
Enter this command either in Windows or when booted to the recovery environment, then reboot your PC. It should boot to the hidden recovery partition. However, I presume that Asus also provides a method of booting to the hidden recovery partition and that you've already tried that unsuccessfully. So if the recovery partition is damaged then this won't be of any help.
If this is the case and you want to troubleshoot further you can use Windows 7 Disk Management to assign a temporary drive letter to the hidden partition. It will then be visible in Windows Explorer and you can poke around to see if you can find a reason that recovery doesn't work. At the very least you can run chkdsk /f on the partition to see if there is any repairable file corruption. Remove the temporary drive letter when finished to re-hide the partition.
Thank you, Mark. I'll give this a try in the morning.
On a clear disk you can seek forever