Windows Boot Manager: what is it? Basic concepts, errors and methods of their correction

Today absolutely all people working with computers know that without the operating system, the interaction between the machine and the user is impossible. It goes without saying that the "operating system" must first boot, and only then it will be possible to use all its functions. In this regard, often a question arises, related to the Windows Boot Manger component. What is it, we will try to understand. At the same time, let's look at some of the most common types of errors that can occur during system startup.

Windows Boot Manager: what is it?

Let's start, perhaps, with the basics. First of all, let's look at the term Windows Boot Manager itself. What is it, it is easy to guess, if you simply translate this phrase from English to Russian - "Windows boot manager".

In other words, these are system programs that allow you to download all the necessary components of an OS to ensure not only its interaction with the user through its own interface, but also to organize the correct operation of all "iron" components by their preliminary identification and tuning.

As for Windows Boot Manager (Windows 8, 7 or 10), these bootloaders in the architecture of IBM PC computers are software contained in the BIOS, and stored in a computer system ROM. To make it clearer, we'll look at the basic functions of the loaders and determine how they work.

Basic functions of Boot Manager Windows 7, 8, 10

If anyone does not know, the operating system can not always be loaded from the hard disk. The simplest example could be networked OSes where the launching of all the components of the operating system, even for terminals that do not have their own hard drives, can be carried out through the local network when the main "mother" OS is on a remote server.

If we talk about the main purpose of the loader and its functions, we can immediately note that when the computer starts it allows you to choose the type of the desired OS (if several are installed), to bring the "iron" components of the terminal into the state necessary for start, loads the system kernel into the main memory (RAM), and in case of start over the network - in the device ROM, generates the core parameters of the kernel, and then transfers control of the system to it.

Types of downloaders

Today, there are quite a few types of operating system load managers . For example, for network "operating systems" based on Windows NT, this is the NTLDR service (the kernel loader), actually, the Windows Boot Manager itself (the bootloader of the system kernel, starting with Vista, as winload.exe and bootmgr.exe), LILO Linux kernels), BootX (boot loader for Mac OS X systems), SILO (mostly used for Solaris systems with SPARC architecture support), Bootman (manager for BeOS), etc.

Since we are considering the Windows OS, Boot Manager (which is probably a bit understandable) interacts with the boot process not only on the hardware level of the BIOS, but also through the system files. For example, the boot path of operating systems with some basic parameters is contained in the configuration of many familiar boot.ini file (boot initializer).

Download errors

Unfortunately, very often there are situations when the loader, to put it mildly, "flies". The most common error is the problem of its initialization (message like Windows Boot Manager boot failed).

In some cases, you can see messages like BOOTMGR is compressed or BOOTMGR is missing with the suggestion of a subsequent restart using the standard Ctrl + Alt + Del combination.

The simplest methods of correction

Now let's see what can be done to correct such an unpleasant situation.

So, we have a Windows Boot Manager error. What to do in this case? First of all, you can use the simplest methods to restore the bootloader. In the simplest version, you can simply boot from the installation CD with the system or use something like a Live CD.

Here, you just need to go to the console and choose to start the system recovery with a subsequent indication of the checkpoint. If this did not work, in the same console, select the boot recovery partition. In many cases, in particular, if glitches are associated with the software part, and not with physical damage to the hard drive, it helps.

Sometimes problems can arise because the system disk has been compressed to save space, which is not recommended at all. In this case, after downloading from the same Live CD, go to "Explorer", and then in the properties of the system partition, remove the "bird" from the compression parameter, then select the command line in the console menu, and after that you will need to enter several commands.

If the system drive is identified by the letter "C", the order will look like this: c :, then expand bootmgr temp, then attrib bootmgr -s -r -h, now del bootmgr, then ren temp bootmgr, and finally attrib bootmgr -a + s + R + h.

After each command, as already understood, the input key is pressed. The results of these commands are not given specifically to the average user, as they say, just do not load the brain. It's enough that they work and restore the loader.

If this also does not help, we use the cardinal methods in the form of the commands bootrec.exe / FixMbr, bootrec.exe / FixBoot and bootrec.exe / RebuildBcd. But this method is better to use only if all of the above did not help.

Conclusion

Here, in fact, and everything that can be told very briefly about what a Windows Boot Manager is. What this, the reader probably became clear after reading the material. Naturally, the problems and errors, as well as the methods for correcting them, may be more than described in this article, nevertheless, the most common ones have been described. Finally, I want to draw the attention of users to the moment that if for some reason the boot area of the hard drive has been damaged or the system folder "operating systems" has been deleted (yes, there are also such), in most cases none of the above methods will help. We will either have to test the hard drive, or reinstall the system again.