BOOTMGR is compressed. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart - What to do?

as I tried to start Vista Ultimate today,
I got this message:

"BOOTMGR is compressed. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart"

What does that mean? How can I fix it?

Whats the reason for that?

Thanks a lot and best regards

I haven't seen or heard of that message before. So what happened when you
pressed Ctrl+Alt+Del?

At what stage in the boot-up process did this message appear? I would
expect it to be very early, before Vista even begins to load, because
bootmgr (a hidden, system, read-only file with no extension in its filename,
located in the Root of the System Partition: typically C:\bootmgr) is the
boot loader which starts the process of choosing which OS to load: Vista or
(in a dual-boot system) WinXP or some other OS. In other words, this
message does not come from Vista, because Vista has not even started to load
at that point.

You should be able to boot from the Vista DVD-ROM and use the Repair option.

I should have added that Google produced over 1,200 hits for "bootmgr is
compressed". The few that I looked at offered two options: Either boot
from the DVD and repair, as I suggested, or somehow get to the Command Line
and Expand the bootmgr file and replace the compressed copy.

Here is the second option, pasted from a post by uhaligani in the Tech
Support Guy Forums on April 1, 2007:
<paste>
Get to the command line. You could do this by booting up on the Vista DVD.
Now type, at the Command line:
expand bootmgr temp
attrib bootmgr -s -r -h
del bootmgr
ren temp bootmgr
attrib bootmgr -a +s +r +h
</paste>

tried all that en got the same error
tried bootrec /fixboot on c:

says no recognised filessystem:(

Rather than piggyback onto this old thread, please start a New thread to
tell us your problem. Be sure to include the basic details about your
computer, such as make and model, description of your hard disk(s), and
which specific version of Vista you are running. Also tell us if this is a
problem with installing a new Vista, or if your Vista has been running for a
long time - and what changed from the time it was running and the time it
quit running. Here are some tips that I shamelessly copied from a recent
post from Bob (Thanks, Bob!):

[theitguy2]

Insert Microsoft Windows Vista Installation Disc.
Press any key when it says "Press any key to boot from CD".

After that you should see "Windows is loading files..."
KEEP pressing F8/F9(can't rmb which, just press both alternately) while the progress bar loads..... Dun let go until you reach "Advanced boot information" where you should see Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Last Good known configuration etc...., just select Safe Mode with Networking(or Safe Mode/Safe Mode with Command Prompt) and press Enter. Wait for the files to load and there should be "Safe Mode" on 4 corners of your monitor.

Just be patient and wait. A windows would soon pop up and says "Install Windows". Don't worry, click next. Now at the bottom of this window, you should see "Repair Windows". Click on it, and there are several options available here. For this case, which is "Bootmgr is compressed.", CHOOSE THE LAST OPTION - "Start Command Prompt".

OK type these things (Only works if you have Firefox, can't think of anything else) below and follow closely:

When Command Prompt is started, type the command below first to ensure that C Drive or whichever drive which contains all your system files is selected:

LOOK FIRST!

X:\System> (The string on the left is what appears on command prompt, may differ on other computers.)

Now TYPE "C:" or "D:", depending on the hard disc volume you are using...

SO IT BECOMES:

X:\System>C:

PRESS ENTER
THE RETURNING COMMAND WOULD BE:

C:\>

If you get this, very good, continue with the steps below.

Now Type:

CD\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox

PRESS ENTER

THE RESULT SHOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

C:\>CD\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox (Press ENTER)

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox (<<<<< Result)


Now type "firefox".

wait for Firefox to launch now.
it doesn't matter if no internet is available.

Now on firefox, go to File > Open File

Double click "My Computer", and you should see your hard disc there, but don't double click on the hard disc. Instead, click once on the hard disc, RIGHT CLICK, and choose properties. AT THE BOTTOM, UNTICK, I REPEAT, UNTICK THE BOX SAYING "Compress this drive to save space etc....". NOW CLICK APPLY, WAIT, AND I MEAN WAIT PATIENTLY OK? AFTER THAT CLICK ON "OK".

AFTER PRESSING OK, DO A QUICK LOOK AT YOUR DRIVE BY DOUBLE-CLICKING IT NOW. IF ANY FILES/FOLDERS ARE BLUE IN COLOUR INSTEAD OF BLACK, RIGHT-CLICK IT, CHOOSE PROPERTIES, CLICK ADVANCED BUTTON (Beside Read-Only Box and Archive Box), UNTICK, I REPEAT, UNTICK the 3RD BOX Which says "Compress contents to save disc space".

Click OK, Apply and close the folder/file properties.

Now close the box opened by firefox, close firefox, close command prompt AND AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THE FIRST WINDOW WHICH POPS UP MENTIONED EARLIER, PRESS RESTART.

Your computer should be able to start properly now :)

[mickyg10]

hi, i have been having the same problem too but all i get is a message saying syntax error after typing in CD\Program Files\Mozilla FireFox any help would be great?

Did you read the complete 2 year old thread, especially the post by R.C.
telling the other fool to start a new thread with pertinent information
relating to *his* computer and not piggy-backing an old thread? Did you try
any of the fixes R.C. posted? What does "BOOTMGR is compressed. Press
Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" have to do with Firefox and why are you typing in
"CD\Program Files\Mozilla FireFox"? Do you realize you're posting to a
Usenet newsgroup? Nah... I doubt all of the above.

Put a space between cd and the first \ and put quotes around the pathname.

Well, I ran a small program called Hdhacker, which allows you to view
your Mbr and see weather its infected or corrupted and got this
message
.R�NTFS
.............?...?.......€.€...P.............\.•.............}'..t........3.Ž...|.h....hf..ˆ...f�>.. NTFSu..A..U..r.�.U.u.....u.....ƒ..h...HŠ...‹......ƒ...X.r.;...u..........Z3...
+.f........Ž......K.+.w......f#.u-f�.TCPAu$�...r..h...hp..h..fSfSfU...h..fa....3..(........_.��f`..f...f.....fh....fP.Sh..h...BŠ.....‹ ...fY[ZfYfY..‚..f........Ž.....u...fa..................‹..<.t.............A
disk read error occurred...BOOTMGR is missing...BOOTMGR is
compressed...Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart...Œ.....U.
well?

Have you tried booting from the sysem install DVD and running Repair.
(lower part of screen). It should fix the MGR.

i have got this message when i close the lid of my comp and i tried to charge it using the ac adapter

>the comp was set in sleep mode when closing the lid, and before this thing happened i installed a avast anti virus software and successfully defrag my computer..my big problem was i cannot access my bios set up any more so i don't know if it was natural that this boot mgr compressed just disables the bios set up not to be accessed... I'm worrying that my mother board was totally damaged and considered as trash at the moment..

is there any one who can tell me or answer me about the bios set up that i cannot access due of getting this boot mgr compressed message?

hope some one can help..thanks!

[johnjohnpcman]

I got to this page cause i have the same problem with my windows7 can you please tell me i have the original windowsXP disc but i lost the windows7 disc if i instal windowsXP i will lose my files??

[Spyrus]

Originally Posted by johnjohnpcman

I got to this page cause i have the same problem with my windows7 can you please tell me i have the original windowsXP disc but i lost the windows7 disc if i instal windowsXP i will lose my files??

Well, you can copy all the data from your hard drive to some other drive and after that format the drive that is giving the BOOTMGR error message. Or else boot from your Windows 7 DVD and select Repair your Computer -> Startup Repair. This way the error should also reolve and you wont face the BOOTMGR is compressed problem.