No Boot

[Windrider]

I have a Dell Optiflex 760 Vista computer that will not boot. I get a black windows boot manage window, At the bottom it says: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot conguration data.
file: \Boot\BCD
Status: Oxc000000f

I can not get into the recovery partition. I don't have the installation disc. When I put in a Win7 disc I get the message: Selected boot device not available.

IS the HD bad or is the Boot sector or BIOS corrupted?

[SpywareDr]

Get into the CMOS/BIOS Setup and see if the hard drive is listed. If not, the hard drive cables/connections may be loose or, it's dead.

While you're in the CMOS/BIOS Setup, you can set it to try and boot from the CD/DVD drive before it tries to boot from the hard drive. But, even then, if the BIOS can't see the hard drive, neither will any operating system.

[Murf]

That error will occur when either:
The Windows Boot Manager (Bootmgr) entry is not present in the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store.
The Boot\BCD file on the active partition is damaged or missing.

You will need a Vista Disc to repair it there is two ways to do it once you have a disc; I would download a copy of vista (ISO) and burn to a DVD, then boot from it;

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-b...-vista-to-dvd/

Since you are not installing just using it to repair you don't need the "Key"

1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when you are prompted.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec /RebuildBcd, and then press ENTER.

If the Bootrec.exe tool runs successfully, it presents you with an installation path of a Windows directory. To add the entry to the BCD store, type Yes. A confirmation message appears that indicates the entry was added successfully.

If the Bootrec.exe tool cannot locate any missing Windows installations, you must remove the BCD store, and then you must re-create it.

To do this, type the following commands in the order in which they are presented. Press ENTER after each command.

Bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
Bootrec /rebuildbcd

Restart the computer.

2nd option use the Bcdedit.exe tool:

1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when you are prompted.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:cd /d Partition:\Windows\System32
   Note Partition represents the letter of the partition on which Windows Vista is installed. Typically, this is partition C.
8. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:bcdedit /enum all
   In the Windows Boot Loader section of the output from this command, note the GUID that is listed for resumeobject. You will use this GUID later.
9. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:bcdedit -create {bootmgr} -d "Description"
   Note Description represents the description for the new entry.
10. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:bcdedit -set {bootmgr} device partition=Partition:
    Note Partition represents the letter of the partition. Typically, the letter is C.
11. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:bcdedit /displayorder {GUID}
    Note GUID represents the GUID that you obtained in step 8.
12. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:bcdedit /default {GUID}
    Note GUID represents the GUID that you obtained in step 8.
13. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:bcdedit /timeout Value
    Note Value represents the time in seconds before the Windows Boot Manager selects the default entry that you created in step 12.
14. Restart the computer.