Fix Missing Operating System Error

If you're having boot problem on your Windows PC related to the following error: "Missing operating system", then you can easily get rid of it, using Emergency Boot Kit, and boot your PC like before.

This article explains how to fix Missing Operating System error, related to Windows 7 and other operating systems, by setting active partition flag in the partition table.

1. Symptoms of the problem

When computer is powered up, an error message "Missing operating system" appears (white-on-black letters in text mode and blinking cursor):

2. Normal boot sequence

Normally computer boots as shown below (Windows 7 boot sequence is shown as example):

1. BIOS loads 1st sector from HDD (Master Boot Record), verifies 55 AA signature and transfers control to Master Boot Record.
2. Master Boot Record scans partition table for active partition, then it loads 1st sector from active partition, verifies 55 AA signature, and transfers control to Boot Sector.
3. Boot Sector loads 15 additional sectors from the beginning of disk (Volume Boot Record) and transfers control to first additional sector of VBR.
4. Volume Boot Record loads BOOTMGR file from root directory of boot partition into the memory and transfers control to it.
5. BOOTMGR loads Boot\BCD registry hive and displays boot menu. BOOTMGR is able to run memory test and set safe mode boot flag per explicit user request. But normally, it loads winload.exe when computer boots normally (cold startup) or winresume.exe (when computer resumes from hibernation).
6. Winload.exe opens SYSTEM registry hive, gets list of drivers, loads NTOSKRNL.exe, loads drivers (*.SYS files) and transfers control to NTOSKRNL.exe.
7. Winresume.exe loads memory dump from hiberfil.sys and transfers control to it.

3. Defect in the boot sequence which leads to Missing Operating System error

Defect in the boot sequence which is a reason for Missing Operating System error is shown below:

1. BIOS loads 1st sector from HDD (Master Boot Record), verifies 55 AA signature and transfers control to Master Boot Record.
2. Master Boot Record scans partition table for active partition, but there is no active partition, so MBR emits "Missing Operating System" error message and halts machine.
3. The rest of usual boot events do not happen.

4. How to fix Missing Operating System error

1) Download Emergency Boot Kit and deploy it to USB thumbdrive according to the instructions, then set up your BIOS to boot from USB thumbdrive. You need full version of Emergency Boot Kit to actually write changes to the disk, but it's recommended to try demo version to make sure  there are no hardware incompatibilities.

2) Boot from Emergency Boot Kit, wait until the main menu appears.
Choose "Mount & Boot Center" in the main menu or press F5 and wait while Emergency Boot Kit scans all local disks for Windows installations

3) Find boot loader for your primary OS in the list. Please note that "called by BIOS" radiobutton is off:

4) Click on the radio button "called by BIOS" for bootloader of your primary OS. It should be turned on now:

5) Click OK to close the window and then choose "Reboot" in the main menu. Missing Operating System problem is fixed now.

Please note: Mount & Boot Center verifies entire boot path from BIOS to the OS boot loader, so other boot problems may be automatically fixed at this point.