Problem: So I’ve decided to turn off compression(My Computer -> Select a Drive -> Right Click “Properties”) to speed up my computer. Compression saves disk space but it seems to slow down my computer whenever it’s accessing massive amount of files.
I was prompted to restart my PC so I did, I was then greeted by an error that says:
BOOTMGR IS COMPRESSED
Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to Restart
SOLUTION(s):
There are 4 (possible) fix for this problem.
Option #1:
Boot from your Windows Vista DVD and select Repair your Computer -> Startup Repair.
Option #2:
Boot from your Windows Vista DVD and select Repair your Computer -> Command Prompt, execute the following commands:
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /fixmbr
Reboot.
Option #3:
At the prompt to select your OS installation, click the button that says ‘Load Drivers’. This should bring up a explorer-style drive browser.Then just right-click on the drive you tried to compress, and deselect ‘Compress this Drive’, which should still be ticked on. Hit apply, and apply to subfolders/files.
Reboot.
Option #4:
Boot from your Windows Vista DVD and select Repair your Computer -> Command Prompt, in the command prompt, execute the following commands by typing them and pressing enter for each line:
c:
expand bootmgr temp
attrib bootmgr -s -r -h
del bootmgr
ren temp bootmgr
attrib bootmgr -a +s +r +hReboot.(If the 2nd line fail, go back to 1st line and replace C with the drive letter of where your windows is installed.)
That’s it! Hope that helped you out.
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still the same message : BOOTMGR is compressed.
Did you try doing each options? Option #3 works best in most cases.
THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! I had just purchased an HP mini and decided (not a good idea) to compress my files as there is not allot of disk space…low and behold, I screwed up and got the dreadful: BOOTMGR is compressed…..
I borrowed an external CD/DVD drive from work, printed your instructions from this site, went home…and low and behold it fixed it, and very quickly I might add.
Can’t thank you enough for your expertise. I had called HP support, and they were no support at all. I swear he was reading pages from somewhere, and had no clue (also sounded like not in US either). So thanks for your advice…and I will NEVER compress again!!
MK
@Mary the call was probably relayed to a call center where they are just reading possible solutions.
oh and as for compression, it’s best to do it after a fresh install.
wicked option 2 worked for me thanks very much….and this helped with the message i recieved saying boot mgr is compressed in windows vista i tried only the option 2 and it worked a treat..
Thank you!
Option #2 worked for me.
does anyone know the factory default password its asking for during this process?
my VISTA business came pre-installed. I have no VISTA disk.
How can I fix “BOOTMGR is compressed” without a VISTA CD???
why does the “compress” option even exists if it inevitably results in the “BOOTMGR is compressed” failure that disables the computer totally? I feel duped by Microsoft into buying a product – VISTA – that is not fit for the intended use.
@rolf Yes, definitely it was a problem on their part. If you legally own it, then you may want to download the product somewhere or borrow it from someone and use it to recover your pc, you will only need it for it’s bootdisk anyway.
Great Information! Thank you. [you aved me from feeling like an idiot!] Why doen’t Microsoft offer help on their Website?
Now,what do I nedd to get just a “bootdisk” and is my machine going to boot from USB or CD?
Thank you very much.
well i dont got a vista cd how can i fix it mine is a computer that had origanilly xp but then i put vista on it so idk which one is on it right now ..
@rolf a bootdisk is a USB or a CD/DVD but for our purpose, you need to boot from a vista CD/DVD so we are booting from cd. If you can, try borrowing a vista installer just so you can get to the boot menu and try the options i’ve posted above. That should save you a lot of trouble from reinstalling everything again.
Hope that helps!
BIG QUESTION: B4 I try fixes… I have Windows Vista Business with XP Professional Downgrade. My laptop is less than 2 weeks old… Stupidly I checked the Compress C: Drive box. Dell says only way to fix is to replace the hard drive. Anyone know if this is true? Since I have 2 Operating Systems I’m unclear on how to proceed. Vista seems to be the underlying OS that the computer actually runs on with XP Pro piggybacking. Any help would be SOOOOO appreciated! WTH does that compression box even exist if it’s going to completely mess up the computer?!?!?!?
@julie You don’t need to replace your hard drive, in fact, even if the fixes above didn’t help out – a reformatting should completely fix it. Try the fixes above first, they should help.
Hmmm, reformatting may be the route I have to go. My brother had an idea that maybe I could partition the drive at the MS-DOS command prompt, get the new partition to work and then use that to fix the original messed up part of the drive. Sound feasible? I tried all of the fixes above, but since I can’t select an operating system, they don’t work. Aaargh. So frustrating. Especially on a new computer…. Thanks for the help Cyber Valdez!
this is what my buddy wrote me and it worked for me: {look below for my comment]
13.@rolf a bootdisk is a USB or a CD/DVD but for our purpose, you need to boot from a vista CD/DVD so we are booting from cd. If you can, try borrowing a vista installer just so you can get to the boot menu and try the options i’ve posted above. That should save you a lot of trouble from reinstalling everything again.
Hope that helps!
my comment:
9.why does the “compress” option even exists if it inevitably results in the “BOOTMGR is compressed” failure that disables the computer totally? I feel duped by Microsoft into buying a product – VISTA – that is not fit for the intended use.
#2 is work for me thanks a lot.
Update on my computer woes… I tried repairing my OS 3 or 4 different ways to no avail. So I did end up reformatting. Everything seems to be working as it should now. But it’s such a pain to find & re-install all of the programs I had on there. Not to mention all the documents & data. I am now a FIRM believer in external hard drive backups!!! Won’t catch me with my pants down again, so to speak!
And I completely agree with Rolf on the issue of why Microsoft is allowing that C: drive compression box to remain. There should, at the very least, be a warning that checking that box may cause harm to your computer!
Good luck to all the poor souls who find this page because they’ve just gotten the dreaded “BOOTMGR is compressed” message!!
Thanx guys for the help….
God bless You…
la 2 es la ley… gracias hermano P&♥
Thank you very much for your help. I can fix with option 2.
Thanks guys!!!!!!!
Option #2 works!!!
have tried Optn 1 above but my toshiba laptop would not even recognize my cd/dvd from the boot menu to start from there. it is taking me back to the sam ‘BOOTMGR Compressd” and refused to boot from the VISTA DVD. any help out there
Hi jay, best you can do is try every other options. cheers!
Hi! guys.. i need help with my windows 7 ultimate yesterday i accidentally compressed my drive C.. then this morning i started my pc and the “bootmgr is compressed” bla bla bla… i configured the bios to set dvd-rom to be the first ddrive then restarted the disc i inserted started to turn fast but still “boormgr is compressed is coming out”
im totally stuck there pls.. help me…
peace out *_*
i’ve set the boot priority cd-rom to 1st but when my pc loads the dvd and turns it i dont get press any key to boot cd…
pls help me im totally stucked
Hey, thanks for the help. I just popped in a winxp installation cd and choose to repair instead of reinstall and now my sys is working just fine. for the record, I tripped when I saw that message and couldn’t boot my sys.
thanks again
Hi!
Thanks a lot for a quick and smooth solution, alt 2 worked as a charm!
would you believe , after we fixed the BOOTMGR IS COMPRESSED problem I now have another problem with VISTA:
I get messages to up-date Windows and when I try to do that I get this message:
The Windows Installer Service could no
t be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for asistance
I am the only user of this none-networked computer. What is Microsoft trying to do to me?! Any suggestions?
Thank you
Rolf
Hey Rolf, try these links:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319624
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/details.aspx?familyid=5A58B56F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4&displaylang=en (Download and install)
it works on my windows7 ultimate on option 2
thanks a lot!!
Option #3 worked a treat for me. Thanks for great advice.
Eternal thanks. #2 option worked for me too.
I try option # 2. It works right away. Thank a lot for your advise. I think those advises will many people.
It´s pretty weird because I got BOOTMGR is compressed without compressing anything. It just happend one morning. Pretty strange but as soon as I find my vista-CD i will try this optiones. Hope they will work. Ty ^^
thanks!
its working!
***** stars!
it did fix the first comands and blessed be for the time you had to take it and help others who are unknow of characther likeyou with a big heart… thanks so much
option 1 worked for me…yippeeee..
i trying but using the restore point
@Emanuel
I tried using the restore point on my windows 7 ultimate but it didn’t work for me then I tried option 2 and worked perfect. I recommend ilusing option 2 or 3 if the restore point way doesn’t work. Just thought Id let ya know since the problem occured with me cuz it kept telling me to restart the comp but when it rebooted it came back up with the menu. And thank you Cyber Valdez for the help on this matter it helped me alot with my computer!
I owe the person who put the time into posting this awsome help link on (BOOTMGR COMPRESSION ERROR)a big great[THANK YOU]…
I started with step #3… since it was the most suggested which did not work so well for me 4 some reason .. so then i jumped back up to suggestion #2 consittering i tried #1 before even looking on the internet .. And like a charm…it worked great for me…
I must add that i run windows 7 but started on vista… wasnt sure if it would work cuz it is a cracked version of 7 and my install disc is burnt.. I couldnt even pull a system format for fresh install .. but luckly i made a repair disc for windows 7 .. that acts just like the vista disc discribed up above (thank God) cuz i couldnt get the original vista istaller disc to load ether… lol ..
– so thx again mister info man –
-Lep-
I tried doing these options with the success that the error did not come up, but only to see a black screen with no harddrive activity. I guess I have to reformat!!!
Hello,
I have the same problem with everybody, got that message bootmgr is compressed and ctrl+alt+del to restart… In a black background.
I tried it a million times to restart but still goes to the same message after it restarts… It’s frustrating, I wanna try any of your troubleshooting techniques but it goes back to the same message in black background, no where to go. Pls help, what will I do if I get the same message over ad over again.
Do I need to buy an external device or hook it to something to do the prompts? Since after I do the ctrl+alt+del prompts the computer restart but with the same message again and again without going further, where do I type the prompts in booting it?
Seems like most of the ways suggested requires to get into the system itself, wherein in my case it same message in a black background.
I’m using my phone by the way to make this message.
Hi there, I have gotten this messageBOOTMGR IS COMPRESSED, I felt helpless and tried option #3, it worked fine. Now my notebook is working. Thank for your wonderful tips.
it is successed in window 7 ultimate with #2 option
thanks for the help,but i used bootrec and than i used the options to remake a new boot and is working now, i use windows 7,
I tried #3 a number of times but it never appeared to actually execute. (I am running Win 7 Ultimate on a Gateway netbook). Finally, I gave #2 a shot and it worked. Thanks for posting all of these together and stating that they may not all work on a given machine.
it works here! option 3!!!!! thanks a lot!!!!!
option 3 worked alright, thanks guys!
Than you so much for your help, i have Windows 7 ultimate running on my system, and option 2 worked for me. Once again thank you. People like you are definitely a credit to us.
option 3 is is teh simplest