Bootmgr is missing

[cmarie77]

I tried to reinstall windows because I was having issues with programs not working. It started then gave me an error code and when it restarted it said bootmgr is missing. My cd drive is not working so using any kind of disk is out of the question. My question is... Can I buy a new hard drive with windows 10 preinstalled and get my computer to work? 

[TheOldMan]

That warning may mean the hard drive has failed but it could mean that the boot manager is corrupted.  The listed Windows is Windows 7 and that is what came with the PC.

Assuming the original hard drive is still there, is  the Recovery partition still there, also?

Try this, taken from here:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01867418

• Turn off the computer.
• Disconnect all peripheral devices, except for the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power cord. Remove media from internal drives, and remove any recently added internal hardware.
• Turn on the computer and repeatedly press the F11 key, about once every second, until Recovery Manager opens.

If that fails to produce any results, then in answer to the question " Can I buy a new hard drive with windows 10 preinstalled and get my computer to work?  - First off, I know of no-one that sells hard drives that way unless you can find a PC shop to make a drive with Windows 10 already on it.  Second, it would just have to be on the drive and not actually run through the setup for it to work.  The PC most likely would need some forum of virtual OS to start the setup from the new hard drive and Windows OS, again from a custom deal by a tech person.  You would also need to buy Windows 10 product key.

I would recommend a new SATA DVD/CD drive firstly, which you can do yourself rather than going thru the trouble of having another person making a custom setup.