"BOOTMGR is compressed ERROR." Can I reverse with more memory?

I wanted to upgrade my laptop from Vista Basic to Vista home Premium so my brother uploaded it my laptop. He got it working for a minute but then there was an error on a black screen that said " BOOTMGR is compressed" and Ctrl +alt+ delete to restart--- every time I try it, it turns off and goes back to that same message.



From what I've read, I'm guessing I over stored memory on my laptop-- it said "2038 MB capacity"-- which I originally thought was plenty, but I had 2048 MB on my laptop.

I don't want to lose any of my personal documents but I do want to keep Vista. Do I have to go back to Vista Basic? I got my Dell through the mail and it came with the original OS already installed on it.

I would also like to know the different kind of memory storage systems in my laptop just for my understanding.

Please let me know what I should do to get my laptop working again as concise and plainly as possible; I need my laptop for school.

Also is it possible to just buy an extra GB of memory and add it to my laptop to solve the problem, or is it too late?

I have a 2GB Dell Vostro 1400. Let me know if you need anymore information.


-Trackstre

 

It doesn't sound like a RAM issue... sounds more like a HDD error. Somehow the file got compressed.

Try booting into "Safe Mode" and run a CHKDSK C: /R

 

So, adding more memory won't help?

How can I restart in safemode? The Computer doesn' t do anything except go back to the black screen with BOOTMGR on it.

I definitely have my memory filled to capacity-- I did a systems check and it says so. What can I do from here?

thanks.

 

I tried to press F8 when it was booting to get it into safe mode -- but it won't even do that, it goes straight to the black BOOT screen.

Please help!

 

Bootmgr is the boot ManaGeR for Vista; without it, no boot, no matter how much memory you have. The error message is telling you that it can't load bootmgr and therefore you can't boot. You can Boot off of the Vista disc then:
wait for setup to load
click next at the language/date time screen
click "repair your computer" at bottom left of next screen, do NOT click "install now"
it will then scan for your installation and errors.
If it finds anything it will want to change it and reboot. OK that and let it reboot. If that fixes it, great.

If not, post again.

 

can I just load any Vista CD-- whether premium or basic-- or does it have to come from Dell?

its compressed-- but its not gone, so i'm not complete screwed right?

 

I think any valid Vista disc will do.

 

I agree with juju68 on that... Vista doesn't have "versions" like XP did. All versions come on one DVD, and what gets installed is based on the Key that you enter during installation.