Hi,
first of all, I would like to thank you for your work on rEFInd. It is the second computer I use it on, and it's very efficient, and extremely well documented.
However, I have a problem and I did not find any answer on your website. This time, rEFInd wouldn't work until I installed it under the "EFI/Microsoft/Boot" directory, using the name "bootmgfw.efi". I copied the files manually and accidentally deleted the original Microsoft boot files without a backup. Now, rEFInd works perfectly, but Windows is not shown under the boot options. I would like to know if there is a way to repair this and add a Windows boot option on my rEFInd.
Thank you for your help
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Unfortunately, some EFIs have bugs that necessitate calling the boot loader/manager EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi. Upgrading the firmware occasionally fixes the problem, but usually you're stuck with it, so you'll need to rename bootmgfw.efi and give rEFInd (or shim or PreLoader, if you want to boot with Secure Boot active) that name. I recommend moving the "real" bootmgfw.efi down one level, so that it resides in EFI/Microsoft; this way rEFInd should auto-detect it just fine.
Since you've accidentally deleted the "real" bootmgfw.efi, I'm afraid the only solution is to find another copy from somewhere. If you've got a Windows installation disc, it should exist as 1/Windows/Boot/EFI/bootmgfw.efi in the SOURCES/install.wim file on the Windows installation disc. (This was true of Windows 7, at any rate; it may be different for Windows 8.) You could also try getting a copy from another computer or run a Windows emergency repair tool -- but the latter will likely replace rEFInd, so you'll need to reinstall it.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hi,
first of all, I would like to thank you for your work on rEFInd. It is the second computer I use it on, and it's very efficient, and extremely well documented.
However, I have a problem and I did not find any answer on your website. This time, rEFInd wouldn't work until I installed it under the "EFI/Microsoft/Boot" directory, using the name "bootmgfw.efi". I copied the files manually and accidentally deleted the original Microsoft boot files without a backup. Now, rEFInd works perfectly, but Windows is not shown under the boot options. I would like to know if there is a way to repair this and add a Windows boot option on my rEFInd.
Thank you for your help
Unfortunately, some EFIs have bugs that necessitate calling the boot loader/manager
EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi. Upgrading the firmware occasionally fixes the problem, but usually you're stuck with it, so you'll need to renamebootmgfw.efiand give rEFInd (or shim or PreLoader, if you want to boot with Secure Boot active) that name. I recommend moving the "real"bootmgfw.efidown one level, so that it resides inEFI/Microsoft; this way rEFInd should auto-detect it just fine.Since you've accidentally deleted the "real"
bootmgfw.efi, I'm afraid the only solution is to find another copy from somewhere. If you've got a Windows installation disc, it should exist as1/Windows/Boot/EFI/bootmgfw.efiin theSOURCES/install.wimfile on the Windows installation disc. (This was true of Windows 7, at any rate; it may be different for Windows 8.) You could also try getting a copy from another computer or run a Windows emergency repair tool -- but the latter will likely replace rEFInd, so you'll need to reinstall it.