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I messed up , need to fix my computer!

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18 replies

by dablaze- 1 view

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I recently got a new computer. Dell xps420. It came with vista and a bunch of fancy gadgets etc. The day after i got it , i partitioned part of my hard drive with partition manager that vista has. I put xp on that partition. I thought i would be able to choose the operating system i wanted to boot from at startup, but it just goes right to xp. i have system commander v8.2, and it shows the vista icon when i go to boot up, but when i click it, it still goes to xp!! how can i boot onto my recovery drive and PCrestore back to the way it was when it left the factory?! this is killing me soooo bad!!! i have a 1 tb hardrive and i can only use the 50gb i partitioned.. Help PLEASE!!!!

18 replies

by dablaze-

I did step a. It changes from d:\documents and settings\administrator> to D:\windows. I do step b and it says :

D:\WINDOWS>J:\boot\bootsect.exe -NT60 All
Target volumes will be updated with BOOTMGR compatible bo

C: (\\?\Volume{5118f5b6-e27a-11dc-a3b3-806d6172696f})

Updated NTFS filesystem bootcode. The update may be
volume could not be locked during the update:
Access is denied.

D: (\\?\Volume{5118f5b7-e27a-11dc-a3b3-806d6172696f})

Updated NTFS filesystem bootcode. The update may be
volume could not be locked during the update:
Access is denied.

F: (\\?\Volume{7c077438-e651-11dc-8631-806d6172696f})

Successfully updated FAT filesystem bootcode.

G: (\\?\Volume{5118f5b1-e27a-11dc-a3b3-806d6172696f})

Could not open the volume root directory:
The parameter is incorrect.

H: (\\?\Volume{5118f5b2-e27a-11dc-a3b3-806d6172696f})

Could not open the volume root directory:
The parameter is incorrect.

I: (\\?\Volume{5118f5b5-e27a-11dc-a3b3-806d6172696f})

Successfully updated NTFS filesystem bootcode.

K: (\\?\Volume{5118f5b3-e27a-11dc-a3b3-806d6172696f})

Could not open the volume root directory:
The parameter is incorrect.

L: (\\?\Volume{5118f5b4-e27a-11dc-a3b3-806d6172696f})

Could not open the volume root directory:
The parameter is incorrect.

Bootcode was successfully updated on at least one volume.

I go to do step c and it says :

D:\WINDOWS>%windir%\system32\Bcdedit -create {ntldr} -d "windows xp"
'D:\WINDOWS\system32\Bcdedit' is not recognized as an internal or external comma
nd,
operable program or batch file.

What did i do wrong? :/

by dablaze-

my c drive is vista.
d is xp.
uhh when i get to my house i will look up them all. im at my friends at the moment.
thank you for taking time to help me also, it means a lot to me.

by dablaze-

I installed EasyBCD, but when i try to boot it up it says The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135) Click ok to terminate the application. Ugh, i regret ever getting XP =/

by rob miners

Use the Vista DVD to boot your system and try the repair options. If you can get to a command prompt type in

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
bootrec.exe /fixboot

by dablaze-

i did the first one and it said operation successful
i did the second one and it said element not found or something like that.. =o

by rtuttlewalton

newer dells have a copy of the entire pc in a pre-defined partition. Hit F10 when booting up and go from there. If you have wiped that out, give dell a call. They have gotten more 'person friendly' as of late. They will send you a cd (s) to restore your pc to the way it was when you got it.

by dablaze-

ok f10 at start up does nothing. i know i have a recovery drive labeled "I", but i dont know how to get to it!!! all my computer does it load up xp. arghhh!!! im so sorry for all this but im really getting frustrated =[

by seanferd

Restore System Commander's OS Selection Menu.

Windows will typically overwrite the Master Boot Record during installation. When your OS is completely installed, you may find that at every reboot, you will boot back into the new OS. System Commander needs to be "re-enabled" in the MBR in order to get the OS Selection Menu back. Boot from the System Commander CD and select "Enable System Commander". This will run the program checkmbr automatically, and restore System Commander's OS Selection menu.

When you next reboot, the OS Selection menu will appear, and the OS name Windows XP will appear as an OS selection. Select this to go into your new Windows.

http://www.v-com.com/support/sup_os_WinXP_install.html

http://www.v-com.com/support/index.html

by rob miners

boot with the VISTA dvd, and during the install, delete BOTH partitions. Recreate the Primary Partition and reinstall Vista.

You can create an Extended Partition in Vista and add your Drives later.

by dablaze-

when i tried doing that, i would delete a partition, and then it would show up as lets say 50gb of unpartitioned space or something like that. it wouldnt let me merge any together or anything like that.. =/

by rob miners

you have a partition that is at the beginning of the drive that is 50 Gb. Create a partition and install Vista onto that. As I said before, worry about the rest of the drive later.

by dablaze-

i try that but its says something about needing it to be in NTFS, and i dont know how to format it to that. any help there?

by rob miners

about you post the exact message or the details that you see on the screen. Does it give you an option to convert to NTFS and format. If so convert it and format it NTFS.

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