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Repair Vista Boot-up

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by healer 1 view

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One of my Vista system on a laptop wouldn't boot. Booting from the Vista CD, automatic repair wouldn't fix it. There is an option for command prompt, but it is not a recovery console I used to see in earlier editions of Windows. When I opened the command prompt it came up with the prompt "X:\Sources>". I type "help" there was none. I was intending to fix up the boot using the recovery console as I would with XP. I wonder now how I can do it like what I would with XP.
I used a Windows 7 Repair Disc I created with my new Windows 7 system it seemed to be able to identify the Vista OS. I didn't go on as I was afraid the process would muck up the Vista system. I want to retrieve a lot of files from the computer via a network before I re-install the computer. I haven't tried to take the hard disk out and connect to another computer in order to retrieve the files. It is in a laptop. I try to avoid it.
I haven't come across a Windows Live CD like BartPE that can connect to an existing network. At present I try to connect to my Windows network with a ubuntu live CD. I am still trying to boot up the un-selfbootable Vista system and have it connect to a Windows network in order to transfer the files. Perhaps I can install Vista in situ on top of the existing Vista without wiping the existing system. That should leave the existing data files or documents intact.

10 replies

by rob miners

X:\Sources and you were at the command prompt. Try this.

How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

In this environment you can attach an external drive and copy your information over to it.

by healer

I had found the information using bootrec.exe on command prompt and tried all options yesterday but none fixed the boot. I even tried using bededit.exe according to http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Fix--Windows-boot-configuration-data-file-is-missing--Error/926832. The Vista just kept rebooting itself in normal mode or came up with blue screen if started in safe mode.

Being unable to locate my laptop hard drive adaptor I am going to install Vista on top of the broken one without wiping the drive so that I can transfer the files across the network. I am going install Windows 7 on it after recovering all the files.

by seanferd

The system vendor may have an installed utility on a diagnostic/recovery partition, or in BIOS. Check the condition of the drive itself.

If nothing is available, go to the drive manufacturer's site and try the disk diagnostic provided.

Of course, some drive errors, even if the hardware hasn't failed, can be deeply weird. Once I had to use an old version of partition magic to fix something so I could fix the boot record, then chkdsk to fix other errors.

by rob miners

Sata or IDE. The System specs would help as well. If its Sata you can connect it to the motherboard so long as you have a Sata power adapter.

Did you ever setup a Domain? If you did is your server running?

by healer

I have since installed Vista again on a newly created partition in some spare space in the same computer. Doing so I managed to transfer more than 30 gigs of files to another computer. It was a tedious process but it achieved what I needed. The hard disk seems to be all right because I have subsequently installed Windows 7 on it and it works fine apart from missing some drivers but this would be another issue.

by healer

in a Dell laptop INSPIRON 1525. I couldn't locate my laptop drive adaptor that's why I did what I did.

I have only set up domains in my "lab" at home which is also my office. I did some work on a domain with Windows 2000 server before when I worked for others. I don't have a domain running at home at present. This question has nothing to do with my disk drive, hasn't it?

by rob miners

but I can't suggest what I was going to suggest, so we'll leave it at that. :D

by healer

or you have exposed my ignorance. How would a domain have anything to do with my hard disk problem? I wish you don't mind to say a little more if not all.

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