C
Chad Harris
carkct said:
Hello Carkct and Shuresh--
Please read all of this.
People who mention recovery disks usually want to repair their computer or
are thinking about what to do when and if they have to.
Microsoft has addressed this problem, but they tripped. In other words
Microsoft had a way to make a disk with the full panoply of Startup Repair
Tools, including Startup Repair, Bootrec switches run from the command
prompt in Startup Repair, System Restore and Memory Testing but they pulled
it at the last minute from SP1 RTM's (it was in the Beta) Start Menu and
they hid it in System 32 where it sits and can be used as recdisc.exe but
you have to tweak permissions and that's a hassle for some people--we have
MVPs here who couldn't get that done.
In Win 7 it's all fixed, and it will stay on the All Programs Menu listed
under Maintenance. It's in the RC that's on Technet and MSDN right now,
will be available starting from May 5-10 to the public as a "CPP",and it
will be shipped to stores as well in the coming months as Win 7 RTM.
But a smart person would realize this. Recovery disks
a) only restore to a formatted drive with a clean Vista on it. They don't
save anything you have worked to put on that Vista you had.
b) Sometimes you have to hunt around like Harrison Ford in Raiders of the
Lost Ark to find them if ever, and you're charge for them.
To do this when you want your OS back is ridiculous. So if you don't have a
Vista DVD, and I'm unaware of any OEM who is shipping a Microsoft Vista or
Win 7 DVD with their new computers--someone chime in if you know who does
this because I know about 300+ OEMs who don't including Dell who lied about
promising to do it--then here's the way to do it. I also included
screenshots of how and where MSFT hid the ability to make a repair disk in
System 32 as of Vista SP1, and how it will look when you decide to use
Windows 7 which could be as soon as a ten days if you're not already using
it--and many of you are.
If you do not have a Microsoft Vista or Windows 7 Official DVD:
Download Vista Repair Disk .Iso and Burn it to Media (Can fit on a CD or a
DVD)
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/
If you have Windows 7 you can do the same thing by going to Start>All
Programs>Maintenance>Create a System Repair Disk
Screenshots of Microsoft's Raiders of the Lost Ark Game Included in Vista
SP1 which does have a way to make a Repair Disk (Startup Repair Disk) and
Where it is Located in Windows 7 All Builds through Windows 7 RTM including
the now on Technet/MSDN Win 7 RC1 (Build 7100)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chadharris16
***How to Fix and Restore your Vista or Windows 7 if you cannot Boot Due to
Software Corruption***--this will work in the majority of "I can't boot
Vista and Windows 7 Situations" because the majority of them are
statistically software caused/induced.
***Recovery Disks save none of your settings, files, folders, pics, videos,
music, or Documents. These methods save everything when they work and they
do a high percentage of the time.
***Always rule out hardware problems and hard disk problems first. They are
the minority of no boot causes, but of course should be ruled out. You can
use Seagate tools to test your hard disk with about 90% accuracy. If you
have a Dell, you can use Ctrl+Alt+D to test your hard disk during boot up.
I have seen both tests, and many others, claim that the hard disk was
"fried", and for some reason after doing the bootrec commands, the hard disk
found electormagnetism enough to run for a year. I'm not beginning to
assert that the bootrec commands restored electromagnetism to a hard disk.
That would be crazy, and I like to avoid that situation. But I am saying
that like hundreds of medical lab tests, these tests are not perfect. The
so called hard disk tests have a percent accuracy, including Seagate Tools,
and they have false positives and negatives, just as hundreds of clinical
lab tests in patients do.
If you do not have a Microsoft Vista or Windows 7 Official DVD:
Download Vista Repair Disk .Iso and Burn it to Media (Can fit on a CD or a
DVD)
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/
If you have Windows 7 you can do the same thing by going to Start>All
Programs>Maintenance>Create a System Repair Disk
How to Use Startup Repair from the Vista DVD or the Repair Disk you make:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial142.html
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/5c59f8c1-b0d1-4f1a-af55-74f3922f3f351033.mspx
1) First try 3 options from Startup Repair. If you have a Vista DVD then
restart with it in the drive>press any key to boot from it and run Startup
Repair. From Startup Repair you have 3 good tools with an excellent chance
of fixing your system. If you don't have a Vista DVD from which to boot to
Startup Repair, no problem, Download the .iso from the link below and
burn it, and you'll have the Microsoft Vista Repair Disk with Startup
Repair.
Download Vista Repair Disk
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/
How to Use Startup Repair from the Vista DVD or the Repair Disk you make:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial142.html
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/5c59f8c1-b0d1-4f1a-af55-74f3922f3f351033.mspx
2) If Startup Repair does not get your Vista back, then use the 3 bootrec
commands from the command prompt available on the Statup Repair Menu:
The menu I refer to is in this set of directions with a grey background.
http://vistahomepremium.windowsreinstall.com/repairstartup/repairstartup.htm
Those are:
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuild BCD
3) If my second option doesn't work, then try System restore from the
Startup Repair list.
1) First try 3 options from Startup Repair. If you have a Vista DVD then
restart with it in the drive>press any key to boot from it and run Startup
Repair. From Startup Repair you have 3 good tools with an excellent chance
of fixing your system. If you don't have a Vista DVD from which to boot to
Startup Repair, no problem, Download the .iso from the link below and
burn it, and you'll have the Microsoft Vista Repair Disk with Startup
Repair.
Download Vista Repair Disk
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/
How to Use Startup Repair from the Vista DVD or the Repair Disk you make:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial142.html
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/5c59f8c1-b0d1-4f1a-af55-74f3922f3f351033.mspx
2) If Startup Repair does not get your Vista back, then use the 3 bootrec
commands from the command prompt available on the Statup Repair Menu:
The menu I refer to is in this set of directions with a grey background.
http://vistahomepremium.windowsreinstall.com/repairstartup/repairstartup.htm
Those are:
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuild BCD
3) If my second option doesn't work, then try System restore from theStartup
Repair list.
4) If by rare chance you have an actual Vista DVD, you can put it in, boot
from it>choose the Upgrade Option>choose your current broken Vista Drive and
try to do a repair install with the Vista DVD.
How To Perform a Repair Installation For Vista
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html
5) If the above 3 tools don't work, then use the 4 tools available by
restarting your pc and tapping F8 once per second to get to the Windows
Advanced Options Menu.
From this menu click on 3 Safe Mode links to use System Restore. Make sure
you try all 3 if one doesn't work, because just one of them may work. Tap F8
to Reach Windows Advanced Options Menu Pictured Below:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/...ank/techbliss/Vista-Advanced-Boot-Options.jpg
Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command: At the prompt you would type the command to use for
system restore at the safe mode cmd prompt is:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
If these 3 tools don't work, you have one more you can try which is Last
Known Good Configuration.
Good luck,
CH