[paulcole]

I have gone ahead and entered the command promt text you mentioned and the error message I receive back is 'imagex' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

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Ditto to what Paul has said, thanks for your input Admiral
From the previous information provided it suggests that the CD/DVD drive is reading the Vista disk ok but somewhere between the Vista disk, CD/DVD drive and HDD there is an issue, possible causes may include a bad Vista disk and a failing HDD or data ribbon/cable.

I have also chosen system restore and picked a date way back in January

What is the date of the last restore point, this may provide a clue as to whether the HDD or OS have issues, please take the time to read the information regarding Vista shadow copies @ http://windows.micro...asked-questions this asks and answers questions you may find helpful if not now in the future.
If you have important data on the HDD I suggest you make a priority of backing it up, you can use Puppy Linux for this see the attached link for guidance http://www.geekstogo...over-your-data/
Once any important data is secure you will not have to worry about having to format and partition your HDD and do a fresh Vista install if required.

It then says if you do not see your operating system listed clcik load drivers to load drivers from your hard disc

Do you see a partition on the HDD that may possibly be for system recovery (it may have a drive letter such as G, H, K etc) , have you tried re-loading the drivers as the black screen and blinking cursor may be the result of a bad video driver.

[phillpower2]

Ditto to what Paul has said, thanks for your input Admiral
From the previous information provided it suggests that the CD/DVD drive is reading the Vista disk ok but somewhere between the Vista disk, CD/DVD drive and HDD there is an issue, possible causes may include a bad Vista disk and a failing HDD or data ribbon/cable.

I have also chosen system restore and picked a date way back in January

What is the date of the last restore point, this may provide a clue as to whether the HDD or OS have issues, please take the time to read the information regarding Vista shadow copies @ http://windows.micro...asked-questions this asks and answers questions you may find helpful if not now in the future.
If you have important data on the HDD I suggest you make a priority of backing it up, you can use Puppy Linux for this see the attached link for guidance http://www.geekstogo...over-your-data/
Once any important data is secure you will not have to worry about having to format and partition your HDD and do a fresh Vista install if required.

It then says if you do not see your operating system listed clcik load drivers to load drivers from your hard disc

Do you see a partition on the HDD that may possibly be for system recovery (it may have a drive letter such as G, H, K etc) , have you tried re-loading the drivers as the black screen and blinking cursor may be the result of a bad video driver.

[paulcole]

The last dates for the system restore are as follow:-

6/8/2011 system scheduled checkpoint
6/7/2011 install windows update
6/7/2011 system scheduled checkpoint
6/6/2011 system scheduled checkpoint
6/5/2011 system scheduled checkpoint
6/4/2011 system scheduled checkpoint
6/3/2011 install windows update
6/3/2011 system scheduled checkpoint
6/2/2011 system scheduled checkpoint
6/1/2011 system scheduled checkpoint

I have previously tried restoring to 6/1/2011 the pc restarted but I still got the same black screen!

You mention doing a fresh vista instal?

Can you advise what you mean by this and how I go about doing it, In my previous logs I have been advised how to save data that was on my hard drive by downloading and burning OTLPEStd.exe and getting the data from following the instructions. As I have managed to save all my data I am just wanting to get my pc working again, anyway possible.


You also mention if I can see a partition on the HDD that may possibly be for system recovery (it may have a drive letter such as G, H, K etc

Can you advise where I should be looking to see if I have this?

OK

I have restarted the pc and it has booted from the windows vista disc, I have then selected install now and I am presented with 2 options

Disc o partition 2 RECOVERY Total size 10GB Free space 5.8GB type = primary
Disc o partition 3 OS Total size 139GB Free space 12.4GB Type = primary

Then at the bottom of the window there are options for referesh, Load Driver and Drive options (advanced)

Can you advise if I should be istalling either of these?

Thanks again

Paul

[The Admiral]

Sorry guys, it has been far too long since I've dabbled in imagex.

ImageX is a tool that allows you to write an image (a protected exact copy of an OS & programs) to the hard drive if you ever want to restore your computer back to the way it was when you got it from Dell - with Vista, the drivers, and the Dell installed programs that can be removed if you wish. The one requirement is that the RECOVERY partition must be intact. Looking at your most recent results, it appears that the recovery partition is in fact there, and should contain the image.

That said, I believe we can get this image rewritten to the computer. This is going to result in complete data loss - we are erasing the hard drive and putting it back to the way it was when you first got it. You mentioned that you already have your data backed up - if this is the case, please follow these (corrected) instructions to restore the factory image.

(most steps taken from support.dell.com)

• Insert the Windows Vista DVD into the DVD drive, and then restart the computer.
• During the startup process, repeatedly press <F12>.
• In the Boot Device Menu, press the <Down Arrow> to select Onboard or USB CD-ROM Drive, and then press <Enter>. If the Boot Device Menu does not appear, restart the computer and repeat step 2.
• When the Press any key to boot from CD or DVD screen appears, immediately press any key to start the computer from the Windows Vista DVD. If you do not press a key immediately, the computer may not start from the Windows Vista DVD. Instead, the computer may try to start the currently-installed copy of Windows Vista. If this situation occurs, restart the computer, and then repeat steps 2 and 3.
• When Windows Vista starts from the Windows Vista DVD, other screens may appear during the startup process. If other screens appear, accept the default options, and then continue to the language settings screen.
• On the language settings screen, click the appropriate language in the Language to install list, click the appropriate time and currency format in the Time and currency format list, click the appropriate keyboard layout to use in the Keyboard or input method list, and then click Next.
• On the lower-left corner of the Install now screen, click Repair your computer.
• If the Windows Vista Setup program detects any problems on the computer, click No when the program displays the following message:
  Windows found problems with your computer's startup options.
  Do you want to apply repairs and restart your computer?
• In the System Recovery Options window, under Operating System, click Windows Vista ™ Home Premium(or Ultimate, if that's what you have), even if this entry is already selected, and then click Next to display the Choose a recovery tool window.
• Click Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options window.
• Type the following lines, pressing <Enter> after each line.
  d:
  cd Tools
  dir(This command will display the contents of D:\Tools - we just want to make sure we are in the right place. You should see imagex and PCRestore in the list, among others.)
  imagex /apply d:\dell\image\factory.wim 1 c:\
  
• The restoration process should begin and complete in about 30-45 minutes.

If you have any issues with these steps, please let us know and hopefully we can get you the rest of the way through the process!

[paulcole]

Admiral

In my last post I mentioned that I booted the pc from the windows vista disc and have then selected install now and selected the bottom option partition 3

Disc o partition 2 RECOVERY Total size 10GB Free space 5.8GB type = primary
Disc o partition 3 OS Total size 139GB Free space 12.4GB Type = primary

The pc is now copying files, expanding files, installing features, installing updates and completing installation.

You did not answer my question if I should have gone ahead and done this or gone ahead and followed your instructions to

10.Click Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options window.

11.Type the following lines, pressing <Enter> after each line.
d:
cd Tools
dir(This command will display the contents of D:\Tools - we just want to make sure we are in the right place. You should see imagex and PCRestore in the list, among others.)
imagex /apply d:\dell\image\factory.wim 1 c:\


12.The restoration process should begin and complete in about 30-45 minutes.

I am waiting to see what happens next to see if what I have done resolves my problem?

If not then I will go ahead and select the command promt from the system recovery options window and follow your instructions above

[paulcole]

OK whatever I have done has worked!

I have some questions if you dont mind answering?

The computer has booted as a new pc but I can see an Windows.old folder that has got all my old music, pictures and documents inside.

Is this useful and will I be able to start loading my music back in iTunes from this location or should I wipe all the information and reload everything from my external hard drive?

By clicking on My Computer I can see I only have 5.06GB of free memory left as I had before

Also should I restart the pc and click F2 and change the boot sequence as I have boot from cd/dvd as number 1

Also is there anything else I need to consider?

Thanks again for everyones help

Paul