[malky]

Afternoon.

Stumped by a pc with problems.

Vista 64 with sp2.

Basically it just wont load up windows. In maybe 250 starts I have only got to start vista once and then in crashed after about 20-30mins. I can only very rarely get it to boot in safe mode and i managed to chkdsk and it found 'problems with the file system'. i selected repair on next start up which took a few goes to get running and it accssed the hard drive for quite a while and shut down with out a crash. But it still wont start to vista.

I have an old repair iso burned to disc which will run without fail when inserted but it tells me its for the wrong version of vista ?? i have since downloaded again the 64bit repair iso but what ever i do it wont boot from the disc i burn with aCTIVE ISO. also tryed the avg repair iso and that wont boot from disk either.

it seems to be throwing all sorts of error codes at bsod, but most common are 0x0000001e, 0x0000003d, 0x0000007e, 0x0000003b.

my next attempt was going to be boot in safe with cmd prompt and try fixboot/mbr but i havent been able to get that far as even a boot in safe mode is hard to achieve.

so i have one bootable iso repair disk that vista says is the wrong one. incidently if i click load drivers, i can then click properties on local disk c and run a check for errors via the tools tab. it found some errors and said it fixed them but im still at the stage of not beiong able to boot windows.

Also i can not get to any dump files because im stuck in this endless loop of crash-restart.

ideas warmly welcomed,

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malky

Please provide information about your computer, this includes is it a notebook or desktop, is it a custom build or brand name such as Dell or HP, if it is provide the model name or series number (not serial) providing these details will enable us to better assist you.

Is the boot sequence in the BIOS set to the CD/DVD drive first and the HDD second, see below for "how to" if not;

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS;

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the appropriate button that allows you to access the BIOS (Del – F8 etc)
This will enter you into the BIOS/CMOS
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to DVD/ CD drive
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit.
Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.

[phillpower2]

malky

Please provide information about your computer, this includes is it a notebook or desktop, is it a custom build or brand name such as Dell or HP, if it is provide the model name or series number (not serial) providing these details will enable us to better assist you.

Is the boot sequence in the BIOS set to the CD/DVD drive first and the HDD second, see below for "how to" if not;

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS;

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the appropriate button that allows you to access the BIOS (Del – F8 etc)
This will enter you into the BIOS/CMOS
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to DVD/ CD drive
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit.
Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.

[malky]

hello philpower2,

its not actually my machine, but its a desktop and was a custom build.

Windows vista 64 with service pack 2. Bios is set to boot from cd first. the only Iso image cd i can get to boot is a vista repair iso i download and burnt to disk a couple of years ago. but like i said it says its the wrong version and wont enter the repair menu.

thanks.

[phillpower2]

Hello malky

As long as you have the original product key you can download and use the ISO you require from the attached link, http://en.community....ital-river.aspx

It is a Dell site but the ISOs work on any machine and they are provided with the permission of Microsoft.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[malky]

Thanks phillpower2,

good links.

I do have a repair Iso burnt to disc for windows vista64 that i have tested as working on another unit.
I also have the AVG rescue Iso burnt to disk that is tested as working.

My problem is that the ONLY iso image cd I can get this troubled machine to boot is a very old vista repair iso, im not sure what version it is, must be for 32bit vista.

Its not that I dont have the files, its that i can't get them to boot from cd.

any ideas?

[phillpower2]

Hello malky

If I may highlight some details that you have previously provided and add some comments to them.

I have an old repair iso burned to disc which will run without fail when inserted but it tells me its for the wrong version of vista ??

This suggests that CD drive is working as it is reading the data and that the HDD is functioning as it recognizes the OS on the disk, I suspect that the problem that you are having with this disk is not the 32 or 64-bit aspect but the version (sometimes referred to as the flavor) as in which one of the following examples is on the HDD and which is on the disk, Vista Starter, Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Ultimate etc, there are other versions such as business.

As not all functions are available in each type of disk you cannot use a lesser version with a higher version, an example of this is Vista Ultimate contains everything that Vista Home Basic does and so could be used but not the other way around as Vista Home Basic does not have the features that Vista Ultimate has.

Do you know which version of Vista is on the HDD and what is on the disk.

[malky]

good point phillpower2,

in the process of downloading vista ultimate 64 to see if i can use the repair section of that.

BUT, i'm still going to have the problem of not being able to boot from disk. its not that it totally wont boot from disk because the old vista repair iso will boot up every time. AVG rescue wont boot (tested on 3 other machines now as working) the vista64 reapair iso wont (tested on 3 other machines as working) also tryed a utillity to boot from usb iso, that wont boot either, again, tested as working.

It seems that so far for some reason i can only boot from this one disk, any ideas on that???

it takes me to the section to choose which installation to fix. theres an option to load drivers or repair the install. repair does not work (wrong version) and in load drivers i can click on drive c and scan and fix problems. i did this yesterday and it fixed problems. scanned using this method today and it shows no file problems on drive c. also, pc runs fine with no errors in this state. ther seems to be a problem with windows loading its files.

So any ideas as to why i can only boot from this one disk, i most likely have all i need to fix this right now, just i cant access it. bios has no option to boot from usb either from what i can see.

regards

[phillpower2]

Strange as it may seem but computers can often work with one brand of disk but not another, this also includes not playing retail media such as music and games, it may also be worth trying an alternative burning software such as http://www.imgburn.com/ ensure that you use the X4 burning speed.

I would also suggest that you do the following;

Run the HDDs diagnostics tool;

Make sure you select the tool that is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Depending on the program it'll create a bootable floppy or a bootable CD.
If the downloaded file is the .iso type use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn the .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option) and make the CD bootable.

[malky]

ok, tried another make of disc but that wont boot from there either.

is there anyway i could take the boot files of the repair disc that works and replace the files in windows.

I would have to do that at the stage just before the repair console, when it asks if you want to update drivers or go on to repair.

regards

edit, its giving all sorts of reasons for crashing, but the most common at the moment is....

0xc0000001
windows failed to load because the system registry file is missing or corrupt.

Edited by malky, 23 November 2012 - 09:34 AM.

[phillpower2]

Not with an non functioning computer and the absence of a software expert.

Please try the suggested HDD diagnostics in order to try and rule out a faulty HDD because if there is bad sectors on it the missing files may have on the bad sectors.

NB: I will be going off line shortly but will return asap.

[malky]

ps. I cant boot in any way into safe mode, or any of the other options.

My only option for anyway forward is to use the one repair disc that will boot and try to do something at the stage before the repair console.

[malky]

phillpower2,

ok did that but again, the iso image wont boot.

i can use the windows memory diagnostics tool.
ran on basic (quick) and it found no problems
ran on standard and it found a hardware problem. No clues as to what it was though.

any thoughts?

[malky]

morning phillpower2,

got some really cheap tesco discs and they will boot in the machine, success.

Ran the western digital diag tool and it returned this error....

read element failure code 0007

My vista 64 repair will boot but seems to crash right before the options screen.

i'll run the longer wd diag test but it'll take about 3 hours.

i'll report back with the findings of that when its done.


edit at 7.30am
got to the repair screen of vista64 iso, it couldn't help.

The HDD has 3 parts to it, C: K: and a boot sector X:

Edited by malky, 24 November 2012 - 01:26 AM.

[malky]

ok phillpower2.

Im not going to scan and fix, in the process of copying the files of the failing hard drive onto working machine.

I think we can call this solved now.

Thanks for all your help and ideas on this matter. your advice pointed me in the right directions at every step.

Regards.

[phillpower2]

Good morning malky

I am pleased to see that you have made progress, well done for that and your perseverance.
You managed to get one step ahead of me with what you have done now () as my next suggestion was to use Puppy Linux to access the HDD so that you could see the data on it and then run SFC (System File Checker) which you can still do BTW.

Please be careful what data you copy to the working machine so as to avoid any possible corruption on that drive.


===================
***Required Hardware***
CD Burner (CDRW) Drive,
Blank CD,
Extra Storage Device (USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive)
===================

1. Save these files to your Desktop/Burn Your Live CD:

• Download Latest Puppy Linux ISO (i.e.: lupu-520.iso)
  Download BurnCDCC ISO Burning Software
  
  
• Open BurnCDCC with Windows Explorer
• Extract All files to a location you can remember
• Double Click BurnCDCC
• Click Browse and navigate to the Puppy Linux ISO file you just downloaded
• Open/Double Click that file
  IMPORTANT: Adjust the speed bar to CD: 4x DVD: 1x
• Click Start
• Your CD Burner Tray will open automatically
• Insert a blank CD and close the tray
• Click OK

Puppy Linux Live CD will now be created
2. Set your boot priority in the BIOS to CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second

• Start the computer/press the power button
• Immediately start tapping the appropriate key to enter the BIOS, aka "Setup"
  (Usually shown during the "Dell" screen, or "Gateway" Screen)
• Once in the BIOS, under Advanced BIOS Options change boot priority to:
  CD-ROM 1st, Hard Drive 2nd
• Open your ROM drive and insert the disk
• Press F10 to save and exit
• Agree with "Y" to continue
• Your computer will restart and boot from the Puppy Linux Live CD
  
  

3. Recover Your Data

• Once Puppy Linux has loaded, it is actually running in your computer's Memory (RAM). You will see a fully functioning Graphical User Interface similar to what you normally call "your computer". Internet access may or may not be available depending on your machine, so it is recommended you print these instructions before beginning. Also, double clicking is not needed in Puppy. To expand, or open folders/icons, just click once. Puppy is very light on resources, so you will quickly notice it is much speedier than you are used to. This is normal. Ready? Let's get started.
  
  3a. Mount Drives[list]
• Click the Mount Icon located at the top left of your desktop.
• A Window will open. By default, the "drive" tab will be forward/highlighted. Click on Mount for your hard drive.
• Assuming you only have one hard drive and/or partition, there may be only one selection to mount.
• USB Flash Drives usually automatically mount upon boot, but click the "usbdrv" tab and make sure it is mounted.
• If using an external hard drive for the data recovery, do this under the "drive" tab. Mount it now.

3b. Transfer Files.

• At the bottom left of your desktop a list of all hard drives/partitions, USB Drives, and Optical Drives are listed with a familiar looking hard drive icon.
• Open your old hard drive i.e. sda1
• Next, open your USB Flash Drive or External Drive. i.e. sdc or sdb1
• If you open the wrong drive, simply X out at the top right corner of the window that opens. (Just like in Windows)
• From your old hard drive, drag and drop whatever files/folders you wish to transfer to your USB Drive's Window.

For The Novice: The common path to your pictures, music, video, and documents folders is: Documents and Settings >> All Users (or each idividual name of each user. CHECK All Names!) >> Documents >> You will now see My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos.

Remember to only click once! No double clicking! Once you drag and drop your first folder, you will notice a small menu will appear giving you the option to move or copy. Choose COPY each time you drag and drop.

YOU ARE DONE!!! Simply click Menu >> Mouse Over Shutdown >> Reboot/Turn Off Computer. Be sure to plug your USB Drive into another working windows machine to verify all data is there and transferred without corruption. Congratulations!



Note that there might be some other Puppy distros on the page (such as Slacko Puppy), but you need Lucid Puppy (lupu), the Ubuntu-based one. Always make sure you start downloading a file that starts with "lupu"!