How to repair Vista when computer won't boot to Windows

[Jonno]

I have a Dell Dimension E520, which won’t boot to Windows (Vista), and none
of the repair options work:

Startup repair
Reports repair fail due to problem with registry

System Restore
Reports no restore points available

Windows Complete PC Restore
Reports no backups available

Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
No memory problems

Command Prompt.
Can’t think of any appropriate command to use here.

So I booted with the system DVD (as one would with XP) but the upgrade
option has been greyed out.

I don’t want to do a clean install. I want to repair the existing
installation.

What should I do?

 

[Mr. Arnold]

I don’t want to do a clean install.

What should I do?

It's toasted, and that above may be your only option.

 

[Jonno]

Thank you Mr Arnold for your kind reply.

Microsoft really aren’t doing themselves any favours here.

I work in rural WA. My clients are farmers whose job it is to plough the
fields and scatter the good seed on the land. They don’t want to fanny
around with system backups and restore points, and nor do they want to employ
someone to do it for them. They want a simple device to do Internet banking
and to check wheat prices.

The technical overhead for a small business to support Vista is reaching the
point where Linux, with all its bugs and annoyances, becomes a commercially
attractive option.

 

[brummyfan]

Thank you Mr Arnold for your kind reply.

Microsoft really aren’t doing themselves any favours here.

I work in rural WA. My clients are farmers whose job it is to plough the
fields and scatter the good seed on the land. They don’t want to fanny
around with system backups and restore points, and nor do they want to employ
someone to do it for them. They want a simple device to do Internet banking
and to check wheat prices.

The technical overhead for a small business to support Vista is reaching the
point where Linux, with all its bugs and annoyances, becomes a commercially
attractive option.

jonno
I do sympathise with your problem(similar to many others) but the customers
are in a weak position and rely almost solely on windows for their day to
day computing needs, I hope one day the customer will strike back with
his/her wallet.

 

[John Barnett MVP]

You can't do a 'repair install' because you need to launch the Vista DVD
from within Windows, not, as you have been doing, booting straight from the
DVD; that is why the 'upgrade' is greyed out.

If you cannot launch Vista and none of the repair options will work a clean
install is the only other option.

To save problems in future it is actually a good idea to image the hard
drive, using something like Acronis True Image. What I do is install the
operating system, download all updates, check the system I working okay for
a day or two, activate the system, then image the drive/partition. Any time
I get a problem I can re-image the drive/partition quickly and be up and
running without much inconvenience.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[AJR]

Info provided ("...won't boot to Windows (Vista)....") is minimal.

At what stage does boot failure occur? Any screen messages displayed? Did
you try Safe Mode if so -results? If Safe Mode successful did you try Sysrem
Restore? If not, did you try Sytem Restore via Command line?

Startup Repair may be required to be run several times before a successful
repair is realized

 

[Jonno]

Info provided ("...won't boot to Windows (Vista)....") is minimal.

Fair point

At what stage does boot failure occur? Any screen messages displayed? Did
you try Safe Mode if so -results?

Yes. It got as far as crcdisk.sys paused, then the computer just rebooted.
No blue screen, no error message, just a bit of a flash on the screen, and
the normal boot sequence.

If Safe Mode successful did you try Sysrem

Restore?

If not, did you try Sytem Restore via Command line?

No. I have done this for XP (obviously on another computer) but not yet for
Vista. Are the commands and file names all the same? If not can you point
me to an appropriate article?

Startup Repair may be required to be run several times before a successful
repair is realized

I have lost count of how many attempts have been made at this - certainly
lots.

Thanks for the post anyway.

Jonno

 

[Jonno]

You can't do a 'repair install' because you need to launch the Vista DVD
from within Windows, not, as you have been doing, booting straight from the
DVD; that is why the 'upgrade' is greyed out.

If you cannot launch Vista and none of the repair options will work a clean
install is the only other option.

To save problems in future it is actually a good idea to image the hard
drive, using something like Acronis True Image. What I do is install the
operating system, download all updates, check the system I working okay for
a day or two, activate the system, then image the drive/partition. Any time
I get a problem I can re-image the drive/partition quickly and be up and
running without much inconvenience.

I follow the same policy myself, but Microsoft is asking too much to expect
all customers to to this. These are people who can't find a photograph
without Kodak or something similar installed, people who have trouble
printing a pdf file attached to an email. They just walk into shops, buy
computers with Vista installed, and expect it to work like a TV, radio, or
camera. They could no more ghost a hard drive than fly to the moon. And
Microsoft is dreaming if it thinks they will ever do so.

 

[Mr. Arnold]

Thank you Mr Arnold for your kind reply.

Microsoft really aren’t doing themselves any favours here.

I work in rural WA. My clients are farmers whose job it is to plough the
fields and scatter the good seed on the land. They don’t want to fanny
around with system backups and restore points, and nor do they want to
employ
someone to do it for them. They want a simple device to do Internet
banking
and to check wheat prices.

The technical overhead for a small business to support Vista is reaching
the
point where Linux, with all its bugs and annoyances, becomes a
commercially
attractive option.

I have used Linux, and I am here to tell you that Linux is no bed of roses.
I would send them to Apple before I would send them to Linux, if all they
are doing is Internet banking and checking wheat prices.

 

[AJR]

Jonno - appears you are about to run out of options. Sysyem restore via
the command line is "rstui.exe"

If computer is continually re-booting do the following:
Start>Control panel>System>System properties>Advanced tab>Startup and
repasir>System failure - clear "auto restart". Doing so may provide a
suitable error message.

If there is a Barnes & Noble, (Or anotherr good bookstore), may I suggest a
cup of Starbuck coffee and browsing Vista Admin Pocket Guide or the Vista
Resource Kit

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Thank you Mr Arnold for your kind reply.

Microsoft really aren’t doing themselves any favours here.

I work in rural WA. My clients are farmers whose job it is to plough the
fields and scatter the good seed on the land. They don’t want to fanny
around with system backups and restore points, and nor do they want to
employ
someone to do it for them. They want a simple device to do Internet
banking
and to check wheat prices.

The technical overhead for a small business to support Vista is reaching
the
point where Linux, with all its bugs and annoyances, becomes a
commercially
attractive option.

Computers have always required backup strategies. It does not matter
whether the user is on Unix, Linux, OS/X, Solaris, Windows, or a mainframe
OS. The only way to protect data from loss is to back it up. Restore
points are no big deal since the OS makes them for the user without the user
even realizing it. If the user makes mistakes and does not have restore
points he loses a whole lot more productivity than he needs too.

Consider the technolgy needed to instantly do banking and price checking.
Simple device?

When I was young we got in the car and drove into town to the bank and
turned on the radio for the Farm Report twice a day.

 

[miss-information]

It appears the minimal info he provided went right over your head! As he
cannot boot to Windows how can he use the Control Panel to change settings?
DA

m

 

[Jonno]

Jonno - appears you are about to run out of options. Sysyem restore via
the command line is "rstui.exe"

Thanks again AJR for your reply.

A couple of points:

1. I think that command should be rstrui.exe
2. It just brings up the gui called by item 2 in my original post, and that
wizard found no restore points.

I’d love to read a book on Vista, but sadly life is too short, and there are
no Starbucks in the Australian Bush.

When I mentioned repairing XP from the command line I was referring to the
following article, and wondering whether the same technique could be applied
with Vista.

 

[Jonno]

Sorry I left the article title out of my last post. It was:

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
starting
View products that this article applies to.
Article ID : 307545
Last Review : February 2, 2006
Revision : 10.3
This article was previously published under Q307545

 

[Nonny]

Thanks again AJR for your reply.

A couple of points:

1. I think that command should be rstrui.exe
2. It just brings up the gui called by item 2 in my original post, and that
wizard found no restore points.

I’d love to read a book on Vista, but sadly life is too short, and there are
no Starbucks in the Australian Bush.

When I mentioned repairing XP from the command line I was referring to the
following article, and wondering whether the same technique could be applied
with Vista.

I saw your second post listing the article and looked up KB307545

That is definitely XP-specific.

Sorry.

 

[Jonno]

This is my final post on this one. AJR inspired me to disable restart on the
F8 menu so I can post the BSOD message. For the record it is:

Stop c000021a {fatal system error}
The initial session process or system process terminated unexpectedly with a
tatus of 0x00000000 (0x00000001 0x0010057c).
The system has been shut down.

 

[donnasander]

This is my final post on this one.  AJR inspired me to disable restart on the
F8 menu so I can post the BSOD message.  For the record it is:

Stop c000021a {fatal system error}
The initial session process or system process terminated unexpectedly with a
tatus of 0x00000000 (0x00000001 0x0010057c).
The system has been shut down.






- Show quoted text -

Just curious, what was the process that got "unexepectedly
terminated"?
If you remember from XP days, you could boot from the OS install disk,
and do an OS "repair", and keep all your data files. This would
replace any missing or corrup OS files, but did not affect your
partition and left your data files in tact. I'm sorry to inform you
that this option is no longer available since you paid hundreds of
dollars to upgrade your operating system. You basically have two
options: (1) use the windows repair tool on the Windows Vista
Installation DVD. If the tools on this disk don't do it, or help you
to do a restore, and you don't have a backup, I believe a new install
is the only option. If you don't have the DVD, you can get the files
from Microsoft, (search the AIK, "automated Installation Kit") , Rapid
Share has the files: http://djvito.mylivepage.com/blog/1208/815220__Windows_Vista_Recovery_Disc,
and if you cant do any of that, and you downloaded your original copy
of Vista, you can run the repair utilities from your bitlocker with
your bitlocker key here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928201/en-us
. Hope that helps