BCD error...

[Mike]

I'm trying to revive an HP Pavilion a1730n that won't boot, due to not
being able to read the boot configuration data.
From what I've read, alot of the fixes are based off of booting from
the Vista DVD & chosing a repair option.
This didn't come with a Vista DVD, I justr have the recovery disks you
can create, but using them looks like it wants to wipe out & install
from scratch, which is my last option!
I have a docking station & can access the drive from another computer.
Is there a way I can fix, repair or replace the BCD file that way?

 

[Guest]

BCDEdit may help.

General BCDEdit Command-Line Option

Option Description
/?
Displays a list of BCDEdit commands. Running this command without an
argument displays a summary of the available commands. To display detailed
help for a particular command, run bcdedit /? <command>, where <command> is
the name of the command you are searching for more information about. For
example, bcdedit /? createstore displays detailed help for the Createstore
command.

 

[Dominic Payer]

See http://www.bootdisk.info/

 

[Mike]

When an otherwise stable computer tells you it cannot find the boot record,
and you are sure you have not sustained some massive malware hit, it usually
means hardware failure, most likely the hard drive itself. I am not awareof
any boot sector viruses that get past antivirus software these days and
Vista is supposed to prevent that as well ("supposed to").
First check that the cabling between the hard drive, motherboard and power
supply is seated properly (connections between the hard drive and the
motherboard can loosen on laptops also and are easy to check) and the drive
is visible in the BIOS. Your BIOS may also give you SMART data.
If you can boot from a Vista/Win 7 installation/boot disc you should be able
to get to a command prompt and see if you can read the hard drive. Versions
of Ubuntu that boot an entire OS from an installation CD can be useful for
examining hard drives-- if Ubuntu boots from the CD and works properly that
usually means your power supply and motherboard are ok, laptop or desktop..
However the best way to check the hard drive, if it is the only hard drive
in the laptop/desktop, is to remove it and use an inexpensive adapter
(universal SATA/PATA external adapters are less than $20) to see if you can
read the drive on another computer. That way you can back-up your data and
then run tests on the drive. If the drive is OK it is best to try to
reformat and reinstall.

I cannot guarantee that it didn't take some kind of malware hit.
I booted off a BartPE disk & was able to se drive, etc.
I was also able to put drive in a docking station & access from
another computer.
The only Vista CD I have is a Dell branded Vista Business CD & this HP
desktop I'm dealing with ran Vista Home.
I will probably copy docs, music, etc., to an external drive & then
try the HP system restore disk & see if it gives me the option to keep
existing files, like how an XP repair install used to work.

 

[Billns]

I cannot guarantee that it didn't take some kind of malware hit.
I booted off a BartPE disk& was able to se drive, etc.
I was also able to put drive in a docking station& access from
another computer.
The only Vista CD I have is a Dell branded Vista Business CD& this HP
desktop I'm dealing with ran Vista Home.
I will probably copy docs, music, etc., to an external drive& then
try the HP system restore disk& see if it gives me the option to keep
existing files, like how an XP repair install used to work.

Good luck with that approach! I've used HP's restore disks and they put
the computer back in the same condition it was shipped in, bloatware and
all.

Bill

 

[Mike]

Good luck with that approach! I've used HP's restore disks and they put
the computer back in the same condition it was shipped in, bloatware and
all.

Bill

Great!

 

[c_atiel]

When an otherwise stable computer tells you it cannot find the boot record,
and you are sure you have not sustained some massive malware hit, it usually
means hardware failure, most likely the hard drive itself. I am not aware of
any boot sector viruses that get past antivirus software these days and
Vista is supposed to prevent that as well ("supposed to").
First check that the cabling between the hard drive, motherboard and power
supply is seated properly (connections between the hard drive and the
motherboard can loosen on laptops also and are easy to check) and the drive
is visible in the BIOS. Your BIOS may also give you SMART data.
If you can boot from a Vista/Win 7 installation/boot disc you should be able
to get to a command prompt and see if you can read the hard drive. Versions
of Ubuntu that boot an entire OS from an installation CD can be useful for
examining hard drives-- if Ubuntu boots from the CD and works properly that
usually means your power supply and motherboard are ok, laptop or desktop.
However the best way to check the hard drive, if it is the only hard drive
in the laptop/desktop, is to remove it and use an inexpensive adapter
(universal SATA/PATA external adapters are less than $20) to see if you can
read the drive on another computer. That way you can back-up your data and
then run tests on the drive. If the drive is OK it is best to try to
reformat and reinstall.