PC boots to black screen. How to reinstall Vista ("upgrade", not "clean" install)

[Marvin Hlavac]

Hello. Could someone please help:

I think what caused my problem was a power interruption during installation
of Windows update during shut down.

* PC boots into a black screen (I see mouse pointer on a black background,
but nothing else)
* Restoring to previous state doesn't help
* I booted with Vista DVD, but the "repair start-up" is not detecting any
problem
* PC hardware is not an issue because if I use a different hard drive in the
PC, all works fine

I though I would just boot with DVD and install (upgrade) Vista. However,
the "Upgrade" option is disabled when booted from DVD. I can only "Clean
install", which I'd rather not do (to preserve files, programs, etc). Is
there a way for me to perform "Upgrade installation" of Vista in my
situation?

 

[Mick Murphy]

You can only do an Upgrade through a dynamic desktop; that is with vista
running.

Have you tried tapping F8 at startup, and going into Safe mode?

 

[Marvin Hlavac]

Mick,

Thanks for replying.

You can only do an Upgrade through a
dynamic desktop; that is with vista running.

Too bad, since I cannot get to the desktop

Have you tried tapping F8 at startup,
and going into Safe mode?

Yes, Safe mode will not start either I'm afraid I will have to do a clean
install (and then reinstall all my programs).

 

[John Barnes]

* PC hardware is not an issue because if I use a different hard drive in
the
PC, all works fine

Not very clear. Maybe you have a damaged hard drive where Vista is
installed.

 

[Marvin Hlavac]

Not very clear. Maybe you have a damaged hard drive where Vista is
installed.

That's true, testing it by inserting another HD doesn't test the original
HD.

Not knowing any better solution I decided to do a clean install. It's a pain
to have to install all my programs all over again.

 

[KevinDK]

i'm having the same problem it just goes to a black screen with nothing on it
but the pointer is there anything i can do? i don't have the disc because
vista came pre installed on the computer any possible fix there could be?

 

[John Barnes]

Go find the correct video driver for your machine and put it on a USB drive
or floppy. When you get to the end of POST hit the F8 key and go into safe
mode. If you have video getting into safe mode, you need to install the
video driver. Then reboot normally

 

[John Barnes]

The best way to reinstall Vista after an upgrade is to buy an imaging
product and image the new system as soon as you get your personalisations
done.
You should try 'Last Known Good' the next time this happens. I would
suggest that you update the video drivers to the latest version also.