If you’re like most PC users, you probably got Windows Vista with a new PC or laptop. And if you’re like 99% of the population, you get your new machines from one of the major manufacturers. Dell, Acer, HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, they all have one thing in common: they don’t give you a real Windows Vista installation disc with your purchase. Instead, they bundle what they call a “recovery disc” (that’s if you’re lucky – otherwise you’ll have a recovery partition instead) with your machine and leave it at that.
It doesn’t matter that you just paid a thousand dollars for a machine that comes with a valid Windows Vista license – your computer manufacturer just don’t want to spend the money (or perhaps take on the responsibility) of giving you a Windows Vista installation DVD to accompany your expensive purchase.
The problem is, with Windows Vista, the installation media serves more than one purpose. It’s not just a way to get Windows installed, it’s also the only way of recovering a borked installation. The Windows Vista DVD has a “recovery center” that provides you with the option of recovering your system via automated recovery (searches for problems and attempts to fix them automatically), rolling-back to a system restore point, recovering a full PC backup, or accessing a command-line recovery console for advanced recovery purposes.
NeoSmart Technologies is hosting a copy of a Windows Vista Repair CD for your convenience. It contains the contents of the Windows Vista DVD’s “recovery center,” as we’ve come to refer to it. It cannot be used to install or reinstall Windows Vista, and just serves as a Windows PE interface to recovering your PC. It is a 120 MiB download, and in the standard ISO format. Please note that this download is no longer free, due to licensing restrictions imposed upon us.
Download Links
Windows Vista Recovery Discs (x86/x64)
Windows 7 Recovery Discs (x86/x64)
You’ll need to burn this ISO image to a CD or DVD before you can use it as a bootable recovery medium. NeoSmart Technologies has published a guide on how to burn an ISO image to CD or DVD with your favorite burning program, which you can read if you need more information or help on this topic.
Polaco, I’m sorry to hear that you’re having such a hard time with the Windows Recovery Partition. What it sounds to me like is the Hard Drive is Damaged or Corrupted.
I will also state, that alot of people want to make sure the “Recovery Partition” is still existing on their hard drive. If you have the OEM (Original Equiptment Manufacturer) Windows Software CD/DVD Software, Don’t worry about the Recovery Partition. Just “Reinstall” your Windows Vista. If your hard drive does not allow you to do this, then REPLACE your Hard drive specific to your Dell PC.
My computer wont let me restore it to the Factory settings anymore. I used to be able to do so easily but it will not let me do this anymore. It is a Lenovo computer and I would really appreciate some feedback.
I have downloaded the recovery disc for a computer with Vista 32 bit, which will not boot. The program boots the computer, but then I cannot access the hard drive and it will not fix the problem. I suspect that the problem is caused by the SATA hard drive, which is not installed when I run the program. I am offered the option of installing drivers, but where can I find drivers for the hard drive? It is a five year old Hitachi Deskstar 160 GB. I have tried the Hitachi website without luck.
Jefferson, you need the Lenovo OEM specific operating system software to your pc in order to re-install the operating system. Sounds to me like you lost your Factory Partition of the hard drive (HDD) that contained the factory settings to allow you to revert back to factory settings. Sorry, it’s the nature of the beast for most people. Just simply contact t he manufacturer and purchase the operating system software OEM (original equipment manufacturer) specific to your pc. And the Factory Software should re-create the partition for you. But you won’t need that as long as you have the CD/DVD to reinstall the Operating system.
Martin Willcox,
find your Windows XP CD and boot from it. Once it loads the files it’ll ask what you want to do. You’re going to select the “R” option to repair the pc via Recovery Console. Once you get into the Recovery Console it’ll ask which Windows install you want to use. If you’re a regular computer user there should only be 1 listed (Usually listed as 1. C:\windows ) if you’re a more “advanced” user there might be more listed. It is assumed you should then know which one to boot into if you know how to setup a multi-boot system. After selecting the Windows installation you would like to boot by pressing the respective number you will be asked for the Administrator’s password. It’s time to enter it. When entering the recovery console that is the password the recovery console is asking for. It is not asking for the account you created during install or the one that you generally login to. Unless, of course, you’re logging into the built-in administrator’s account which is not a good idea. If the password was/is blank then you shouldn’t get a prompt asking for a password. It’ll just load into a C:\> prompt. At the recovery prompt type chkdsk /p and hit enter After it completes, restart the computer.
If all the steps above don’t work for you then we need to run some command lines again using the Recovery Console just like we did using the chkdsk /p. Follow the steps above a second time to access the recovery console again.
At the C:\system~1\_resto~1
After you enter the DIR command and hit enter you will get a list of folders like such rp1, rp2, rp3, rp4, etc. etc. The “rp” part of the folder name denoting it’s a Restore Point
C:\system~1\_resto~1\>dir
What you’ll want to do is find the 2nd highest numbered folder in that list. So, for instance, if it listed rp1 thru rp24 you’ll want the rp23 folder. I’ll use rp23 for the rest of this little fix just to keep things simple but substitute rp23 for whatever folder is the 2nd highest in the list on your pc.
Now, we have more commands..
C:\system~1\_resto~1>cd rp23
C:\system~1\_resto~1\rp23>cd snapshot
C:\system~1\_resto~1\rp23\snapshot>copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system
Overwrite system [y,n]: y
1 file copied
C:\system~1\_resto~1\rp23\snapshot>exit
(before typing exit, please remove your Windows XP CD from the CD Drive)
Martin, After typing “exit” and pressing “enter” on the keyboard your computer will restart, hopefully into a working machine. Good Luck following all the steps listed above. It’s very tedious.
Hi Folks, Not sure if this is the place for this post but here it goes anyway.
(1) I recently have been getting a message when I try to access word,excel and other programs. The message ”cannot access network location”.eror 1606.
Also cannot send email because blacklisted by spamhaus. I have tried scans etc and cannot find trojan etc.
(2) I want to ask is does the recovery partition come automatically with the laptop?
I have Acer Travelmete 7520, about 4 years old now.
Is it possible for me to wipe and reinstall/recover my vista back to original.
I appreciate any replies.
Thanks
Martin in Ireland
Martin,
You should be able to reinstall your Operating System back to Windows Vista and back to Factory Settings. You can do this 1 of 3 ways,
1. If you have the Operating System DVD.CD boot from the Software DVD/CD and perform a Full Installation. If you don’t have the Software
2. Call your Countries ACER Manufacturer and order the DVD/CD for around $20 Here is the Link to purchase the Software for your Specific ACER TravelMate 7520 if you are in the USA
http://us-store.acer.com/rcd/
3. Here is the Link that tells you how to perform a Factory install from the Partition on your Hard drive.
http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/desktop/0000/Acer/AspireE360/AspireE360faq40.shtml
Hi Mahmoud ~ Any suggestions on what I should do (next) based on my post (CAS on December 29, 2011 at 10:29 pm)?
Thanks in advance!
CAS
There are “Free Recovery Discs” out there, but you will not be able to use the “FREE” discs to do anything more than install the drivers that allow you to install a Windows OS. Even if you do find a “Free” recovery OS, it’s not going to last you anymore than 30 – 60 days. Good Luck with that.
i can only use the pc in safe mode i think i need to download window recovery disk? long story short my bfriend took his pc ( this 1) to a computer guy n he told him the motherboard needed to be replaced, i said to my bfriend if it needed to be replaced then i wouldnt even get a load up wen i turn it on me beeing me n have fixed a few pcs i have managed to get this far on my own n i using it now to type. but it will only work if i go into safe mode, would u recommend me downloading a window recovery disk? i have 1 but it doesnt seem to want to work.
anything u can suggest will be apprecited
Kylie, If your disc that you have isn’t working, maybe you need to set the BIOS to “Boot from CD”, or the CDROM isn’t working. If you can log into Safe mode on your PC that you’re having issues with, YOU MOTHER BOARD does work, and doesn’t need replacing. That’s a Software issue. yes Reinstall Windows. Call the Manufacturer and order the OEM Software specific to your Make, Model, and Serial Number to your PC. For around $20.
I used the disk for windows vista. Attempted the “automatic restore”, which did not work. Then tried “system restore”, which came up with an error saying, “Catastrophic failure (0x8000FFFF)”. Not sure what my next step should be. I don’t know much about C prompt. Was hoping I could get some help.
Hi . I have window 7 but cn’t starp up . Display msg
“BOOTMGR compressed
press ctr+alt+del”.
How to fix this problem?
Salve ma tutti e due i link sono a pagamento,esiste un link che non sia a pagamento per sacricare Windows 7 Recovery Disc x 64bit?
grazie aspetto vostra risposta
Hi Folks this is my 3rd request for help – would appreciate if someone at NeoSmart would respond or if could provide me some information on this: When I tried to restore the system using the cd I purchased/burned from NeoSmart, I followed the steps listed on the NeoSmart web site to the letter and the first few steps of the operation ran smoothly until I got the message: **The store creation operation has failed. The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error.**
I cannot proceed with restoring my system until I can get past this error message. Does anyone have ANY suggestions on how to fix this error message and move forward? Thank you in advance!!!
CAS, support questions should go in the forums at http://neosmart.net/forums/ – you won’t get much help here.
I have never seen that error before, but it sounds like it’s saying there’s something either physically wrong with your hard disk or your partition is corrupted. Try running chkdsk /f c: and maybe that will give you more info to go on.
Hi I have windows vista basic laptop and i have problem with the CD drive it is not working I am not able to open or copy any CD. While inserting the CD only sound of running the CD without opening it, besides i have lost the recovery backup of the system please tell me what to do and how can i solve this problem.
Mahmoud Al-Qudsi, I won’t bother you or any computer issue / errors ppl are having on your site asking for help. :) I’m noticing that alot of the information everyone is giving or receiving, is To Advanced for them to understand how to resolve their issues. I will also comment, WITHOUT HAVING A PC wether it be a laptop or Desktop right in front of an IT, it’s very difficult to give everyone the EXACT RESOLUTION to the Isssue/s they are having specific to their own PC. I personally have 100′s if not 1000′s of satisfied customers that are now practically on their own with the Assistance I provide them, and Training I provide them with repairing their specific PC. I will not be returning to this Forum / Site to aid in anyone’s PC’ issues.
Have fun with your site, and I best wishes to everyone.
Trying to order a Windows Vista repair disk, but I’m not sure which one to get(32 bit or 64 bit). I have a Toshiba L355D-S7825 with AMDTurion X2. Can someone tell me which is the correct disk?
Carlos,
Your Toshiba is a 32 bit system.
Is it possible to boot This utility from a usb pendrive?
Marcel: yes, indeed. Instructions here: http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Step-by-Step+Guide+to+Making+a+Bootable+Windows+Recovery+USB
Hello, i have Windows 7 professional installed after my Windows Vista crashed and wouldnt work. Now my computer says ” Windows not genuine”. Ive gotten my answer for this but I want to know how can i repair my Windows Vista if it crashed in the first place? and if i dont have the funds to pay for what is needed is there one that is free?
Hi, i have a netbook mini laptop and my computer says ‘ Windows failed to start a recent hardware software change may be the cause. to fix the problem ect.’ and you neeed a disc well i have a mini laptop and it doesnt have a cd rom thing what do i do!?
Hi there
I tried to wipe my Sony vaio laptop in preparation for selling. I must have deleted something as I now get BOOTMGR MISSING PRESS CNTL ALT DEL TO RESTART.
I have a windows vista installation DVD which works on other computers but not my laptop disc drive as it seems to recognise CDs but not DVDs.
I have tried with an external disc drive borrowed from a friend which doesn’t work either as I needed to install it onto my laptop prior to trying to link it for the first time. This I can’t do now as I can’t get further than the BOOTMGR MISSING sign.
I don’t know what to. In BIOS setup there is a floppy option but here are no floppy slots on my laptop for me to try boot from.
The only other options are to find a programme small enough to burn onto cd so I can try run on my disc drive, or to boot from network – absolutely no idea what that involves.
Please if you could advise me ASAP. Many thanks in advance.
T
Tiffany, our repair CDs are under 200 MiB and will fit on a CD (instead of a DVD).
sorry I have a problem. I burned you guys iso file onto a cd to fix my computer’s problem. I just now put it but is giving me an error when installing it. it says: E:/sources/install.wim not found
or something like that. could it be because I downloaded the wrong one? I have windows Vista, HP Pavillion 64-bit
any one knows what could I do?
Well, my problem is that I can only access the internet through a game I downloaded from yahoo. I figure that maybe I also downloaded a virus. Because when I try to go on the internet it says “That webpage cannot be displayed”, and another thing is my computer also says something about files are corrupted or damaged. How do I go by fixing this problem? Also I displaced/lost the CD/DVD to reinstall Windows Vista back to factory setting. But I am on the internet, thru the game port.
Where can I purchase a disk ?
Please help!
Al, I think you mean you torrented a copy off the internet. The official CDs from SystemDiscs.com don’t have that issue.
oh…..
yeah I got it from the torrent copy. urg. so it seems I really have to buy the disk.
*sighs*
kk thanks for the info
I can’t believe people will steal software then bug the developer to help them. shame on you Al.
not steal… since is HP who was supposed to send me the disk when I bought my pc. they are the ones who actually stole from me. I try to find balance, but after all, it seems I’ll just buy it. besides is guaranteed to work… so why not? :D
I want to use my pc and not just use it as a paperweight =.=
Unfortunately this didn’t fix the problem I’m having with my .NET security updates not installing. At least it was only $10….
I have a Dell XPS 1640. Do you know which bit I will need?
By the way, my error says:
Windows Failed to start. A recent Hardware or software change might be the cause [even though I can not recall any]
It says :
1. Enter your windows installation disc and restart your cpu
2.Choose your language settings and then click next
3.Click “Repair Your Computer”
Info: Windows failed to load because the NLS data is missing or corrupt
Is the disc promoted on this site what I need? My microsoft activation code is no longer readable :(