Windows Vista Recovery Disk and Repair Disc Download

2,732 thoughts on “Windows Vista Recovery Disk and Repair Disc Download”

1. My computer had the black screen on bootup. My computer had Vista X32bit pre-installed and had no Recovery Disk at all. Checked the BIOS to see if it was started from the correct drive, which it was.

   I downloaded the Windows_Vista_Recovery tool recommended and also downloaded the Imgburn program which was also recommneded. Followed the step-by-step tutorials and now my computer boots properly.

   Thank you so much for this vital help that I needed

2. This is bullshit. It does NOT work at all.

3. thank you for this download, i repaird/recoverd Windows Vista professionel 32Bit in just a few minutes,

   with very kind regards,
   “Animal”

4. You are next to great. Vista 32-bit recover disc was gr8.
   Please let me know that is it applicable for Vista Home Basic or other versions also.

   With thanks.

5. Trouble with booting OEM Vista on Fujitsu-Siemens V5545. Was running fine for the last 12 months but suddenly stopped working and, on booting up, comes up with a series of messages ending in:

   _________________________________________
   acpi
   Vista Loader 2.1.2

   ACPI: Reclaim Memory not found!
   Done!

   fallback 1
   find –set-root /bootmgr
   Error 17: File not found
   Booting ‘Windows NT/2000/XP’

   fallback 2
   find –set-root /ntldr

   Error 17: File not found
   Booting ‘Enter Command Line’

   Boot failed! Press any key to enter command line
   ________________________________________

   Pressing enter takes me to a screen headed GRUB4DOS 0.4.3 and a prompt: grub>

   Having looked everywhere, I downloaded your excellent tool for repairing Vista, reset the BIOS to boot from the CD, went through the boot process and selected the “Startup Repair” option. It then goes through the repair sequence and I can see the diagnosis and repair details:

   Session details.
   [Amongst other things] this shows Number of root causes = 1

   Tests Performed
   Check for updates. Result: Completed successfully Error Code = 0x0
   System Disk Test. Result: Completed successfully Error Code = 0x0
   Disk Failure Diagnosis. Result: Completed successfully. Error Code = 0x0
   Disk Metadata test. Result: Completed successfully. Error Code = 0x0
   Target OS Test. Result: Completed successfully. Error Code = 0x0
   Volume Content Check. Result: Completed successfully. Error Code = 0x0
   Boot Manager Diagnosis. Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
   System Boot Log Diagnosis. Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
   Event Log Diagnosis. Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
   Internal State Check. Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
   Boot status test> Result: Completed successfully. Error Code = 0x0

   Root Cause Found:
   Boot Status indicates that the OS booted successfully

   I don’t fully understand all the things checked but got a sense that all was ok. So I rebooted without the repair disk and, to my disappointment, the boot problem was still there ending in the useless prompt: grub>

   My apologies for all the detail above but wanted to try and show that I had followed the the instructions and used the system repair tool properly but without success. I appreciate that it may not be within your scope but would really welcome any advice on what options I might have to eliminate the problem with bootmgr and ntldr and be able to load Vista as before.

   Many thanks for your help.

6. many thanks for this, it’s yet restoring but I think it will do the job as it my problem was directly done by my uninstallation of video codecs, that actually where needed lol.
   Great tool, thank you very much for putting it up, and i’ve passed through the tutorials u’ve put in here, and they are really really clean, easy, and well structured! Grazie, it’s on already! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE you just saved all my last 2 years work with photography and video 😀

7. windows cannot open required file f:\sources\install.wim. the file does not exist.make sure all files for installition are avaiable, and restart installition. error code: 0x80070002

   Any help will be greatly appricated!

8. THESE WORK FOR ALL EDITIONS OF WINDOWS VISTA… Yes, that includes Home Edition too.

9. can someone PLEASE upload this as something other than torrent? i can’t use torrent!!! Why not just make it .rar???

10. So this just wipes the HD and you still need to contact the company for a disc. That’s not helpful at all.

11. Hi,
    Thanks for this! I had to reboot with the Recovery Disc up to 8 times already. I works until the next restart. Why does this keep on happening? And can you please help me with instructions of how to trace the software or hardware causing this problem? Where and how do I check for a cause of an error? I just THINK it may be caused by my Blackberry software – since I installed this ( Or it may be due to updates or something…?). I’ve got a SONY VAIO with Windows Vista Home Premium. Thanks again and I really hope that I can get a permanent solution to this problem.

12. Awesome…however, hard drive failed and when i got it back from HP it didnt have any operating system. will this work?

13. I downloaded and burnt the CD and it booted fine. I actually have the fullDVD from Microsoft and it does the same thing. Remember that this is the actual DVD I installed as a fresh install.

    When I get to the Repair part and I click I get a message that goes something like “if you have recently attached a device to this computer, remove it etc etc

    Now I did replace the Failed WD hard drive and added a DVD burner but as I said this is the actual DVD and it won’t do a repair. I sure don’t want to reinstall windows but I liked the CD I made but again Micro$oft really ticks me off.

    I go thru this whole think because I have one failed service called WERCPLSUPPORT which uses a DLL and and a MUI and my system SFC check says the file and the backup are corrupt. Microsoft refuses to supply me with the two files or a way to fix so that Is why I was trying to do the repair

14. I have got an Acer Extensa 5220 laptop with Microsoft windows VISTA. Just recently I was scanning it with Avast anti virus and it took almost 4 hours for the complete scan and it report more than 2000 infected files. To my surprise it asked me to restart the laptop in which I did. I though it was just a normal procedure after scanning so restarted but an error message starts to appear and at reads;

    interactive logon process initialization has failed.

    Mr Computer Guru, is the windows Vista Recovery Disc posted on your website will be able to do the magic?

    I have got alot of data stored in my laptop.

    Please help!

15. I need to completely re-format my computer. I did everything correctly up until the point where I’m in the system recovery tools menu, but when I choose the option “Windows Complete PC Restore” I get this message:

    “No valid backup locations could be found.

    Windows cannot find a backup on the hard disks or DVDs on this computer. Attach the correct hard disk or insert the latest backup DVD and then start the restore process again.”

    This baffles me because I thought the backup I needed was the restore disk I made using your guys’ instructions and the disk is currently in my DVD drive. So what backup is it talking about? Any response would be greatly appreciated.

16. You have to watch things because yes a restore is a term for both. But if you reformatted and then you did a system restore, the files would be wiped out but from what you say, you did a total system backup OR did you just do a Data backup which would not save program files.

    What is the extension on the backup and what program did you use to BU. If it was a windows program it should be usable BUT if it was a third party BU program then you need to get the original program to restore.

    Sorry if I have complicated your issue but really one of the main reasons for reformatting was that the system was not running right so if you do a backup file for the restore you probably will still have a compromised computer so maybe consider a new install and then go thru all the Service packs 1 and 2 and all the updates. Not a good choice is it

17. I realize now that this disk isn’t going to help me reformat… dammit. And no, I never actually made a backup so I don’t have one. But isn’t there an easy way to get your computer back to factory settings? Like couldn’t I just technically download a backup of such factory settings for vista from somewhere on the internet?

    Btw I don’t need to reformat my comp but its my mom’s old desktop with tons of useless programs and downloaded junk and there are probably tons of viruses on it too which are making it slow.

18. Albert, nothing Microsoft does is easy. Maybe for their right reasons they complicate things so that free copies of windows don’t exist very long. If you know a good repair place then they may sell you an OEM copy of Vista. Actually if they sell you a system or even put in a new drive, I am pretty sure it is legal.

    What really bugs me about windows is that there are over 2 million hits on Google for problems with reinstallation and in three years they have done nothing. I sent an email and asked them to make a pure repair CD and charge say $20 for it and with a million people looking it would be a real money maker for them but NO, they are so paranoid of pirating they let honest users get pi$$ed off. THEY JUST DON’T CARE

19. hey does this work for all types of computers…i have a gateway m-6750 running vista home premium 32-bit

20. My mate has messed up his computer with Virus’

    Can this put a fresh version of Windows on his computer?
    with his serial?

21. Thanks much, helped me solve a problem. 2 years after post this is still very useful info, thanks again for putting this together for everyone.

22. HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I installed Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Desktop Edition on my Asus F5RL. I ran the installer from the live disc and chose my 16 gig Imation Nano Pro USB for the files. It installed, but now it isnt loadin windows. I changed the BIOS to boot from Hard Drive, but it just isn’t working. It boots up with GRUb and itsreally annoying as i need my windows vista. I do realize that i made a silly mistake and i shud have used ubuntus built in USb startup disc creator. Now i can’t use windows to uninstall Ubuntu. Oh, and i tried the recovery disc link, and there are no peers for me to download the disc from.

23. Hi,

    Will I be able to retain my data and files saved on my laptop? Or will it erase all of them while restoring?

    Thx in advance,
    The goose

24. I have toshiba pre-installed vista home, Can I use friend Toshiba recovery dvd pre-installed win 7?

25. where is the ISO file I’m supposed to burn? I unzip the x64 recovery disc and using the ImgBurn, but cant find any ISO files. when finish unzip, I got a boot folder with a SDI and BIN file, and a sources folder. my PC have 4 partition, partition 1 & 4 are EISA utilities, this recovery disc go to work in my PC?

26. Hi, When I typed my windows vista serial after I boot from the Cd, it showed that my vista serial was invalid. Actually, my vista serial was genuine. What should I do? Please kindly advice me. Thanks in advanced.

27. Thank-You so much! i was able to use this when vista crashed on my laptop!!!!! I thought my computer was done for! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

28. Greetings to every body, i have a vista home premium toshiba laptop A215-7422, and i wanted to install XP. however xp was installed but i didnt get to see vista on startup in the boot menue. so i reenstalled vista, then, trying to recovery my laptop with the toshiba Recovery disks, it did go through causesome how it wasnt recognizing my system as a Toshiba. so i checked the computer properties, and to my dismay….instead of the laptop manufacturer being Toshiba…its Dell…can any one aid me how to undo this..

    I WILL GR8TLY APPRECIATE ANY HELP..THANX

29. I have a HP dv2000 laptop that orginally had XP and was upgraded to Vista Business. It has crashed and will not even give me a screen. The hard drive light blinks 5 to 20 times depending on what disk I try to put in. I would like to start clean but when I downloaded the 32 bit link above it came across as a torrent file and would not burn using ImgBurn as suggested. Any tips or suggestions? Thanks

30. Ok, I’ve been reading through page after page of comments and I can’t find anyone who answers the simple issue (though he TheGoose asked this on Feb. 15th, 2010 at 6:23 pm no one has answered), of whether running this disk will wipe off everything from my hard drive. I remember I had a stupid averatec computer that was a graduation gift for me in 2003 and it suddenly crashed after one week (but of course the hard drive was fine, and if I had put it in as a slave on another computer I could have saved my data and then fixed whatever problems were with the operating system), and I called the idiots in customer support and they SO cheerfully directed me step by step in “recovering” my computer. She refrained from telling me until AFTER it was done, that apparently this means “recovering” it to the “factory preset conditions” of having all my important files non-existent. And the smiling customer support representative couldn’t comprehend that I wasn’t completely thrilled that the computer had been “recovered” and was now “as good as new”. Which made me feel like telling her that I wished her house to burn down and for it to kill her family and for the insurance company to then provide the funds to get her house rebuilt as “good as new” but with her family still dead, and then for the smiling insurance claims agent to be completely incapable of comprehending that she wasn’t terribly thrilled about the whole ordeal. The only difference between the two scenarios is of course that the insurance company wasn’t the one that set the house on fire.

    In other words, I’m terribly suspicious of operating system “recovery” procedures. WHAT am I “recovering”. Is it going to be “recovered” to its factory preset conditions? Maybe the system registry is going to be cleared out and I’ll have to reinstall programs but aside from that, everything will be intact on the hard drive? Or will it miraculously just make it all start working without any damage whatsoever? What’s the deal here? When I run this, it VERY suspiciously says “install windows” on the screen. Not “fix windows”, or “load windows” or “external boot of windows” or something like that. I don’t want it to wreck everything. And I have been unwilling to be bold enough to go past that first screen to see if maybe it gives me some options like whether I WANT to strip my files from the hard drive or not, or something like that, since maybe it’ll just do it without asking. So please tell me exactly what this does.

31. This conversation addresses my concern but it raises a new one:

    # FabianSep. 30th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

    Hi, I really don’t get one thing. Is this tool going to erase my files? Should I take out my laptops HD and make a backup first?..or I’ll only going to repair my windows without eraising the files?….Thank you!

    # 1497EricSep. 30th, 2009 at 9:47 pm

    @Fabian: You are able to format/erase everything. However, if you only choose the repair option, then it will only try and repair your Windows installation.

    Generally, you should always have a backup of your files. I, personally, have four sets of backups of my data.

    So, you should be safe using this disc to repair your computer as long as you stay away from installation and the command prompt.

    -Eric

    —————

    What do you mean “stay away from installation and the command prompt”? When I boot from the CD, it says “windows is loading files” and then I get a page that says “install windows” in the top left. There are no “options” as to “repair” versus “install”. It asks for the language, time and currency format, and keyboard or input method. Those are my only options. Surely “install” means “installation”! So if I do anything, it will reformat the hard drive and destroy everything, is that what you are saying?

32. Hi,

    I have been asked to look at my little sisters friends laptop, as she has locked herself out of it, and can’t remember the admin password at all.. Tried lots of things, she has lost her Vista CD that came with the laptop, and i have tried logging into safe mode, but it still requires a password. I have tried to access the hidden Admin account, but it doesn’t seem to work (Maybe because its Vista Home Edition, i don’t know), but anyway,
    Will this disc allow me to change the password for her?

33. thanks very much

34. The article at…
    http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

    ..very loosely describes the premise for need and use of the afforded Windows Vista Recovery Disc, and yet for those users having an issue with their Vista operation system, the artcile might well add, if true and it seems to be, that the subject disk may be used to also install Windows 7 (from your article’s subject provided CD/DVD’s ‘Vista’ recovery center’s utility). This would be very helpful for Vista users, who usually will have ‘had enough’ of Vista when it fails to boot and/or refuses to open the onboard recovery manager.

35. Hope the issues I’m having with this webpage ar mine alone, but the page constantly stalls, ie; cannot focus cursor on anything, page won’t scroll or arrow down. If not some issue with malware on my OS, then maybe the webpage is affected/infected by/with something? Lastly, we appreciate the MD5 info, but sure wish the size on disk would be disclosed (something I can’t understand why few to none are disclosing, eg; that’s one key means to determine if the download is either corruupted and/or incomplete (it’s a definite indicator of this, but w/o a size on disk, one doesn’t have the greatest degree of confidence in verifying as much as possible a file’s integrity). Kudo’s though for this webpage’s information and the generosity of it’s contributing creator(s).

36. Hi! can anyone tell me what to do with that E:/Sources/Install.wim and error code 0x80070002? I got Acer, I boot from CD, everything goes fine until i get this message…

37. Just used the advice and disk to repair my dell laptop. Worked immediately, thanks you have saved my life!!!

38. Thank you so much for this! It worked perfectly thanks…

39. I’m trying to recover vista on my son’s laptop but it tells me the license key is invalid. We’ve quadruple checked that we are entering the key properly,,, any ideas?

40. thanks in advance

    thank u for vista 32

41. I am using Windows 7 now

42. I am somehat computer illiterate. Do I just put this disk in my computer and turn it on? The virus I have just comes up and won’t let anything else show.

43. Thanks a mill guys.. Just tried your recovery disc and it worked.

44. I just downloaded and burnt the 32 bit version onto a DVD and tried to boot up my Windows Vista Laptop and it hasn’t worked. The recovery disc doesn’t seem to be working. I burnt it with DVD Decrypter if that is probably why the disc isn’t working. It’s a Lenovo Y430 and the problem with it is that it keeps checking my discs and its always freezing after the discs checks are complete. Also, when I try to Safe Boot it the Laptop always loads the drivers and always stop at crcdisk.sys and freeze there. Is there a special way I need to boot my PC with the disc if I need it to repair my startup?

    -Michael.

45. I have an Acer 5610z. Somehow got a virus so I used microsoft tool to remove malware. Now it will only boot into Safe mode. Tried to boot normally,only into safe mode. Tried to repair using repair tools. Will not repair. Tried to restore. Still boots to safe mode. Tried to search for “recovery” in partioned hd,could not find. So…..
    I downloaded to above tool for 32 bit,downloaded the linked software to convert it to an iso file. Burned it to a disk. Tried to boot from cd & nothing.Still only boots from Safe mode. I’m not sure if the iso file is correct or if I’m not booing from the cd correctly. Any help?

    Thanks

46. I am having the same problem as Michael of March 2nd above me with the same malware issue as the guy right above me. Any ideas yet?

47. I Tried Using The Repair Disc, To No Avail, I Still Cant Seem To Repair Vista…
    Ive Done Extensive research An Everything Seems To Say Boot With This Cd,
    So As A Last Resort Im replacing The Internal Hard Drive, But I Need To Knw
    If I Can Make A Clean Install Of Vista With This Cd Once The New HDD is Installed,

    Is That At All Possible?

48. Hello everyone,
    I’m having some trouble with Vista. After shutdown it doesn’t want to boot and gives me the option to repair or to boot without a repair. Unfortunately, the repair could not be completed successfully and now the OS can’t load. I have no Vista DVD installation/repair Disc, and I was wondering weather this Windows Vista Recovery Disc can help me repair my Vista without loosing any data on my PC?
    Thanks in advance for the prompt replay. 🙂

49. Hi, I tried this and it worked to an extent. It said that automatic startup repair was unable to fix the problem (that Windows\system32\winload.exe is missing or corrupt) and said I could send something to Windows about it. The only thing which would run is the memory diagnostic tool which I could access from the Boot Manager Screen anyway….
    (It is a Fujitsu Amilo Li 1818 if that’s any use)

    Many Thanks

50. I am having problems with VISTA Home Premium starting on my Toshiba Satellite P305-S8822 laptop.

    When trying to start it does not get to the log in screen. It just seems to cycle and the hard disk accessing light is not on.

    I went though the auto repair process on start-up and it just gave me the option of restore. So I tried that and after completion it ask me to restart. I restarted and the same problem occurred.

    Then I got the bright idea to remove the battery and unplug it during the start up process. Not smart, but upon restarting after that, it went to the troubleshooting screen and on the screen it says something like “If shut down occurred due to it being unplugged then start normally.” I started normally and it booted properly.

    Any ideas how to correct this? Unplugging the laptop cannot be good for the system. What do I need to do in order to correct this problem.

    Note that I have the original Toshiba Recovery and Applications/Drivers disks.

    Thanks in advance for any help with this problem.