Please help the non-techie--"Windows failed to start" when pointing to Vista

denise

Member
[h=2]Hi all--I just purchased a new computer which runs on Windows 7. We added the old hard drive from my Vista (64 bit) and tried to boot from it using the setup menu. Didn't work. So just installed the Easy BCD and told it to default boot from Vista which is the "E" drive. The boot manager screen came up, and I chose Vista to be the os to start with. The next screen came up as "Windows failed to start". I tried "start in safe mode" and "start normally", neither worked.

Now what? Could someone walk me through--step by step? I have a ton of software on that HD that I don't want to have to try and reinstall.

Thank you!![/h]
ps--sorry for the cross-post. I put this in the "Windows" area first​
 
You will not get Windows Vista to boot. The problem is very simple to explain. The hard drive is not from that system. When you install Windows, or it comes pre-installed, it installs what is known as a hardware profile. This hardware profile installs the drivers and everything necessary for Windows to work with that hardware. It installs stuff for the processor, USB ports and all of that.

Since you took the drive out of that machine, put it into a new machine, the hardware profiles do not match therefor Windows will not boot or work period. The hardware is to different and it cant operate properly. The only way to fix it is to reinstall Windows Vista.
 
Ugh!

You will not get Windows Vista to boot. The problem is very simple to explain. The hard drive is not from that system. When you install Windows, or it comes pre-installed, it installs what is known as a hardware profile. This hardware profile installs the drivers and everything necessary for Windows to work with that hardware. It installs stuff for the processor, USB ports and all of that.

Since you took the drive out of that machine, put it into a new machine, the hardware profiles do not match therefor Windows will not boot or work period. The hardware is to different and it cant operate properly. The only way to fix it is to reinstall Windows Vista.

Thank you for your help, though that's not the answer I was hoping for. Now I've got to try to re-download all that software, or find my original disks. Ugh!
 
Well its not like you can just copy the stuff from the Vista install to the Win7 install and have it work. That wont work either as there are files that are placed in odd areas that are hidden to users as well as registry entries that are put onto the machine. Which means that it will require the download of the software installer from the internet and a reinstall of the program anyways.

The only hope you have is to put the hard drive back into the original system, use the File Transfer Wizard and copy that data to the new machine. That will be the only way to get some of the data from the old machine to the new.

No its not the answer you want, but it is the right answer. :wink:
 
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