ultimatelurker
Member
I have a computer for which I don't have a Windows only disc; instead, I only have a set of restoration discs that install Vista and SP1, but also bring unpleasant side effects. For example, the discs divide a blank hard drive into 3 partitions: C, Q, and S. C is used to store most of the data, Q stores some random junk that promotes the company's products, and S is the boot partition. The problem is that I only want one partition. To achieve this, I used EasyBCD's "change boot drive" feature to change the boot partition from S to Q. EasyBCD tells me it worked, and at first, it appears to; C drive is now my active partition. Thinking everything is fine, I use Gparted to delete S and Q partitions (if the boot partition was really changed, I don't need S anymore). Then I use Gparted again to expand the C partition to fill the entire hard drive. Here's where the trouble begins. When I reboot, it gives me this error: "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem: 1. Insert your WIndows installation disc and restart your computer. 2. Choose your language settings, and then click "Next." 3. Click "Repair your computer." If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance. File: \Windows\system32\winload.exe Status: 0xc0000225 Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt. ---------------------------------------------------------- Using the Windows installation disc is not an option; I simply don't have one. No such disc came with the computer. The discs I have are only restoration discs. The one that installs Vista itself cannot be booted from. Contacting the manufacturer is out of the question as well. I'm out of warranty. I would appreciate any help in fixing this error. I'm willing to re-image if necessary. The computer contains no important information that isn't already backed up. Why didn't the "change boot drive" feature of EasyBCD work? By the way, sorry for the way this message is formatted. I separated this post into neat little paragraphs separated by blank space, but the blank space didn't show up.