Hello - Need help with recovery disc 32 bit

E

eiffelgirl

Member
Hello, Everyone. I was so happy to find this website which has a recovery disc for vista. Although I downloaded the 64 bit version to save for later with no problems, I can't seem to find a 32 bit version for my laptop which microsofts updates killed Saturday night.

Is there a link to a 32 bit version that someone could pass along. New to the site, I might just be lost!

Thanks!

Catherine

Addendum:

Just kidding. I searched the forum again and saw that 32 bit is actually 86 bit. So I'll go try that and no waste anybody's time... unless it doesn't work and then I'll have to depend on the kindness of strangers once again!

Catherine

Addendum:

Nope. Didn't work. I booted from the cd. It loaded the files then took me to that lovely blue screen of death. Odd thing is, when I (just for fun!) tried to boot from the 64 bit, it loaded the files then gave me the message saying there was no 64 bit on my harddrive.

Any ideas? My home XP crashed and burned four months ago, and, after working on it for 2 weeks, I just had to chunk it and buy a new one. I really don't want to have to do the same thing with a laptop that is less than a year old.

Thanks.

Catherine
 
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Hi Catherine, welcome to NST.
What exactly are you wanting to do with the recovery disk ?
You cannot use the "Install" button because the disk contains no installation files.
It's provided purely for those OEM users who have a recovery partition but no bootable Vista DVD to enable them to fix a broken boot process on an otherwise good system.
It has fringe benefits, that you can use it to initiate a system restore to a point before you hit problems (if you have one), or to enter the recovery console and use DOS-like commands to rescue personal data.
If your Vista is broken, you'll have to initiate a full factory reset recovery as detailed in the User Manual that was provided with your PC, if the above options are insufficient to do what you need.
 
Hi, Terry. Thanks for your reply. I thought this was more of a "repair" cd that would, once loaded, give me a few options to either repair the computer or replace files. So I just booted from it, but was given no options. Is there any commands I can do besides just booting from it to make options show up?

When my xp crashed, I ran chkdsk (my problem was a boot.ini file that had completely disappeared - not corrupted, just vanished) and tried to reinstall, but nothing worked. My computer manufacturer said they weren't providing reinstall discs on xp anymore, so I had to scrap it and buy a new one.

With this laptop (Gateway), I called microsoft first (because downloading the update is what crashed it to begin with), who, of course, sent me to Gateway, who told me to call Microsoft. This computer is technically a work computer (I own the business), so I have to see if I have the recovery cds for it specifically at the gallery. I have a toshiba vista home premium 32 bit set of disks, but I was hoping to not have to lose my information on the laptop and be able to repair.

So I'd love to be able to chkdsk but can't seem to do it and thought maybe this repair cd would give me a prompt so I could. Any ideas?

Catherine
 
If you boot NST recovery disks, they'll come up with the standard Vista Installation Setup Menu, as illustrated here, but the Install button does nothing (except crash). The only option you can select is "Repair my computer" in the bottom left, which brings up the option screen also illustrated in the same link.
However, you have no detectable Vista system, so the "repair startup" won't work, though I don't see why you shouldn't enter the recovery console and run a "chkdsk" command even on an XP system.

Addendum:

You can also use xcopy commands to copy your files or folders from the damaged XP to external storage, and then initiate a full factory reset from the recovery partition when your data is safe.
 
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Sorry, I think I wasn't very clear. I was working with the vista recovery cd (my laptop is vista) I created from this site, and it didn't do anything. I tried to boot from the cd, the progress bar that says "loading files" came up, completed, then the microsoft copyright page then blue screen. No type of menu comes up, and, in the boot menu (F8), repair your computer does nothing but take me back to the blue screen.

I have an external harddrive (and three other computers), but I would still need the disc to boot up in order to move files, wouldn't I? I could slave this drive, but I don't see how it could show up as a drive on another computer unless it boots.
 
It sounds like you're booting from the duff HDD.
Hit "del" (or whatever your BIOS splash screen says) to enter the BIOS at power on, and make sure that the CD drive comes before the HDD in the BIOS boot sequence.
Then you'll need to "hit any key" when asked, as the CD boots.
 
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I hit F10 (that's what says bios on the splash) and hit any key. It said "Windows is loading files..." and had a bar that filled. Then the copyright Microsoft Corporation screen came on with the bar, then blue screen.

I guess I'll just have to reformat the drive unless you can think of anything else. It says "windows is loading files" but is there a way to make it just run the file instead of trying to load it (if that even makes sense?)?
 
You're missing the intercept to get you into the BIOS. You need to ascertain the right key, and hold it down during the power up until you get into the BIOS. (It should never get as far as trying to start windows or anything else). You'll know when you've entered it, it'll be like stepping back into the 1980's, wtih a text only interface, and using the arrow keys to navigate and communicate.
 
Sorry to be a pain, but I did go into the bios. I went over to boot options and selected for it to boot from cd/dvd rom. Then I saved changes and exited, which then popped up "hit any key to boot from cd/dvd" which I did. It then gave me the status bar and said windows is loading files. when the status bar was full, it took me to the copyright page as though windows were loading, but nothing happened except blue screen.

Can you tell me what SHOULD happen when I load the recovery disc I made from this site?
 
The link in post 4 shows the sequence of screens you should see.
It sounds as if your burned CD might be faulty, though I wouldn't have thought you'd get the 'hit any key' message either if it hadn't burned successfully.
Can you try booting it on another, fully functional PC, just to see that it behaves as designed ? (Don't do anything other than reboot without it of course !)
 
I'll try that, Terry. I'm starting to think maybe something has gone haywire with my cd/dvd drive. I'll update with what happens on another machine in just a second.

Catherine

Addendum:

Okay, I checked the 32 bit disc in my 64 bit desktop running vista and it popped up. I then tried my Gateway reinstall disc in my laptop (the crashed computer) and nothing happened (well other than, click to run disc, loading loading, copyright, blue screen - just like with my neosmart disc).

So I think I'm having a drive issue. Going to buy a new drive tomorrow and try again. I'll let you know what happens.

I miss my old IBM PC Jr that I got for Xmas when I was 7. I don't think it ever crashed. I played Kings Quest on floppys and had a shark game on a big fat disk (I don't remember what those drives were called). I miss 1984 sometimes!

Catherine
 
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