vista startup problems

at this stage i have no idea which drive letter is my system partition or which partition contains my vista system.I am not really sure if this is any help but when i boot from disk and go to repair your computer and in the system recovery options instead of clicking next to select my operating sysytm i click on load drivers and open computer i have
hard disk drives (4)
vista (C: ) data (D: )
winRE (F: ) boot (X: )
devices with removable storage (1)
CD DRive (E: )
 
Sorry, one of the problems of rejoining a long thread...........
If you have a Linux live distro, or a bootable gparted, it's the partition that Linux marks as "boot".
(MS thinks boot means "running system" and "system" means "boot files". In the world of Linux "boot" means what it says.)

It contains the folder named boot in which the BCD resides, and the file "bootmgr" and also if you have XP in a multi-boot, the files ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini. Duplicate copies of these files could also exist elsewhere, so the definitive check is the flag.
 
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Terry60 said:
If you have a Linux live distro, or a bootable gparted, it's the partition that Linux marks as "boot".
Click to expand...
As far as i know i do not have a linux live distro or a bootable gparted - i have never come across either

Addendum:

citation.gif

What I was basically suggesting is to set your bootmgr entry in the BCD first to D (like you did), and
"the operation completed successfully"
bcdedit.exe /set {312b4eb6-34b5-11de-956e-806e6f6e6963} device partition=X:

 when i replace the x: with d: i get
"the operation completed successfully"
Ok, so instead of D, for the above command, try running F. And then do the same for the below command.
citation.gif

bcdedit.exe /set {312b4eb6-34b5-11de-956e-806e6f6e6963} osdevice partition=X:
when i replace the x: with d: i get " the element data type specified is not recognized or does not apply to the specified entry. Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance"
when i replace he x: with e: i get " an error occurred while attempting to reference the specified entry. the system cannot find the file specified"
when i replace the x: with f: i get " the element data type specified is not recognized or does not apply to the specified entry. Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance"
when i replace the x: with c: i get "the element data type specified is not recognized or does not apply to the specified entry. Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance"
if i leave it at x: i get "the element data type specified is not recognized or does not apply to the specified entry. Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance"

I stil get the same results: for the first command bcdedit.exe /set {312b4eb6-34b5-11de-956e-806e6f6e6963} device partition=F:
"I get The operation completed successfully"
for the second command bcdedit.exe /set {312b4eb6-34b5-11de-956e-806e6f6e6963} osdevice partition=F:
I get " the element data type specified is not recognized or does not apply to the specified entry. Run "bcdedit /?" for command line assistance"
 
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pearbelle said:
at this stage i have no idea which drive letter is my system partition or which partition contains my vista system.I am not really sure if this is any help but when i boot from disk and go to repair your computer and in the system recovery options instead of clicking next to select my operating sysytm i click on load drivers and open computer i have
hard disk drives (4)
vista (C: ) data (D: )
winRE (F: ) boot (X: )
devices with removable storage (1)
CD DRive (E: )
Click to expand...
Ok, so try C: for both commands, as well as the {bootmgr} command that I gave earlier. Once everything is set to C:, run Startup Repair again 2-3 times, and see if it fixes the issue.
If it doesn't, then try replacing the X in the bootmgr command with D, and try Startup Repair again. One of them's got to be it.

Jake
 
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I'm not reading over all the lengthy details here, but if there's an OS to select when you go to perform startup repair and you select it, that install's partiton is considered C:, something to keep in mind. You could try renaming the bootmgr and bcd store (like bootmgr.old/bcd.old - don't delete em just in case you need them again) so that startup repair replaces the files hopefully and gets your boot working again the easy way. I'd start consider backing up your stuff if you haven't already. It looks as if the only way out of this is going to be re-installing.
 
I've done as suggested and entered all 3 commands replacing x: with c: and ran system repair 3 times each time i got a response that it could not detect a problem but still fails to start so i am thinking on the same lines as Kairozamorro and that i need to reinstall. I havent backed up anything but i am not overly worried about loosing files as there is nothing on there that cant be replaced easily next question is how to reinstall as i dont have original disk
 
You can re-install with any Vista media EXCEPT for the recovery disc we offer on this site (like borrowing from a friend for example). Use the product key attached to your computer for the installation. If you cannot obtain a copy in order to install with, your OEM well probably provide you with re-installation media for a small fee.
 
pearbelle said:
would it be possible to reinstall windows XP instead of vista?? or would this cause problems further down the line??
Click to expand...
Yes, if you have an XP installation disk, then I say go ahead and install it (XP is better than Vista anyway, in my opinion). FYI, if you want to, you can always add Vista on later, on a separate partition, and dual-boot, like most of us here have done.
 
thats great as i was of the same opinion about vista (but was afraid to say it too loud), do i need to do anything before i insert disk to install like removing or uninstalling anything already there?
 
i have tried to install xp but alas not without a problem I get "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer. Make sure any hard disks are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program. Setup cannot continue to quit setup press F3"
 
Check your BIOS, and see if its set to AHCI mode. If so, see if you can change it to something like "Compatibility" or "Ata" mode, and then XP should install.
 
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changed the setting in BIOS but ran into further problems Microsoft couldn't give me activation key as the xp disk i was trying to install is already installed on another computer...
 
That's when you call MS and tell them you're re-installing cause your computer broke and they'll give you a long code to activate it over the phone.
 
Wahhhhhhhhhooooooooooo I am back in action again ....
Microsoft wouldn't give me activation key as i already had XP installed on another computer but i managed through a friend of a friend who had the same Toshiba laptop as mine to download the recovery disk (The one which i was supposed to download when i got the computer)and i reinstalled Vista. Thank you guys so much you are "thebomb.com"
thank you guys for all your help
helen
 
I have the same problems...and the solutions doesn`t work...if I reinstall Vista with my dvd, do I will lose everything on my c: drive or if it will just replace the files missing and corrupted? Do you have news solutions for that problem? It happened after a Vista automatic update...:frowning:
 
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