Vista (x86) Recovering Disk

wuhoo

Member
Hello,
I have already downloaded and burned the ISO and everything else. When I click next after seeing the Windows Vista language to install, etc., Windows C:Local Disk does not show up. How can I fix this? Thanks in advance.
 
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If you have multiple HDDs, temporarily disconnect all but the one you want to fix, then try "startup repair" again.
If it still doesn't detect your Windows installation, click "next" anyway.
Sometimes that will fix the first boot problem and the OS will magically reappear.
Continue "startup repair" (probably 3 times) until the system boots unaided by the repair disc.
 
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After I clicked startup repair, it attempts to search for problems, but it fails. I've repeated this at least 4 times but it says it cannot repair this computer automatically. It seems like it still can't detect the hard drive. ):
 
I've known systems to "lose" a HDD, simply down to poor connection.
Try disconnecting/reconnecting the power and data cables to the HDD several times to clean the pins.
 
Okay, I've tried that it it still can't detect an operating system. ): I've tried startup repair a couple of times but it won't work. What's wrong?
 
Okay, I typed it in, but this is what it says:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.
windows cannot run disk checking this volume because it is write protected.
I also tried F11 to restore to factory settings but nothing shows up. ):
 
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You must specify the drive letter for Vista as the recovery environment sees it.
Just leaving it to default won't do. The chkdsk will try to check itself (the CD) hence "write protected".
try dir a:
dir b:
etc etc
to list the contents of your drives, then you should be able to spot which is Vista.
 
Terry,

I'm new to this forum...and have been trying to recover Vista for about 2 weeks (off and on since I am not in a rush). I have a working cloned drive, however I have had the same problem with the download recovery disc. I see no OS on the selection screen...and can go to the tools, but startup repair does nothing...error is that the HDD is not found. My suspicion is that no compatable HDD driver (the driver on my working Vista drive is a MS basic SCSI driver dated 6/21/2006 6.0.6001.1800) is found on the disk. I've not found a compatible driver on the recovery disk. Hence, you can't do anything i.e. chkdsk....

Any other suggestions??

Regards, Mike
 
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The website for the maker of your HDD should have a free download of a diagnostic app for their drives.
Try running that to see if it thinks your drive is borked.
It could be that the partition table in the MBR is corrupt (therefore no recognizable partitions), in which case there are a few free apps available which can examine the structure and (hopefully) recreate the PT.
Try
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
or search for similar.
 
muse092808,

“I'm new to this forum...and have been trying to recover Vista for about 2 weeks (off and on since I am not in a rush). I have a working cloned drive, however I have had the same problem with the download recovery disc. I see no OS on the selection screen...and can go to the tools, but startup repair does nothing...error is that the HDD is not found. My suspicion is that no compatable HDD driver (the driver on my working Vista drive is a MS basic SCSI driver dated 6/21/2006 6.0.6001.1800) is found on the disk. I've not found a compatible driver on the recovery disk. Hence, you can't do anything i.e. chkdsk....”

What was the problem with Vista in the first place?

Is your system a desktop or a laptop?

What download recovery disk are you talking about? Is this a restore disk that you made from an ISO image from the computer manufacturer?

I haven’t done SCSI in a long time but as I recall normally during the Windows installation from a Windows install disk after pressing a button to pause the installation you put a floppy disk in a floppy drive with the SCSI driver. You could probably also load it off a USB stick.

If you have two separate hard disks and each one is a copy of the other you could install a version of Windows on one and use that Windows to recover the data from the other.

If you’re getting a hard drive not found error I don’t see how running CHKDSK would work. CHKDSK this has to be run from within Windows or from the DOS environment. You can get to the DOS environment from the Windows Vista recovery disk assuming you can see the C drive.
 
My drive has checked out good...that was the first thing I did using Seagate HDD utilities. The drive will also come up as second drive and can be accessed, however when booting this drive. I get a boot error indicating:
File: \boot\bcd
Status: 0xc0000098
Is there anyway to delete the "Boot Configuration File" and recreate it?? Error says the file does not contain a valid OS entry.

Addendum:

<>Is ur system a desktop or a laptop?<>

ans: Desktop Acer M5461 OEM Vista Load with Acer recovery disk (only a new restore).

<>What download recovery disk are you talking about? Is this a restore disk that you made from an ISO image from the computer manufacturer?<>

ans: ISO Vista 32bit recovery image from this site.

<>If you have two separate hard disks and each one is a copy of the other you could install a version of Windows on one and use that Windows to recover the data from the other.<>

ans: This I've done for Vista...but ths a dual boot drive with Windows 7 also...I want to recover it so I can boot 7.

<>If you’re getting a hard drive not found error I don’t see how running CHKDSK would work. CHKDSK this has to be run from within Windows or from the DOS environment. You can get to the DOS environment from the Windows Vista recovery disk assuming you can see the C drive.<>

ans: I run chkdsk when I had my good drive with Vista as primary and my drive that won't boot secondary. When using the bootable seagate utilites the drive can be seen. The drives are SATA.

Gosh I'm a NUG!!
 
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HOW DO I DOWN LOAD THE ISO FILE

I have paid for 2 copies one sent to wrong email. Shouldn't I get a code or something to enable me to download the file to convert?? richard stowers PS i'm sorry this may not be correct forum
 
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Richard,

Please dont use all caps. That is like shouting in real life and is very frowned upon in the virtual world.

I dont get what your saying. You paid for 2 copies of what? EasyBCD is a completely free program and shouldn't have been paid for. Our Recovery Disks are free to download via Torrents. But if you choose to use the HTTP download via SystemDisks.com and pay for the direct download link you have to use the email that is sent to contact them to find out how you can go about recovering your purchase since the one was sent to the wrong email. As far as i know that site is not owned or operated by NeoSmart in anyway.
 
You can use the link below to make the Windows 7 or Windows Vista recovery disk for free. Just skip the part about putting the information on a USB stick.

How to make a windows 7 or Windows Vista USB Recovery Stick (thumb drive)
http://neosmart.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7805


Okay. If I follow what you are saying. You have one hard disc in a desktop system. You have restored Windows Vista 32-bit from the Acer recovery disk for an Acer M5461 desktop. You also have a Windows 7 installation on this hard disk in a different primary partition. Is that correct?

Which of the two Os’s is towards the front of the hard disk?

Can you now boot into Windows Vista?
 
Sorry about the caps, my first forum. I was referring to windows+vista+64-bit+repair+disc.ISO file I ordered from NeoSmart Technologies. I don't know how to use Torrents, will it download ISO files? I did receive the download link over 2 hours later. But, the ISO file didn't work. It asked for the file source/install.wim which is not on the disk. Mohmuad was notified.
Thanks, sorry about my ignorance.
 
Richard,

“Sorry about the caps, my first forum. I was referring to windows+vista+64-bit+repair+disc.ISO file I ordered from NeoSmart Technologies. I don't know how to use Torrents, will it download ISO files?”

A torrent file is simply a file that you download from a network. You need a program like FrostWire to download the file. When you click on the link below you will download a small file called “ Windows 7 64-bit Repair Disc.torrent “. Once you get that file on your hard drive and you have a torrent program installed you can left click the torrent file twice and download the file that you actually want will start in FrostWire. Frost wire will download it to:

Documents and settings/your user name/my documents/Frost wire/saved.

Then you can use a program like Active ISO burner to burn the ISO image down to a DVD blank. I generally recommend active ISO burner because it is exceedingly basic and only performs as one function. Image burn will do the same thing but it’s more complicated to use.


How to make a windows 7 or Windows Vista disk:

Download the Windows 7 repair disk.iso file.

Windows 7 recovery disk links to torrent downloads:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs

Windows Vista recovery disk links to torrent downloads:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download

You’ll need a program like FrostWire to download the torrent file which is an ISO file.

FrostWire 4.21.3
http://download.cnet.com/FrostWire/3000-2196_4-10627624.html?tag=mncol;1

Burn the ISO file down to disk with a utility like Active ISO Burner.

Active@ ISO Burner 2.1
http://download.cnet.com/Active-ISO-Burner/3000-2646_4-10602452.html?tag=mncol;1




So if I understand what you’re saying you have Windows 7 on the first hard disk and Windows Vista on the second hard disk. Your system is in an Acer M5461 desktop system. You have restored Windows Vista with the Acer recovery disk. You have used the hard drive manufacturers diagnostic utility to verify that the second disc of Windows Vista is good.

Have you tried making the first partition on the first hard disk primary and using the Windows 7 recovery disk with a second hard disk disconnected?

If you need a utility to set which primary partition you want to be active you can download an ISO file and make a bootable disk from the link below:

GParted Live
GParted -- Download


GParted - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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