Windows Vista Recovery CD - Should I purchase it?

NAT77

Member
Hi. I am new here and would like some iput/opinions on the Windows Vista recovery CD download:


I have a 5 year old HP notebook running Windows Vista. I already had to have the Hard Drive replaced once over a year ago. It still runs loud and hot, but the hard drive tests state all is well. The memory test says the same. However, I recently received a screen saying that Windows cannot load and then lists options such as boot in safe mode, restore to previous working state, etc. However, none of those options work. It just tries to load repeatedly with no such luck. It only goes back to the 'windows failed to start' screen. Although a flash of a blue screen appears only for a split second and says something about a registry error.


Anyway, my question is, will this downlaoadble disc 100% help my issue? I am a Mom of 5 making minimum wage, working less than 20 hours a week. $20 is a big amount for me. But, my baby's pics are all on my notebook and that's even a bigger deal. I have to get those off of there! Plus I use my notebook for job searching and all else internet related.


So I guess you can say that I am desperate, yet hesitant. I need to fix my laptop for as little amount of $ as possible, but I want to make sure it will work as I can't afford to throw $20 away. And if it doesn't fix my laptop, I see that some people have had success getting their personal pics off their machines by using this CD. Is that accurate? I would take that as an option as well.


Thanks so much!


Blessings,
Tasha
 
If you want to start by rescuing your precious pictures before you do anything else (a good option), you can do that for free.
Get any bootable Linux distro (our recovery disc is based on one, with extras added), like this for example and burn it to a CD, then follow http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/
to copy your files off to external storage.
For future reference, make sure you continue to back up all your photos while your PC is working properly. My personal rule is that nothing gets deleted from my camera until at least three copies exist on different media, one "as-taken" unedited copy downloaded directly to the PC (equivalent to an analogue negative strip), a subsidiary copy on a different HDD in the same PC (used for cropping, editing ready to print) and a copy made by daily backup routines to a third HDD. There's also a forth copy made on an external HDD by monthly backups, and occasional burning to a CD/DVD for archival.
Once you're happy that you've got everything safely backed up, go back to Vista, and in the extended boot menu (safe mode etc.) select the "no automatic restart" option.
That will cause Vista to stop at the blue-screen instead of flashing it and rebooting. You can then read the error stop code which will indicate what the nature of your problem is, and we can proceed from there.
 
Thank you for the reply and for all the backup ideas. As I soon as I get this thing fixed (praying), I will backup all my photos to my flash drive. Even upload them to a web storage. Anything! I do know the error code as I have seen the blue screen so many times, I finally put it together- it's 0XC0000218 (registry file failure). Does that help any?
 
Thank you!

Tasha, I sent you a copy of the CD in response to your comment on the blog.

I was checking my email this morning and saw that I had an order number for a download of Vista recovery. I was so confused. Hahaha! There are no words, except for thank you SO much! The world needs more kind people like you. =)

So, all I need to do is put a blank CD in to (my friends) CD/DVD drive and download the recovery to it, correct? From there, I change the BIOS on my notebook to boot from the CD/DVD drive, input the CD and then it'll take care of the rest? Is there a certain time frame I should wait for everything to complete? Is there anything else I need to know? And just to be certain, this will not erase any of my pics/docs, right? Please let me know.

Thanks again, so very much! =)

Blessings,
Tasha A.
 
Vista doesn't have a native ISO burner (W7 does, if your friend has that). Otherwise you'll need to get a free copy of Imgburn, and use it to burn the downloaded file to a CD.
Remember to rescue your photos before attempting repairs.
 
Vista doesn't have a native ISO burner (W7 does, if your friend has that). Otherwise you'll need to get a free copy of Imgburn, and use it to burn the downloaded file to a CD.
Remember to rescue your photos before attempting repairs.

Ok. I will check with them to see if they are running Win 7.

As for rescuing my phots first, is here an option on the recovery disc to do that (back up files or what not)? That will be my only option as I don't have an external drive or what not. Like I said, times are beyond hard. My notebook and Van are the biggest items I own and they're both giving me problems now. =/

Please let me know anything else I may need as I would like to accomplish this tonight.

Thanks much! =)

Tasha
 
Tasha, I sent you a different link which has the recovery option.
You'll need *something* to copy your files to. You can also use the web browser in the CD to email them to yourself.
 
Stuck.....

Good morning,
I downloaded the CD last night and was able to copy all my photos and docs to a flash drive. Thank you!!!!!

However, the CD is not fixing the notebook startup issue. I have tried both options of repair and restore. Repair finds a load issue, says it's repaired, but when I restart it, the blue screen still pops up for a split second. The error is C0000128 (registry file error). The restore finds a date to restore to, but nothing happens when I choose that. It locks up or freezes, like it's not even trying to restore. =/

So at this point, I assume a fresh install is required? If so, how? Unless there's another way around that, another fix. Please let me know.

Blessings,
Tasha

Tasha, I sent you a different link which has the recovery option.
You'll need *something* to copy your files to. You can also use the web browser in the CD to email them to yourself.
 
Now that your personal stuff is safe, your best option is probably to "factory reset" the PC.
The repair CD is really for repairing boot issues or for giving you access to other facilities like system restore.
If you have no system restore points available from before the time when your registry got corrupted, and the boot is working (as it must be to get you as far as the registry error), you could try running chkdsk /r to see if disk errors are responsible for the registry problem, but in all probability you'll eventually need to start afresh.
I used to have a link to the full step by step instructions for HP factory reset, but unfortunately HP no longer makes it publicly accessible. You'll need to start here
Country-Language Selector | HP® Support
and navigate to the correct support page after registering with them iirc.
From memory I think the HP recovery routines are accessed by F11 as you power-up, but their website should confirm that.
 
Now that your personal stuff is safe, your best option is probably to "factory reset" the PC.
The repair CD is really for repairing boot issues or for giving you access to other facilities like system restore.
If you have no system restore points available from before the time when your registry got corrupted, and the boot is working (as it must be to get you as far as the registry error), you could try running chkdsk /r to see if disk errors are responsible for the registry problem, but in all probability you'll eventually need to start afresh.
I used to have a link to the full step by step instructions for HP factory reset, but unfortunately HP no longer makes it publicly accessible. You'll need to start here
Country-Language Selector | HP® Support
and navigate to the correct support page after registering with them iirc.
From memory I think the HP recovery routines are accessed by F11 as you power-up, but their website should confirm that.

I thank you for that. However, the Hard Drive is already a replacement drive (it crashed and burned over a year ago). So anything that had to do with HP on there is no longer available. Windows Vista was re-installed in to the new drive. So F11 option does nothing when pushed. =/

So if I need to re-install Vista, yet again, how would I go about doing this?

Blessings,
Tasha
 
Where Can I Download Windows Vista?

Don't know how that link got knobbled
It works if you type it in as seen instead of clicking on it.

I've linked it again above, try that.

If you can borrow a Vista DVD from anyone you know, you can legitimately install it on your OS as long as you use the key from your own PC's copy (normally on a label stuck somewhere on the PC) not the one from the DVD
 
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