Please help, with Vista Startup registry corruption

[Ludee00]

Do you think I should try and burn it onto a DVD?

 

[Ludee00]

Ok, I burned the HD Diag to a DVD and it loaded. I am running the Long test right now. I will post results soon.

 

[Ludee00]

OK, so Now what???
DST Completed without error
Short DST PASSED, LONG TEST PASSED

Help!!

 

[Ludee00]

Update: Still can not log into Vista with either Normal or Safemode Startup.
Blue screen error still appears at startup.

 

[Ludee00]

I have an XP CD. Do you think I could use the repair intall on the XP CD?

 

[townsbg]

I think the consensus is that your Vista installation is corrupt enough it would take a lot of specialized work to fix it. I suggest a reinstall; at this point it is what I would do. Either back up your files using another computer or us a live linux distribution such as knoppix or ubuntu and save to an external hard drive. If it where me I would not put XP on it.

I think it's interesting that a dvd worked whereas a cd wouldn't.

 

[Ludee00]

I may have to admit defeat. I am going to do one more chkdsk /r and pray real hard.
But thanks everyone for trying to help.

 

[townsbg]

Good luck.

 

[usasma]

Try a regular CD.
Reinstalling Windows may help - but if it's a hardware problem it may not.

I suggest that you run the hard drive diagnostic before trying a wipe/reinstall.
The old files will be in the Windows.old directory.

 

[Ludee00]

I did . I posted the results on page 2. Everything went fine.

 

[Ludee00]

OK, I need just a bit more advice now. I have come to grips with the fact I need to reinstall Vista. I have pulled all my info off of the hardrive and went to system recovery (via F8 Repair). I wanted to go this way because if I can install back to factory settings, then at least I would still have the programs that came with the computer (like Norton, MS OFFICE etc.) But it is asking me for a password and I never set a password?????? I have a DVD for Vista (my father's machine, not mine) when I wanted to try and run the restore, but I dont have one for my machine or my software (that came installed), because they never sent it.
I have the Vista product key on the machine BTW.

Suggestions please

 

[usasma]

Compaq DVD's aren't interchangeable. You can't use one on another model machine. If it's the same model, it'll work.
If your Dad's computer is not a Compaq/HP, it may work. Let me know what make and model your Dad's computer is.

Is there a dialog that asks you to select the account to use? If it says "Administrator" that's the wrong one. Scroll down and choose your user name and see if that works without a password.

While you may be able to use the MSOffice from the restore, I wouldn't suggest trying to use the Norton. It's way too old and is likely to cause problems for you.

 

[Ludee00]

My father's computer is not a compaq. Its a dell. The CD I have from him is the Vista Home Premium SP1. That is the same OS on the compaq.

Is there a dialog that asks you to select the account to use? -No
If it says "Administrator" that's the wrong one. Scroll down and choose your user name and see if that works without a password. -Only gives me the user name option. I tried to leave it blank, and typed: password or admin and nothing lets me in.

 

[Ludee00]

Used Windows Password Reset Successfully!!!
Restoring now. Ugh, this better work!!

 

[SIW2]

Have fun getting all the updates.

 

[townsbg]

My father's computer is not a compaq. Its a dell. The CD I have from him is the Vista Home Premium SP1. That is the same OS on the compaq.

That doesn't matter. Since it isn't a retail disk that you bought it is against Microsoft's terms of use to use in another computer even if it isn't installed on the computer it came with (read the fine print). In addition OEM copies from manufacturers are set up for the manufacturer's computers and probably also for a specific model. The drivers and registry settings will be incorrect when used on your Compaq and it will not work correctly. You very well might end up with blue screens and system freezes. In addition the manufacturer might have included in the disk a hardware check which would determine that you are using the wrong computer and therefore refuse to install. You must use either a retail disk or what came with the computer.

 

[Ludee00]

Update: I was able to use the Windows Password Reset and get into the System Recovery. It has set my computer back to default/factory settings. I am now going though the tons of updates. 125 so far, and so far so good. Thank you all for your help. I will now spend tomorrow putting all my crap back on, that I was able to pull off my harddrive using Apricorn - DriveWire Universal Hard Drive Adapter - Metallic Red- which is a nifty little thing.

Thanks again

 

[townsbg]

Good job. I prefer a hard drive enclosure because it protects the hard drive better.