Repair Install For Vista

How To Perform a Repair Installation For Vista​

   Information

This will allow you to repair your Vista installation and keep all of your personal user account files, settings, and programs. You will be performing a Upgrade Install from within your currently running Vista.

You will have to use the exact same Vista installation media type that you currently have installed.

   Note

• You will not be able to do a upgrade install in Safe Mode.
• You must have Retail Full or Upgrade Vista installation DVD to do this. Some people have had problems with a Full version letting them do a upgrade install though.
• A OEM (retail version) Vista installation DVD that you buy at a store and does not come with the computer are usually the same as a regular retail (full or upgrade) Vista installation DVD, but have a OEM license (product key number) instead of a retail license (product key number).
• If you have a OEM Recovery Vista installation DVD that came preinstalled with your OEM brand computer instead, then it will most likely only be a clone of the hard drive with Vista allowing you to only do a clean install with it instead. These OEM computers often have a Recovery D:\ partition that does the same thing as the OEM Recovery Vista installation DVD.
• If you have a Anytime Upgrade Vista installation DVD, then you will not be able to do this.
• The Vista installation DVD that you use to do the repair (upgrade) install must be the same or newer version of Vista with the Windows Updates and SP level than what you currently have installed. If the DVD is a older version, then you cannot do a repair (upgrade) install with it.
• IF YOU HAVE THE VISTA SP1 INSTALLED:
  • This will not work if you have SP1 installed unless your Vista installation DVD includes the SP1, or you create a Vista SP1 slipstream installation DVD (See below). When the SP1 is installed, it will give Vista a newer version number than what is on the original Vista installation DVD.
  • You can only do a Upgrade install if the currently installed Vista is the same or older version than what is on the Vista installation DVD.
  • To create a Vista SP1 slipstream installation DVD to use to do a Repair (upgrade) install, see: How to Create a Vista SP1 Slipstream Installation DVD. Note that this does not always work to use for a Repair install.
  • Another option is to uninstall the Vista SP1, then run the Repair install and install the SP1 again afterwards. To uninstall the SP1, see: Microsoft Help and Support: How to uninstall Windows Vista SP1 as a troubleshooting step
• IF YOU HAVE THE VISTA SP2 INSTALLED:
  • This will not work if you have SP1 and SP2 installed unless your Vista installation DVD includes SP2.
  • To create a Vista SP2 slipstream installation DVD to use to do a Repair (upgrade) install, see: How to Slipstream Vista SP2. Note that this does not always work to use for a Repair install.
• Be sure to backup any important data you have, just in case something goes wrong during installation. You may need to reinstall some of your drivers. You do not want to do this if you are dual booting with XP and Vista was not installed as the primary boot drive. It can cause XP to not startup anymore.

   Tip

If you are have installation error problems, then see:

• Windows Help and Support: KB935806 Troubleshooting Stop error messages that may occur when you try to install Windows Vista
• Windows Help and Support: KB929777 Error message when you try to install Windows Vista on a computer that uses more than 3 GB of RAM: "STOP 0x0000000A"

   Warning

If you changed the default location of the Program Files or Programs Files (x86) folder, then you will need to change it back to the C: drive, and change any shortcuts that pointed to the other location to also point to the C: drive before doing a repair install.

ITEMS THAT WILL BE RESET TO DEFAULT:

• Computer Sound Event Scheme
• Vista Services
• Visual Effects Options
• Windows Mail - To Save and Restore your messages and settings, see the section: How to Backup and Reset Windows Mail
• Device Drivers - Be sure to have these handy to reinstall. They do not always remain after the repair (upgrade) install.

Here's How:

   Note

• If Vista is still not working properly afterwards, then a Clean Install would be recommended.
• You may need to reinstall some of your drivers after the Repair (upgrade) install.
• You will not be able to do a upgrade install in Safe Mode.

1. While logged in Vista as an administrator, insert the Vista installation DVD into the DVD drive, or connect a Vista installation USB thumb/key drive.

WARNING: Do not boot the computer and run the Vista installation DVD from boot. A upgrade install will not work this way.

   Note

If you do not have a Vista with SP1 installation DVD/USB, then you can download an official Vista with SP1 ISO file here: Microsoft: Vista Direct Download Links, and use Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool to create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive with the ISO to do the repair install.

2. Click on Install Now to start the upgrade. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: If AutoPlay does not load the Vista setup screen, then open your DVD drive in Computer and click on the Setup file.

​

​

​

3. If you want Vista to check for updates during the installation, then click on that to select it. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: It will install faster if you select Do not get the latest updates for installation. You can install them later through Windows Update.

​

​

​

4. Do not type in a product key. (See screenshot below)

WARNING: If you do type in the same activated product key that you already have installed, then you can end up in Reduced Functionality Mode.



5. Leave the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box unchecked.



6. Click on Next.

​

​

​

7. Click on the No button for the Do you want to enter your product key now? prompt. (See screenshot below)

​

​

​

8. Select which edition of Vista you have. (See screenshot below)



9. Check the I have selected the edition of Windows that I purchased box and click on Next. (See screenshot below)

​

​

​

10. Click on the Upgrade option. (See screenshot below)

​

​

​

11. Follow any instructions left until Vista is through installing and has rebooted to the final welcome screen on the Vista desktop.



12. Remove the Vista installation DVD.



13. Check to see if any files are missing. If so look in the bolded files shown in step 14 below to see if they are in there. You can then just copy them back.



14. Run Disk Cleanup.

A) If listed, check Files discarded by Windows upgrade. (See screenshot below)​

​

NOTE: These will be the leftover upgrade files, C:\Windows.old, C:\$INPLACE.~TR and C:\$WINDOWS.~Q, that did not get copied over. If any personal username files are missing, it would be in these folders.​

​

​

​

B) Click on OK to delete it.​

​

​

15. Now all you need to do is to activate Vista.

A) Right click on Computer (Start Menu) and click on Properties, or open the Control Panel (Classic View) and click on the System icon.​

​

​

​

B) Scroll down a bit and click on: Activate Windows Now. (See screenshot below)​

​

​

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Do a Clean Install of Vista with a Upgrade Version
• How to Do a Clean Install with a Full Version of Vista
• How to Repair and Verify the Integrity of Vista System Files with System File Checker
• How to Extract Files from the Vista Installation DVD
• How to Use the Memory Diagnostics Tool in Vista
• How to Do a Startup Repair in Vista
• How to Reset a User Account Password in Vista
• How to Generate a System Health Report in Vista
• How to Troubleshoot the Computer with Reliability Monitor in Vista
• How to Run Check Disk at Startup in Vista
• How to Do a System Restore in Vista
• How to Use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool in Vista
• How to Fix a Crashing Internet Explorer in Vista
• How to Get Out of Reduced Functionality Mode in Vista
• How to Restore Previous Versions of a File and Folder in Vista
• How to Start Vista in Safe Mode
• Cannot Rename or Move a File or Folder in Vista Fix
• How to Create a Vista Recovery Disc
• How to Create a Vista SP1 Slipstream Installation DVD
• How to Slipstream Vista SP2
• How to Restore Missing Default Start Menu Shortcuts in Vista
• How to Restore TrustedInstaller as Owner of a File in Vista
• How to Do a Custom Installation of Vista

 

[itwasntme187]

I followed your steps and selected Active but it came back with error "the selected partition cannot be marked as an active partition because of its type"

Should i just reinstall a fresh copy of vista? If so how do i recover the product code?

 

[Brink]

Unless you have the key number on the sticker as descibed above, I do not think you will be able to since you cannot boot into Vista. Do you have a OEM computer with a recovery partition, or it is one that you installed a retail copy of Vista on?

If it is a OEM copy, then doing a factory restore will restore your Vista back like the day you first got it with the product key number intact.

 

[squishO90]

Hi
You might want to try Belarc Advisor. It's a program that basically audits your PC, and one of the things I've used it for is to get my product key from it. It's about 3/4 of the page down under the section titled "software licenses" Good luck, hope it works for you.
Rick

 

[SolarMan]

Some experience info:

I had a SFC failure that SFC could not repair so I needed to so a repair install of a Vista Ultimate x64 SP2 system. I slipstreamed an SP2 disc from a Vista SP1 DVD and found that I did not have the upgrade option. I would get a message about the upgrade needing to be a newer version. Some comments here suggested that the problem might be due to the host system having newer updates.

So, I recreated the slipstreamed SP2 and installed all the updates before finishing the SysPrep dialog with OOBE/Generalize/ShutDown. Same problem. It appears then that the problem is not an issue with the actual updates/version in the slipstreamed system but with what version the slipstreamed system thinks it is. Some version number someplace is not getting updated.

Needing to get the system working, I sprung for a TechNet subscription (I won't use pirated copies). This will also give me a try-before-buy opportunity on other software for the next year. The ISO I downloaded from MS ran and had the upgrade option available so I could do a repair install. This further suggests that it is a slipstream version problem and not a latest-update problem. I have not tried to do a clean install with the slipstreamed disk.

It repaired the SFC items that could not be repaired by SFC :D. However, my cookies were removed to special folders and I don't know what else . I'm going to poke around to see what is missing, but I suspect it will be easier to do a Windows Easy Transfer to a file to save stuff and then bring it back in after the repair. Since I made a backup of the drive before the repair install, I can keep restoring the drive and try things until I get it right.

Thanks for a great web site!

 

[SolarMan]

More experience info:
I used an MS SP2 disc since I could not get s slipstreamed SP2 disc (from my original SP1 disc) to work. I found that the only things that appeared to be missing was IE stuff, so I suspect that since the repair install went from IE8 on the host to IE7 in the SP2 repair disc, it can't maintain the files and settings. I decided to solve that by slipstreaming in all the MS updates and using that disk to do the repair. Just follow the Vista Slipstream SP2 instructions and add network drivers and updates at the step where you would have added service packs. I also added video and disk drivers so all the most important stuff would be intact. I wanted it to fit on a one-sided DVD so I could not install all the updates or toys desired. Note that for a repair install you don't need the disk to be bootable so you can just use WinRAR to unpack the ISO and your favorite disc burner to remake it with a new install.wim file.

The repair install then took about two hours and, as warned, some device driver stuff broke. CD/DVD drives would not install. Doing a search on that I found a registry edit to make them appear, but neither Roxio nor iTunes (CD ripping/burning) would work. Reinstalling Roxio went fine, but iTunes was a mess. I suspect that the iTunes (un)installer is not very robust because it could not recover from a slightly messed up registry. Uninstalling left iTunes CD/DVD stuff all over that had to be manually edited out to get an install to work with the CD/DVDs function in iTunes. Best would be to uninstall CD/DVD software before the repair install as that might avoid the issues, or maybe slipstream it in.

IE8 then needed all the already-loaded activex controls, as well as ieSpell, to be allowed to execute. The scanner part of my HP All-In-One wouldn't scan and so I needed to reinstall the drivers. This wasted a bit of time because though the latest driver is dated 9/2009 it is actually a lot older. All the early 2009 updates were needed to get it to work properly. Go figure.

The system appears healthy again, at last.

 

[RynoXD]

Hi um... I attempted to do this but my reinstall disk just goes straight from the update question to the custom or upgrade question and doesnt allow me to upgrade. I had been getting error code 800700C1 while trying to update and then ran the CMD sfc/scannow thing and found that I have several unrepairable files. What should I do?

 

[Brink]

Hello RynoXD, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Are you running the Vista installation disc from within Vista and not from boot? Is the installation disc the exacte same version (ex: with SP1 and/or SP2) that you currently have installed?

 

[RynoXD]

Yes I tried running the reinstallation from within Vista; I currently have service pack 2 and I'm am pretty sure that the disk does not, since I got my computer from before then, I think it just has the original Vista, if this is the reason why it doesnt work is there anything i can do to fix my computer still?

 

[Brink]

RynoXD,

It seems that you may need to do a clean reinstall of Vista.

 

[RynoXD]

RynoXD,

It seems that you may need to do a clean reinstall of Vista.

ugh thats what I was trying to avoid anyways thank you

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. Sorry.

 

[ATXSCORPIO]

is there anyway for me to repair my vista without the DVD, my laptop came with Vista already installed on it

 

[Brink]

Hello ATXScorpio, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You can create a Vista Recovery Disc that will boot you to the System Recovery Options screen that can help repair Vista. It will not reinstall Vista though.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[sachavieuxroy]

Would like to fix my vista ultimate installation

by using upgrade option on "vista ultimate installation dvd"

as described in this article.

For this i need:

"retail full or upgrade vista installation dvd 32-bit with service pack 2"

WHERE CAN I PURCHASE UPGRADE VISTA INSTALLATION DVD 32-BIT WITH SERVICE PACK 2?

 

[Brink]

Hello Sachavieuxroy, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You can purchase one at any computer retail store. For example, Best Buy, Walmart, Fry's Electronics, etc........

 

[rosede]

Hello, and I'm sorry if this question was already asked in this thread, but I really didn't want to read each and every post on all sixteen pages. :D

Anyway, in the tutorial, you say that the installation repair technique will not work if SP1 and/or SP2 are installed unless you have SP1 and/or SP2 on the installation DVD. My installation DVD might have SP1 on it, but I doubt that it has SP2 on it. How do I get around that? Is there a way to create a new installation DVD with the service packs installed?

Thanks.

Daryl

 

[Brink]

Hello Daryl, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You could create a slipstream Vista SP2 installation disc to use to do the repair installation with.


Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[rosede]

Thanks Shawn, I'll give this a try.

Daryl

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. Please let us know how it went.

 

[rosede]

Brink,

I finally had a chance to build that Slipstream DVD, but I guess I should had read the full instruction on this tutorial first. (I stopped when I read that I couldn't do this if I have SP2 installed).

Anyway, the instructions say not to boot up on the dvd, rather install the dvd from an already running OS. The issue that I'm having is that I can't boot up into the OS. I get the "black screen of death with just a white cursor".

I know my data is good, I just need to repair vista so I don't stomp on my data by doing a fresh install. I used to be able to do a repair install with XP, but apparently Microsoft decided not to allow the users to be able to do this with vista.

Any other suggestions on how to repair vista?

Thanks.

Daryl