SP1 installed failed and now can't boot Vista

[jkrim]

Hi SIW2,

After some trouble with Seatools (The fist DOS version I downloaded - graphical - bombed so I had to use the text version), the short test passed and the long test
passed.

Ugh. This is the one option I was trying to avoid. This is basically starting from scratch. All registry settings are gone, correct? And what else is gone: drivers, user accounts, ...? And the question is why? I just can't seem to boot Vista. If I could figure out that problem, I wouldn't have to "start over".

also, if someone could figure out the fix for the "0x1f" failure, again, I might be able to successfully run the repair and fix the booting problem.

Jordan

 

[SIW2]

Hi Jordan,

You might download Gparted , make a bootable cd and use it to reformat what Windows calls the System volume ( this is the opposite of what you might expect as it contains Windows boot files ).

What Windows calls the Boot volume (also opposite of what you might expect ), is the volume containing the Vista operating system.

Obviously, formatting the System volume will lose all data on it - this may or, may not necessarily be, the same partition as the Boot volume with your o/s on it.

It will help if you can recall which volume Windows Disk Management called the System volume.

You can download it here

GParted -- Download

here are some screenshots so you know what to expect

GParted -- Welcome

here is a tutorial - you are not using it to partition- it will give you a general idea of what it looks like and does

Using GParted to Resize Your Windows Vista Partition :: the How-To Geek

After that , you may find you can use the startup repair option on your Vista dvd.

Hope it helps

SIW2

 

[Barman58]

Hi jordan,

before you pass the point of no return

I assume you dual boot between OS2 and Vista, how do you achieve this, using the vista boot loader, an os2 bootloader or a 3rd party loader such as grub?

it may be that if vista cannot see the vista loader then this could cause the failures you have, if this is the case it may be possible to get the vista loader back to being the primary loader and sorting the Vista problem then setting up the dual boot again.

If this is the situation I would have to do some further research before I could say anything definite but may be better than a complete install

 

[SIW2]

Hi Jordan,

Definitely worth following up Nigel's idea.

If you do end up having to clean install - it may end up as the best long term fix anyway.

The problem started with failed SP1 install.

If you need to clean reinstall, you can make a slipstreamed SP1 install disc , which should mean you end up with SP1 properly installed.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/151606-vista-sp1-slipstream-installation-dvd.html

If you go down this route, try to get hold of vlite 1.1.6 - you may have to search the web a bit to get it , but it saves a lot of time.

I don't have 32bit - but if I recall correctly, your Dell dvd looks around 300mb bigger than normal - may be some Dell apps. included.

Once you have copied the Vista files to your desktop, you could pick them up vlite, tick the Components tab and have a look to see what they are ( if you could make a note and let us know, that would be helpful ).

I would remove any proprietary oem bloatware before slipstreaming SP1 - but you may wish to keep it. To remove stuff, tick the boxes for components you don't want ( worth getting rid of all the foreign languages at this stage if you don't need them - don't remove any Vista app. or components ). Then hit the Apply button - you end up with the Vista files on your desktop rebuilt with just your edition (ultimate ) and minus all the stuff you ticked.

Then do the Slipstream - takes awhile , but is pretty straight forward with Brink's excellent tutorial.

Hope this helps

SIW2

 

[jkrim]

Hi Nigel,

I am using IBM BootManager to dual boot. I have already tried to do a bootrec /fixmbr and bootrec /fixboot as well as bootsect /nt60 c: /force. This does indeed disable IBM Bootmanager and the result is that Vista itself tries to boot and again the screen is dark for about a couple seconds and the system reboots to the BIOS screen. BTW, also renamed the c:\bvd\boot file and replaced it with a "new" one, but when Vista tried to boot it said that the BCD is not valid. Of course, at this point I can ony hit enter and the system reboots to the BIOS screen. So, can you think of anything else to try?

Jordan

 

[Barman58]

hi jordan,

are you using a separate graphics card? or on-board? it's just that the pause before reboot could be vista looking for the display system. I know there is a pause to detect monitors ( for multi monitor setups. ) can you get into safe mode via F8 on boot?
if you are on a separate graphics card you may want to try going to the on-board just to eliminate some graphics driver glitch cased by the failed sp1 install.

The other thing to try from your recovery console is Bootrec /ScanOs

if this finds the vista install there are some other Bootrec options to try

 

[jkrim]

Hi Nigel,

This is a laptop, and there is only one display.

I can't get to the Vista Boot Menu with F8. Either I'm not fast enough or it's broken. (I think the later because I repeatedly am pounding on the F8 key at startup to no avail).

I did do a bootrec /scanos and it did find Windows at c:\windows, but doesn't show in the System Recovery Options window when trying to start repair.

Jordan

 

[Barman58]

ok jordan,

as we are now almost out of options time to go back to Bootrec and try a
bootrec /RebuildBcd

and see if that finds the windows and can rebuild the boot record

you may want to glance at this
How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows Vista
just to make sure you're happy doing it :D

you may want to give the other options a try but if they don't solve it I think the re-install is the only option

when you do get everything back up and running it may be worth considering using the vista loader to run the multiboot. if you do decide to go this way then easybcd can make it painless :D
http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

 

[jkrim]

I tried to to run the rebuild according to the article:

bcdedit /export c:\bcd_backup

but it failed - something about not being able to find the file.

So tried bcdedit /rebuildbcd

Got:

Successfully scanned Windows installations.
Total identified Windows Installations: 1
[1] c:\windows
Add installtion to list?

So tried A (all) and N (no), but both came back with:
The volume does not contain a recognized file system.
Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted.

So, am I doomed?

Jordan

 

[jkrim]

Hey guys,

Let me answer my own question. I am not doomed. In fact, Vista is back!
What I finally found somewhere out there on the Internet was a person who had almost exactly the same problem as myself. Here are the key steps to recovery:

1. Set the C: partition active (thus disabling BootManager)
2. Tried to boot Vista but it didn't work.
3. Booted the Recovery DVD and Vista shows up in System Recovery Options and it says that it needs to repair it, so I let it do it and it rebooted.
4. Vista loaded but said "Configuring 0 of 3 0%". This then finished, and after reboot, Vista booted to the Desktop.
5. After this, I re-enabled BootManager and Vista still boots. Yippee!

Now to make a clone of Vista and backup all the other partitions.

Jordan