Can I do a Repair install

[irmo123]

I have been running Vista for almost a year and I like it. I have run into a problem where the computer will not boot up. I have booted from my system disk and run the "repair my computer option"...no good. I can't boot in safe mode or to a last known good config. The error I get says the system registry is missing or corrupt.

Can I re-install windows vita withour killing all my data and settings?

JB

[shadowpr]

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tuto...torial148.html

[irmo123]

Well I pretty much followed the tutorial that you linked to. I guess I'll share my experience in case anyone else has similar trouble. I did fix the computer....I'm just not exactly sure how.

I followed the tutorial steps as outlined until I got to the "System Recovery Options" prompt. Unfortunately there was no installation of windows showing in the box for me to select. So I hit load drivers as instructed, none found. As I browsed around looking for them I saw my c drive and selected that and windows informed me I would need to format my drive to select that....I backed away slowly keeping my hands in plain sight the whole time...

So, I went back to "System Recovery Options", still no windows install in the select box. I hit next anyway. It churned through the repair routine for about 5 minutes. I restarted, no dice, the System Registry was still missing or corrupt. Obviously this was because the repair tool did not have an installation to fix. I ran through this drill 3 times with the same result. The definition of insanity.....

At this point I posted this thread, and being the impatient soul that I am went ahead and tried to re-install Vista as an upgrade, hoping to fix the registry and save all my stuff. That went fine right until I had to enter my registry key. I did and was promptly informed that if I wanted to use that key, I had to start the install from Windows....only I wasn't able to start Windows...that was the problem in the first place. I tried a few things to insist that Vista let me proceed but the program was adamant. Darn.

So, I tried one more time to run the "Repair My Computer" routine an low and behold the "System Recovery Options" box now showed my Windows installation. Why? Dunno. Maybe because I tried to reinstall the program? I have no idea. Nevertheless I chose the Windows installation to repair (the only one on my machine). The repair routine ran for about 5 seconds and finished. I restarted the computer and it came up like nothing was ever wrong.

Was my computer just messin’ with my head? Start to finish the whole thing took like 3 hours to deal with. Outcome was successful, but I don't know why.

JB

[RoadStar]

irmo123 ...i think you may have been a touch lucky on this one. I`ve done a few restores with Vista Complete PC Backup, which creates an image of your C:\ drive, like Norton Ghost, and it works great but I learned like you did that I had to let Vista go through it`s, "stand away mere mortal, you have no idea what you are doing, we will fix this" routine before I got to any vestige of being able to do anything myself, and then the system detected things, like back up drives, and allowed me to do things myself.

I think the keyword is patience. Computers are fast, but rock stupid. Let them go through their assigned tasks and when finished, us mere mortals will take over.

[MikeMoss]

Hi

I heartily recommend that you get a program like Norton Ghost and an external hard drive (if you only have one drive in your computer). I have 2 drives in normal configuration and keep all data on a drive that does not have Windows on it.
Both of these drives are backed up on an external drive.

Ghost will run from your CD or DVD drive so even if you can’t get into the operating system at all it will rewrite the drive as long as the drive is working.

I can't tell you how many times this has saved me.
Keep your backups up to date and you can restore your computer in under and hour.
Even if your hard drive dies completely you can bring your new one up to date with no problems. This may be the easiest way to get rid of a nasty virus as well.

I don't have Vista yet a new computer is coming this fall, but the first thing I will do when I get is will be to install Ghost and make a backup.

Then I will install all my other software and make another back up.
Once that is done I will feel reasonably safe.

Mike