Vista, Failure to Start Boot Disks and a major Headache...

[Rich Brady]

Really need some help here guys...

My Dad has given me his laptop to fix...

It doesn't want to start up. The Safeode and Normal mode, just loop back to the prompt screens.

On investigation into the BIOS, Set Up and Boot options it would seem that it can no longer find the Operating System. Wierdly this happened to my Dell Laptop last month (XP), but I just booted from a XP CD and all was well.

There is no Vista disk with this, but I managed to download a boot file from the net which ran succesfully but leaves me with this prompt:

[DR-DOS]A:\>

I've tried the "WIn" and "RUN" commands in the A Directory and also in C, but I get nothing.

The only progression I get is if I type FDISK.

Unfortunately, I know nothing about partioning and I'm reluctant to start messing with this incase I wipe the Hard Drive. Does anyone with more knowledge (even just a little) know of a way I can move forward?

I think I've got all the information down but if you think I've missed something please ask?

Thanks in advance,

Rich

[leehack]

With "A:\" on screen i suspect it is looking for a disk, is there a disk drive on the laptop? I've never known A: to be anything else on a PC. Can you switch to "C:" instead for example?

[dave_finlayson]

Rich,

Can't help I'm afraid but if nobody comes along with any ideas then I probably have a spare Vista Home Premium OEM disk I could pop down in the post to you. Contact me offline if you want it (I'm assuming you have your own product key ).

[Darren B]

Hi Rich

If you going to reinstall windows, then you would have lost loads of stuff already

TIP for everyone, never store your personal stuff in my documents. always create a folder on your c drive, if you reinstall windows it will ignore these folders, if you leave them in my documents you stand a high chance of windows deleting them.

OK whats the laptop make Richard, i have some dell vista disks here if you need.

Now if your getting the A: prompt im guessing that your using a floppy boot disk.

you need to get a vista CD and change the bios to boot from CD. Then reinstall it.

Keep your fingers crossed that you dont have a HD failure int he 1st place

[Rich Brady]

I concluded the same as you. No floppy drive, but CD. I can change the drive by typing C, D or E. I'm certain the CD drive is either D or E, but I still can't get it to progress.

"Command or filename not recognized" the little b*****d!

[Rich Brady]

TIP for everyone, never store your personal stuff in my documents. always create a folder on your c drive, if you reinstall windows it will ignore these folders, if you leave them in my documents you stand a high chance of windows deleting them.

Note to self... Do that later!

OK whats the laptop make Richard, i have some dell vista disks here if you need.

Fujitsu Siemens

Now if your getting the A: prompt im guessing that your using a floppy boot disk.

Downloaded from tinternet and burnt to a CD

you need to get a vista CD and change the bios to boot from CD. Then reinstall it.

Bloody thing didn't come with CD would you beleive

Keep your fingers crossed that you dont have a HD failure int he 1st place

And everything else!

[leehack]

I think this is probably a PUB issue, go down your local and order 3 of the finest, it will seem much better then.

[Rich Brady]

I think this is probably a PUB issue, go down your local and order 3 of the finest, it will seem much better then.

Try 4,5 or 6... I've been on this all day

[chris ashdown]

DR-Dos is the same as MS -Dos but made by a Digital Research then Novell in the good old days of DOS (1990's)

I think you have just loaded the basic disk operating system DR-DOS and if so if my memory serves right cd\ will show files or was it dir\

Little grey cells passing away quite quickly these days

[Rich Brady]

Hey Chris,

DIR lets me know what's in the directories, but I'm afraid I'm at a loss at what to do that information.

LOL

Oh, it's just started beeping at me!

[Darren B]

batteries flat

Chris is right about the DOS, but xp and vista dont support dos so your barking up the wrong tree really. You can do stuff and maybe get the cd rom to work as d: drive by editing autoexec.bat and config.sys to load some drivers then run a setup from there, but these days booting from cd is standard so it's pointless and you need the cd

As i said your need a vista cd to boot from, the repair option might work but i doubt it, reinstall is about the only option you have at present, providing you get a disk from someone and my dell ones only install on dells - neat trick that one

[dave_finlayson]

my dell ones only install on dells - neat trick that one

Interesting, I recently installed XP on a friends HP machine from a Dell install disk, is it just your Vista disks that won't let you install on non-Dell machines?

[Rich Brady]

batteries flat

FFS the beebing was the battery PMSL

Are you watching me?

I've conceded and taken it to some guys round the corner. Hoping they don't come back and say it's ready for Silicon Heaven , but at least all the information is backed up... Ish

[leehack]

After 8 hours of trying to fix things like this, i usually decide to do the 4 hour reload process. I often find those 8 hours are time for reflection though and ridding the office of all things that are/can:

a) fly
b) light enough to lift and throw
c) in my way

[gabrielcrowe]

so, the problem is:
you cannot boot vista in any mode, and you do not have the dvd to re-install. you assume the data is still there on the drive.

compounded with the fact that your drive will be NTFS, and no dos disc can access this filesystem.

You need something to access the, parts of the drive to access the errors.

here is a list of ways i would get this data:
- BartPe XP boot disc
- ubuntu
- usb external enclosure for laptop drives.

generally, forget re installing over the top and expecting everything to be great. especially with vista. its trash.

get your data back, then wipe the entire thing.