Install vista from recovery partition

hi everyone,

I'm having some trouble with vista running some components are missing. I was just wondering is there a way to access the vista portion on the recovery partition and run it to upgrade/repair vista? or is it only accessible for a clean install? hoping for some help

 

which components are missing to be exact?

 

not sure completely but for now its missing the services needed for wireless. I figured i needed to reinstall the driver. but it's windows. now i don't know if there are other areas of my computer with errors as i just fixed my computer from not booting via recovery console. i had a little trouble with gparted yesterday.

 

Normally you cannot access and breakdown the Vista files in the recovery partition that easily since its only supposed to be used for recovery installs.

Try the Vista Recovery Disc

 

i have a vista recovery disc and tried it doesn't seem to fix those problems. I managed to use it to fix my booting problem. but services and system files seem o be missing. Through recovery disc can i access the vista files in the recovery partition. Although it doesn't seem to show the recovery partition on the recovery center disc. At this point should I just factory install and then reinstall all my apps?

I was thinking rather then factory reinstalling and making partitions to multiboot. if I were to upgrade to windows 7 (which i was trying to partition) from my vista would that install the missing files/fix the problem? Additionally if i straight upgrade to windows 7: 1) is it recommended without multibooting 2) will it void my warranty since i am not using the software that came with my computer?

 

I would factory reinstall - it's a long process but it will comfirm all working hardware and service issues.

You can then go about planing a fresh install or multiboot option.

There maybe 3 partitions 0,1 and 2 (not sure of your model)

0 will be ID 27 which changes when ALT + F10 is pressed during boot to 07 using data stored in the custom MBR.
1 will be your windows partition and ID 07 Active and Bootable but may look corrupt or unformatted to some partition utilities.
2 will be visible and accessable to windows and where you can store backups and user data.

Partition 2 is nothing special so any backup of data can just be of the files that partition 2 contains.
Partition 1 has a backup within Partition 0 so Partition 0 is our priority for backup (you may have user data on partition 0 my documents etc...)
Partition 0 requires a custom MBR in order to boot with ALT+F10 (you can change the ID to 07 and make the partition active if need be)

So I would backup the MBR with HDHacker and make a backup of Partition 0 with your favouit Disk Backup Proggy (Paragon Drive Backup).

With both these items backed up you can set about modding your PC

I also found that eRecovery will require a folder c:\acer\preload\autorun in order to install.

I would also recommend a windows based boot manager for multibooting Windows 7 and Vista.

[EDIT] Bootmanagers will alter the MBR

 

thanks for the advice. unfortunately my laptop is worse off then i thought it can't even seem to access the recovery partition. so i decided to upgrade to windows 7 see if that fixes some of my problems. and at some point i'll have to try to regain access to the recovery partition. It's showing up just when i press alt f10 nothing happens just starts up as normal. When i get it working or a recovery disc i think i'll clean install and do things as they were meant to be done. where would i find a boot manager? shame i didn't read you post earlier. oh well.

 

Don't dispare or dispair

Have a look at hxxp://www.goodells.net/ and his POPULAR LINKS:

It's a DELL thing but relates to Backup Partitions.

You have lost the use of ALT + F10 (ctrl + F11 with Dell) but you still may have your PQSERVICE partition.

hxxp://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/dellmbr.htm

So you could use PowerQuest Partition Table Editor (ptedit.exe)
hxxp://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/manual.htm

hxxp://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixdesc.htm

The example will show Type as:
06
DE
0C

You should see:
27 - eRecover Partition
07 - Windows
07 - DATA

00 will be unsed

Change 27 to 07
Change the Boot from 00 to 80
and
Change the Boot from 80 to 00 ???? what!!!

80 is/means Active so only one partition should be Active:

was:

27 00
07 80
07 00
00 00

NOW:

07 80
07 00
07 00
00 00

Reboot and hopefully you can start the recovery process.

(It might need a manual kick from you, you may be presented with a DOS screen with boot options - just hit enter)

What was edited with PQPTE will be undone after the process completes and you should have a working system

ALT + F10 will still not work as the MBR has changed! Might solve that later but for now PQPTE will help boot to the eRecovery partition in the future or use a Boot Manager - Paragon and VCOM examples.

 

Thanks for the advice aceraspire. It seemed to have worked because i was able to see the pqrs drive in windows explorer. but now i have another challenge i hope you can surmount.

I went to reboot like you suggested tried alt + f10 nothing comes up at all. computer caries on doing the usual then comes up on a dos like screen saying "missing operating system." and it just stays there until i turn off. What are you thoughts on this? Any solutions. awaiting to hear from you.

I have a vista repair disc is there a way i can use that to access the recovery partition now that it is unhidden? and then continue with the factory restore?

 

Try this as a solution to the ALT + F10

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4793918#post4793918

Might help

 

thanks again, although i am having some trouble i unzipped the files and burnt them tried to boot from cd, didn't recognize them. I then burnt it zipped tried same thing also didn't work. how do i get the computer to recognize the files to boot from them? sorry for all the questions, just know i really appreciate all this help so far.

 

No problem

I'll have a play later but the BIN file (RTMBR.BIN) is a copy of the MBR you want and MBRWRWIN is the file that's used to restore it...

Try this:

Extract all 4 files to D drive (or C if you like)

Now type in the RUN box:
d:\MBRWRWIN.EXE backup OLDMBR.BIN

you should have a backup of the MBR you are using

Now type:
d:\MBRWRWIN install RTMBR.BIN

All this is done from windows

Now reboot and try ALT+F10

fingers crossed

 

I haven't tried that but i was able to get to cmd prompt with a windows 7 dvd. so i ran chkdsk. was able to get my computer running again. unhid the recovery partition burnt the acerboot.iso. restarted booted from cd. it went into the erecovery module and is currently installing vista. fingers crossed it will work. still might need to fix the mbr and ALT+F10. I'll know better after the install. I have to say i'm a little hesitant now to partition my drive and try to dual boot vista and 7 after what i've been through. Thanks again for all the help.

 

Good idea, might just as well get ALT+F10 working as you still have a recovery partition that can be used and it's only 10GB. Just remember to keep the MBRWRWIN and RTMBR.BIN to repair the MBR should you wish to do a clean install of Vista or 7 later.

To be honest, dual boot is a pain as it's two OS's to manage

I usually install an OS then install drivers then backup.

Anyway lilanswer you are on your way to a working PC using a method of your own

So thank you for letting me know what the acerboot.iso was - handy to know

 

it was really just trial and error and i ended up being lucky i hope knowing that the acerboot.iso can be used to access recovery console. helps others in the future. still installing all the updates and stuff. then i'm going to see if f10 works. If it doesn't you might be hearing from me again, but hopefully no need to. Definitely just going to stick with vista and when the real 7 comes out if i feel necessary i'll purchase it. Most likely i'll just stick to vista. Thanks for everything.

 

Hey man, I thought you might be able to help me out? Check my topic please...