The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Vista Reinstallation issues.

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by mani1128, Nov 18, 2008.

  1. mani1128

    mani1128 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    hello
    i have a task at hand. windows installation ( Home Prem 32-bit) on inspiron15 of a friend of mine has crashed and i am unable to repair it using Vista repair option or system restore. Now the laptop owner has some important data on vista partition as well as other partition and she wants to save it. The hdd is a sata one and i have no way to connect it to my pc so as to save the data on vista partition and reinstall windows.
    So i want to know that can i install windows xp or vista on same partition again and save the data on C: (OS partition) and then do a fresh install on it after formatting it.
    Please help
     
    mani1128, Nov 18, 2008
    #1
  2. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

    Reputations:
    1,654
    Messages:
    5,955
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    . try using an external disk housing (USB-Sata) to access the drive for file recuperation?
    . installing XP on a sata drive can be a bit troublesome with the driver etc ...

    cheers ...
     
    qhn, Nov 18, 2008
    #2
  3. mani1128

    mani1128 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    2
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    i think i ll manage with xp installation on sata drive as i have already done tht b4 on my inspiron1525.
    i dont have the external disk housing, thts why i was looking for other options
     
    mani1128, Nov 18, 2008
    #3
  4. Shyster1

    Shyster1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    6,926
    Messages:
    8,178
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    A better option would be to use something like either a linux-based LiveCD or the Ultimate Boot CD (or even the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows) to boot from the CD/DVD drive.

    By doing that, you'll be able to boot the system and then get access to the hard drive (which will be treated as just another passive data storage device), which will allow you to copy anything valuable out to a USB stick or other external drive).

    Once you've done that, you can proceed howsoever you wish, confident that, should the worst happen, you've already saved a copy of everything that really matters.
     
    Shyster1, Nov 18, 2008
    #4
  5. kegobeer

    kegobeer 1 hr late but moving fast

    Reputations:
    836
    Messages:
    3,682
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    You can't install XP on the same partition - it is a downgrade and would destroy the existing data. You also can't reinstall Vista on the same partition, as it would also destroy the existing data. If you have a retail disc, you can do an upgrade, which would keep existing data.

    If there is enough space on the drive, you could resize the existing partition(s) and install Vista on the new partition. That would allow you to boot to the new partition, and then access the old partition(s) and remove any important data.
     
    kegobeer, Nov 18, 2008
    #5