Vista won't boot from CD, Error Loading operating system, EVERYTHING

Kwehchan747

New Member
About two days ago, my laptop began running at a snails pace, before freezing up altogether. I managed to restart several times, only to have the same thing happen again and again. After about 5 restarts, the computer would not boot past the second black screen after startup, and now, I have the dreaded "Error Loading Operating system message". I tried loading from the Vista CD (and set my CD drive as first priority); however, it lingers at the green scrolling bar on the "Microsoft Corporation" page for several minutes before stopping at a black screen. For a while, I had the black screen with white cursor; however, that has now failed to show up.

When booting in any of the safe modes, I get the "Loading Windows Files" page; however the files stop loading at a certain driver, and the page does not progress, no matter how long I wait. Booting in "Last Known Good Config" yields the same results as a normal boot from the CD. I have tried every option on the Advance Boot Menu, but nothing works.

I have tried formatting a USB drive with BIOS, and even copied hte contents of the Vista CD to it; however when I try to load from the USB, I get a message along the lines of "Pen Driver without Operating System...please remove pen driver and restart," and the computer then proceeds to boot from the CD.

I have formatted my SATA (whatever that is; apologies, I'm not a computer expert) to IDE and my computer will recognise and load a Windows 7 cd. I have tried several repair options. Startup repair apparently cannot fix whatever error I have, I cannot restore to an earlier date (I get a message asking me to select an OS and restart), and I cannot restore to an image because I do not have one.

I have tried performing an upgrade to Windows 7; however, I get a message saying that Windows has begun to use the CD...please restart. I am not prepared to try a custom (advanced) install yet because, although I backed up the majority of my files after a (now resolved) incident two weeks ago, I have since added some photos, and do not want to lose them.

In the previous incident, my laptop did boot from the Vista CD, and I was able to access some sort of "load files" option which enabled me to access and copy my files into a hard drive. I have found the same option on the Windows 7 CD; however in order to access my hard drive, I must format it, and, presumably lose my files.

Some more information:
-I cannot use Alt + F10 at all
-F10 by itself brings up an Edit Boot Options Menu, which I do not know how to use
-I cannot use F8 at startup. The only way I can access the F8 menu is by waiting until the CD finishes loading its files, or by using the spacebar, selecting "Windows Setup [EMS]" and pressing F8.
-I cannot access any repair options on the F8 menu
-Pressing shift 5 times does nothing
-Other than on the F2/F12 startup screen, ctrl+alt+del, Fn+esc. ctrl+shift+esc does nothing

I am using an Acer Aspire 5810T laptop, with pre-installed Vista. Unfortunately, the only thing that came in the box with it was its recharger, so I did not receive any sort of recovery disc; however, I have been using the Vista and Windows 7 discs that came with our new home computer. The Vista CD, as I said, has worked for me before; I have not used the Windows 7 CD before.

So to sum it all up, my computer will not boot past a black screen (no cursor), it will boot a Windows 7 CD but not a Vista, trying to boot from hard drive yields the "Error loading operating system" message, and trying to boot from a USB drive yields the "Pen Drive Without Operating System" message.

Any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated. More than anything, I just want to be able to copy my newest folder (which I should have backed up, I know! I know!) onto an external. After that, I would more than willingly start from a clean install of Windows 7 (Not Vista, again!!!).
 

My Computer

Welcome!

What brand hard drive do you have? Go to the manufacturer's site and download their diagnostic software to test your hard drive.

If you can't find the software, let me know, and I will find it for you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Jonathan King
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Dual Core Processor 4850e overclocked @ 2.92 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock A780 FullDisplayPort
    Memory
    6.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 290MHz Crucial Technology
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI 3200 (onboard), nVidia 7200 GS (PCIe)
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Cybervison ds69T, 17" Starlogic
    Screen Resolution
    1024x768
    Hard Drives
    WD 320GB SATA, Hitachi 1TB SATA
    PSU
    Antec ea-430d 430W
    Case
    Antec 300
    Cooling
    stock cpu, 120mm rear, 140mm top
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wired Desktop 500 (PS/2)
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wired Desktop 500 (USB)
    Internet Speed
    9.32 Mb/s download; 0.36 Mb/s upload
    Other Info
    Other OS's:
    Windows 7 Professional x64, Windows Professional x86, Ubuntu x64
Thanks for responding!

As I mentioned before, I'm no computer expert, so my apologies for asking the most stupid of questions. I F2'd on startup and it says my IDE0 Model is a Toshiba MK5055...does that sound about right?

Also, when I download the diagnostic software, will I need to burn it to a CD or place it on a USB in order to run it (my laptop is inaccessible; I'm working on another computer)? Sorry; this is all very new to me.
 

My Computer

Sounds like a problem with the partition table info not agreeing with the vbr. It might be a bootsector issue -worth trying that first as it is easy.

Boot the 7 dvd to the command prompt if you can, and type

bootsect /nt60 all /mbr

then press enter.

See if that helps.

btw - it is not a Vista issue.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Vista
    CPU
    Intel E8400
    Motherboard
    ASRock1333-GLAN R2.0
    Memory
    4gb DDR2 800
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia 9500GT 1gb
  • Operating System
    win7/vista
    CPU
    intel i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    ballistix 2x8gb 3200
I tried that, and I got the message "No Bootable device...insert boot disc and press any key." I've tested both the windows 7 and vista discs and they both work perfectly. Thank you so much!

However, another problem has arisen; I cannot seem to find my old c drive. How can I get to it? If I do a Windows 7 upgrade, will a windows.old folder be created for my old files? Until I have an idea about the whereabouts or fate of my old C drive, I am reluctant to continue. I have tried to do a Vista upgrade; however the option is disabled, asking me to start the installation from Windows.
 
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My Computer

I have exactly the same issue. I havent tried a Windows 7 CD however.

Was any of the advice given above successful?

I'd really really appreciate some help, if only to recover my files!

Thanks
 

My Computer

I have exactly the same issue. I havent tried a Windows 7 CD however.

Was any of the advice given above successful?

I'd really really appreciate some help, if only to recover my files!

Thanks

I haven't tried the diagnostics yet; however the CMD command that SIW2 suggested seems to have done something helpful. Although I now get a message saying "Boot Device not found...Insert Boot Disc," I can now boot my Vista and Windows 7 cds, although the "Upgrade" option option works on neither.

I'm still awaiting an answer to see how and if I can get to my old files.
 

My Computer

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