Vista reverts to Setup on reboot

P

purbeck

New Member
After a full powerdown, Vista reboots into the inital Setup routine instead of logging in as normal. I getthe screens asking me for timezone, language etc, followed by "Create User ID" i.e Vista is reinstalling itself.

Any suggestions as to a) why this is happening and b) how to fix it would be very gratefully received!

Thanks....
 

My Computer

System One

Hi,

Did the install finish the first time?
Have you ever completed the install routine?

You need to complete it!

Post back if that is the issue i.e. you cannot complete the install because it keeps rebooting & repeating the same functions/ requests again & again?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP-Pavilion m9280.uk-a
    CPU
    2.30 gigahertz AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-Core
    Motherboard
    ASUSTek Computer INC. NARRA3 3.02
    Memory
    3582 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory (4 Gig)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS NVIDIA Geforce GTS450
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition 7.1 Audio (HP drivers)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2408 24.0" (Dual monitor)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1200, 1920 * 1200
    Hard Drives
    3*500 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
    Plus 2x USB (160Gig each) external HDD
    BluRay & DVD Weiters
    HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L SCSI CdRom (Bluray RW) Device
    AlViDrv BDDVDROM SCSI CdRom (Blueray) Device
    TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653N SCSI CdRom
    Internet Speed
    40 Meg
OK, should have explained better....

Machine has been running perfectly for the last year, but after a powerdown earlier today it has lost all record of the installation and boots into the final part of the Setup program, asking for user IDs etc. It's as if the system has reinstalled itself, although how this could have occurred I have no idea!
Very confused....
 

My Computer

System One

purbeck said:
after a powerdown earlier today
Click to expand...

Hi,

When you say the above what exactly happened?

How did the power down take place, power cut, power button (5 seconds or instant off) etc?

Did it boot with a blue screen message & reboot again?

What exactly was you doing or in the middle of?

You must be using another PC to post you messages, yes or have you completed the boot up sequence?

All of the above will indicate what has happend & the best way out of the situation.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP-Pavilion m9280.uk-a
    CPU
    2.30 gigahertz AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-Core
    Motherboard
    ASUSTek Computer INC. NARRA3 3.02
    Memory
    3582 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory (4 Gig)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS NVIDIA Geforce GTS450
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition 7.1 Audio (HP drivers)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2408 24.0" (Dual monitor)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1200, 1920 * 1200
    Hard Drives
    3*500 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
    Plus 2x USB (160Gig each) external HDD
    BluRay & DVD Weiters
    HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L SCSI CdRom (Bluray RW) Device
    AlViDrv BDDVDROM SCSI CdRom (Blueray) Device
    TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653N SCSI CdRom
    Internet Speed
    40 Meg
OK, further research has identified that the system is displaying all the characteristics of a fresh install because that's what's happened!

Machine was powered down properly and without apparent problems. But it seems that my son (who's PC it is) has somehow been presented on startup with some sort of "Reinstall WIndows?" option and must have selected Yes, Unattended. Being autistic, he's not able enough to understand what this means, nor regrettably able to explain things clearly, and it looks like he has now obliterated all trace of the previous installation. Including all the Restore points.

So my hope now is that I can finish the reinstall, then try to recover some of the data files. Looks like I'm going to be busy.

Any ideas what might have caused the option for an unattended reinstall to appear? I've got a lovely big logfile in the \Windows\Panther directory that shows what happened, but not why.

Heigh-ho :cry:
 

My Computer

System One

Ok, well that at least gives a reason.

Do you have a F11 or F12 option on booting? Recovery system activation, it's one option & perhaps an explanaton!

If you enter the Bios you may be able to deselect access to these displayed options on booting without entering the Bios first. This too could be password protected & prevent further accidental selections.

OK?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP-Pavilion m9280.uk-a
    CPU
    2.30 gigahertz AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-Core
    Motherboard
    ASUSTek Computer INC. NARRA3 3.02
    Memory
    3582 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory (4 Gig)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS NVIDIA Geforce GTS450
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition 7.1 Audio (HP drivers)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2408 24.0" (Dual monitor)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1200, 1920 * 1200
    Hard Drives
    3*500 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
    Plus 2x USB (160Gig each) external HDD
    BluRay & DVD Weiters
    HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L SCSI CdRom (Bluray RW) Device
    AlViDrv BDDVDROM SCSI CdRom (Blueray) Device
    TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653N SCSI CdRom
    Internet Speed
    40 Meg
Hi purbeck,

Since I at least am not even certain I know what happened much less why, please attach a copy of that logfile (zipped if necessary) to your next reply as knowing what may help explain why. For example, I don't quite understand how any log file survived the re-installation process - it should have been wiped with everything else. There are several reasons the option could have appeared - some through manual means (like pushing a button during bootup) and some automatic (like some type of system-related problem where the boot process didn't connect properly with the system partition on your hard drive). Maybe the log will tell us. Maybe we will never fully understand. A BIOS password may help prevent it from happening again (or it may not help at all - but it probably won't hurt except to add more time and effort to the boot procedure).

Here are some free recovery programs which might help. Files aren't actually deleted until they are overwritten (though they're no longer available through conventional methods). If you decide to try these recovery programs, you should stop using your hard drive immediately (before even re-installing unless it's too late for that) so you don't overwrite the data you are trying to recover. Slave it to another PC and run the recovery from that PC. Even now you may have permanently lost some of them if you're using that same PC or you have completed the re-installation. If you can't do that (slave to another PC), you run the risk of overwriting the data with every action you do on the PC (but you still may be able to recover some or many of the files - it's a matter of luck).

http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/system/fwdatarecovery.html(try Recuva ONLY - do not purchase any products that aren’t free – here or in any of the other links – I’m just suggesting the FREE options and have had problems with some of the commercial ones)

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/diskdigger.html(try this second - if it doesn’t work either chances of recovery are very slim but you can try the other options if you wish)

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/easusdfr.html

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html

http://www.snapfiles.com/downloads/recuva/dlrecuva.html

http://www.softperfect.com/products/filerecovery/

http://techpaul.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/how-to-recover-your-lost-files/

Only you can decide if the data is important enough to take the PC to a data recovery expert to recover the files (they will have better programs and equipment to do so than any of us do and than I provided above). Do NOT go to Geek Squad or any of those big store centers - they mostly don't know what they're doing - take it to a data recovery expert. It will cost quite a bit (I mean, a LOT) and they usually offer no guarantees – you typically pay the same price if they recover everything or if they recover nothing. Even for them, recovering data from a clean re-installation is difficult. The decision is yours.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. MP061 Inspiron E1705
    CPU
    2.00 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo 64 kilobyte primary memory
    Motherboard
    Board: Dell Inc. 0YD479 Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
    Memory
    2046 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) [Di
    Sound Card
    SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (17.2"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n SB2411SJGLLRMB, rev SB4OC74P, SMART Status: Healthy
    Case
    Chassis Serial Number: 5YK95C1
    Keyboard
    Standard PS/2 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech HID-compliant Cordless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    1958 Kbps download ; 754.8 Kbps upload
    Other Info
    Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-5540A ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]

    Dell AIO Printer A940

    Conexant HDA D110 MDC V.92 Modem

    6TO4 Adapter
    Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
    Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter
    Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
    Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

    Router Linksys / WRT54G -01
Sometimes if a computer does not start correctly, the factory reset will appear on Advanced Startup Options, depending on what computer manufacterer you have. Has all of the manufacterer junk re-appeared? It will get us closer (restore to factory settings, or re-install)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz
    Motherboard
    Stock Dell 0TP406
    Memory
    4 gb (DDR2 800) 400MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 3870 (512 MBytes)
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 x Dell 2007FP and 1 x (old) Sonic flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200 and 1280 x 1204
    Hard Drives
    1 x 640Gb (SATA 300)
    Western Digital: WDC WD6400AAKS-75A7B0

    1 x 1Tb (SATA 600)
    Western Digital: Caviar Black, SATA 6GB/S, 64Mb cache, 8ms
    Western Digital: WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 ATA Device
    PSU
    Stock PSU - 375W
    Case
    Dell XPS 420
    Cooling
    Stock Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell Bluetooth
    Mouse
    Advent Optical ADE-WG01 (colour change light up)
    Internet Speed
    120 kb/s
    Other Info
    ASUS USB 3.0 5Gbps/SATA 6Gbps - PCI-Express Combo Controller Card (U3S6)
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