Repair Install For Vista

Shawn,

I want to repair my Vista Home Premium system, so I followed your instructions to create a Vista iso file that incorporates SP1 and burn a DVD using vLite. Well, it starts, but it won't let me "upgrade." That option is grayed out and a note says I have to upgrade to a version that is more recent than the version installed. Dumb, because it's the same version. So I'm stuck. The only option is to get out of the installation. What should I do next? My MAIN problem right now is that Windows Media Player crashes as soon as it starts up. I was on line with the Chat people at Microsoft last night for over 2 hours trying to fix it. Then they went home during one of my reboots. Any ideas? There have been other odd things that happen as well where a program will stop responding for a while, then comes alive again if I wait long enough. Some never return. So there's something really buggy about this installation (it was a clean "scratch" install), and I thought a repair might fix it, but there was the SP1 issue. I'm getting to like Vista less and less.

Bob

Hi Bob, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Is your copy of Vista a Updrade or Full version? I'm noticing that the Full version will not give the option to select Upgrade for some reason. This is from either booting from the DVD or running it from within Vista.

Shawn

Hi I have a oem dvd of vista home premium but somehow when it setup it omitted the system volume shadow copy service so now i find i cannot use system restore. sfc /scannow says there are no errors with the system files though when i try to find the shadow copy service i get told its not installed so i cannot restart it. I was hoping i could use repair install to correct this but it seems like it is going to be a problem. I have not been given the option of vist sp1 cause i think the volumer shadow copy service is not operating. I am loathe to clean install the program again cause 1) if it didnt install last time what is to stop it failing to install it again and 2) cause of the programs i have paid to download some of which had to be installed in a specific time. Is there any way around this. I have tried the microsoft forums but the silence is deafening.

Hi Vijayl,

Is your OEM Vista installation DVD a recovery or express DVD? If it is an express DVD, then you should be able to use it to do this Repair (Upgrade) install without losing your programs.

A recovery DVD will only let you do a clean install though.

Shawn

Thank you very much Shaun it worked.

Your welcome Vijayl. I'm happy to hear that it worked for you.

Shawn

Will the repair installation work the same way outside of Vista (e.g., booting from the CD)? I've created a slipstream CD with SP1 following your (great) instructions, and wonder if this will work when installing a new motherboard and processor--that is, choose "upgrade" from the slipstream CD as a way of clearing out old MB drivers and loading new ones. If so, would the instructions about leaving the Product Key empty be the same? (I realize that I'm probably going to need to do a phone activation irrespective because of the hardware changes.)
I know a clean installation would be better, but I'd like to avoid it if possible....

Hi URTHJ,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

Sorry, but when you have a new motherboard and CPU, it's best to do a clean install for Vista to run properly with them instead.

A Repair (upgrade) install will not run from booting to the CD/DVD, only from within the OS. Plus, it will not delete the old drivers.


Sorry,
Shawn

Yeah, I know a clean install is "best," but I think I'll give the upgrade/repair route a try. At least under XP and 2000, Microsoft noted you could do this via an upgrade from within the OS and then, on the first reboot, turn off the computer, replace the motherboard, and then continue (or do a "repair" booting from the OS disk with the new motherboard). See How to replace the motherboard on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000. This reinstalls the HAL and other drivers appropriate for the new motherboard. It isn't clear to me that Vista operates, for this purpose, any differently--and I'm game to give it a try. (I'm not certain whether setting the "detect HAL" option in msconfig adds anything to that or not.) As for old, unneeded drivers, some may be able to be removed manually.

At least, I'm going to give it a try. The worst that happens (I hope) is that I waste some time before doing a clean install and reloading all the programs.... It will be a couple of days before I get around to it; I'll post how it goes.
Thanks.

Ok URTHJ,

I'm looking forward to hearing your results.

Shawn