Vista - I need to change my %SystemRoot%

I had an initial installation of Vista which for some reason failed down the
road.
When I reinstalled Vista (Beta) it had kept the original Windows directory
only with the name Windows.old while it also created a new Windows directory.
Unfortunately, for some reason Vista thinks that Windows.old is the
%SystemRoot% directory creating all sorts of problems.
I tried through regedit to change it but it wouldn't work
Any ideas?

Hi Ezer,

It sounds to me like you have found one manifestation of a greater problem.
I strongly suggest you move all data off that partition and reformat because
bigger problems WILL arise.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings!

M
--
MDG, MCT
MCSA (2003), MCSA (2000), MCDST.
Certified Small Business Specialist
Visit my blog at http://www.mitpro.ca/Blogs/tabid/59/...2/Default.aspx


"ezervoud" wrote:

> I had an initial installation of Vista which for some reason failed down the
> road.
> When I reinstalled Vista (Beta) it had kept the original Windows directory
> only with the name Windows.old while it also created a new Windows directory.
> Unfortunately, for some reason Vista thinks that Windows.old is the
> %SystemRoot% directory creating all sorts of problems.
> I tried through regedit to change it but it wouldn't work
> Any ideas?

Hi Montreal MCT,

First of all, thanks for your response.
Do I have to be as radical as reformating the disk?
Wont a re-installation suffice?

TIA

"Montreal MCT" wrote:

> Hi Ezer,
>
> It sounds to me like you have found one manifestation of a greater problem.
> I strongly suggest you move all data off that partition and reformat because
> bigger problems WILL arise.
>
> Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings!
>
> M
> --
> MDG, MCT
> MCSA (2003), MCSA (2000), MCDST.
> Certified Small Business Specialist
> Visit my blog at http://www.mitpro.ca/Blogs/tabid/59/...2/Default.aspx
>
>
> "ezervoud" wrote:
>
> > I had an initial installation of Vista which for some reason failed down the
> > road.
> > When I reinstalled Vista (Beta) it had kept the original Windows directory
> > only with the name Windows.old while it also created a new Windows directory.
> > Unfortunately, for some reason Vista thinks that Windows.old is the
> > %SystemRoot% directory creating all sorts of problems.
> > I tried through regedit to change it but it wouldn't work
> > Any ideas?

Hi Montreal MCT,

First of all, thanks for your response.
Do I have to be so radical as to reformat the drive?
Wont a mere reinstallation suffice?

TIA

"Montreal MCT" wrote:

> Hi Ezer,
>
> It sounds to me like you have found one manifestation of a greater problem.
> I strongly suggest you move all data off that partition and reformat because
> bigger problems WILL arise.
>
> Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings!
>
> M
> --
> MDG, MCT
> MCSA (2003), MCSA (2000), MCDST.
> Certified Small Business Specialist
> Visit my blog at http://www.mitpro.ca/Blogs/tabid/59/...2/Default.aspx
>
>
> "ezervoud" wrote:
>
> > I had an initial installation of Vista which for some reason failed down the
> > road.
> > When I reinstalled Vista (Beta) it had kept the original Windows directory
> > only with the name Windows.old while it also created a new Windows directory.
> > Unfortunately, for some reason Vista thinks that Windows.old is the
> > %SystemRoot% directory creating all sorts of problems.
> > I tried through regedit to change it but it wouldn't work
> > Any ideas?

Hi Ezer,

The reason I suggested reformatting is because it sounds like a 'mere
re-installation' is what got you into this in the first place. Reformatting
would clear out all your existing directories and let you start clean. In
most cases it will be faster than trying to clean everything out by hand.

Good luck!

M
--
MDG, MCT
MCSA (2003), MCSA (2000), MCDST.
Certified Small Business Specialist
Visit my blog at http://www.mitpro.ca/Blogs/tabid/59/...2/Default.aspx


"ezervoud" wrote:

> Hi Montreal MCT,
>
> First of all, thanks for your response.
> Do I have to be as radical as reformating the disk?
> Wont a re-installation suffice?
>
> TIA
>
> "Montreal MCT" wrote:
>
> > Hi Ezer,
> >
> > It sounds to me like you have found one manifestation of a greater problem.
> > I strongly suggest you move all data off that partition and reformat because
> > bigger problems WILL arise.
> >
> > Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings!
> >
> > M
> > --
> > MDG, MCT
> > MCSA (2003), MCSA (2000), MCDST.
> > Certified Small Business Specialist
> > Visit my blog at http://www.mitpro.ca/Blogs/tabid/59/...2/Default.aspx
> >
> >
> > "ezervoud" wrote:
> >
> > > I had an initial installation of Vista which for some reason failed down the
> > > road.
> > > When I reinstalled Vista (Beta) it had kept the original Windows directory
> > > only with the name Windows.old while it also created a new Windows directory.
> > > Unfortunately, for some reason Vista thinks that Windows.old is the
> > > %SystemRoot% directory creating all sorts of problems.
> > > I tried through regedit to change it but it wouldn't work
> > > Any ideas?

Hi Montreal MCT,

As it turned out I was luckier than I thought :-)
Windows had created a second instance.
The first one with %SystemRoot% under Windows.old and the 2nd one under
Windows.
Through "System Configuration" I was able to change my default boot profile
to the latter and eventually I will take windows.old entirely out

Thanks for your responses!
EZervoud

"Montreal MCT" wrote:

> Hi Ezer,
>
> The reason I suggested reformatting is because it sounds like a 'mere
> re-installation' is what got you into this in the first place. Reformatting
> would clear out all your existing directories and let you start clean. In
> most cases it will be faster than trying to clean everything out by hand.
>
> Good luck!
>
> M
> --
> MDG, MCT
> MCSA (2003), MCSA (2000), MCDST.
> Certified Small Business Specialist
> Visit my blog at http://www.mitpro.ca/Blogs/tabid/59/...2/Default.aspx
>
>
> "ezervoud" wrote:
>
> > Hi Montreal MCT,
> >
> > First of all, thanks for your response.
> > Do I have to be as radical as reformating the disk?
> > Wont a re-installation suffice?
> >
> > TIA
> >
> > "Montreal MCT" wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Ezer,
> > >
> > > It sounds to me like you have found one manifestation of a greater problem.
> > > I strongly suggest you move all data off that partition and reformat because
> > > bigger problems WILL arise.
> > >
> > > Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings!
> > >
> > > M
> > > --
> > > MDG, MCT
> > > MCSA (2003), MCSA (2000), MCDST.
> > > Certified Small Business Specialist
> > > Visit my blog at http://www.mitpro.ca/Blogs/tabid/59/...2/Default.aspx
> > >
> > >
> > > "ezervoud" wrote:
> > >
> > > > I had an initial installation of Vista which for some reason failed down the
> > > > road.
> > > > When I reinstalled Vista (Beta) it had kept the original Windows directory
> > > > only with the name Windows.old while it also created a new Windows directory.
> > > > Unfortunately, for some reason Vista thinks that Windows.old is the
> > > > %SystemRoot% directory creating all sorts of problems.
> > > > I tried through regedit to change it but it wouldn't work
> > > > Any ideas?