Vista - Missing winload.exe!

Hey everyone.

I have a really big problem. I was defragmenting my MFT using Diskeeper 2008. This was my second time, in about 6 months. But when I booted up my computer after the defragmentation, I got an error that windows/system32/winload.exe was missing or corrupt, so I couldn't boot windows. I have an HP laptop so I made a recovery disc, but when I booted it, none of the windows options were available, the only option was to restore my computer to it's factory condition.

I'm currently running Linux Knoppix Live DVD and when I went to the system32 folder, I found that winload.exe was missing. So I was wondering if someone with Windows Vista 32-bit, preferably Premier Edition, could send me their winload.exe.

I would really apreciate it if someone could send it to me to imado@hotmail.com ASAP.
Thanks very much!

Hi Utter_iMADNESS,

You might see if doing a Startup Repair can fix the problem for you. This tutorial will show you how to if needed.

Startup Repair

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks for the quick reply.
The problem is that I never got a Vista DVD when I bought my laptop. But when I first set up my computer, it gave me the option to make an HP DVD to repair the computer. Usually when I use this disc, I get all the options including windows restore, repair, etc. But when I try it now, the only option I get is an HP option to restore my computer to the factory default. I've backed up most of my files, but I've got a few important ones that I havn't backed up yet, so a full restore isn't much of an option.

You can use this to run a Startup Repair with on your computer instead.

Create a Recovery Disc

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks for the link. I downloaded the .iso for the x86 but I can't seem to burn it. I know how to burn isos but I've never tried it on Windows 2000. No matter what program i use i keep getting errors. I've already tried ImgBurn but I get some I/O error right when the burning starts.
BTW, is there a way to get it to work off of a usb stick?

I have never tried it with a USB key, so I'm not sure.

I do not know if this will work from doing it in Windows 2000, but are the programs that you are trying compatible with Windows 2000?

I checked and ImgBurn is supposed to be compatible with Windows 2000.
I've also tried putting in onto a usb key but that didn't work either. The only thing that I can think of is to burn it on someone else's computer with a newer operating system. I'll report back after I try the disc.
Thanks for you help so far.

Your welcome. Hopefully it will work better from it.

Shawn

Hi,

Can you indicate the version and build of Diskeeper, and the whether SP1 was installed on your Vista operating system?

It is recommended that you update Diskeeper 2008 to the latest build (781) if you haven't done so already. For the list of changes to 781, you can go here.

The Diskeeper Blog: New Diskeeper 2008 Build (781)

including
6. Boot-time defragmentation is disabled in Windows Vista SP1 and Windows 2008, due to a feature incompatibility on those operating systems / service packs. A correction in a future update will re-enable the feature.


If you need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Tech Support.
Support
Thank you.
Best Regards
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Diskeeper Corporation
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I'm back.
I used the Startup Recovery Disc and it somewhat helped. Now my computer can get past the Windows loading screen, but after that I get 2 errors somewhere along the lines of "autoNTFS.sys not found, skipping" and some other error about a file not being found. Then I get a black screen with the cursor. I can move the cursor but nothing shows up after that.

When I accessed my hard drive through a Linux Ubuntu Live CD, I found that everything under the "Users" folder was erased. This included my music and pictures. Some other folders were also empty. I ran a file recovery program from Linux but I couldn't find any of the missing files, which I assume is because of the corrupt MFT. Luckily I had most of the files backed-up. Since I doubt that this problem is fixable, I'm going to reinstall Vista on my computer after getting as many files possible through Ubuntu.

By the way, I remember once when I upgraded my friend's computer from Premium to Ultimate, Vista game me an option during installation to save all of the files that are already on the computer to a folder instead of deleting them. Is this possible with Vista Home Premium as well?

@DiskeeperRep: Thanks for the informative reply. I think that the problem was that I had SP1. I'm not sure which version of Diskeeper I have (I'll try to check later on) but I do know that it is an older version. I installed Diskeeper at school using an installation file that I had on a USB key since November or December. I also had no internet access so I wasn't able to update it after installation.