Solved Vista boot problem

[Marcelwojdylo]

Hi,

I have a problem that stems purely from me being an idiot. I had installed on my laptop two instances of vista, one that doesnt work because of me messing up the installation (and which tries to boot by default) and another one that works all right. I got irritated with having to choose from the dual boot menu, so I set the timeout to zero. Being an idiot, I forgot to set the default os to the one that works. Now my laptop is stuck in a loop, endlessly trying to boot the os that pretty much isnt there. I also dont really have the option to burn a recovery cd, because I have no other computer. I am writing this from an iPad.

What to do? This dummy needs help.

Marcel

 

[Yard Dog]

Hello, let me get some more info please. How did you install the vista os to begin with ?

 

[richc46]

Assuming that you have a legit copy of Vista and a key, just set the computer to boot from a DVD and then install the DVD and install. Each computer has a different method to set boot priority.
This may work, however
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/205005-boot-priority-change.html
If the copies are not legit, you will continue to have problems, in various, maybe even big, ways.
Your ID, passwords etc may be in jeopardy.

 

[Marcelwojdylo]

Of course, if I had the DVD with me I probably wouldnt be posting here now. The Windows is legit, It was re-installed it from the disc that came with the dell, only I dont have it with me at This moment. I downloaded a restore iso from neosmart and will try putting it on a usb and booting from it when I next get a chance to use a pc with admin privileges. That should help, no?

 

[wither 3]

You ought to be able to hit F8 as soon as the "boot from cd" option comes up during the POST and gain access to the boot options.

 

[Marcelwojdylo]

Hi,

I managed to solve the problem. I got access to a netbook without an optical drive, so burning the recovery CD with it was not an option. What I did instead was I put Ubuntu on a USB drive and booted from it on my laptop, burned the ISO to a CD and restored the PC to the last system restore point. Solved!

This is the link to the recovery CD I bought from NeoSmart. Works like a charm, and spending the 10 bucks sure beats buying a new operating system or messing about with getting it illegally. It's not an installation CD, it is only the windows recovery utility.

Cheers,

Marcel

 

[Yard Dog]

Woot Woot . Glad you are fixed.. * wince *

 

[wither 3]

I'm glad you got it fixed but I think the F8 would have allowed you to boot into Vista and change the timeout.