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General discussion

Vista won't boot anymore in a dual boot with XP

Aug 4, 2010 12:20AM PDT

Here is the situation. I have a HP laptop with 2 hard drives. The first hard drive with Vista Home Premium preinstalled is on C: and there is a hidden partition D: which has the HP reinstall volume.

I added a second hard drive containing the XP installation and used EasyBCD to create the dual-boot. It has been working just fine until yesterday when the boot failed. The bluish "aurora borealis"-like vista splash screen pops up briefly, then nothing but black screen although mouse pointer still works.

After many reboots and chkdsk, I can now boot into the XP installation just fine, and can see the Vista disk just fine. (Not a hardware issue).

Can't boot into Vista. I have tried the Vista startup repair options, which at first found errors and "repaired" them. Still won't boot.

When I run the startup repair option again, it does not find any more errors.

I cannot get into vista safe mode.

I cannot do a system restore (none found).

From the startup recovery options...command prompt, I ran bootrec /scanos, and it did not find a vista entry.

I would like to "repair" vista and keep all programs and data intact without having to do a clean install.

What if I used the vista install dvd and clicked the "upgrade" option? Would it see the current vista installation and install over it with everything intact, or would it do a clean install? Any other options to try to repair the vista boot?
Thanks, DSA

Discussion is locked

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This can be costly. Here's why.
Aug 4, 2010 12:29AM PDT

These preinstalled Windows don't include the bootable Vista Retail DVD we need to perform the deeper repairs. And that XP install is telling. You may have installed XP and damaged the Vista in some odd way. Since we don't have a retail Vista DVD the repair is limited to a wipe out and start over.

Once your files are safe you might want to try the rebuild BCD noted at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392 After that you try the export and delete then rebuild noted at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

Any thoughts why it failed?
Bob

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Dual boot has been fine for a couple years
Aug 4, 2010 12:39AM PDT

I should mention that all has been well with the dual boot for a couple of years since I got the machine. Don't know why it just generated the errors. I do have a Microsoft (not HP) Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD that I have booted from to try the repair options first. It also has an "upgrade" option. I am wondering if I did an "upgrade" to Home Premium over my existing Home Premium, if it would keeps things intact or just wipe it all out.
Any thoughts? I don't want to trash my XP install and plan on using that to backup files on the vista disk before I try anything else.
Thanks

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Let's get a basic item out of the way.
Aug 4, 2010 12:46AM PDT

"We only lose what we didn't backup."

As to the Vista Anytime DVD, I have never used it. I have used retail versions but not that DVD. Since the results of what will happen next is unknown it is important to not put files at risk during repair.

You may have asked why but the reason may never be known. Last week it was a root kit (virus) and this week it could be bad ram. The causes are all over the map but the cures are the usual but limited by what tools we have. It's a shame that we have so many variants of the Windows CD/DVD. Not everyone has the same parts so we're never sure of the results.
Bob

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Which KB at Microsoft
Aug 4, 2010 1:02AM PDT

You are spot on about the backups. I have all critical stuff backed up already. Just some older movies and things like that which I will need to move. In your post above, both links point to the same KB. I have already tried the bootrec /scanos which did NOT find the vista install. So you suggest the rebuild command?

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They wrote this.
Aug 4, 2010 1:05AM PDT

"Note If rebuilding the BCD does not resolve the startup issue, you can export and delete the BCD, and then run this option again. By doing this, you make sure that the BCD is completely rebuilt. To do this, type the following commands at the Windows RE command prompt:"

You may or may not have done that but it seems a shame not to give that one last shot.
Bob

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I see the note now
Aug 4, 2010 1:11AM PDT

I have not yet tried that, as I would think it would wipe out any entry that EasyBCD has created to allow me to boot into XP, which works fine right now. If I proceed with that rebuild of the BCD, and it does not work, it may be doubtful that I could get back into XP, and I must be prepared to reinstall both OS. It is a daunting prospect.

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Back to easybcd?
Aug 4, 2010 1:17AM PDT

Sorry but this is why I don't use other boot managers other than GRUB and the native Windows versions. I found EASYBCD support to be at http://neosmart.net/forums/?getforum=5

Sorry but I don't use that.
Bob

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PS.
Aug 4, 2010 1:24AM PDT
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just posted there
Aug 4, 2010 1:34AM PDT

Thanks just posted there as well....

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FYI Nothing worked
Aug 6, 2010 5:29AM PDT

FYI, all my troubles have been for naught. I ultimately ran Western Digital utility which confirmed that there were hard drive errors which are non-repairable. I would assume bad sectors which contained some of the Vista startup information. The drive is ultimately corrupted. I have backed up all the important items and will install a new drive and do a clean install. Bit of a pain, but I see no way around it.

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Ahh.
Aug 6, 2010 5:37AM PDT

That makes a lot of sense. I didn't know there was a hard drive bad spot issue. Otherwise I would have tossed in the towel on the drive sooner.

You don't have to share but does this drive have a make and model number? Also what make model laptop?
Bob

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I did not think hardware issue at first either...
Aug 6, 2010 6:08AM PDT

In fact, when it first encountered the error, windows ran the startup repair options which claimed it had corrected errors. Even when I got into XP, I ran scandisk from there and it reported all was well.

It was only after trying alot of software fixes that I ran the Western Digital utility which reported the non-repairable issues.

Well, we all learn, and next time there is a peculiar problem, I will think to check the drive with the manufacturers utility and not rely on the windows tools.

Both drives in the HP DV 9207us (DV9000 series) laptop are Western Digital WD1200BEVS.

When I get the new drive, I will post my results.
Cheers

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The DV9000 series cooks things.
Aug 6, 2010 8:59AM PDT

That model is sadly a subject of much discussion. To learn more type DV9000 RECALL at google. Your exact model may not be on the list but I've encountered too many DV6000/9000s over the past few years. These run hot and cook parts.
Bob

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MB already replaced
Aug 6, 2010 10:26AM PDT

Interesting, about a year ago, I had the dreaded hinge break problem due to overheating of the video card. HP replaced the hinge, cooling mechanism and the motherboard. It has all been fine since then. Now, I am just hoping it is the corrupted hard drive, for whatever reason hard drives fail, and not the sata controller on a fubar motherboard.

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New HDD seems to be the cure
Aug 10, 2010 12:57PM PDT

Well, I thought I would post a note to say that the new hard drive with a clean install of windows 7 seemed to work. I suspect that the "no boot" issue must have been that some of the boot info was on a corrupted sector, and not a software issue.
Just need to copy over some data and setup the dual boot again and the laptop will be back in business.

Cheers, DSA

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Thanks for the final report.
Aug 10, 2010 1:09PM PDT

I know HD loss is painful but it sounds like you are on recovery road.
Bob