Urgent: Vista Boot Problem

Danger Phoenix

Danger Phoenix

Danger Phoenix

Soldato
Joined
21 Jul 2004
Posts
6,360
Location
Harrow, UK
I originally had Windows XP Pro installed, and I installed Windows Vista Ultimate on another partition on another hard disk.

Everything worked well with the Vista Bootloader etc for about 2 weeks, until earlier today when I decided I didn't need Windows XP any more.

I deleted the Windows XP partition and merged it back with the rest of that drive...

When I rebooted, I got the error:

NTLDR missing

I booted from the Vista DVD and did the following:
Startup Repair
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootsect.exe /nt60 c:

Then when I booted I got the error:

BOOTMGR missing

I took my hard disk and copied this file from my friends machine...

Now I get the error:

File:\Boot\BCD
Status: 0xc000000f
Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data

I have just tried this:

bootrec /rebuildbcd

And it finds the installation at C:\Windows and asks me to type Yes, which I do...

I think get the error:

The requested system device cannot be found


I am assuming that all the bootloader and bcd files were on the Windows XP partition I deleted... so this Windows is more or less stranded :(


What on Earth can I do? I need this system up and running as soon as possible, and formatting isn't really much of an option as I have a lot of university work to do.
 
Did you copy the boot folder aswell? You need that and the bootmgr file in the root. The repair boot option off the DVD should fix that though
 
I didn't have quite the same issue but after already having XP installed and then installing Vista I wanted to move all the boot stuff to another volume so I could re-letter drives in both o/s'.

Got this boomarked which helped me at the time..

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919529/en-us

might be worth a read.

I think you may need a combination of the Vista disc, bootsec and bcedit.

iirc I trashed it all on one volume and re created on another.
 
chaosophy said:
I didn't have quite the same issue but after already having XP installed and then installing Vista I wanted to move all the boot stuff to another volume so I could re-letter drives in both o/s'.

Got this boomarked which helped me at the time..

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919529/en-us

might be worth a read.

I think you may need a combination of the Vista disc, bootsec and bcedit.

iirc I trashed it all on one volume and re created on another.
Click to expand...

Right, I tried that and I get the same errors:

The boot configuration data store could not be opened.
The requested system device cannot be found.

When I try and do anything with bcdedit :(
 
:( not good.

You definitely doing this line...

\boot\Bootsect.exe /NT60 All

I'm fairly sure that's the one that should stick all the bits you need on the drive.

Like I say my issue was slightly different and tbh I can't remember exactly what I did.

found this about bootrec aswell...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392/en-us

though it's similar to what you've tried.

There really must be a way to get it back up and running though as the install and all your data should still be there.

Only other options I can think are look for ERD/repair CD's or tools to download or risk reinstalling Vista straight over the to of your current install.
 
chaosophy said:
:( not good.

You definitely doing this line...

\boot\Bootsect.exe /NT60 All

I'm fairly sure that's the one that should stick all the bits you need on the drive.

Like I say my issue was slightly different and tbh I can't remember exactly what I did.

found this about bootrec aswell...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392/en-us

though it's similar to what you've tried.

There really must be a way to get it back up and running though as the install and all your data should still be there.

Only other options I can think are look for ERD/repair CD's or tools to download or risk reinstalling Vista straight over the to of your current install.
Click to expand...


Yes, that is exactly what I am doing :confused:

When I first try and go into the Recovery part, it does not even detect my Windows installation, but I can access all the drives, so I know it is nothing to do with the SATA drivers.

For some strange reason, the requested system device cannot be found when I try and run that :confused:
 
It's an odd one :confused: but there must be a way.

Have you tried playing with the HDD order in BIOS? And also deleting, moving or renaming any and all boot related files, inc hidden ones, from all drives and partitions. Then starting again.

I need to sleep now as I'm getting tired and my brains not up to speed. If I think of anything more tomorrow I'll pop in with a post but do let us know if anything changes. How desperate is it that you need it done now, maybe with a fresh head tomorrow you'll have better luck?

good luck.
 
My Vista partition is the only drive with any boot files on...

My housemate has gone to bed now, so I do not have access to his PC again until the morning - I had been puting my drive in his machine to copy the bootmgr files etc onto it.

Shall I clear all this files in the morning and start from scratch?

Tomorrow was going to be dedicated to my university work, but this problem needs to be sorted urgently... so I guess I will have to work on it tomorrow.

If you think of anything, it would be greatly appreciated if you could let me know as soon as possible :)
 
I think I am getting that problem because it needs the SATA drivers. I have the GA-K8NXP-9 motherboard and I have tried quiet a few of the nForce4 Vista drivers, but it does not seem to work :(
 
Well... good news is that I fixed it!

I am not sure why I was getting that error all the time, but plugging the DVD-RW into the same set of SATA ports as my Vista HDD meant that it was fixed in 5 minutes.

I guess Windows just doesn't like the Silicon Controller :p
 
\o/ good news that you got it fixed. wasn't around yesterday to pop in. But glad you sorted it. Wonder if it was the controller or a drive order issue?
 
It is definitely the Silicon controller, because when I set the DVDRW as the first boot, it tries to boot from that drive regardless of whether there is a disc in the drive or a bootable one. If there is a disc, it boots without giving me the option of "press any key to boot from CD/DVD" and if there isn't, it tries a network boot instead of going to the next boot entry.

Put the drive on the other nVidia ports and it works fine...

Well at least I now know that I can't install Windows when the DVDRW is plugging into the Silicon ports :)
 
Good stuff. And hopefully your pain in this thread will help someone fix theirs sometime.
So many problem threads seem to end with no solution posted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom