Windows has failed to start

[Souljacker]

A friend's machine has failed to start and asks him to insert the windows vista dvd in to repair it. He clicks on repair my computer and it either cannot find a problem or cannot fix the problem.

He has recently bought a Windows 7 upgrade and wants to install it, without losing his files, but he needs vista to start first! :S

He has also tried to repair using the win 7 dvd, on the off change.

Any ideas? I'm totally stumped!

 

[swinnie]

Download a live Linux CD, my favourite has always been SLAX. Boot from the Linux CD, and copy all of his files to an external hard drive, or memory stick to back them up.

Then do a full, new, installation of Windows 7. Doing an upgrade on that current install wouldn't be a good idea - even on "working" machines, they can cause issues - clean install is always worth doing.

 

[nutsnut]

If your friend had multiple HDD remove or diable all the other HDD other than the one with the OS installed on it. Some time Windows puts the Boot loader on a separte drive.

Other wise, as above boot a Live linux CD (i use Ubuntu via USB) and copy contents of old HDD.

A clean install is always best.