Vista recovery installation on Dell system w/o original media?

[CZroe]

A neighbor who I owe a big favor to brought me this notebook which gives a blue-screen during boot even when selecting Safe Mode or Command Prompt. She was borrowing it from her mother and it has a lot of her important real estate software on it, so I'd prefer not to wipe everything.

Last Known Good Config doesn't fix it, there are no restore points to restore to, the recovery console can't automatically fix the problem, and the Dell restoration software does not have a non-destructive restore option. Poop. Is there a way to do an XP-style "recovery installation" if I can obtain the proper media? What type of disc will I need to do this on a Dell Windows Vista Premium system? Will any OEM disc work? Should I just use the key from the CoA? I can't boot to run a keyfinder.

With any other eventuality, it looks like I'm going to need to do a factory restore or fresh install then restore files manually. So... onto the backup. Isn't it funny that MS doesn't give you a way to create a drive image before doing anything irreversible to it? 😀 I'm ready to image the drive (removed and in an external HDD dock), but I'm wondering: What imaging software should I use? Is there anything that makes images compatible with Microsoft's built-in imaging tools?

Thanks.

 

[CZroe]

To elaborate, startup repair says

"Root cause found:
-----------------------
A recent driver installation or upgrade may be preventing the system from starting.

Repair action: System files integrity check and repair
Result: Failed. Error code = 0x4005
Time taken = 250 ms"

When I pick Command Line the last thing I see before it blue-screens is "crcdisk.sys" which must be what it checks the file integrity with.

Edit: Blue-screen contents
"STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The initial session process or system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0x00000000 (0xc0000001 0x001005c4).
The system has been shut down."

 

[airdata]

you can do the vista startup repair with ANY windows vista media, doesn't even have to match the version installed.

I've done this w\ a laptop using an xp vista business dvd.

 

[CZroe]

you can do the vista startup repair with ANY windows vista media, doesn't even have to match the version installed.

I've done this w\ a laptop using an xp vista business dvd.

Thanks.

If it's the same thing as I get above with the recovery console's startup repair function, it won't work. I'm looking for a repair installation as that "next step." Does Vista have any thing like that?

 

[corkyg]

Looks like a serious problem. My first suggestion is to remove the HDD from the laptop, put it in an external case, and extract all the important realestate software and files. The data is the primary target. Once you have all that backed up and verified, you can do a fresh install. A pain, yes, . . . but sometimes it's the only way.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I can't boot to run a keyfinder.

I seem to recall reading that at least one keyfinder, can mount an external registry file to find the key from a non-booting install.

Edit: If you have a COA, then the actual installed key is not needed, nor all that useful, as the pre-installed keys are not able to be activated online or over the phone. They are only for SLP activation.

 

[ViRGE]

I seem to recall reading that at least one keyfinder, can mount an external registry file to find the key from a non-booting install.

Edit: If you have a COA, then the actual installed key is not needed, nor all that useful, as the pre-installed keys are not able to be activated online or over the phone. They are only for SLP activation.

Magical Jelly Bean can mount registry hives to recover keys.