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How to Repair Windows Vista Without a Vista DVD Disc

Posted By Raymond In Category: Computer

Dec
21
2007
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I received a very good question from “blackrose” in forum on “how do you install Windows XP, if one does not have Vista DVD.” Since you’re installing Windows XP on Vista, do you still need Vista DVD? The answer is yes and no. You will still need Vista DVD to do a repair on the bootloader because XP bootloader can’t be used to boot Vista.
Repair Vista without DVD
If you own a branded computer or laptop such as Acer, Dell or HP, chances are they only provide you with recovery partition or a recovery DVD without Windows Vista DVD.

I also answered “no” because there are ways to install XP on Vista without Vista DVD to repair the bootloader. For people who don’t have Vista DVD but would like to install XP with Vista installed first, you don’t need to download or borrow Vista from friends just to use the repair feature!


There are 2 ways of doing it. The easy way and also the hard way.

Easy way is to download a 120MB ISO file from EasyBCD website. They’ve uploaded a copy of a CD that contains the contents of the “Repair your computer” section of the Windows Vista DVD. You can download Windows Vista Recovery Disc from here. Once you’ve finished downloading, burn Vista_Recovery_Disc.iso with Nero or your favorite disc burning software and boot up your computer with the CD.

The hard way is to build a VistaPE environment using the free WAIK download from Microsoft. The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) helps you to install, customize, and deploy the Microsoft Windows Vista family of operating systems. The WAIK is a whopping 992.2 MB in size.

Which method would you use to repair Windows Vista if you don’t have a Vista DVD? I’d definitely go for the easy way. It’s 120MB but at least it’s much smaller compared to 992MB! Moreover, I don’t need to manually build the VistaPE. In the world of computer servicing, speed is very important. That is how I keep all my clients happy :)


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    • Pingback: How to Dual Boot Vista and XP with Vista Installed First » Raymond.CC Blog

    • Myname

      Hello Raymond, my compliments for the blog I happened onto by chance, technically and visually. I have a question if you can share..what is the blog software you use? I have my own web space and I would like to implement a solution without using the ready made spaces etc..Compliments again

    • webcadre

      i have vista installed in my pc and i awant to re-install it should i use the easy way or hard way??

      i got it from a friend and i don`t have the dvd vista with me,

      what do you think the possible way for me???

    • ghost

      thanks Raymond for this good informative blog!!

    • mory

      i used VistaBootPRO
      that is very great program for repairing vista boot from windows xp
      :)

    • http://www.raymond.cc/ Raymond

      mory, VistaBootPRO don’t work this way. If you have Vista preinstalled and you install XP, you can’t use VistaBootPRO to repair the bootloader.

    • zmnoor

      With the latest motherboard, usage of sata and usb world wide usage.
      I would an advice from you is there any adapter that can can utilised the ide drive to 3 or 4 connector for ide hard drive? or the floppy drive convert to ide drive?

    • kkk

      I download Windows Vista Recovery Disc from here. Once you’ve finished downloading, burn Vista_Recovery_Disc.iso with Nero to a CD. After reboot from this CD, it just gives me the dos prompt, it does not get me into Vista ? Something I missed ?

    • http://Thanks Anders

      Thanks Raymond, it worked great!

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    • Roger Bartholemew

      Actually, there is an even easier way provided on the same website you linked to (the EasyBCD one).

      http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Vista+Bootloader+with+EasyBCD

      So long as you can boot into XP, all you need is to install a copy of EasyBCD (1.5MB only) and use it to fix the Vista bootloader, without having to dowload a 120MB file or anything.

      I found out about it in their forums at http://neosmart.net/forums/ where they are very helpful.

    • Zeke

      I have a HP Pavilion dv6000 that came with Vista installed. I made a set of recovery disks. Can I now delete the Recovery partition?

    • goodfellas_bird

      i have a acer laptop and someone wiped vista of to install xp setup failed because it could not find the hardrive disk ermm im lost is it fooked now lol i got vista recovery disc i see u said on here but that hasent worked i really dont know what i can do ??? thx

    • http://NeedtofixVistapreinstalled Roman General

      I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop a215-s4757 with Vista pre-installed. I have scanned it and have found hundreds of errors. Of course it crashes everyday. I have rebooted twice with disc provided from maker. Once having deleted the hard drive. It still crashes.

      I have downloaded the 120mb Vista recovery disc and burned it to dvd. I’m hoping this will fix these issues and stop the crashing.

      My first question is will it and do you have any advice on how I should proceed?

      Second question, do you know of a freeware or shareware program that will scan and fix errors thats not a trial version?

    • Blerb

      Roman General: I do not know of any OS error checking programs, but if you are using a trial version like you say, it is quite possible it is giving you fake errors.

    • Myn

      another option would be bartpe….. alot more options than micro…. one

    • hans

      Je kan natuurlijk ook Linux Ubuntu nemen.
      Installeert en start altijd vanaf usb of cd. Installatie op schijf of standalone.
      Reinstallatie zonder gegevens verlies. Alles is een peuleschil.

      Verder alle mogelijkheden die Win ook heeft, maar veel sneller en stabieler en kleiner

    • http://vistarecoverydisk tuxedo

      Hey there,

      I followed the advice above and burned neosmart recovery disk to dvd using isoburner. The thing is the laptop (Toshiba satellite pro) wont boot up from it and just loads up as normal.
      I have checked the dvd and it has three folders: bootmgr, boot, and sources.

      Am i doing somethign wrong?

      Cheers 4 help.

    • j-sin

      Windows cannot open the required file E:\Sources\Install.wim The file does not exit. Make sure all files required for installation are available and restart the installation. Error code: 0×80070002
      was habe ich falsch gemacht bzw. muss ich tun
      MfG

    • j-sin

      Windows cannot open the required file E:\Sources\Install.wim The file does not exit. Make sure all files required for installation are available and restart the installation. Error code: 0×80070002
      was habe ich falsch gemacht bzw. muss ich tun
      MfG

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