Fixing a non-bootable PC by importing registry

[goombawaho]

Got a non-bootable PC with Vista on it AFTER swapping motherboards. Old board is dead. 0x0000007B error. (Yes I know - why would I expect it to boot up with a different mobo).

Hard drive is fine as confirmed by diag test. It's very important that we don't do a reinstall for a number of reasons.

So, I was thinking, why couldn't I install Vista on a new hard drive and get it working and all drivers installed then import the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services registry key into the old PC along with copying the contents of the C:\windows\system32\drivers\ folder to the old PC.

Crazy idea??
Am I forgetting anything??

 

[rclarke250]

Have you tried doing a repair install? should leave everything else intact.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html

 

[goombawaho]

It didn't work. I was in a mad scientist mood and thought I'd give it a try.

The procedure you mentioned calls for starting the SETUP.exe from WITHIN windows. This is not a bootable PC though.

I've never tried to do a Vista install by booting from CD and doing the UPGRADE option. Will that retain my data/programs???

Vista is like a black hole for me - never touched it much.

 

[DrB0b]

I know you have already tried this but just in case....
Can you not boot into Safe Mode and remove all the drivers associated with the old system and then try booting?

Tested the RAM?

Assuming you did the above or cant boot into Safe Mode, best of luck with the reg copy. Ive tried similar things unsuccessfully, but hopefully I was doing something wrong. Please let us know if you do try it and its result.

Assuming there is a program on here you cant reinstall??

"Silence is golden, duct tape is silver...

 

[cdogg]

I've run into that before. That stop error refers to the SATA/AHCI either being enabled or disabled in the BIOS. Vista expects to see the same setting that was in place when it was originally installed. Since you replaced the motherboard, it probably got reset to the default which may be different than what Vista is expecting to see. Usually in the BIOS you can change this from IDE to SATA (AHCI), or vice versa.

If that doesn't fix it, also try booting from the Vista DVD and choose the option to repair. You'll want to try this with SATA turned both off and on, just in case that's still part of the problem. Screenshots here:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/repair-windows-with-windows-startup-repair/

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[goombawaho]

Can't boot into safe mode

RAM tested OK

Reg and driver copy failed - probably detected it as "changing vital system files" and put them back

Yes - user doesn't have media for several office products

IDE to SATA (AHCI) - no such option on new motherboard for SATA

Didn't see any option when booting up to vista DVD to repair.


Too late now - did a full install and they'll have to live with that.

 

[cdogg]

IDE to SATA (AHCI) - no such option on new motherboard for SATA

Yep, that's true. Not many have that setting. I sometimes forget my world revolves around HP business desktops/notebooks that do have that option.


I know this is a done deal, but I just want to point out that if the new mobo was a different model than the old one, then the onboard SATA controller likely changed too causing the stop error. Windows had a different SATA driver set to load at startup.

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[BadBigBen]

Goom,

can you give me the new mainboards description?

the SATA setting my be also called LEGACY, ENHANCED (AHCI), or similar...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[goombawaho]

Yeah, I know it was the chipsset/sata driver that was causing the stop error. I just didn't know of a crafty way to inject the new drivers into the DRIVERS folder and the registry. There has to be some way of doing that.

That coupled with the inability to do a repair install (upgrade) on Vista OEM really got my goat. It's like your just toast with no option except a reload.

I looked through the BIOS and didn't find anything that looked like what you were saying (I had tried all this before posting). If you see it, tell me what it was called on the new mobo.

OLD mobo: Pegatron M2N78-LA

New mobo: Gigabyte M68M-S2P

 

[goombawaho]

By the way - don't even tell me that the old board IS available. I know it is. Someone else decided on this mobo purchase and caused me to sink into this mess.

 

[BadBigBen]

Hi Goom,

yeah, that board does not have the LEGACY settings anymore... bummer... but there is a way to make VISTA change from IDE to AHCI...

here is the MS instructions:

Error message when you start a Windows 7 or Windows Vista-based computer after you change the SATA mode of the boot drive: "STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

since you already know how to read teh REGISTRY from the HDD, using BARTPE or WinPE, I wont get into that...

you may also find the following of interest:

Convert SATA IDE to AHCI on Vista?

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/244840-14-convert-sata-ahci-vista

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[goombawaho]

I'll scope that out. I have a CLONED copy of the hard drive (and thus it is still broken) so I could actually try that fix on it. I cloned it in case I didn't get all the guy's data.

 

[kjv1611]

I had no clue there were motherboards without the IDE/AHCI setting out there... so now that's considered legacy? I guess I'm already starting to become legacy myself? What? Technology makes me age too fast.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[goombawaho]

That switch/option would probably have saved my bacon.

 

[goombawaho]

Before I play with this - the Microsoft document mentions:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV

But this was a board with an NVIDIA chipset, so wouldn't I NOT change the registry value for IASTORV since that is an Intel driver??

 

[BadBigBen]

>> wouldn't I NOT change the registry value for IASTORV since that is an Intel driver??
the Intel driver does need to be reset to the state that it would be...

under XP/2003, you even had to add the ORIGINAL INTEL driver (that is contained on the XP CD) for it to work...

what I am thinking, is that the Intel driver just needs to be active at the beginning, so that it can change a few settings, and that it will turn itself back off, since there is no Intel hardware to be found...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[goombawaho]

Ok, well unfortunately, I ran out of time to be able to test this and had to give the PC back. So, I will keep this little gem of knowledge for the future. But next time, my STRONG recommendation will be that if the PC is more than a couple years old and it needs a new motherboard, it's not economically feasible to buy a different motherboard and put that kind of time into it.

Same motherboard - different story, as long as you can get it for a decent price.

This whole thing tested my patience and I'm upside down on the job financially. Boo hoo.

 

[BadBigBen]

Goom,

that is pretty sound advice...

since I do not deal with these types of problems at work (new hardware = new install), I can tinker with stuff like this mostly at home... or when I do private contracts, where I have more time to fix things...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[Freestone]

Too late for this round, but I have used Acronis with its Universal Restore feature in cases like these, with about a 95% success rate. If you do this type of thing often, it may be worth your time to invest and tinker with a product like this. And having said all that, I haven't tried any of the True Image 201x versions; I stopped at True Image Echo products.