Need to BAND-AID repair Win 7 (extract)

[frustratedbartender]

Ok, I have a corrupted Win 7 laptop. Have run SpinRite (no HD failures), and the recovery tool ALWAYS fails.

So I bought a recovery DVD from the manufaturer, except it ONLY reformats the other drive, the don't offer sending me am OEM Windows CD.

It's probably cheaper to just buy a retail CD of Win 7 and run the repair option.

But someone mentioned that viewing the CBS log (failures of the restore feature), I can find which files can't be copied/installed from the recovery partition and then extract them from the OEM revovery DVD?

Is this possible, or should I just buy the Retail version and run "repair" instead of full install.

I found good things here, figured it was worth asking. Many thanks all.

Sergio

 

[BadBigBen]

It's quite unclear, to me, what you are attempting...

are you trying to REPAIR the OS or are you trying to RECOVER personal DATA? wither way, you will have to test that drive beforehand...

SpinRite is by no means a testing utility to see if the drive has problems or not, but rather use the drive manufacturers tool to check the drive, e.g. if the drive is a Seagate or Maxtor then use SeaTools, Hitachi use DFT (Drive Fitness Test), or Western Digital then use DataLifeGuard (these can be found on the respective websites).

with that said, test the HDD first to see if it is at all trustworthy, and go from there...



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"

 

[kjv1611]

For starters, if you really want the best help, I'd suggest you start with clarifying your issue. What does this mean?

Ok, I have a corrupted Win 7 laptop

Tell us what the system is telling you - what message(s) are you receiving... what symptoms?

As for repairing a broken computer, you may can do it without spending anything. Try downloading and burning this:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html

Download from one of the Mirror Links at the bottom of the linked page.

If you don't have a program that will burn a disk image to a CD, then download ImgBurn (or any other of your choice, another one that works for various burning tasks is CDBurnerXP) from

http://www.filehippo.com/download_imgburn/

or

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...sg=AFQjCNFVSbCBn0VNtWdUhOcXZLCqR_AedA&cad=rja

Install that program, extract the Ultimate Boot CD files from the downloaded zip file (I think they are zip files anyway - I haven't done this in a few months, now).

Once that is installed, and the files extracted, you'll find an .iso file in the folder. Use ImgBurn or whatever other burning program you prefer to burn the disk image to a CD. Make sure you don't create a data disk (with Nero for instance), and then just add the image file. You have to specify that you want to burn image files to disk.

After the CD is burned, you can boot from it on the sick 'puter, and look into the various options on the disk. I believe you'll find some repair options right there for common Windows problems. Could end up being simpler than you think... or could e worse of course. The most time consuming piece is usually getting to the bottom of the problem.

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

 

[kjv1611]

Better link on the last link I gave... I just copied from the Google search, but here is the actual link:

http://majorgeeks.com/ImgBurn_d4870.html

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

 

[linney]

How to repair the operating system and how to restore the operating system configuration to an earlier point in time in Windows Vista (or 7)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936212/#appliesto

How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228#appliesto

 

[frustratedbartender]

Sorry for the lack of info, and for time it took me to reply, the holiday season is rough on a bartender.

In another life I was a techie/programmer...so while I am a partial idiot, I know just enough to know what to do, etc. I don't have the other laptop with me here, or I would honestly run it all again and give you all the error msgs, but here's what happened.

My machine hiccuped one day. No BSoD, just a strange occurance, couldn't save my quicken file, said there was a corruption in it somewhere, etc.

Upon reboot the machine could never go online again. Wait, untrue. Given a LINK, I could right click it, and so a save target as.

But any browser window, from any manufacturer, would always be blank. Also Windows Live Mail, wouldn't open to due a missing or corrupt dll. I believe the msg was d1d2.dll.

So I ran MANY TIMES through the following steps.

*Used SpinRite at any and all levels. It never found anything to repair.

*Chkdsk (whether scheduled from Windows, or run from safemode with /F) always failed on the main drive, C at a certain point.

*chkdsk on the recovery partition (D) had no problems.

* Running system recovery from MANY diiferent recovery points always failed to complete. Told me that errors were written to the ...CBS.log.

If I recall the errors were about being unable to find or extract X file from the recovery partition.

So all my research led me to believe that I should just BUY a retail edition of Windows 7 Home, and install it using the Repair option.

So when I called HP, and bought their recovery DVDs it turns out the have only one option FULL FORMAT AND INSTALL. No Repair option. And that they cannot send me an OEM Windows DVD.

I already have a new laptop. Just want to be able to get into my old WLM and export contacts, rules, etc.

Probably the SMART thing to do IS to purchase Window 7 and run it with teh Repair option would be quicker and easier.

But somewhere someone mentioned that usuing the CBS.log error file I should be able to retirieve/register the missing corrupt files off of the recovery DVDs I bought from HP?

Just trying to find out if that;s a bad idea, one that takes too long, etc. etc.

Thanks all

 

[BadBigBen]

so we have the following:

1. Old latptop with data...
2. new laptop where the data from the old is supposed to go...

am I correct sofar...

if so, then why not purchase a USB to SATA adapter (see below) and run a recovery software, or run a filesystem repair on the OLD drive attached to the new laptop, and then retrieve your data...

Vantec 2.5"/3.5"/5.25" SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter - Model CB-ISATAU2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002

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"

 

[frustratedbartender]

The main part is I cannot open Windows Live Mail due to the corruption. It appears that you CANNOT copy over contaccts or rules, you need to open WLM and do an export....

 

[BadBigBen]

OK, have you tested the HDD on the OLD laptop with the MANUFACTURERS tool?

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"

 

[frustratedbartender]

Yes, please take my word....with every tool on the machine,at boot up, Spinrite, etc.

Windows definitely needs repairing of some file.

So is simpler to spend the $$$ to buy a retail copy of Windows to run a 'Repair' install, or should I try thre cheaper more painful idea I mentioned above.

I'd type out the last commands of the CBS.log from the old laptop, but it's put away for now, am tired, etc.

But everysite I visited made it clear that I am not getting Windows itself recovered on that machine using what's on it, or the recovery DVDs from HP.

Just looking for advice into which direction is more feasible, easier, etc.

Many thanks

 

[kjv1611]

Have you tried UltimateBootCD or any other such tool? It has a lot of various fixers/scanners/etc on it, including the hdd mfg diagnostics. I posted that fairly early in the thread.

If you really want to dig in and find the issue, I'd suggest trying that route first unless you just want to burn some extra money. Then again, having a copy of Windows on hand is never a bad thing.

Another thought is you could ask around and see if you have a friend or relative who will loan you their disk, if they have one.

I also realize that with the way most computers are shipped now, it's getting to be a rare thing to find a CD from friends and relatives. Well, more rare than XP and prior versions, at least.



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

 

[BadBigBen]

and I will restate what I had written: SpinRite is by no means a testing utility...

and you did not mention any other tool for testing the HDD!!!

to put it bluntly, if the DRIVE is damaged, then any REPAIR will just kill the DATA on the drive!!!

so, I will take your word for it that you have TESTED with the HARD DRIVE MANUFACTURERS TOOL, e.g. SeaGate SeaTools...

what you have is an OEM install, so getting an OEM disk would be the best option, you may just get away with borrowing one from a friend to do any boot up repair options...

OEM DVD can be purchased from resellers such as NewEgg, so look there for a copy... DO NOT use another OEM's DVD, they are usually BIOS locked and will not work...

see:

NewEgg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...r=BESTMATCH&Description=windows+7+oem&x=0&y=0

Amazon Windows 7 DVD OEM Professional

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Professional-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0T0LU

a RETAIL DVD is more expensive than getting an OEM DVD... when you use the RETAIL DVD you will have to use the KEY that comes with the DVD, where as the OEM you can use the one that is installed at present or on the underside of the LapTop (in case you have not changed it from the pre-installed OEM Key that HP uses)...



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"