restore multiboot vista

[lancstech]

i multiboot all my pc with xp or vista and pclinuxos.
when i remove linux, by say simply removing partitions,
i can be left with out a booting pc. with xp i used the recovery console/cd and used fixboot, fixmbr etc.

my question is what is the equivalant vista method,
other than using the recovery cd. i do know about easybcd,
vistaproboot, but am interested in finding above if my pc won't boot.

i intend to try using the 445 mb kb963330 to install rtm sp1. this may be a bad idea , my 2 week old dell vostro 1500 has a c drive of 32gb (compared to 5gb on xp). my backup disk image will be created using partion mgr 8.5, which i have never used before.

any tips?

 

[lancstech]

found this ref 927392 on support.microsoft.com,
which helps a bit

 

[linney]

Have a look at Vista's Startup Repair.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/5c59f8c1-b0d1-4f1a-af55-74f3922f3f351033.mspx#EX

This is the link to your MSKB you mentioned.

How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392#appliesto

315224 - How to Remove the Linux LILO Boot Manager

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315224&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

As to your Image Backup of C: drive, where will you be saving the backup to?

 

[lancstech]

hi linney, thanks for refs. i have played fast and loose with dropping linux distros until i settled on pclinuxos,
and it was easy to restore xp if i screwed up.

i would like to set up a Windows RE environment disk boot option equivalent to the xp recovery console, but haven't found any info yet.

 

[linney]

I only know of Vista references, whether it is even possible in XP, I don't know? Any way this will give you some idea of the technology, I hope, and maybe some idea how to use it in Vista.

Windows Recovery Technical Reference

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...dee8-419e-989f-36b2d45c13f41033.mspx?mfr=true

 

[lancstech]

hi linney,
in last 24 hours have been to vista blackhole.
due to very nasty problem with my dell media direct button malfunctioning, had to reinstall vista, macfee etc.
vista recovery failed, no os visible, repair screen locks.

after reinstall (painful os, macfee, drivers etc.) so i thought it would be a good idea to image my c drive,
tried to install paragon drive mgr 8.5, this requires a reboot..........
.......you guessed, vista failed to boot, no amount of urging from windows repair, multiple restore points, use of bcdedit, bootrec worked. best info i got from repair was "not possible to repair, send info to ms", in report it said bad driver.

am going back to xp, after sp1 is live and if good feedback,
i may try again, but its tiring fighting the os.

i did find a google bootrec reference to storing wre on disk, but was having a mental breakdown at the time, so didn't record it.

my experience of vista to date is too flaky at present.

 

[linney]

Are you using a Retail CD/DVD of Vista to do any Startup repair, or have you Dell recovery media or recovery partitions?

Sorry that Vista has been such a problem for you.

I'll leave you with this link I saw the other day, do with it what you like.

http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/#comments

 

[lancstech]

hi linney, i have a dell recovery disc, and neosmart
recovery disc. from a boot crash day 1 of 21 days,
vista has been disappointing. will probably dual boot xp,vista if only to keep track on vista progress. n.b. wre seems to have over complicated recovery over xp console.i bet my disk image utilities trueimage, paragon partition mdr/drive mgr will "work" when run from xp, so with say vistaproboot i may
be able to recover from vista crashes/screw ups, that i couldn't with vista.

 

[lancstech]

just to be clear for people who read this, at the time of writing my first post i.e. planning for vista sp1. i didn't know what was about to happen to my dell, event 1 complete loss of dell pc drive partitions eg dell restore, event 2 reinstalled vista/paragon drive mgr incompatibility - again resulting non booting pc. on reflection i might have better to try using the linux or xp environment to create partition images.

n.b. it took me 2-3 hours to reinstall just to a basic "secure" vista setup, pclinuxos took 1 hr to install and update.