Vista Repair
Hi,
I have a Dell Inspiron laptop running Vista Home Premium. I am attempting to run the Vista Repair option (I still refer to it as a Repair Install as with XP but I think it is called something else now). At boot I select the Repair option and it eventually gets to a login screen with the "Other User" button on it. "Other User" is the only option. I select it, enter "Administrator" (account which is active), enter the password, and it says “The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted”. I tried entering "PC_NAME_HERE\Administrato
Please provide some guidance on what is going on here and how I can get to the point of running a repair.
Thanks,
Bill
I have a Dell Inspiron laptop running Vista Home Premium. I am attempting to run the Vista Repair option (I still refer to it as a Repair Install as with XP but I think it is called something else now). At boot I select the Repair option and it eventually gets to a login screen with the "Other User" button on it. "Other User" is the only option. I select it, enter "Administrator" (account which is active), enter the password, and it says “The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted”. I tried entering "PC_NAME_HERE\Administrato
Please provide some guidance on what is going on here and how I can get to the point of running a repair.
Thanks,
Bill
edbedb
Does the same thing happen if you start in safe mode?
ASKER
No. Just when running the repair option from the boot menu. I have since discovered that booting the PC from the Vista DVD allows me to choose a Repair option from the Install screen which runs as intended. So that got around the login problem I experienced. However it was not able to repair the OS. It generated an arcane erroe with no useful info in it (at least to me).
try a system restore then, when booted from the dvd, here all the options : http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial148.html
What was the error?
ASKER
I tried a System Restore, and there was no restore point except the one I created when I began working on the computer.
I did not print or record the error. It literally just said that the Windows OS was not able to be repaired, and even though there was an option to view details of the error, those details only said the repair function had failed and provided no info as to why or what the problem was. If there had been anything useful I would have made an effort to pursue it. If you think it might help I can run the Repair again and get the details.
I did not print or record the error. It literally just said that the Windows OS was not able to be repaired, and even though there was an option to view details of the error, those details only said the repair function had failed and provided no info as to why or what the problem was. If there had been anything useful I would have made an effort to pursue it. If you think it might help I can run the Repair again and get the details.
here the MS official comment your situation is that you probably have bad hardware (not that it helps you) = http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Startup-Repair-frequently-asked-questions
you can always run from a live cd, if that runs, your hardware looks ok to me : ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/dist/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V5.0.1CD-2006-06-01-EN.iso
you can always run from a live cd, if that runs, your hardware looks ok to me : ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/dist/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V5.0.1CD-2006-06-01-EN.iso
ASKER
I'm running the hardware diagnostics now.
Best suggestion is to replace Vista with something that works -- XP SP3.
Just get a replacement hard drive and install a fresh copy of XP SP3
"Nick name" poem for Vista
Wasta time, Wasta money, Wasta effort
Just get a replacement hard drive and install a fresh copy of XP SP3
"Nick name" poem for Vista
Wasta time, Wasta money, Wasta effort
ASKER
No Hardware errors. I generated the Startup Repair error again. Here are the details:
Problem Event Name StartupRepairV2
Problem Signature 01: ExternalMedia
Problem Signature 02: 6.0.6001.18000.6.0.6001.18
Problem Signature 03: 3
Problem Signature 04: 65537
Problem Signature 05: unknown
Problem Signature 06: NoRootCause
Problem Signature 07: 0
Problem Signature 08: 2
Problem Signature 09: WrpRepair
Problem Signature 10: 1168
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Input on the error?
Problem Event Name StartupRepairV2
Problem Signature 01: ExternalMedia
Problem Signature 02: 6.0.6001.18000.6.0.6001.18
Problem Signature 03: 3
Problem Signature 04: 65537
Problem Signature 05: unknown
Problem Signature 06: NoRootCause
Problem Signature 07: 0
Problem Signature 08: 2
Problem Signature 09: WrpRepair
Problem Signature 10: 1168
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Input on the error?
what was the result of hardware diags? which ones did you run?
the error talks a bout external media - so disconnect all peripherals (disk, printer, scanner etc) before running the repair
the error talks a bout external media - so disconnect all peripherals (disk, printer, scanner etc) before running the repair
ASKER
This is a Dell Laptop and I ran the the built in diagnostics, the one from which Dell will require an error code for warranty coverage if there is a hardware problem, and I also ran the Vista Repair Memory tool. There was no error reported in either case.
There is nothing connected to the laptop. I thought the external media being referred to was the DVD from which Vista Repair was running.
There is nothing connected to the laptop. I thought the external media being referred to was the DVD from which Vista Repair was running.
then maybe the dvd is bad - try another, or copy it to test
ASKER
Good suggestions, and that makes sense witht eh external media message. Another Vista Home Premium DVD will be a challenge, but making a copy is no problem. Got to get the kids fed and to school at the moment but will try a copy later this morning. Thanks.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
Okay nobus, I downloaded the repair disk ISO, burned it and it repaired the OS successfully. After re-start and login, no more of the random services errors and program crashes I was attempting to repair in the first place. Thanks for the help!
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