How to Make a Windows Vista Repair Disk If You Don’t Have One
If you bought your computer with Windows Vista pre-installed, you most likely don’t have a regular Windows Vista repair disc. What you do have is some crappy disc from the manufacturer that totally wipes your computer back to factory settings. What if you just want to run Startup repair off the Vista install cd without losing all your settings?
It turns out that Microsoft is going to let you create your own Vista repair disc when Service Pack 1 comes out in a month or so. If you can’t wait that long, the nice people over at Neosmart have created their own Vista Repair Disc available for download.
The file is an ISO image file… if you are familiar then skip to the link, otherwise we’ve also got instructions on how to create a CD from the ISO file.
Burn Vista Recovery Disc ISO to CD
You may already have a tool to do this such as Nero, but the best tool available for burning ISOs is ImgBurn, a freeware utility that does nothing else but burn ISO images, and it does it well.
Open up ImgBurn, and then click on the “Browse for a file” button, selecting the file you downloaded from Neosmart.
Put a blank CD into the drive, and then click the big Write button.
That’s about all there is to it… you now have your very own Vista Recovery CD.
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This is great! My husband had a problem on his Vista system and the only choice we had was to wipe it clean. Now if it happens again, I have an alternative. Thanks Geek!
Hi,
Won’t that wipe out any hardware specific drivers that are installed .
Philippe
ImgBurn = DVDDecrypter? I thought the project was dead :O
Nice, is there a similar one for XP? Also, is this legal?
@Alekz: I was wondering the same thing. I looked and it appears what happened was that the author of DVD Decrypter decided to keep developing the program but without any of the DVD copy protection cracking stuff that got it into legal trouble.
Do I download both of the files on the website or just one?
Just the option labeled “Download Windows Vista Recovery Disc”.
You don’t need to worry about the “Download Windows Vista Recovery Disc Torrent” option.
That is just an alternate option for people with a BitTorrent client to use.
any one know i can uncompress my bootmgr in vista
I’m going to apologize upfront if this post gets too lengthy but I am here to say this procedure worked wonderfully. I bought a Toshiba laptop back in July for basic web surfing integrated into my home theater. I have a younger brother who doubles as my favorite charity. Long story short, he’s now the owner of the laptop.
Last Friday he grew impatient when Windows Update was doing its thing and thinking something was wrong, he disconnected the power cord and then pulled out the battery. Upon the next boot he got BOOTMGR IS MISSING. Of course he shows up to my house with the laptop but no recovery discs. Googling I found this site and went to work. And it worked impeccably but with one difference. When I booted into the disc, I went into System Recovery Options then selected “Repair your computer” the message came back stating nothing was wrong. I was relieved because that told me the OS was OK but I was still getting BOOTMGR IS MISSING. Did the ctrl alt del and went through the process again but this time selected “System Restore” and restored it back to the day before he did his deeds. Voila’!!
Once I had it stabilized I went into Windows Update and reinstalled all the failed updates. The system is running smooth.
Thanks everyone.
Frank
@Frank: How long did your brother wait for Windows Update? If it was under an hour then you should tell your brother that it is normal for Windows Update to take 30-60 minutes to install updates depending on certain factors like the speed of the computer or if a lot of updates are being installed.
You can also tell him that in times where things to take to long and it appears to be hung there normally isn’t a need to unplug the laptop and remove the battery. If you just hold the power button down for up to 10 seconds or so the laptop will just turn off without checking with Windows Vista first.
jd, When I went into the Update History the 2 attempts that failed were about 20 minutes apart. He has been told (via The Riot Act) that when the Updates are active to leave the thing alone, just walk away. I did tell him about the power down you mentioned but now that you mention it I’m going to tell him again.
He’s learned his lesson and I promise he wont be pulling the battery out anytime soon.
I also had my fun with him acting like he had destroyed the computer. (I fixed it when he wasn’t around.) He called rather curious to what was happening and I BS’d and BS’d and BS’d some more. Had him convinced that he was an idiot (which he’s not) and that he had ruined the computer (which he hadn’t).
Fun fun fun fun…..
Hi! This worked… sorta. It boots the computer (a Lenovo 3000 N200 notebook), but it just sits there on a black screen. Nothing! I can see the mouse cursor and move it around, but nothing else goes. Any ideas?
This is wonderful. Thank you so much for getting my computer started so easily.
It feels good to know that one now has a tool to repair errors in a much easier way than having to go through the painful formatting process. Thanks a lot geeks and keep it up.
Hey
do any of you know if I can possibly burn it onto a DVD instead of a CD? I don’t have any CDs in my house. thnx.
~Cassie
Hi Cassie
You can burn DVD/CD both on a DVD W(Writer)
and thanks for an amazing post! really good tips.
I need to make a recovery disk in case i need it
Hi Diane…
The process is completely depicted above and what it is for… making the recovery disk…
Then why have you asked some thg as such…
Do u need some another way of that as depicted above… plz clarify..
Cheersss
well to cut the long story short, i have new laptop(acer ) that HAD vista and i tried to get rid of the bastard, to find my self without computer, i did all as suggested previously but cant get it to work. i had special EISA partition that i got rid off and when i try to install XP it shows message of non existing HD, so i tried to get back to vista and now its this problem with BOOTMGR? did all according to the explanation with recovery disc and ImgBurn
any suggestions?
I just want to say.. OMG truly OMG thank you so much if someone has a computer they know how scary these problems can be. i followed your guidelines to the T! Everything is back up and running great. I was freakin out so much because i just finished a massive download for Age of Conan then as i was about to check out the beginning content it said you need to install vista SP1 for the best graphics and stability. Well when i did, it cut out right at the end of updating, you know that screen that says 3/3 downloading at 98%. Next thing i know my computer is restarting with a bootmgr is missing error. I was like O..M…G this is not happening to me. So i get on my laptop look on line for a fix and you popped up
. Seriously i want to thank you again so much
Did burn recovery disc with great hope, but “Acai” – my laptop still not work !
Boot from CD , I choose “repair your Computer” but end with nothing, Acai re-booting himself
Choosing “System Restore” it said :” No Restore point bla bla ”
Tried F8 and select Safe mode : Same thing.
Through XP , I can see the system files is still there; so conclude some Bootfile or Startup file must be missing or corrupt. Can any body help?
My Acai Specs : Acer 4520 G; AMD athlon X2; 3 G RAM ; Dual Boot Vista (Pre-Installed) and XP.
Bought this in Kuala Lumpor August 2007.
I installed Service Pack 1 for Vista. So I’m wondering if Microsoft have made their own version of a rebootable disc for laptops like mine with Vista pre-loaded.
This advice has saved me from a new Vista install. However, is you have Vista x32, be sure to to use the the NeoSmart link http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/.....-download/ instead.
Our Sony Laptop just recently shut down. When we turn it on, it ask whether we want to start widows or start repair (recommended) if we start windows automatically it shuts down if we do the repair process it gives us 4 tool options which doesn’t help one bit but we can’t go anywhere else. The system recovery when we try to run it then this appears OS not installed then it shuts down. Any ideas what we might do to fix the problem would be very greatful.
Thanks,
WHY can’t someone link to the ISO image w\o torrent? WHY should anyone have to install software JUST to change back to the proper image (ISO)
@Jonesn: The linked to page used to have a direct link to the ISO file. It appears NeoSmart removed it.
How do I create a Vista Repair Disk if I already have service pack one??
Great resource for the Vista Recovery disk. Thx.
Well SP1 has been released now so how can i make a recovery disk in Vista?
TIA
I have a friend who just brought me his laptop with this problem. i got the recovery disc just to find out he has x32 edition where can i get that?
Great tool, thanx saved my bacon
Hi, I downloaded this and put it on a disk and tried to boot my computer from it, but it wouldn’t work. Earlier I was installing an anti-virus software (NOD32), and my laptop BSOD’d, and from then on when I tried to run it it would BSOD and restart. Does anyone have any clue as to what I could do?
Ooh, I just read the rest of the comments, and I have the EXACT same problem as Connie Mahan. Plase if anyone has any idea how to fix this, please share.
This worked like a charm!!!
I was worried when my laptop wouldn’t boot anymore after trying to install vista themes, but because of this… Its just fantastic!
Hello,
I created the Vista recovery CD (32 bit) as in the above steps but get following error… ” E:\Sources\Install.wim “, “Error Code: 0×80070002″ after I enter my product key.
Has anyone faced this problem before?
Appreciate if you have a solution & can help
What’s English for “ISO”?
To Ibrahim and anyone concerned about the legality of this disc:
Yes, this is perfectly legal to download, although the actual creation of the disc may have involved reverse-engineering a copy of Windows, which is against the terms of use – but only for the person who did the reverse engineering, not for those who reap the benefits thereof. The disc isn’t what you pay for when you buy a copy of Windows – you’re essentially just paying a license fee. So, if you’re able to install this with your working Vista key, then yes, it’s completely legal. If you somehow obtained a key from a key generator program, then it’s illegal.
Here is a link to the ISO. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RE0RYM28
Always thought downloading a torrent app just to download a file is kind of dumb.
So you dont need to download a torrent app to download the Iso
This is the : Windows Vista Recovery Disc 32-Bit (x86) Edition
Followed above instructions to the letter…got Vista to boot. But! It looks like it did the day we bought the computer – everything is GONE! I tried repair first, to no avail, then restored to Dec 25 2008. It booted, but like I said, it looks like a fresh install. Thank you for the info though, it almost worked….
Roger
the program is now only able to be downloaded in a bittorrent file,not in a iso file. thank you
Hi, I don’t know who you people are, but I just want to say THANKS SO MUCH!!!! I’ve been trying to get rid of a Downloader-UA Trojan, and in my attempts, the computer went to blue screen, then shut off. When I restarted it said there was missing or currupt files and it wouldn’t start. Being as how I purchased it at Best Buy, it’s a Sony Vaio Laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium, I didn’t get a Vista Disk. BUT!!!!!! I did exactly what was described above and presto, here i am, back to my login screen. Thanks SO MUCH!!!! I have tons of Child Custody Videos, concerning a divorce, that I haven’t backed up yet, over 20 gigs of videos and I’m going to buy a 32 Gig Jumpdrive and store them in my safe, but anyway, Again, Thanks!!!!!
ei guys.. will you need to reinstall the display/sound adapters after restoring? just wondering.. i havent tried it yet but i might need this someday..
Hello, I tried the Vista Repair disk, after booting and initial Windows loading files message, the screen goes blank, and nothing happens. I am not sure if I missed a step. What can I do? Thanks.
hi, ive followed the steps pointed out to create the recovery disk and completed that without a problem. then i put the disk into the drive and restarted the computer and then this is what happens:
1, the screen shows up saying “windows is loading files”
once this has loaded up,
2, the screen with “microsoft corporation” loading, starts to load up,
and after that nothing comes up, the screen goes blank.
initially every time i started the computer it says the following file is missing or corrupted.
the file is something like “\windows\system32\config\system”
can anyone please help me to resolve this problem as i cant even start up in safe mode or anything.
could this possibly be because my hardrive is faulty or something and if this is the case then how can i save my data on the hardrive.
thanks
Hey thank you so much that`s j amazing and works perfectly. Thank you very much……
regarding my previous entry i have the reason why the screen appears to go blank.
it is most probably the hardrives control board that is not working.
on my computer the disc spins in the hardrive but no data is able to be read off the hardrive.
i know the problem is not with any other components of the computer because using another hardrive and installing windows on it again, the system runs perfectly.
soulution to the problem is either buy an identical hardrive and swap the control board so you can retrieve your data and then if you got warranty send back your hardrive after swaping the control boards over again.
if you have not got warranty then after retrieving data swap control boards over and use the new hardrive.
second solution would be to send the hardrive to the manafacturer (if it is still under warranty) and they will replace you with a new one.
however dont do second option if you need to keep your data as the manafacturer will erase your data and repair it or give you another hardrive.
hope this helps if you had the same problem
thanks
for all who thinks this is illegal, its not. this is entirley legal because its not copywrite. but im downloading the project now and waitin to c what happens. and i dont think this works for XP because XP doesn’t have as many errors as vista
I’ve created this recovery disk from 2 different sources but my pc just wont boot from it. It says booting from CD/DVD but it just locks (including keyboard) there. Any ideas?
Thanks
Hey i did a virus scan but nothing will come up but my comp is slow as a snail and my history keeps filling up with random sites i know theres something wrong but im not sure. i havent made a backup disc yet so would i still be able to if i have a virus. any info would be greatly appreciated.
“Jordan
Hey i did a virus scan but nothing will come up but my comp is slow as a snail and my history keeps filling up with random sites i know theres something wrong but im not sure. i havent made a backup disc yet so would i still be able to if i have a virus. any info would be greatly appreciated.”
It should still be fine to make the Recovery CD. If you dont have a torrent app to download the Iso file you can use the download I uploaded. If you have Windows Vista 32-Bit (x86) Edition
I downloaded that iso and burned it to imageburn but when I use it on my HP laptop, after entering the serial number it says that a file in D:\Sources\Install.wim does not exist. How can I get this file?
After following the “directions” in downloading the torrent file (32-bit) version and burning the ISO on your recommended burner, I guess I’m missing something, or don’t understand torrent files like I thought. When I think of Recovery Disk, I assumed it would be able to put back some of the files I may of deleted by mistake (thru various disk cleaners, etc.). Am I missing something? Thanks ahead of time for anyone’s clarification on this download, recovery, purpose, etc. Greg
Greg, you can download the ISO file from here http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RE0RYM28
that way you dont have to deal with any torrent apps/files.
This recovery disk is not really for recovering files you deleted be mistake,
for that you can google for a free app called Recuva. or try googling: file recovery free
Excellent work. I had the \windows\system32\config\system error as well and (after a couple of restarts) it restored the machine to yesterday’s point and all is well…Cheers.
I followed your instructios and got the recover disk made. The disk did get the notebook to System Recovery Options. However, Startup Repair still can’t get Vista started on its own.
When I tried to install windows a window poped up and had the following words in it:
Windows cannot open the required file D:\Sources\Install.wim. The file does not exist….
When I used the DOS prompt to look up what’s in D:\Sources\ I only could find a file by the name of Boot.wim. Any chance you can fix that? Thanks.
hi all im just wondering if anyone can help me,my hard drive spins then cuts out and my pc wont read the disc……please help me….cheers…
I have appreciated some of the feedback I’ve received in trying to create a “Vista Recovery Disc”. After following every instruction, from this page or another one mentioned in this site, I can’t get any disc to do what’s claimed. I’m not a newbie, and yes, I do make mistakes, but making a functional disc shouldn’t be as difficult as it has for the majority of users…at least in this forum. The fortunate few that the disc works for, I couldn’t be happier. But, as stated before, “something isn’t right” regarding creating this workable disc. It would be welcomed to be proven wrong, but please don’t send me a link to some kind of gimmick. Thanks for letting me vent. I’ll be happy to see MORE successes than not. Please correct me if I’m missing something.
MrCentro, exactly what are you having issues with? Whats this gimmick link you speak of? If your talking about the link to the file i uploaded i assure you my uploaded copy works. I have used it myself and last i checked over 100 people have also downloaded and used it. If you’d like you can mail me @ R3SiEViL at gmail and I’ll try to help you get this working.
I am replacing my HDD with a new HDD. My old, smaller drive is still working on my Laptop. My Acer Laptop didnt come with any discs, so when I replace my HDD, I wont have a Vista CD/DVD to load a new OS onto the HDD (not to mention any saved files). Will this work for me?
can you please help ive been a silly girlie i was having a problem stuck the product recovery disc in cleaned up the lappy and i cant find the re install disc for windows vista basic can you please pleas ehelp
what is the product key,,,,, useless without that
when I burn into the cd the install.wim is not there. I used alcohol 120 with the lowest speed but where’s that file go. Is there anyway i can download install.wim. I’ve been having a headache for a few days. now. can someone help please. i have a sony model VGN-NR430E.
can’t repair can’t install from scratch and it’s really ….
SUPER tips and links! THanks so much. I really needed this as my computer keeps on crashing. I’ve scanned it so many times now and can’t find anything wrong.
Perhaps you might be able to list some hard to detect malware that might be causing it
when I changed my ISP from optusnet to bigpond I have had all the trouble in the world . I find it is impossible to change my email address or ID with Windows live messenger and now I’m wondering how all my other contacts will be able to get in touch.
After reading about the Vista repair disk I was wondering if someone could give me some advice on how to set about rectifying the trouble changing ISP’s causes.
I enjoyed reading the comments made by your readers and would like to join your group.
Regards A Walker
Ok Im having problems with Img Burn. I found my file and everything but I get a error saying “No writers detected”. How do i fix this?
Heres a screen shot if it helps at all.
http://img197.imageshack.us/im.....roblem.jpg
Thanks, Caleb
When I click on the “available for download” link. I receive an error message from Internet Explorer. Any suggestions?
hi
my leptop show me that bootmgr missing & press ctrl + alt + delete
after i cant do any thing
show please tell me what should i do?
My laptop was woking fine for a while, but now due to some events I had to reformat the entire computer, I was wondering if I could get vista back if i made a disk on my brother’s computer (it’s the exact same model). I still have the product key
Would this work for me?
I’ve got the CD and such thanks to this but how can I reformat/reinstall vista with the CD? I’ve tried using the install on it but whenever I try it always says that it can’t find install.wim
The download isn’t for a Vista install disc, otherwise it would be massive, as Vista comes on a DVD, and probably illegal. As it says on the Neosmart page pertaining to the CD, its merely a ‘repair’ thing for people who don’t have a Vista DVD and so can’t access recovery. It does not contain install.wim. The reason for the rather crude coding (and the ‘install’ option) of the thing is probably because the recovery disk creator was only included in the beta SP1 and ‘disappeared’ when it was released.
Thank you very much, I had a bootmgr problem and dont have vista disk as laptop came with restore on c: drive but couldnt access it, your solution was perfect, I downloaded the boot disk and repaired and everything working well now. Much appreciated
Hi there! Great Tip you’ve got here. I have actually finished with the process stated above and i tried booting with the CD just to be sure its perfectly working. I didnt follow it to the end though cuz i had to pause and wonder “Wont this wipe off all what i have on my laptop? please i need to know what exactly this Cd is capable of doing as i dont want to wipe off the drivers or will the CD be restoring my drivers? I can always back up my files bt what about certain drivers that cant be easily gotten cuz my hp didnt come with any CD. Please reply ASAP.
Thanks
I have no other computer to download the repair tools…..so is there anything in the start before the BOOTMGR msg comes up, that can get my computer started…whether it erases all my info or not?
Am presently running the start up in “repair” mode, booted off the downloaded CD as described. How long can this take ? I guess it may vary, but just curious. System was apparently corrupted on a software load. What I see is the reapir screen and the scrolling bar.
Thanks
Hi, I am wondering if this Windows Vista repair disc will work on a computer if sp1 updates have been already installed.
I made the recovery disks (both 32 and 64 bit because I don’t know which version I have) but the computer won’t boot from the CD. It tries to boot and makes that ‘eh-uh’ noise but just goes into the repair options that were already available without the CD and don’t work. The farthest it gets is a blue or black screen (depending on the recovery option you choose) with a cursor you can move around. Why won’t the CD boot?
ok so my friend deleted c drive and now i get that “boot mgr is missing.” I created the vista recovery disk (Windows Vista x64 Recovery Disc) and it loaded but failed. It start loading:
It says no FAT32 Volumes Found, exiting…
Driver not found: ‘MSCD001′.
“Caldera DR-DOS 7.03
Copyright (c) 1976, 1998 Caldera, Inc. All rights reserved.
[DR-DOS] A:\>”
and stop loading from there. I have no clue what to do now…Please help. It’s a HP tx2500 pavilion entertainment notebook.
Wow, this worked, took 2 hours to download bittorrent and 3 attempts and about an hour to run on wifes laptop but it wokred, after 2 days of nothing we are back up and running, boy is she pleased!!! Thank you for saving my life, well it was my fault it fell over in the first place, apparently.
I am having problems. The cd loads fine, but asks for disk drivers for my hard drives. I have sata drives. Can anyone help?