Windows Vista Forum / Vista Technical / Recovery & Backup

Forgot User Password,Vista pre-installed

baj — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:28:50 GMT

i bought a laptop, that had windows vista pre installed and set it up. then i created a user profile and forgot the password i set.i cant format since i have no cd with vista.SO is there a away i can cancel my user profile,or enter as administrator , or re-install vista?

Backup everything but the OS

nate55 — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:47:35 GMT

I have Vista Ultimate 64 installed on my PC, but its having some OS problems. It won't let me change some network settings, and some other things. I want to reinstall the operating system. I lost my copy of Ultimate, but have a copy of Business 64 on hand. Being that Vista won't let me downgrade from Ultimate to Business, I want to backup everything, [u]programs[/u], documents, everything, install Vista Business x64, and restore everything. After some reading, I found out that the built in Vista Backup program can't do this, and I haven't found a program that can. Anyone know of a program or of way I can do this.

Thanks

I need help

speed — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:31:01 GMT

I run vist on a laptop with 4 gigs of ram and it worked awesome untill recently . I reinstalled vista and also tweaked it but I went too far and may have(probably)checked or unchecked something I should'nt have . Now my computer is slow. I can barely surf the net(50% of the time I time out). Even searching in the control pannel takes forever.What did I do? I was implementing alot of the tweaks I have seen in this forum, and I have done so many I don't know where I went wrong.

Windows won't boot.......

Ashe — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:03:27 GMT

Okay, this is what I'm getting:

Turned my comp on this morning, it went to the Toshiba page, then to the page with the little green bars, then the screen went black, as usual before loading the logo, but instead of loading the logo it just sits there, black screen and the moveable mouse. If I let it sit there long enough it just reboots.

What I've done:

I've tried to do a Startup repair which went on for about 15 mins before it told me that it had no fucking idea how to fix my problem.

I can't load from a back up point because there are none.

I CAN load into Safe Mode, just fine. (I'm using the network one and this is how I'm even on here).

I've tried loading from Last Known Good Config but I get the same junk.

Honestly, I'm kind of computer retarded so I really don't know what else to do beyond this point. I'm guessing though, that it must be software related since it will go into Safe Mode without any problems.

Oh, also, after force rebooting it like 10 times it no longer goes to the "Uh, your comp shut down weird last time, how do you want to boot it this time?" option, it just says Start Normally or Start uP Repair. I don't know if that's relevant or if it's just because I've forced restart so many times.

The writer experienced a transient error 0x800423F3

torpedo — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:33:53 GMT

I run Vista on an HP Desktop. This morning when I turned on the PC most of the desktop icons disappeared and all on my documents were gone also. I tried to do a restore and received a message "The writer experienced a transient error 0800423F3".

Any help in resolving this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Partition got deleted after Vista Install

igorek — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:59:19 GMT

I decided to install another instance of vista home. I created logical drive D and boot pc using vista oem cd. I formatted new drive during installation and put vista on it. everything went fine but when vista was installed my primary c: disk became d: and it's all empty apart from boot, and bootmgr folders.

Any ideas why it happend and how to get it back? Any help is appreciated as I'm desperate to return my 450GB of never backed up (stupid me) data. Thanks!

Need help finding lost document from saving an email attachment

cachegirl — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:36:43 GMT

I worked the whole day yesterday on a document that I had mailed myself in Gmail (I'm on Vista using Firefox). And I was INCREDIBLY STUPID in that I worked on the original attachment and didn't download it to my hard drive. Is there any way I can recover it? I've checked all my temp directories, temp internet file directories, searched for hidden files and folders and have nothing. I do see a large cache file matching yesterday's date, but how do I view it? It is named something like AF23648FgHH - so a weird combination of numbers and letters.
Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!!!!!!!!

BSOD!!!!

slliMJChaos — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:26:44 GMT

After Running Diagnostics thru Gparted from the Part Magic Recovery CD i received the following results on my VistaOS Partition

GParted 0.3.8

Libparted 1.8.8

Check and repair filesystem (ntfs) on /dev/sda1 00:00:05 ( ERROR )

calibrate /dev/sda1 00:00:00 ( SUCCESS )

path: /dev/sda1
start: 14338048
end: 170627071
size: 156289024 (74.52 GiB)
check filesystem on /dev/sda1 for errors and (if possible) fix them 00:00:05 ( ERROR )

ntfsresize -P -i -f -v /dev/sda1

ntfsresize v2.0.0 (libntfs 10:0:0)
Device name : /dev/sda1
NTFS volume version: 3.1
Cluster size : 4096 bytes
Current volume size: 80019976704 bytes (80020 MB)
Current device size: 80019980288 bytes (80020 MB)
Checking for bad sectors ...
Checking filesystem consistency ...
Cluster 6907353 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 38229 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 37390 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 188882 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 37582 is referenced multiple times!
ERROR: Filesystem check failed!
ERROR: 5 clusters are referenced multiply times.
NTFS is inconsistent. Run chkdsk /f on Windows then reboot it TWICE!
The usage of the /f parameter is very IMPORTANT! No modification was
and will be made to NTFS by this software until it gets repaired.

========================================

Check and repair filesystem (ntfs) on /dev/sda1

========================================

However i cannot even use chkdsk, neither will Ubuntu Mount the Partition, because it keeps asking me to do a clean shutdown of windows........
:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

Back up

bassfisher6522 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:29:05 GMT

I am new to the system back up seen. I have a new desktop (HP) that has two internal hard drives. I just started to back up system to the unused drive. Scenario: Lets say my system crashes, how do I get to the backup and how do I use it to restore computer.

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA Problem :(

CompaqUser — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:50:21 GMT

Hi Everyone iim getin the page fault error :\. The problem is i cant get service pack one on the computer im using, the puter wont even startup.

Here are videos of my frustration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCoSZPEvXTw

Yeah and youtube is taking a while to show my second vid...

Thanks in advance

Really really bad problem...

Khm3r — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:42:44 GMT

Specs: HP Pavillion m8100 n.

System: 32 bit

OS: Windows Vista Home Premium

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core Processor 5600*

Welll I have an HP Pavillion m8100n TV PC and a couple of months ago the computer froze and I restarted it but it gave me an error saying there was a boot disk error and I had no idea what to do about it...I recovered the computer but a week later same results..and now I tried to install Home Premium again and it's giving me errors like:

DRIVE_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, and I have NOOO idea, what it means..and at the bottom with techincal information it says: *** STOP: 0X000000D1 (0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000, 0xFFFFFA60012FC23E)

*** nvstor.sys - Address FFFFFA60012FC23E base at FFFFFA60012F6000, DateStamp 46671a38, and I have no idea what to do. And when I tried installing Vista it worked the first time...for like one day than it get all those errors I just mentioned..and in addition to all those bad problems, my recovery partition of the computer was deleted.......I need MAJOR help.

Help is GREATLY appreciated.

User profile cannot be loaded... Help!

facin8 — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:29:02 GMT

Hey all,

This is my first post in the computer world so bare with me! I am writing this on behalf of my dad. He has vista and as of today, he cannot log onto his computer. It is the right password, but message of " The user profile service failed to logon. User profile cannot be loaded".

I have tried to do some research on this and it appears may be a corrupted user profile? I have looked at ways to fix, but the ways only advise on WHEN you are in windows. Thats the point; im stuck at the logon screen.

Can someone kindly advise of how to go through the backdoor and repair this problem? I tried safe mode and also need password.

Chris

Stuck @ loading screen (Green bars)

mlb0328 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:18:14 GMT

This is all happening out of nowhere!!! (Specs below)

First after doing an ordinary restart, my vista (ultimate) gets stuck for a LONG time at the loading screen and does not move, with the green loading bars.
this happens every time i try to restart. i pop in my original vista disk and start the repair process...it says it found something wrong with my startup and it found what was wrong and that it was repaired.
after this i get the message NTLDR, which is a whole nother problem. i ran the below to fix the NTLDR...
1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when you are prompted.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard or an input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec.exe, and then press ENTER.
8. Type bootrec /fixboot

the NTLDR problem seemed to be fixed, but i am still being stuck at the green loading bar screen.

Needless to say i am at a loss right now as to what to do...hopefully someone can give me a couple suggestions to try.

Comp. specs. (this is my first built computer in which i have had absolutly NO problems with...i have not installed any drivers lateley so i'm not sure why this is happening)

Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe
AMD 64 x2 6400 w/ stock sink
EVGA 8800GT 512mb
OCZ Gamexstreme 700w PSU
2x2gb G.Skill Ram
Seagate 250 HDD x2
Lite-On/Lightscribe dvd burner x2
Vista Ultimate

[SOLVED] problems restoring a backup image using PC Restore

sinbarambam — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:42:01 GMT

Hello everyone,

My first time here and I've been looking through the very informative posts in this thread. I did not, however, find the answer to my particular problem. Apologies if I've overlooked it.

Before sending my Sony for repair I created a system backup image on an external usb drive.
When I start the Windows Recovery Environment and select 'Windows Complete Restore', it shows the name of the backup, the date it was created and the location where it is going to be restored to. Interestingly this shows a long, seemingly random number, followed by C:\ I can't change it.
Immediately underneath there is an error message that reads:

The Windows Recovery Environment needs to be loaded from a hard disk, but Windows needs to format that disk to restore your computer. Reboot from a CD or DVD and try the restore again.

I did not get a Windows DVD with my computer. I do have a recovery DVD that I made when I got the computer but that doesn't seem to help.

Any suggestions?

I TRYED TO FIX IT BUT IT WONT WORK NO MATER WHAT

cariaga — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:51:32 GMT

i realy need help using vista

things i dont know on my vista

1.what i must download
2.what is compatible
3.what is already in my pc
4.how to update
5.how to decrypt files

things that are visable problem

1 not responding when i open files
2 low proformance
3 connot defragmet online games

things that are in a bright side
1 i have a anti virus
AVG 2008
2 drives that i have
USB
PRO
SD
XD
CF
RW

PC PRODUCT
ASER
HOME BASIC

vista shutsdown when updating

facial — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:51:03 GMT

Hi,

While working away on my computer running Windows Vista everything starts to shut down and it says window is updating your computer. This happens all the time regardless of what area I'm working in. Has anyone else had this problem? I really appreciate any help that can be given;

Thank you

Boot XP from USB on Vista

estunum — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:37:09 GMT

Long story short, I stepped on my antique IBM ThinkPad R52 (running Windows XP Pro) and the screen is unviewable. For whatever reason, I cannot view my desktop via the S-Video or VGA plugs. I took apart my old external HDD so I can make the IBM's HDD as an external since it's IDE. I can access the drive fine on my Dell M1730 (running Vista Ultimate 64-bit), just like any other USB external, but since what I'm trying to recover is within a password protected user, I cannot do anything to these files.

On my Dell, I try boot from the USB from the Boot Menu, all it does is give me a black screen with a blinking cursor at the top left. Is there something I'm missing? I know the IBM's HDD is not the issue, since I can still boot it normally on the IBM laptop, and from the one corner that does work, you can see the see that. IBM's splash screen comes up, Windows XP's screen, then the user screen, but can't choose a user since I can only see about a square inch at the top right.

system crash afetr update please help

kluson — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:12:37 GMT

Hi there.

I am a novice with a PC.

I have installed Vista service pack 1. I had some problem and I had to restore the PC using restore point.

I then asked Microsoft for help. They asked me to

Click start and type MSCONFIG, then click services check hide all microsoft services and click disable all

then restart.

I did this and then as requested ran the service pack 1 software I had downloaded. All went well then the PC tried to restart it ran thorough a series of numbers and then stopped. it hung like this for over an hour. I switched off the pc and then restarted.

The pc would not restart and entered startup repair, it then got to the question

Do you want to use system resyore to which I clicked restore. The PC then went into startup repair again and hangs again.

I have tried starting in safe mode but nothing happens.

I have no idea what else to do

My Machine is Evesham who have since goone bankrupt and offer no support

hope someone can help

cheers

System restore data disappears.

Pajero — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:55:26 GMT

Hi everyone,

This is my first post so be kind....

My system is dual booting with XP on one partition and Vista on another. The default boot is to Vista.
I use Vista around 90% of the time but when I boot into XP all my system restore files and restore points in Vista are removed.
I have tried using restart and shutting down completely and the same thing happens when I reboot.
Question is why and is there any way around this?
Any help would be much appreciated.

PS I kept XP in case I didn't like Vista.

Backup

keethteeth — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:41:08 GMT

Vista Home Premium backup worked just fine for 9 months, then instead of just backing up new files, it started backing up everything every time. I back up to DVD. Settings were not changed. How do I fix this, please?

Please help me to stop unexpected shutdowns

Roy Mayo — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:10:09 GMT

Hi, and greetings from a new member,

I run Windows Vista Home Preium on a well equipped, but still AGP motherboard. Abit, socket 939, Rocketboy, AV8 motherboard, for more than one year.

Recently, about 3 to 10 minutes after startup and running some quite common programs, the computer suddenly shuts down, and then restarts up to the point I have to enter the password and start again, having ost all uncompleted work.

Please help me to correct this situation, by suggesting what I should look at.

Many thanks

roy Mayo.

Free Disk Image Backup creator

Jason — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:37:14 GMT

Create images without reboot for free:
[url=http://www.macrium.com/ReflectFree.asp]http://www.macrium.com/ReflectFree.asp[/url]

lost all documents and files please help!

diamondave73 — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:01:27 GMT

cut a long story short-i turned on my laptop 4 days ago and my profile was gone and it opened with a temp one, all files and settings were missing, i did a file/settings transfer and saved all data to an external drive, because there wasn't enough free space on the hd i compressed the hd and reinstalled xp, this formatted the hd then the save files wern't recognised so i reinstalled vista and i still cannot find my documents or photos.

please help!

if this helps whilst transfering using windows easy transfer it said Applying c:\found.ooo\dir0000.chk\documents

for each file ??????

Blue screen crash dump after login

alibev — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:41:39 GMT

Hi,

My Vista PC has been working fine until yesterday when the following occurred. The PC boots ok and presents the login screen as normal. However, a few seconds after I login a blue screen appears followed almost instantly by a crash dump. Nothing has changed on the PC and I have had a go at unplugging cards and reseating them. The same happens if I try to boot in safe mode. My version of Vista (Home Premium) is an upgrade version on top of XP professional. Without being able to get to the disks, because it won't boot, I am not sure what to do next. The PC won't boot from the Vista upgrade DVD/CD. I am happy to replace the PC but just want to get to the data. I do have backups of most files but want to make certain.

The only other bit of potentially useful information I have is that the PC has been displaying odd lines across the screen for sometime. Particulary bad when looking at Vista menus and equally so when watching a movie or something similar. Other applications are fine but often have a few lines around the mouse pointer. I was suspicious that the graphics card was failing. I have thought of buying a new cheap card to test this theory but would rather not if it is going to be wasted cash.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreiciated.

Many Thanks

Vista bootable DVD

DarkKab — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:56:15 GMT

Hi, I've had a software problem and talked with the microsoft people about it, they need me to get my hands on the bootable Vista installation disk to repair my computer, any of you guys know where i can get it?

everything bout vista recovery and backup

sui generis — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:12:16 GMT

Hi everyone,

I bought a HP Pavillion dv2000 a while back. I treat it right but am continuously plagued by the thought that what if something bad were to happen and i loose all my information... My laptop didn't come with any discs, just a leaflet telling me to back up on my own. But I need to know from people who have done the same, how to go about it. How will I get windows vista back if something were to happen all i have is a product key at the bottom of my pc. Can i download vista from the microsoft site and enter the product key? I need all the help I can get on this. So please share your thoughts and solutions here. And thanks a ton before hand for all your help.

Recovering Vista files using Ubuntu

WAW8 — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:10:05 GMT

This guide is for those folks who have a Vista machine that will not boot into Vista anymore, and will not respond positively to either a Startup Repair or a Reinstallation. Both of these other activities are documented in this Forum and should be used before the activity detailed here.

In the event that your Vista machine simply will not boot, the only option available to you to get a working machine back is a complete installation of the OS from scratch. If you have a relatively “new” machine., with nothing worth saving, then you don't need this guide. But, if, as is the more typical case, you have a machine that you've used for months and don't want to lose all that work as a byproduct of a format and installation, this guide is for you.

[b][u]Some background ...[/u][/b]

Ubuntu is a GNU/Linux distribution. The current stable version is 7.10, known as Gutsy Gibbon. This version is capable of mounting and reading NTFS-formatted partitions, meaning that it can read the files in your Vista volume on your PC.

A “LiveCD” is a bootable CD of Ubuntu that allows you to load the OS into memory and run from the CD itself. This can be done WITHOUT installing the OS to your hard drive. This is a feature that Ubuntu shares with many other GNU/Linux distros. Amazing, but true!

The process described below will consist of the following major steps:
1) Obtaining the Ubuntu LiveCD
2) Booting the PC using the CD
3) Loading the OS
4) Examining your Desktop
5) Obtaining information on your Vista volume
6) Mounting your Vista volume
7) Attaching an external/USB pendrive or harddrive
8) Copying the Windows files to the attached drive
9) Removing the attached drive
10) Unmounting the Windows volume(s)
11) Shutting down the PC

Note: This guide presumes that the Ubuntu LiveCD will boot your machine and will display a Desktop. While that is generally the case, as with anything related to PCs, that is not always true. If the CD doesn't boot properly for you, you will need to go to the Ubuntu forums to get help. Debugging LiveCD problems is outside the scope of this Forum.

[b][u]1) Obtaining the Ubuntu LiveCD [/u][/b]

The Ubuntu CD image can be downloaded from the following location:
[b][url] http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu [/url][/b]

Click the Download Ubuntu tab

Select the Ubuntu 7.10, Desktop edition release, and Standard personal computer.

Choose a location near you.

Click the Start Download button. The download will begin.

Click the Save to Disk button and choose a location that can store a full CD image (600+ MB).

Notice that under the “Need Help?” section, there are links you can click that will tell you how to burn the image file to CD. If you don't already know how to do this, click and read the information associated with these links.

Note: If you do not have access to working PC to download and burn the image, on the first web page, instead of using the Download Ubuntu tab, click the third tab and request a CD. You will be taken to a page to request CDs. If you want a free one, it will take up to 10 weeks for them to send it to you (after all, it's free!!) But if you're willing to purchase one, you can buy packs of CDs, or individual DVDs. The CD contains the OS; the DVD contains the OS plus a ton of other packages. The DVD is useful if you want to actually install the OS and lots of packages without downloading them from the Ubuntu servers online. The linked pages provide you all the details.

[b][u]2) Booting the PC using the CD(or DVD)[/u][/b]

Now that you have the Ubuntu disk, you need to boot from it.

To do this, you need to change your BIOS settings to boot from CD/DVD. You will have to go into the BIOS settings during you machine boot in order to do that. Each PC is different, but generally, pressing the “Del” key or “F1” will typically put you into a BIOS main menu.

From there, tab to your Boot menu, and rearrange the order of your boot devices to have the CD/DVD device first in the list.

Open the CD/DVD drive, insert the Ubuntu disk, close the drive door.

Exit and Save (usually “F10").

Reboot the machine.

When it reboots, it will read the Ubuntu disk and bring up a menu. The screen will have a black background. Centered at the top will be the Ubuntu logo and the word Ubuntu in white transparent letters. Below that will be a menu, the first item being “Start or install Ubuntu”, shown in white, with the remaining menu items shown in brown. At the bottom of the screen will be a function key bar, ranging from F1 Help, to F6 Other options.

If you see this menu, then you're in good shape; if not, Ubuntu has problems with your video card/chip. Solving such problems is beyond the scope of this article. Go to the Ubuntu forum to get details on such solutions.

When the first menu entry is shown in white text, press the Enter key. This will start the OS loading process.

[b][u]3) Loading the OS [/u][/b]

This will take a while – several minutes.

While this is happening, a progress bar will appear in the middle of the screen.

When done, the screen will go black while the Desktop loads.

[b][u]4) Examining your Desktop[/u][/b]

Welcome to Ubuntu, or more specifically, to the Gnome desktop of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu comes with several different Desktops. Gnome is loaded by default. KDE (Kubuntu) and XFCE (Xubuntu) are others, along with additional variants.

Along the top edge of the Desktop, you will see (from the left) the Ubuntu logo, the Applications menu entry, the Places menu entry, the System menu entry, an icon for Firefox, an icon for Evolution Mail, and an icon for Ubuntu Help. If you click the Ubuntu logo, you'll get a pulldown, tiered menu of programs, much like the “old” XP programs menu but tiering from the top of the Desktop instead of the bottom.

On the top right of the Desktop, you should see an icon for Network connection, the date and time (yes, it's on the top instead of the bottom of the screen), and a running figure. This figure on the right serves much the same function as pressing the Start button in windows and selecting a shutdown option.

On the bottom left of the Desktop, you will see a button to press to hide all the windows on the Desktop, and an area to hold tabs for launched programs (similar to the TaskBar in Windows).

On the bottom right of the Desktop (the area in Windows known as the System Tray) you will see icons for Desktop selection (multiple desktops are available by default) and the trash can (yes, on the lower right instead of the upper left).

Note: Please be PATIENT when clicking on anything on the desktop. The delay is not an indicator of Ubuntu being slow, quite the opposite, Ubuntu is lightening fast. The delay is due to the fact that you are actually running the OS from the CD/DVD without loading it to your hard drive. That means that every menu click requires searching the CD/DVD and loading the program into memory before executing it. That all takes time.

[b][u]5) Obtaining information on your Vista volume[/u][/b]

Now that you're running Ubuntu, it's time to locate your Vista volume.

To do this, you first have to open a Terminal window. This is much the same function as opening a command window in Windows. Click Applications --> Accessories --> Terminal. A terminal window will open on the Desktop.

Click the mouse inside this window and type “sudo fdisk -l”. The “sudo” is short for “super user do” and is instructing Ubuntu to run the following command as Root (much the same as the default Administrator in Vista). The “fdisk -l” command (that's dash-ell, not dash-one) displays information on your “fixed” disks. Don't worry, it's NOT going to reformat your disks!

You will get a scrolling display of information, with a block of information for each disk, followed by a list of partitions on that disk. Look for the disk that has “HPFS/NTFS” under the right-most “System” column. These are Windows partitions. If you only have Vista on your machine, and you only have one partition, it will be “sda1”. If you have more than one windows partition, but only Vista on your machine, it will still probably be “sda1”.

If you have more than one OS (e.g., both XP and Vista), you'll have to sort out which partition belongs to which OS on your own. Ubuntu sees only the partitions; it doesn't know one Windows OS from another.

When you locate your Vista volume in the display, notice the “Device” information in the left-most column. You will see something like “dev/sda1” or “dev/hdc1”. The “sd” indicates it's a SATA drive; the “hd” indicates it's a PATA (IDE) drive.

Your first SATA drive is always “sda”, followed by “sdb”, “sdc”.., etc.

Your first PATA/IDE drive is always “hdc”, followed by “hdd”, “hde”, etc.

The numbers following the “sda” or “hdc” are the individual partitions on each drive.

Make note of the “sd” or “hd” designation of your Vista volume – you will need it later.

[b][u]6) Mounting your Vista volume[/u][/b]

Ubuntu can't work with a volume until it is mounted, This action assigns the volume a Mount Point in the file system and also tells Ubuntu whether to mount it read-only or read-write. For our purposes, to prevent any further damage to your Vista volume, we want to mount it read-only.

To do this, we will need to use the Mount command.

To see what volumes are already mounted, type “mount” in the terminal window. You will see a list of all the mounted volumes, along thwi the device, the root directory in the file system for that volume, the type of filesystem on that volume, and mount parameters.

To prepare for mounting the Vista volume, we need to create a Mount Point for it in the filesystem. To do this, enter the following command in the Terminal window: “sudo mkdir /media/Vista”Notice that the directory separators are forward slashes, not backward slashes (as in Windows).

To see if this worked, type the following command in the Terminal window: “ls -l /media”. You should get a list of directories under /media, with an entry for Vista.

Now, it's time to do the actual Mount operation. Let's presume the Vista volume is “sda1”.

To do this, enter the following command in the Terminal window:
“sudo mount /dev/sda1 /media/Vista -t ntfs -o nls=utf8,umask=0222”

This will mount your Vista volume under the /media/Vista directory in the filesystem, and will mount it read-only. It should also open a Nautilus (the default Gnome equivalent of Windows Explorer) window with the contents of your Vista volume listed.

This is essentially the “C” drive of your Vista machine. One way to tell that you have the correct volume is to scroll down through the file list. You should see a folder for Program Files, and down near the bottom, you should see an entry for pagefile.sys.

Don't worry if you open the Documents and Setting folder and find it empty. That's the way it's supposed to be. In Vista, that is just a link to the real directory – which is under Users.

If you don't see these, you've mounted the wrong volume. But. no harm done! You mounted this read-only, so you're not going to be able to damage it in any way. Just page down to the bottom of this guide and see the section on Unmounting the volume. Do that and come back to this step, entering a different Mount command.

If you have more than one windows partition, and you should, such that your data is not in the Vista volume, do the same steps as above with the exception that you'll need to create a Mount Point for this second drive, Name that /media/Mydata and repeat the commands above but using this Mount Point instead.

[b][u]7) Attaching an external USB pendrive or harddrive[/u][/b]

Mounting an external USB pendrive or harddrive in Ubuntu is no harder than it is in Vista – you just plug it in.

Ubuntu will detect the new drive and add an icon to your deskop for the device. The drive icon will most probably have the name of “disk”. It might also automatically open a Nautilus window for that drive. If not, double-click the drive icon to open an Nautilus window.

[b][u]8) Copying the Windows files to the attached drive[/u][/b]

To copy files and folders, you use the same drag-and-drop approach as you learned in Windows.

Navigate through the folders structure to the folders and files you want to copy, click on the source, drag the mouse to the attached drive, and release the mouse button.

Ubuntu will copy the folders and files to the attached drive.

[b][u]9) Removing the attached drive[/u][/b]

When done, you need to Unmount the attached drive.

In Vista, you have to hunt down the icon in the System Tray area. But in Ubuntu, you close any Nautilus windows you have open for the attached drive, right click the drive icon on the Desktop, and select Unmount Volume.

You will see the drive icon vanish from the Desktop.

You can now unplug the attached drive.

[b][u]10) Unmounting the Window(s) volumes[/u][/b]

Since you mounted the Windows volume(s) using the Terminal, you must Unmount them the same way.

First, close any Nautilus windows associated with your Windows volumes.

Second, enter the “umount” command, as follows:

“sudo umount /dev/sda1” (using the same “dev” designation as you did in the Mount command)

Do this for each Windows volume you mounted.

[b][u]11) Shutting down the PC[/u][/b]

You're nearly done!!! Your files are on an external drive now, and you can plug that drive into any Windows box to see them.

To shut down the PC, click on the running figure on the upper-right corner of the screen and select Shutdown.

At some point, you get a message on the screen to remove the CD/DVD and press Enter. Remove the media, then press Enter.

Your machine will then shut done.

My admin account missing after reset

eesia — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:28:03 GMT

Hi all.

I just received a laptop from my company and I set up a home network, etc. and when I rebotted, my account (under a specified domain) was missing and others were listed that were not listed the first time.

It's almost as if my Domain was removed.

With XP, you could select the domain from the login dialog.

There is no such dialog that I can see in Vista. Is there any way to select domains from the login screen?

I don't have any of the other passwords, so I'm in deep doo doo if I can't select the domain.

I also have tried to boot up with last known good configuration, etc...no joy.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Vista will not create restore backup

spartacus — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:07:42 GMT

Recovery D is in red. I compressed the file and deleted what I could but it still remains red with .99MB.

There are no backup CDs. I tried to make one but got a "not enough space in D" error. However, the change backup window says that there is 153 MB available. When backing up I always get a low disc message on D.

The one restore point does not work. I get an "unknown error occurred and your files were not restored."

Are there any programs I can buy that will back up Vista? I have 424 GB of 456 GB free. Is there a way to create another drive or expand the "Recovery (D;) drive.

Thank you

Vista Home Premium, 500 GB, 3 GB memory, HP

Complete PC Backup feature in Vista

Jason — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:37:01 GMT

Back it all up: The Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista include the Complete PC Backup feature. It allows you to save an image backup of your system drive (and, optionally, other drives as well), which you can restore in a matter of minutes if you need to recover from a hardware failure or a software mess.

Data file backups: Windows Vista gives its new Backup utility star billing. For Home Basic and Home Premium editions, you can choose file-based backups based on file types and save your selection for reuse.

Back up on a schedule: The final step of the Backup program encourages you to create a schedule for automated backups. The first one you create is a full data backup; subsequent runs are incremental, backing up only files that are new or changed since the last backup.

There ya go. Backup your vista before it crashes!

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?page_id=131&page=25

Help needed:Its urgent: System recovery disc failed

arindambag — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:36:42 GMT

Hi Guys,

I have HP compaq presario 6211AU which came preinstalled with WIndows vista basic, I created a recovery dvd for that

Recently my windows crashed and I formatted everything including the drive containing recovery portion and deleted all the partitions. Now when I was trying to recover using my system recovery DVD, its saying that this PC is not supported to run this system recovery disc.

Can anybody please help me out of this and tell what to do now and how to do it.

Is there any other way by which I can run my recovery disc?

Waiting for ur responses in anticipation

Thanx in advance

Vista login problem

ramkumargosling — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:53:34 GMT

hi I have vista german version . I have 145 gb data in my laptop. it has 160 GB harddisk. I get login screen and after giving username and password .I am getting blank screen for long time. then to shut down i have to use shift ctl del. Vista is not loading. Please help me to find the solution.

[SOLVED]Black screen of death - Nothing I've tried will fix this

kublid — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:49:35 GMT

Okay, first off, thank you all in advance for whoever can help solve this problem...

HP Laptop running Ultimate....

Everything was fine yesterday - attempted to load a .cue file with MagicISO and computer froze.. no biggie went to restart - got the loading shot (green night rider bar) and then black screen of death.

Restart - tried all safe modes but will not pass crcdisk.sys.....

Attemoted to start from dvd - finally got that working - Go in to repair mode - it finds Vista on by C: parition - scans for problems but can't fix them..

Try system restore - says there are none - which isn't true...

tried the command prompt and did bootrec /fixmbr and /fixboot

still no change.....

I even attempted to do a clean upgrade over the old one, but of course the upgrade option is grayed out...

ANYONE??????? I exhausted all I know how to do.. any help or suggestions would be great, I'll try anything!!

What if Startup Repair won't start!???

spark001uk — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:03:47 GMT

Lost power at logon screen earlier. I rebooted and it went to startup repair - but startup repair won't start!! Nor will safe mode, nor last known good config etc etc. Any ideas? I'm stuck! I dont have vista dvd's, i have a hp pavilion which has recovery disks. I tried those, but i get a pale blue screen with a pointer, and thats it! It just sits there. Im totally knackered as to what to do??

thanks

mark

Vista Complete PC Back Up

mikeody — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:05:31 GMT

Have been using the Vista Complete PC Back Up for a while.
I have always had three drives and Vista has always backed up Drives 1 and 2 to Drive 3.
I have just 'reorganised' my three hard drives and want the destination drive for the Complete Back Up to be changed from 3 to 2 however Vista keeps pointing me to Drive 3 and doesnt show Drive 2 as a destination option.
Does anyone know a way of fixing this ? Thanks.

Vista Updates - somebody pls help !!

Maverick27 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:04:55 GMT

Hi,

I disabled the automatic 'Vista Update' a couple of days ago & decided yesterday to download & install the new Updates by simply clicking on the 'New Updates' icon on the toolbar.

When i restarted the laptop, it started the Repair Utility toolkit & took me back to a previous Restore point !!!

Can somebody advise !!

Do I un-install the Antivirus & take it form there ? There seems to be some sort of O/S conflict ! The situation is quite pathetic !!! I thought Vista was better than XP in terms of performance, stability & security ?!

I cant' even install any friggin' softwares !!

Mave

On start up, screen displays Media Player

brenin50 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:33:51 GMT

My Son has an Acer Notebook, which model I am unsure of. On start up the screen displays Media Player and it has to be closed down before anything can be accessed. Also certain programmes, such as system Restore cannot be accessed and a error message appears saying something like 'Media player has encounterd a problem and has to close'. Can anyone throw some light on this although I suspect it is avirus of some sort.

We have also tried to re-format the machine from the CD drive, changed the settings so that it boots from the CD but it seems to bypass this and goes straight to the hard drive.

restoring lost pictures

JadePriest — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:05:38 GMT

Ok I have NO idea what I did but all my photos are gone. When I go to start menu then do a search for *.jpg all my photos are there but when I go to the folder it says it is in there is nothing there. I am assuming I deleted them by mistake. But the trash can is empty and I tried to do a restore point but I gues there are no restore points for me to go back too. Is there anything I can do or are they all lost..... thanx in advance.

missing partition

andrewbt1991 — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:40:27 GMT

the other day i wanted to dual boot my Acer laptop. it came with Vista home premium 32bit, and i wanted to use XP as well. but something went wrong with the install and XP didnt work. then the partition that had XP just disappeared. then my D:\ drive disappeared. i used my vista ult. x64 boot disk that i use for my desktop computer and merged the 2 missing partitions and then D:\ came back. then when i booted my laptop up this morning D:\ went missing again! any idea of what is happening?

I Cannot Retieve All My Previous Lost Files When I System Restore

OMGVinnyD — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:51:41 GMT

Hello, this is my first time in these forums. I am running a Windows Vista Home Premium which came on my HP Pavllion dv2000 laptop. I went into safe mode to look through some random files and I accidentally deleted my files that were in folders including some program folders that I have transfered from my home computer. These files were located in the Videos, Music, and Documents folder which were deleted. I had over 1700 songs of music for itunes for my iPod Touch and I had some important videos and data I was going to use for future random home and school projects. I did a system restore to a point, a day before of the incident, and I had all my programs back. I had retreived only two folders in my Documents folder and none in my Music and Videos. My iPod does have all my songs that I had pereviously and that includes my videos and pictures. I do not know how to get my music and my videos and pictures out of my iPod cause all programs I try to download to retreieve the items into my computer cost money to do a complete transfer and most programs do not help my iPod Touch. I cannot get my files back from a transfer with my old desktop computer because those fiels were deleted and I later found out that system restore was off so I cannot revert back to get those files.

Now, can someone please help me. I NEED not WANT but NEED those files back and I do not know how to. Can someone please help me and quick. Please and thank you.