URGENT help needed! Vista won't reformat!

Homer_Bart

Homer_Bart

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2006
Messages
991
Location
Singapore
Car(s)
2007 BMW 320i
So my desktop died again. This time, I've found out an ingenious method to back up my stuff while the computer was down.

First, the windows won't start, it'll always lead me to the "Windows Error Recovery"
a. I click on "startup repair", then it gives me the error status: 0xc000000f.
b. I click on "start windows normally", and it doesn't start at all, but instead it gives me a disk checking. Then, after diskcheck is finished and it restarts, I get a BSOD, and dumps physical memory, before it restarts all over again.

I restarted the computer and went into Startup Recovery by pressing F11. I tried to install Vista from there by clicking the Recovery Manager, but it just showed Error 100c. Sometimes, the computer would just restart by itself for no reason!

I downloaded a Vista restoration CD that worked last time. So I booted from the disk, clicked "install now" and gave them my genuine Vista product code, but it gave me an error message saying windows cannot open the required file from F drive, the CD drive, along with the error status: 0x0070002.

I tried startup repair and every single option and none worked.


Help on how I can reoformat my computer will be appreciated!

Why did the Vista fail so suddenly? Vista sucks, my 5 year old VAIO XP is still working fine and going strong. Is Vista really that bad? :mad:

EDIT:
Regarding the Error 100c, I tried bootrec/fixmbr and bootrec/fixboot, and the latter command gives me an "element not found error text"
 
Last edited:
I think you can format any drive you want by just starting the computer from Windows installation disk, and then on the partition screen just format the drives you want to.

Though, normally your computer shouldn't be failing like this all the time. If you get this same problem many times a year, it's probably because of some dodgy software you are using, or then a faulty HDD.
 
I've used the Windows disk, but it tells me that it can't find the "install.wim" file. And also, this computer came without a Vista disk, so that means I had to download this disk by myself, which worked previously when this same computer died.

This computer died 3 times in the 2.5 years I've owned it since new, which was top-of-the HP range back then.

Thanks for your response! :D
 
Last edited:
Those computers made by big manufacturers can be quite tricky sometimes when having to reinstall windows or format drives, because there's a risk that when trying something you don't know you'll also delete the windows installation files from the HDD. I don't know at all where the installation files are stored in HP computers, so sadly I can't really give you any tips how to do a reformat.

For the record, I have had my self assembled computer also 2 and a half years, and have had same Vista install since then, withouh having to reformat a single time. All in all, Vista has been much more realiable than XP has been for me.
 
^ I agree, when Vista isn't broken and the computer can start, it's reliable and good to use.

Hmm, now that I can't reformat and install both from the HDD and CD, I really don't knwo what to do.

Oh anyway, I tip on backing up your files after your computer has died! Insert Vista installation disk, and a prompt will come out to ask you to load your Windows drivers, click load, and now you can access your drives and be free to copy and paste the files you want to back up :D
 
Vista is excellent IMO. It's crash recovery beats XP's ass, so even though it does crash more, it's now wait 10-30 seconds for explorer to reboot rather than lose all your files and have to restart with XP. I'm actually putting off getting a netbook so I can get Win7 on it because I not dislike XP that much (and i won't be happy if my new job insists on me having XP when i start year after next- hoping that Lenovo will force them to go Vista/Win7 by then!)

As far as your problem, I'm pretty sure if you can boot into your BIOS there may be an option to format the main drive/create partitions. If you can select the whole drive and make it "unallocated space", you can have a clean slate to try and re-install (of course, that deletes everything though too).
Also, have alook for a disk that may be called somthing like "Operating System CD" or "System recovery CD". I got one of these with my Compaq (which is now owned by HP) and it contained my operating sytem, plus all the stock applications and drivers. It basically does a factory reformat and omage for you. I know you said you didn't have the Vista CD with it, but this may be a stepping stone for you- if you got an XP CD with it, use that and then the Vista one to do an upgrade maybe?
 
After you get this fixed I suggest you look into some proper backup software. I use Acronis True Image to make an entire Image of my system disk, so I can simply reformat the disk if something goes wrong (or replace it) and drop the image back on. No messing with windows at all, and if you haven't done drastic hardware changes it will be exactly the same.
 
With all those errors I'd be inclined to think you've got a hardware problem of some sort. Vista doesn't just crash for no reason and the installer certainly doesn't crash without there being some sort of fatal hardware fault.
 
Could it be a RAM problem? I removed the ram and replaced them with another working set, thinking that it could be a hardware problem. Maybe I haven't installed the RAM properly? Or have I touched somewhere of the computer's internals that I'm not supposed to touch (i.e. the 'golden colored' areas, as a friend warned).

Maybe I can download fake windows XP from torrent sites, install it, then install my genuine vista that came with the PC? Will it work?

Also, if it were hardware problem, won't I not be able to copy my drives from my main partition to an empty one that I've never used?

I really don't want to send it to HP anymore. It's been ripping us off all the time. First time, it charged us $200 for a reformat of the computer and some software whatnot. Then, they charged us $180 for a change of power supply thingy! I'll want to fix this on my own and save the money for a nice G25, hopefully!

Thanks for the useful responses, folks! :)
 
Last edited:
Homer_Bart said:
Could it be a RAM problem? I removed the ram and replaced them with another working set, thinking that it could be a hardware problem. Maybe I haven't installed the RAM properly? Or have I touched somewhere of the computer's internals that I'm not supposed to touch (i.e. the 'golden colored' areas, as a friend warned).
Click to expand...
The only way to know for sure is to run memtest86. I'd start there.

I don't understand, though; is there not an option to delete partitions and create new ones in the Vista installer, and format that way? You could also try booting into a Linux live CD and dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdwhatever the hard drive.
 
Did you check that RAM you put in doesn`t go to conflict with other hardware. Check tthe manual for the RAM.
If it isn`t problem with hardaware try to reinstall or update you BIOS software if you have gigabyte motherboard its fairly easy.
 
I had a situation in which nothing, and that is absolutely nothing would be able to touch the partition Vista created. I couldn't delete the partition and I couldn't format it. Eventually the only thing that worked was partition magic on a bootable disc, and even that was only able to delete the partition (couldn't just format it, had to delete and rebuild the partition table on that drive).

If you just want to get rid of that partition without caring about restoring any files use PQM8 on a bootable CD.
 
hello guys! thanks for the wonderful responses! :cool:
turns out that vista failed first, and apparently becos of me leaving it switched on after it'd been broken caused the RAM and the hdd to fail proggresively, hence the complications.

Once again, thanks and kudos to all! :thumbsup:
 
Homer_Bart said:
turns out that vista failed first, and apparently becos of me leaving it switched on after it'd been broken caused the RAM and the hdd to fail proggresively, hence the complications.
Click to expand...
That's... not really possible, but alright. :p
 
Sounds to me like bad RAM caused the hard drive data to be corrupted, which destroyed Vista. If someone is telling you that Vista caused your hardware problems, they are either lying or don't know what they are talking about. It is impossible for " leaving it switched on after it'd been broken" to damage the hardware in any way. I hope they are not charging you for their "knowledge".

To test your hardware:
1) Check the RAM with memtest86 (you can easily find a boot disk with it), run for 24 hours.
2) Boot using Knoppix or another Linux live CD and check to see if there are any S.M.A.R.T. errors on your hard drive (smarttcl -H /dev/sda (or -a for detailed info) or some such from the commandline)

To fix your computer issues:
1) if smartctl and memtest don't report errors (and they most likely wont), use Knoppix to transfer any important files off your computer.
2) use GParted on Knoppix to repartition/reformat your HD.
3) Reinstall Vista (or give Ubuntu a spin).
 
YAY!

Back. Seems that I've not secured the RAM when I was installling them, causing one of the hard drive ports and video card to die. But still, I don't know why Vista refused to start in the first place when it was broken. Well, it's back now, with 4GB of RAM and a 512mb video card, good for GTA IV! :D

And finally, thanks for all the support, keep it up! :mrgreen:
:thumbs up:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top