How to restore or re-build Vista's winload.exe ?

[sdream]

OEM machine Acer Aspire M5700
OS : Vista sp2
HDD : Hitachi SATA 2

Winload.exe is busted and Vista can not boot.
Windows Boot Manager says that winload.exe " . . . is missing or corrupted."

An article states that Knoppix Live CD can restore or re-build Vista's winload.exe.

I am ignorant of the Linux system and a 2-month-new-born baby to Ubuntu family.
Please teach me the steps and commands for carrying out the task.

Thank you very much !

[Harry Kuhman]

An airticle states that Knoppix Live CD can restore or re-build Vista's winload.exe.

I am ignorant of the Linux system and a 2-month-new-born baby to Ubuntu family.....

I don't know who is writing these articles, but you are being mislead. It is not safe to write to a NTFS partition with Knoppix (even if you can figure out how) and there is a good chance that doing so will corrupt the entire partition.

The best advice that I can give you is to recover any needed data (backup to FAT partitions, burn CDs or DVDs, or transfer the data across a network to another system, which could have NTFS partitions since it would be doing the actual writing, not Knoppix) and then reinstall Windows from the original discs.

[Capricorny]

I agree with Harry - using Linux to fix Windows/NTFS problems is, generally, too risky. It may work, but if/when it does not, you may be far worse off than before you made the attempt. I think a reinstall may be safest if you know that one file is corrupted/missing, but you don't know exactly why: It may actually be more damage there.

I have one extra suggestion: If you have very valuable data on the drive, you have no reason to think NTFS is corrupted (just some program files damaged) and you are in a hurry, you might try to setup a new disk for the Windows reinstall. You mount the existing disk in an external USB SATA cabinet, install Windows on the new disk, plug in the old one and transfer the files. For backup purposes, you could read from NTFS and write to FAT32 partitions using Knoppix, but as you will have Wndows running anyway, you might just as well use Windows for the backup.

Starting afresh with a new disk may be safer and easier than fixing an existing one.

[ckamin]

Why so many people have to try extraordinary measures to recover windows using Linux based tools is beyond me. Why not simply try the Startup Repair options on the Windows Install Disk. No Disk? No problem. Do a search and you might just find a downloadable iso file to create a repair disk. Look for Vista Recovery Environment, or some variable on the term. Use Windows to write to an NTFS partition and you'd be a lot better off than using some Non-M$ OS with all the risks of corruption. A simple "Automatic Startup Repair" might fix your system. Do a little homework and search the Micro$oft forums for known solutions.

Be sure to check the drive, since I have seen a LOT of disk failures that start with similar symptoms to yours.

I make a living fixing systems that other people have "tried" to fix. They usually do more harm than good. Most often, a simple fix would have done the trick in the first place. Also, be sure to make a complete backup BEFORE trying to "fix" anything. Create a disk image and copy your files over, just in case. If that means buying an external drive, it's a LOT cheaper than the going rates for data recovery.

Be sure to keep your data separated from any other system, just in case you were invaded by some malware/virus type issue.

My usual advice is that "when you find yourself in a hole, Stop Digging!"

[sdream]

An airticle states that Knoppix Live CD can restore or re-build Vista's winload.exe.

I am ignorant of the Linux system and a 2-month-new-born baby to Ubuntu family.....

I don't know who is writing these articles, but you are being mislead. It is not safe to write to a NTFS partition with Knoppix (even if you can figure out how) and there is a good chance that doing so will corrupt the entire partition.

The best advice that I can give you is to recover any needed data (backup to FAT partitions, burn CDs or DVDs, or transfer the data across a network to another system, which could have NTFS partitions since it would be doing the actual writing, not Knoppix) and then reinstall Windows from the original discs.

Thank you very much, Harry Kuhman !

This is roughly what that author said (not in English) :
1. Run Linux Live CD (Knoppix or similar one) and enter the Rescue mode.
2. Be sure your PC is connected to internet.
3. Input these commands:
wget
http://cha.homeip.net/downloads/ms.mbr
-O /tmp/ms.mbr
dd if=/tmp/ms.mbr of=/dev/hda
exit and restart.
The effect is the same as fdisk\fxmbr.

I simply do not know how to input these commands, so, I come to ask for help.

All my files are safe because I keep all of them in partition D.
And I am sure that the physical hard disk drive is in normal functional conditions.

The above mentioned author's method for solving the problem seems to be much easier than that of the torrent ISO DVD.
I really do not have the knowledge to evaluate whether what he says is practical.
What on my mind is an easy way out.
You are right. It might lead me to more trouble if it is not the right method.

Thank you!

[sdream]

I agree with Harry - using Linux to fix Windows/NTFS problems is, generally, too risky. It may work, but if/when it does not, you may be far worse off than before you made the attempt. I think a reinstall may be safest if you know that one file is corrupted/missing, but you don't know exactly why: It may actually be more damage there.

I have one extra suggestion: If you have very valuable data on the drive, you have no reason to think NTFS is corrupted (just some program files damaged) and you are in a hurry, you might try to setup a new disk for the Windows reinstall. You mount the existing disk in an external USB SATA cabinet, install Windows on the new disk, plug in the old one and transfer the files. For backup purposes, you could read from NTFS and write to FAT32 partitions using Knoppix, but as you will have Wndows running anyway, you might just as well use Windows for the backup.

Starting afresh with a new disk may be safer and easier than fixing an existing one.

Thank you, Capricorny!

There is not valuable date on the drive. I usually do not keep anything on the same drive as the OS.
And I am positive that the HDD is in good conditions because I have put a another HDD (an old WD Caviar SATA 1)
into the machine and installed XP on this HDD, and I can reach all the data on Hitachi SATA 2 easily.

There is no installation DVD with OEM machine. I burned recovery DVDs right after the purchase but the recovery DVDs
do hot do anything to boot-files such as winload.exe.

I know where to download bit torrent ISO DVDs but I am a bit hesitant to touch bit torrent files.
Yes. I will download it if there is no any other way to get out of this problem.

Thank you!

[sdream]

Why so many people have to try extraordinary measures to recover windows using Linux based tools is beyond me. Why not simply try the Startup Repair options on the Windows Install Disk. No Disk? No problem. Do a search and you might just find a downloadable iso file to create a repair disk. Look for Vista Recovery Environment, or some variable on the term. Use Windows to write to an NTFS partition and you'd be a lot better off than using some Non-M$ OS with all the risks of corruption. A simple "Automatic Startup Repair" might fix your system. Do a little homework and search the Micro$oft forums for known solutions.

Be sure to check the drive, since I have seen a LOT of disk failures that start with similar symptoms to yours.

I make a living fixing systems that other people have "tried" to fix. They usually do more harm than good. Most often, a simple fix would have done the trick in the first place. Also, be sure to make a complete backup BEFORE trying to "fix" anything. Create a disk image and copy your files over, just in case. If that means buying an external drive, it's a LOT cheaper than the going rates for data recovery.

Be sure to keep your data separated from any other system, just in case you were invaded by some malware/virus type issue.

My usual advice is that "when you find yourself in a hole, Stop Digging!"

Thank you, ckamin !

Why not simply try the Startup Repair options on the Windows Install Disk?
OEM machine does not come with installation disks.
And recovery disks do not contain anything to do with booting files.

I shall have to download the bit torrent DVDs if I do not find any other easy operations.
My next try, if the Knoppix one does not work, is to borrow a Vista installation DVD or even to download a cracked one
if I have to.

"when you find yourself in a hole, Stop Digging!" What a good and wise advice ! I will keep this.

Thank you !

[ckamin]

sdream

My intent was to let you know that you do not need the entire Vista Install Disk. There is a part of it that could be used fix a boot issue. It is called the recovery environment. A search might find a downloadable iso to create the disk. One url to look at might be http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/window...disc-download/ or a similar offering. Most OEM machines do not come with the media needed to recover the machine, and sometimes you would need to create a set of disks from a special recovery partition. As a solution, the Recovery Environment for Vista can usually be found separately and used to repair the installations boot up functions. Of course, if you have a friend that can lend you the Install disk, it's easier than downloading a solution. If I am not mistaken, your system is based on an Intel chipset, so no special drivers should be needed during the boot process to access the RE disk. Some chipsets are not that easy, and can cause some issues when trying to run the RE disks.

I'm a firm believer in using Micro$oft tools to repair Micro$oft operating systems, whenever possible. "Free" is also good, and Micro$oft does offer a lot of tools in that category.

One suggestion I would make is to be sure to backup your data anyway. Just because they are on a separate partition does not ensure they are "safe". I have seen drives fail and take ALL of the partitions with it. They can go with little or no warning. A separate drive is a better bet. I have many systems with "Mirrored" drives, just for the extra security. I also use multiple network storage devices just for the extra measure of protection, with at least one "offsite" solution for select mission critical data.

Unfortunately, there are many articles about using Linux to repair a Windows installation. I'll have to agree with Harry, that writing to an NTFS drive with ANY form of Linux can be risky. I have no problem using Linux to "read" the drives in order to recover the data. I have had entire drives become corrupted and not just the partition that was written to. It is a LOT better than it used to be, but drives still appear to become corrupted by doing so. I had one go down just last week, several months after the write was done. Fortunately, the drive was imaged before the write and no real harm was done. A simple wipe and reimage was all that was required. If it were a disk that had been used for an OS install. it could have been a different story.

Good luck with your recovery efforts!

[Capricorny]

This is roughly what that author said (not in English) :
1. Run Linux Live CD (Knoppix or similar one) and enter the Rescue mode.
2. Be sure your PC is connected to internet.
3. Input these commands:
wget
http://cha.homeip.net/downloads/ms.mbr
-O /tmp/ms.mbr
dd if=/tmp/ms.mbr of=/dev/hda
exit and restart.
The effect is the same as fdisk\fxmbr.

This recipe only rewrites the master boot record (mbr), so if you get a correct mbr downloaded, it could work just ok to fix a damaged mbr problem. It doesn't touch NTFS per se. But if there are problems with winload.exe etc, it might not help much with them. Taking backups of mbr can be good practice, reversing the if and of in the dd command, and use the count and bs (blocksize) parameters (and perhaps not using /tmp for backup! )

Unless you are quite sure that the problem is solely a damaged mbr, I think you are better off following ckamin's advice. Listen to people working seriously with such problems. Wrong writing to a file system might even mess up the partitions, so data in other partitions on a disk are not as protected as you (quite sensibly) might think.

[ckamin]

Capricorny

What I didn't really mention is the fact that Windows Vista is quite different in the way the boot process works, when compared to XP. Simply repairing the MBR probably won't fix much, if anything with a broken Vista system. It's a very small part of the process. Vista relies on a new process using the "Boot Configuration Data" or BCD. If there is an issue, especially when "Winload.exe" is mentioned, usually needs to be resolved with the Repair Environment as found on the Install Disk. There's a document describing the boot process that can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...mware/bcd.mspx

More information can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows...tartup_process

http://databases.doodig.com/2010/02/...ss-overview-2/

As a coincidence, I'm posting this while I have a laptop with a very similar issue on the bench for repair. Ten minutes with the Vista Install/RE disk and it is back to booting. The real challenge is trying to find out what caused the issue in the first place. My suspicion on this one is malware.