Windows 7: how do I write into the boot manager in Vista??

Can anyone advise me how to re-write the information ( what and where) so that I can access the hidden partition on a laptop running Vista so we can put the system on again.

I ask because Alt+F10 no longer works

IT DID work a few days ago, and we put Vista back on because the machine had been infected with malware which shut off all the services. So, restored, all sorted and the machine went back to my son working fine, but then a couple of days later, Service Pack 1 tried to download and install via Windows Updates, and kept on trying and trying, without completing.

My son brought the machine back because he could not get it to reboot, and we found the system was corrupt so that we could not repair even after chkdsk.

I googled a black screen message giving a particular address and registry line displayed when the machine halts ( which I googled on my own computer) and found that many other people had experienced the same events after downloading SP1, and that the system would need to be re-installed ( and then SP1 downloaded direct from MS, not via Windows Update) - but now Alt+F10 no longer takes me to the screen I need to do a factory restore.



If this was XP and boot.ini I could perhaps work out how to put that information back, but I do not know what to write or how to access the boot manager in Vista. Can you help please?

Take a look at your other thread.
can no longer get factory default to work