Windows 7: Repair Install

Shawn,

You probably thought I'd abandoned you. Not so!! I was successful in getting the Repair Install to work. Thanks!!

But after all that, the problem I was chasing wasn't fixed. At least I have a clean computer now.

I stumbled into the root cause of my printer problem, and I fixed it. I could have fixed it without the Repair Install, but I'm happy to have learned that process for future applications.

The problem was that (somehow) TWO printer ports became assigned for the printer, both ports having the same name (Ex. USB001). I was able to delete both, re-install the printer drivers and, voila!, the printer worked. Whew!

Now all I have to do is recover from all the changes required for and as a result of the Repair Install. I can do it.

I appreciate your tutorial and the others I used in my quest.

Suggestion: You might want to reword Step 6.
Unless one takes alternative 1 or 2, the process WILL fail at Step 9. Apparently that's because the installed SP1 copy of Windows 7 is at a higher level than the original non-SP1 Windows 7 installation DVD. The upgrade process can't upgrade that which is already upgraded. I hope this helps someone else avoid the problem I encountered.

I'll be back when I have another problem -- or maybe even a contribution!!

Bill

That's great news Bill. I'm happy to hear that you got it all sorted out. I went ahead and removed the old step 6 option since it appears to no longer work anymore. Step 5 is the preferred and most common method anyway.

Shawn,

At the beginning of your Repair Install process tutorial is a list of warnings. The last two are cautions about changed default locations for User Accounts. I can understand the need to have the Users' profile folder at the default location on the C: drive because that stuff is closely integrated with system and program operational information. In fact, I never move those files from C: for that reason.

But the rest of the files in the User Account folder are data, ideally separated from the operating system and application programs into another partition (dedicated to storing only data files) for lots of reasons. I'm talking about files such as Documents, Favorites, Contacts, Pictures, etc., etc.. What is the purpose of the warning on having those data files relocated from their default location on C:?

I agree that Windows will repair those user folders into their default location on C:, so those repaired folders will have to have their pointers restored to their non-default locations for access to their pre-repair data. But even if the repair process puts new files into those repaired folders, won't the location-moving process merely integrate the new files with those still located on the original data partition? [I guess I should try that, but you may already know the answer.]

I returned those folders, reluctantly, to their default locations on C: prior to the repair proces and then moved them back after completing the repair process because I didn't want to louse up the repair process and lose my time investment in it. Now that my crisis is over, I'm preparing in case such recovery is again needed by myself or others around me, so I am reviewing the repair process for efficiency and risk management. So help me understand that last item in your warnings list. please.

By the way, I made a backup of my entire system prior to runing the repair process, just in case something went awry. Good insurance!! It's too soon to be able to tell if I lost any data in the repair process, but I can get it back if some was lost.

Thanks again for a very fine job!

Bill

1st , thanks for the tutorial ..... got there eventually not sure what the problem was but I had to run the "upgrade" 4 times with various settings before it didnt restore itself to the Original Windows 7 64bit at the very last reboot , no error messages at all in the 1st 3 attempts , the last one I stopped the upgrade from downloading anything from M$oft and the Upgrade "took" .

After 60 plus updates from M$ everything seemed fine untill earlier i went to use
WinXp Mode and it was gone ?, no links on start menu etc , but the files were still where i had installed them but nothing would let me start XP Mode . It turns out XP Mode was still there but the Virtual PC wasn't , not sure why, so i reinstalled the Virtual PC , rebooted and Xp Mode was back and working agin with all my apps intact "phew" . So hopefully this is a warning for others with Xp Mode running.

Xp Mode files are here :
Download Windows XP Mode

thanks for the tut.

KB

You're most welcome KB, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Hello Bill,

That's a smart decision to create a system image to be safe. You never know what monkey wrench may pop-up.

Anytime you move the location of either the user profile folder (user-name) or any of the user folders (Music, Pictures, etc...), you risk it not transferring over properly or not at all during the repair install and possibly causing a user profile error, or worse lost of data in the folders.

Instead of moving the locations of the folders, you might consider this below to be able to access the files from your libraries with the files actually located where you like instead. It's much easier to just include the folder again, than to try and fix a messed up moved user folder.

• Create a new folder at any location you want.
• Move any files you want from the user folders into the new folder.
• Include the new folder into a library of your choice.
• If you like, you can also set the new folder to be the default "save" to location for the library as well.

Right! In other words, abandon the Windows 7 default data filing system altogether. I like that. In fact, that's what I did in earlier versions of Windows -- NOT use the My Documents folder at all. I used my own filing system as you are suggesting now.

Good call.

Well, you're still using the explorer file system, but just using libraries instead of trying to move the target locations of your user folder junction points. I'm glad it will work for you though.

Hello,I'm having a problem trying to repair windows with Sp1.At expanding files a get this error(see the pic).I have windows 7 Home premium x64,Pack 1.
Can someone help me?Note that my windows update don't work(that's why I want to repair windows).
Thanks to everyone.

Hello Diditare, and welcome to Seven Forums.

For that error number, you might see if using the two links below may be able to help. Afterwards, see if your Windows Updates may work to hopefully not have to do a repair install.

(Use OPTION TWO here)
Windows Update - Reset


Guide to Fix Windows 0×8000FFFF Error

Hope this helps,
Shawn