Repair Install

abyrne · Feb 6, 2015

Hi,

I need to perform a repair install, your tutorial is excellent, but my DVD drive isn't working (part of the reason why I need to perform one!), so I need to extract the files to a folder to run it.

I can't do this on my normal hard drive, can I? Do I need to mount it as a virtual drive?

Brink · Feb 6, 2015

Hello Abyrne,

Would using a installation USB instead work for you?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31541-windows-7-usb-dvd-download-tool.html

abyrne · Feb 6, 2015

I don't know, my device manager is blank and I don't think my laptop reads anything, DVDs, USBs, phones etc. I can try I guess, not sure I have a big enough USB lying around!

What is the best way to use the ISO if I can't use a USB or DVD?

No, just tried it and it won't read a blank USB, let alone anything else

Brink · Feb 6, 2015

No problem. You could use step 4 in the tutorial with the ISO file and the free program 7-Zip to do the repair install.

abyrne · Feb 6, 2015

Hi again, I got the repair install going, but it has been on point 9 (Installation is restarting...) for an hour now, is this normal?

Brink · Feb 6, 2015

It's not uncommon for it to take awhile at that point. As long as there is hard drive activity, I'd let it set while doing something else, and check up on it later.

abyrne · Feb 6, 2015

Been over three hours now, nothing has changed onscreen, little circle still rotating and hard drive light flickering but i have a bad feeling about it...gonna leave it overnight and see what happens

Brink · Feb 6, 2015

Yeah, that's a bit too long. Since it does still have HDD activity, letting it sit overnight would be a good idea in an attempt to avoid a clean install. Fingers crossed that it'll eventually finish for you.

ICIT2LOL · Feb 6, 2015

abyrne said:
Been over three hours now, nothing has changed onscreen, little circle still rotating and hard drive light flickering but i have a bad feeling about it...gonna leave it overnight and see what happens

Hmm just noticed this one mate and just maybe the drive is faulty / past it' use by date besides it is an odd size in GB's. If the budget stretches then a nice SSD would be good and again not that expensive and the SSHD spinners even cheaper.

The optical if it isn't working then have you checked it by sliding it out and then firmly putting it back in again and if so then it might be worth replacing it as they are not expensive now.
See this it is so easy http://www.insidemylaptop.com/how-to-disassemble-acer-aspire-5742-series-laptop/ It also show how to remove most other stuff too

abyrne · Feb 7, 2015

I don't think there's anything physically wrong with my CD drive, I think my registry is corrupt, hence the attempted repair install. Device Manager is blank, won't read USB, CDs, phones etc. Tried all 'Device Manager is blank' solutions but none work.

I'm wondering if the method of extracting the ISO is part of the problem, I have the ISO file on my desktop, what is the best thing to do with it (in layman's terms, I'm fairly computer-dumb!)?

I tried to partition my HD, and extracted the ISO to that, and started setup.exe from that volume, and that is the one that was hanging. After restarting the partition has disappeared. SHould I try that method again?

Or can I use something like Virtual Clone Drive or Daemon Tools to mount the ISO? But will that automatically start the setup?

Any help is appreciated! I'm sure my computer isn't too screwed for this to work, I think I just need the right method!

Brink · Feb 7, 2015

Abyrne,

I think it may be time to consider doing a clean install instead.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

maxseven · Feb 7, 2015

Brink said:
Abyrne,

I think it may be time to consider doing a clean install instead.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

Yeah I must say that having done a Repair Install for the very first time in my life this week, I was surprised to learn that it requires a working Windows system to implement!

Abyrne yours seems too badly hosed for this repair method.

In the future you should make image backups of your hard drive to avoid disasters like this.

abyrne · Feb 7, 2015

How can I do a clean install if my laptop won't read DVDs and USBs properly?

Brink · Feb 7, 2015

Hey Abyrne,

Got a fee questions for you.

Did you already check your BIOS settings to make sure it's set to allow USB at boot?

When you created the USB, did you use the method in the tutorial I posted above?

Are you able to user your motherboard's boot menu to select to boot from a USB or DVD?

abyrne · Feb 8, 2015

Ok, thanks for the help so far guys...looks like I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and do a clean install...

Before I do, what is the best way for me to 'transfer' or save my settings, files, programs etc. so I can use them again on the new install? Don't fancy completely starting from scratch, I'm already transferring my music to my cloud! I know you can use Windows Easy Transfer if you're moving to a new computer, anything I can use in this case? Thanks!

ICIT2LOL · Feb 8, 2015

Hello mate try this for getting your data back / saved .
BOOTABLE UBUNTU
Make a bootable Ubuntu disk http://www.ubuntu.com/download
Set the BIOS to boot from the optical when the machine boots it will show you a screen with TRY or INSTALL > select TRY not INSTALL
When it is finished - it takes very little time you will get a screen like in the pic .
Open the drive you want > User and dig down until you get to the data / settings you may be able to copy / paste the material you want to an external source or other installed drive doing this.
I am not sure if it will but I have recovered tons of data etc using this method both on "dead" or just plain drives that you cannot get data from using Windows.

This can also be done with a Linux Mint MATE set up but try this first it works in much the same manner. You just have to copy / paste the data to an external but make sure you use TRY

adj · Feb 9, 2015

Query re Ubuntu data recovery posted by ICIT2LOL 9feb15

Hi ICIT2LOL, this is superbly clear, much better description than I have seen before.
Just to clarify:

a) Once Ubuntu running, you can remove the Ubuntu disk and replace with an empty disk to download your data, right ?

b) you say "copy and paste": but would that not mean having to open every file and copy each individually ? Is there not a way to just send the whole of e.g. My Documents to the empty disk ?

Sorry if these are daft questions, and thanks again for the explanation, adj

ICIT2LOL · Feb 9, 2015

adj said:
Hi ICIT2LOL, this is superbly clear, much better description than I have seen before.
Just to clarify:

a) Once Ubuntu running, you can remove the Ubuntu disk and replace with an empty disk to download your data, right ?

b) you say "copy and paste": but would that not mean having to open every file and copy each individually ? Is there not a way to just send the whole of e.g. My Documents to the empty disk ?

Sorry if these are daft questions, and thanks again for the explanation, adj

Hiyya mate glad you found it helpful and no - no such thing as daft question if you don't ask you will never find out and as a general rule most of us "oldies" will never criticize your questions - if they are rude or plain idiotic or begging for an argument the you will find they get short shrift but if you think you have been unfairly treated then just hit the report button - but to answer your queries

a) no I have never had to do that but I guess you can try
&
b) no I just copy / paste whole libraries etc because most important data is usually in pictures or documents - if you did say pictures one by one it would drive you nuts

AS for programs I am not sure because I have only ever needed to retrieve data.

maxseven · Feb 10, 2015

It appears that the Page 1 links to the various W7 iso files no longer work. Although I've not tried it yet, it seems that this page

Microsoft Software Recovery

is only for Retail versions of the software (and not e.g. OEM)?

Brink · Feb 10, 2015

maxseven said:
It appears that the Page 1 links to the various W7 iso files no longer work. Although I've not tried it yet, it seems that this page

Microsoft Software Recovery

is only for Retail versions of the software (and not e.g. OEM)?

Unfortunately, that link is found to be very unreliable. I tested it with an old retail W7 HP copy I had, and it said it wasn't available in English when that's what it was. LOL

Hopefully the site at the link in the tutorial will be back soon.

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