Can't figure out how to do a Repair (Upgrade) install

I can't get Windows 7 to boot (it hangs apparently due to missing one or more dlls and just restarts at the splash screen) or perform either a Startup Repair or a System Restore (even though I have restore points). I've also tried sfc /scannow and chkdsk /f/r - neither of which fixed the boot loop.

So I've been trying to undertake a Repair (Upgrade) Install without any success. I really don't want a complete clean install (reinstall) of Windows 7 or a move to Windows 10. All I have is the Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit) Upgrade DVD, though someone provided me a link to a full Windows 7 Ultimate iso as well (which was a very nice gesture).

My first attempt was booting from the Windows 7 Upgrade DVD to try to run the Upgrade option. I received the following compatibility message.

'The computer started using a Windows Upgrade disc. Remove the Installation disc and reboot your computer so that Windows starts normally. Then insert the installation disc and restart the upgrade.'

So I burned a Windows 7 (full) Installation iso to a USB stick and booted up. I thought this method would work and install without any issues since I was booting from a full version of Windows 7 instead of the Upgrade DVD I tried previously. However, I received the following error message

'The computer started using a Windows Installation disc. Remove the Installation disc and reboot your computer so that Windows starts normally. Then insert the installation disc and restart the upgrade.'

This error message is essentially the same one I received when I tried booting from my Upgrade DVD (just the boot source names differ). I can't start Windows normally. If I could I wouldn't need a Repair Install (Windows Upgrade).

I've read the Repair Install tutorial and it doesn't mention this error or how to get around it. Anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks SIW2 for the assistance. I've never used ShadowCopyView (SCV) before and I didn'teven know shadow copies were being made. I've being using Windows since 3.1 (and computers before then), but I'm a complete novice when it comes torestoring Windows 7 (along with servers, partitions, and remote control)because these are areas I rarely use. I've always just recovered Windows 7 from a System Restore Point and it's always worked - until now.

Unfortunately, what I unintentionally did using SVC apparently made this mess even worse. The steps I took:

Tried replacing the 5 folders with ShadowCopyView (SFC)
1. Installed the software from the link you provided on a USB stick. Booted into the boot media (unsure of what that boot media is named).
2. Found C:\ drive (the drive where Windows 8 and my important data is stored). Created an Old Windows folder and moved the 5 folders you listed into that folder.
3. Found and opened SCV and it showed several snapshots (about 19 snapshot if I remember). Picked a random snapshot and copied the c:\ Windows from the snapshot to C:\.
4. Checked the copied version on C: to verify all the files were copied. Only about 50% of the files had been copied. Also a number of snapshots were gone.
5. Kept trying various snapshots and kept having issues with SVC. Also the number of snapshots would decrease every time I tried to copy the 5 folders from any snapshot.

Tried a Windows 7 Repair (Upgrade) install
6. While still in the boot media program, decided to try to do a Repair (Upgrade) install from the Upgrade DVD (figuring that since I booted from neither a Windows Installation disc nor Upgrade disc (DVD) that it should work). Got the error message about booting from a Windows installation disc and requesting booting into Windows normally.
7. Copied the Windows7 DVD contents on the C:\ drive and tried setup.exe (figuring that it would work since I booted from the USB stick). Got the same error message.

Tried getting back to where I started - and just start over
8. Decided to try to just start over. Copied the folders in C:\Old Windows back to C: - figuring that if I started SVC like it was when I started all the snapshots and restore points would be just like as before when I first started this attempt initially and I could thus just try again.
9. Booted again in the boot media program - only 1 snapshot is shown instead of the 19 snapshots I had earlier (and I think the only snapshot is one AFTER my Windows 7 became corrupted).
10. Booted to Windows 7 Repair environment and tried System Restore - only 1 System Restore shown (instead of multiple restore points I had before I started).

I don't know what happened. I thought I did everything correctly but obviously something went wrong (probably human error somewhere). Any ides? I've worked so long on fixing this Windows 7 boot problem (which has a BSOD error message if interested) and spent so many hours trying attempt after attempt that frankly I'm really, really frustrated. Everything I've tried thus far (for days now) hasn't worked.

I just noticed that I mistakenly wrote Windows 8 (instead of writing Windows 7) in step 2 above. That's what I get for posting after eating a big Thanksgiving meal and not paying attention. Everything in this case is Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit).

I followed that exact tutorial. However, Step 1 in that tutorial is "Start Windows 7, and log on to an administrator account (or as SWI2 posted "Repair/Upgrade install can only be done from within booted windows. So you can't do that.") I can't get Windows 7 to boot - that's the problem. I also can't get either a Startup Repair or a System Restore to work so that I could boot.

I can't get Windows to complete a Repair (Upgrade) install either. If I boot from into the Repair (Upgrade) install from the Upgrade disc, I receive a compatibility message that I booted from a Upgrade disc and need to start Windows 7 normally. If I boot from a full Windows version on a USB stick, I get an error message that I booted from an Installation disc and need to start Window 7 normally. If I boot from the boot media on a USB stick (from the link that SWI2 provided), I also get the same Installation disc compatibility warning.

I first tried to repair Windows 7 (primarily with sfc and chkdsk commands), then I tried restoring Windows 7 and now I've been trying to complete a Repair (Upgrade) install. None of any of these approaches has worked.

My initial version of Windows 7 was Home Premium (OEM version I guess as it came with my computer). Then I upgraded with a retail Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit) version (which is what I have installed now) because I needed some additional features. I've never had a problem with either the upgrade or the Windows 7 Ultimate dvd (as the disc has been in storage). I literally used the Upgrade disc once (to do the initial upgrade) and the disc has been in its case on a shelf ever since (until this past few days).

SIW2 said:

Yes, because you have used more disk space, therefore not enough space for all the snapshots/shadows.They are hidden volumes on the disk.

Does this mean that all my shadow copies (and restore points) are gone? My hard drive did fill up when I moved the existing 5 folders you mentioned in an earlier post to an \Old Windows folder and moved previous versions from a snapshot (i.e. now having both 'recovered' and 'saved' versions of those 5 folders).

SIW2 said:

No, that can only be done from within booted windows.

I thought I was booting with a version of Windows with that boot program you provided which is why I thought installing from there would work. I guess it wasn't Windows though since I still got an error message about booting from an Installation disc.


As best I can tell, I appear to be back to square one so to speak. I think the only shadow copy I have left is a version after Windows 7 got corrupted or otherwise didn't run properly. On the Restore/Repair (Upgrade) install approach, what options do I have left other than reinstalling Windows 7 Ultimate (which I really, really don't want to do)?

If I can't get a Restore/Repair (Upgrade) install to run, I guess I still have the BSOD approach to see what's causing the BSOD (i.e. what files are either corrupted or missing) and try to fix Windows 7 that way. However, fixing Windows 7 would be a whole lot easier if I could just get the Repair (Upgrade) install approach to work.

I think the upgrade install / repair needs the original Home Premium OS installed and activated to make it happy enough to work. I know mine does. The times that I have done a reinstall I always had to install HP, activate, and the upgrade.
Art.