Windows 7 System Restore Environment (HELP!)

[N1CK3RS0N]

Hello,

My neighbor was having issues with their laptop and since I'm a bit more tech savvy I'm attempting to fix it for them. The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L505d-S5983. Its about 3 years old. They had an issue with the laptop and now whenever it starts up windows it shows an error screen that gives error f3-f200-0002. Apparently this can happen to Toshiba laptops. Seems there is a corrupt Windows 7 file and I need to do a system restore. There are no system partitions to do a back up of.

I burned a disc on another laptop of the Windows 7 System Recovery Environment and changed the boot drive to the disk drive in the BIOS. Now it loads the disc and loads up the Windows 7 System Recovery Environment. The problem now is it doesn't detect a Windows installation. It gives me an option to load a driver from c:\Windows\System32 to detect the Windows installation, but I don't know which file has information about the Windows install.

I can skip the step of detecting a Windows installation but if I try to use the System Restore tool it says... "To use System Restore, you must specify which Windows installation to restore." So I need to find out which file in the System32 folder to select to detect my Windows information.

It also has a tool called Startup Repair which I've tried and it didn't do anything to help.

So my question is this, what file in the System32 folder do I need to select to detect my Windows Installation to do a System Restore?

 

[karlsnooks]

That error appears at what point in starting Win 7?

Is the friend's Win 7 also a 32 bit version of Win 7?

 

[N1CK3RS0N]

That error appears at what point in starting Win 7?

Is the friend's Win 7 also a 32 bit version of Win 7?

Yes it is a 32 bit version. And the error occurs after the windows logo is displayed on startup. The cursor appears as if it is going to load and then the message pops up in a box. Appears there is a corrupt file so I will need to do a system restore.

 

[karlsnooks]

On your system make a system repair disc.

CREATE A SYSTEM REPAIR DISC

[FONT=&quot]START[/FONT][FONT=&quot] | type System Repair | Enter key | Create Disc button[/FONT]​

=============================

Boot up this System Repair Disc on his system

=================================

[FONT=&quot]SYSTEM RECOVERY / REPAIR OPTIONS[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]USING YOUR SYSTEM REPAIR DISC[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Insert Win 7 SYSTEM REPAIR DISC into the optical reader.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Shutdown[/FONT][FONT=&quot] your computer.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Power up [/FONT][FONT=&quot]your computer.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A dialog window will appear:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Select your Language Preference | NEXT button[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Select desired operating system if more than 1 shown |
Use recovery tools... Radio button | NEXT button[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Select the desired repair option[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Startup Repair
System Restore
System Image Recovery
Windows Memory Diagnostic
Command Prompt[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]===============================[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]===============================[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]For Startup Repair[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]1) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Click on System Repair and run system repair[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]2) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Reboot[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]3) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Repeat this sequence 3 times[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]===============================[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]===============================[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]For System Restore [/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Choose a different restore point[/FONT][FONT=&quot] radio button | NEXT
Show more restore points checkbox (lower left) |
Highlight the desired restore point |
Scan for affected programs (lower right) |
When you find a usable restore point, then CLOSE | NEXT |
YES | Your computer will restart to finish the restore |
After the computer has restarted, FINISH

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
===============================[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]===============================[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To restore your computer using an image you created using Win 7 Backup[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Click on System Image Recovery[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]===============================[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]===============================[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]NOTE: [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You may need to tell your computer to boot from [/FONT][FONT=&quot]the optical drive.
Power Up your computer.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Immediately start hitting the F12 key
Choose CD/DVD from the menu

If your computer doesn’t offer this capability, try tapping the F2 key to get to the BIOS to change the boot order.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]===============================[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]===============================[/FONT]

 

[N1CK3RS0N]

Thanks Karl but on this laptop I'm using Vista, on the one I'm trying to fix it is Windows 7. However I downloaded an ISO and burned it to a disc for the Windows Recovery Environment which is what you mentioned. I tried the system repair like 5 times and it never works. Also I can't use the system restore on it because as I mentioned it can't detect the Windows version. I have to select a file from System32 for it to know what Windows version I'm using but I don't know what file.

Apparently the problem with the repair is it can't detect an installed OS or something?

Also when I try booting up the computer now it doesn't even reach the window screen, it gives me a screen that says:

File: \Boot\BCD
Status: 0xc0000098
Info: The Windows Boot Configuration Data file does not contain a valid OS entry.

 

[kegobeer]

Have you tried following method one in this tutorial?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/139810-sfc-scannow-run-command-prompt-boot.html

 

[N1CK3RS0N]

Have you tried following method one in this tutorial?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/139810-sfc-scannow-run-command-prompt-boot.html

Yes I have, the problem appears to be step 5 for me. It doesn't list an OS for me. I tried hitting next anyways but I come across problems.

 

[kegobeer]

If you press F8 during boot, are you taken to the Windows boot option screen?

 

[N1CK3RS0N]

If you press F8 during boot, are you taken to the Windows boot option screen?

Yes it does.

__________

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Enable Boot Logging
Enable low-resolution video (640x480)
Last Known Good Configuration (advanced)
Directory Services Restore Mode
Debugging Mode
Disable automatic restart on system failure
Disable Driver Signature Enforcement

Start Windows Normally

 

[kegobeer]

Do you have the same issue when you try to select Repair your computer from that screen - no operating system is detected?

 

[N1CK3RS0N]

Do you have the same issue when you try to select Repair your computer from that screen - no operating system is detected?

How do I repair from that screen? Which option. I listed what it displays in last post. Thanks.

 

[kegobeer]

Sorry, I didn't notice you put those options in your last post. You don't have the option - you have to use the repair DVD, which you've already tried.

The only thing I can think of that might be happening is that the restore environment is looking at the first partition (the 100MB partition that is usually created during Windows 7 installation) for the OS and not finding anything. Sometimes you can delete that partition and then re-run the repair action in the restore environment, which should then locate the Windows operating system. Now, I've never tried that myself, but I've had people do it and they reported success.

 

[N1CK3RS0N]

Sorry, I didn't notice you put those options in your last post. You don't have the option - you have to use the repair DVD, which you've already tried.

The only thing I can think of that might be happening is that the restore environment is looking at the first partition (the 100MB partition that is usually created during Windows 7 installation) for the OS and not finding anything. Sometimes you can delete that partition and then re-run the repair action in the restore environment, which should then locate the Windows operating system. Now, I've never tried that myself, but I've had people do it and they reported success.

Thanks for the tip.

There are 3 partitions on here, I followed the instructions in post #2.

http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...-repair-menu-doesnt-see-operating-system.html

What it gives me for LIST PARTITION is this:

Partition # | Type | Size | Offset
Partition 1 | Recovery | 1500 MB | 1024 KB
Partition 2 | Primary | 288 GB | 1501 MB
Partition 3 | Primary | 8111 MB | 290 GB



I also tried following this too but it says the file isn't found.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ool-how-use-windows-recovery-environment.html

 

[kegobeer]

Well, now we know what's going on. The first partition is the Toshiba recovery partition, which will allow you to restore the system to the original shipping configuration, just restoring the operating system, and a few other options. However, that will completely wipe the OS partition. There are several different options you can select during the process. It's explained in the manual, starting on page 61.

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/con...es/su2427325/GMAD00212010_SatL500_09Aug11.pdf

Obviously they want their data saved and not wiped, so if you choose that path, make sure you copy all of their data to removable media (external drive, flash drive, etc).

I'm still looking around, trying to find more information on how to access the Windows restore environment when the first partition is a recovery partition.

 

[N1CK3RS0N]

Well, now we know what's going on. The first partition is the Toshiba recovery partition, which will allow you to restore the system to the original shipping configuration, just restoring the operating system, and a few other options. However, that will completely wipe the OS partition. There are several different options you can select during the process. It's explained in the manual, starting on page 61.

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/con...es/su2427325/GMAD00212010_SatL500_09Aug11.pdf

Obviously they want their data saved and not wiped, so if you choose that path, make sure you copy all of their data to removable media (external drive, flash drive, etc).

I'm still looking around, trying to find more information on how to access the Windows restore environment when the first partition is a recovery partition.

Thanks, I'm reading through the manual now.

 

[N1CK3RS0N]

As the manual mentions on page, if you press and hold 0 during start up screen it will go into their own restoration tool. I think my neighbor may have tried this and it failed or something. When I try it now the laptop makes a loud beeping noise and doesn't go into the recovery tool.

 

[kegobeer]

Well, it sounds like it's pretty well messed up. Is it still under warranty?

 

[N1CK3RS0N]

Well, it sounds like it's pretty well messed up. Is it still under warranty?

Doubt its under warranty still. Is there a way I could hook up the hard drive from the Toshiba to another laptop or my desktop and back up any important files? And how would I go about wiping clean the hard drive and just doing a fresh install of Windows? I don't think they have the Windows install disc but the laptop has a sticker on the bottom with the serial # for the install.

Thanks again for your help Kego.

 

[kegobeer]

Well, it sounds like it's pretty well messed up. Is it still under warranty?

Doubt its under warranty still. Is there a way I could hook up the hard drive from the Toshiba to another laptop or my desktop and back up any important files? And how would I go about wiping clean the hard drive and just doing a fresh install of Windows? I don't think they have the Windows install disc but the laptop has a sticker on the bottom with the serial # for the install.

Thanks again for your help Kego.

Yes. You can just remove the drive and put it into an external enclosure and connect it via USB/eSata/whatever to your computer, then copy the files over.

When you tried to use the Toshiba restore partition, did you hold the 0 down for at least 5 seconds, then release it?

 

[kegobeer]

I'm out until tomorrow. I'll check back to see how things are progressing.