[frugalmail]

RFH = Request for Help

Hi Everybody,

A friend asked for help with her machine and I haven't been able to figure out how to resolve the problem. I'm hoping somebody here could help.

Apparently there was a strange problem, that caused her to go through vista installation again. Instead of choosing a repair they chose a new install so they have a Windows.old directory now. So their data is safe, and I backed it up.

The big problem now is that after the Dell BIOS screen, it just goes to a blinking cursor in the upper left and I can go no further. F8 doesn't do anything.

I can get into the system if I boot Linux and I can see that the enviornment is a fresh vista install when it comes to programs and layout.

I downloaded and ran the repair disk. The tests look fine, but I never went for the long tests. I ran pretty much every option with bootrec. Strangely bootrec only sees the Windows.old directory as the valid install.

I think the problem might be that one thing points to Windows.old\Windows and something else is pointing to \Windows.

Any idea on what I could do to fix this (being able to boot into windows with a Linux CD), save reinstalling Vista on a clean harddrive?

[frugalmail]

Would love to hear anybody's thoughts on this issue.