Sometimes, we might encounter difficulty in starting Windows Vista after we have applied some crack/hack program that modifies the Windows Vista system to do something in operating system.
If we don’t know how to repair the boot loader, all we can do is to reinstall the whole Windows operating from the installation media. Sometimes, we can repair the boot error problem by booting from the Windows Vista installation DVD and then choose repair option in boot screen. We can try to repair Windows file system by selecting recovery from the Windows Vista boot screen then go to command prompt. In command prompt (console window), we can scan our hard disk that has Windows Vista by starting the command chkdsk. That check disk function can repair the Windows system error most of the times.
However, there might be cases even that disk check utility can’t fix the Windows boot error. I think that condition can happen if the Windows boot sector was altered by a certain program and forced to do some special startup commands. In the case in which Windows Vista boot loader was altered or modified, the problem might not be corrected even if we reinstall Windows Vista from installation media.
In such case or if we don’t want to reinstall the whole Windows system, we can try to restore the Windows Vista boot sector to default state. That function helped me many times to repair Windows Vista boot problems.
There is a small command line program called “bootsect.exe” in Windows Vista installation DVD. That small program is inside the BOOT folder of Windows Vista installation DVD. We can luckily use that small program to restore the Windows Vista boot sector to default state.
To invoke that program and to restore the Windows Vista boot sector, all we have to do is boot from the Windows Vista installation DVD. Then, select and open recovery console form the boot screen. (You can go to recovery console by clicking the links near the bottom of the Windows Vista first boot screen after you have booted from installation DVD).
You have to open the command prompt window to type the necessary command. Then, navigate to your Windows Vista installation DVD drive and then change the path of working folder to BOOT folder.
For example, if your DVD drive‘s letter is E:, navigate to E:\BOOT and then type the following command.
E:\boot\bootsect.exe /NT60 All
The boot sector restore program will work and you have to restart your PC after removing the installation DVD from the drive. The boot sector should be restored to normal (default) state and Windows should be able to boot normally.
This small program helped me for many times when I encountered boot problem with Windows Vista. I am not very sure this program can help you for every circumstances but I hope this information will help you anyway.
