Hi Jer--
You do have options you haven't used. Here are Five (5) of them:
1) ***Repair Install Steps***
You can try a repair install using the Vista DVD that is done with the same
stepas as in XP:
***Repair Install Steps*** (can be used for Vista) MVP Doug Knox
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...ps/doug92.mspx
Screen Shot Repair Install
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winx...exfullpage.htm
2) ***Using Last Known Good Configuration
http://www.microsoft.com/library/med...known-good.gif
How to start your computer by using the Last Known Good Configuration
feature
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307852/en-us (Applies to Vista as well)
You can try Last Known Good Configuration (a long shot but it just might
work) by booting to the F8 options just as you would to try a restore point
from one of the safe modes there only select Last Known Good) on the menu.
Last Known Good will recover you to your last stable boot. The only
disadvantage there when it works is for those who do not restart for long
periods of time in days if they have made a lot of changes since that last
stable boot.
3) Using***SFC as a Remedy***:
SFC or System File Checker is a bit like the spare tire in your car or a
backup battery I suppose. In Vista of course, they have changed it somewhat
and come up with a new name--Redmond stands for name it something different
twice a year and now it's part of WRP or Windows Resource Protection. It
scans protected resources including thousands of files, libraries, critical
folders, and essential registry keys, and it replaces those that are
corrupted with intact ones. It fixes a lot of problems in Windows XP, OE,
Windows Vista, Win Mail, IE6, and on Vista or if it is installed on XP, IE7.
It protects these things from changes by any source including
administrators, by keeping a spare of most of them.
How to Run SFC:
Type "cmd" into the Search box above the Start Button>and when cmd comes up
at the top of the Start menu>right click cmd and click "run as Admin" and
when the cmd prompt comes up at the cmd prompt type "sfc /scannow" no quotes
and let it run. This may fix things quite a bit. It replaces corrupt files
with intact ones, if you're not familiar with it.
________________________
4)***Using the Bootsect Tool
In addition you can use the Bootsect tool to manually repair the boot
sector
by accessing the command prompt from the DVD or from F8 and typing at the
prompt:
Bootsect.exe is available from the \Boot\folder of the Windows Vista DVD and
can be run from within System Recovery or Windows XP on a dual boot.
1. Use Bootsect.exe to restore the Windows Vista MBR and the boot code that
transfers control to the Windows Boot Manager program. To do this, type the
following command at a command prompt: Drive:\boot\Bootsect.exe /NT60 All
In this command, Drive is the drive where the Windows Vista installation
media is located.
Note The boot folder for this step is on the DVD drive.
2. Use Bcdedit.exe to manually create an entry in the BCD Boot.ini file for
the earlier version of the Windows operating system. To do this, type the
following commands at a command prompt.
Note In these commands, Drive is the drive where Windows Vista is
installed. . Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /create {ntldr} -d "Description
for earlier Windows version"
Note In this command, Description for earlier Windows version can be any
text that you want. For example, Description for earlier Windows version can
be "Windows XP" or "Windows Server 2003".
.. Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=x:
Note In this command, x: is the drive letter for the active partition.
.. Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
.. Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} -addlast
3. Restart the computer.
____________________________
5) ******Using the BootRec.exe Tool
Using the System Recovery Tool from the Repair link on the DVD after the
language choice in the lower left hand corner you can select command prompt
and you have the following options:
Bootrec.exe (You can use this tool to recover Vista even when you do not
receive the error message that is the title of the 2nd linked MSKB below):
How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to
troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392/en-us
Error message when you start Windows Vista: "The Windows Boot Configuration
Data file is missing required information"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927391/en-us
Good luck,
CH
"Jer" <> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
> Hi I booted my laptop last night, installed a couple of updates from
> Microsoft and upgraded Ashampoo's dvd burning suite, then I went to
> convert a MOV file to MPG then explorer.exe started to crash in an
> endless loop (it would search microsoft for the issue resolution close
> and then restart only to repeat) meaning that I could not use the
> system. I was able to reboot however upon my desktop loading up it
> started to do the same thing over and over again!
>
> I then tried safe mode with a command prompt and was able to get into
> the control panel and attempt to uninstall some of the updates (need
> to uninstall the dvd burning software also!) however I could not find
> any that were installed last night. I rebooted and using the Vista
> Ultimate DVD I was able to attempt to do a startup restore to which no
> problems were found, I also tried doing a system restore but there
> were no restore points available (I had turned it off) and I have no
> backups of my system just data....
>
> So I rebooted again and still the same endless crash and restart of
> explorer...
>
> What are my options at this point, I really do not want to reinstall
> vista as that is unbelievably painfull... There has got to be an
> easier way to restore explorer.exe or its related files?
>
> Thanks
>
>
> Jeremy.
>
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