Windows Vista Recovery Disc Download

NeoSmart Technologies is hosting a copy of the Windows Vista Recovery Disc for your convenience.
It is a 120 MiB download, and in the standard ISO format.

This is nice. I have tried to add it to my multiboot dvd but it just keeps rebooting in a loop


anyone please fix a plugin for it

Using ISOLinux:

These folders on the root of your disc:

BOOT
ISOLINUX
SOURCES

1) extract the bootsector (make sure the file has a .bin extension) and put in the ISOLINUX folder
2) from the Vista ISO, copy the contents of the BOOT folder to your BOOT folder
3) from the Vista ISO, copy BOOT.WIM from the SOURCES folder to your SOURCES folder.
4) from the Vista ISO, copy BOOTMGR to the root of your disc structure
5) Add this line (or something similar) to your ISOLINUX.CFG:

6) Build the ISO and you should be good


The old (Pre Vista) way was: Boot Sector -> I386\SETUPLDR.BIN -> I386\TXTSETUP.SIF
The new (Vista/2008) way is: Boot Sector -> BOOTMGR -> BOOT\BCD -> SOURCES\BOOT.WIM

You can change the folder BCD looks for BOOT.WIM in (as long as its 7 characters) by hex editing BCD, but you can't change BOOTMGR because its a signed file.

Cheers

How can I do that ??

Hello all,

I was just suspended for 15 days from another forum due to the fact that I published the link for the iso posted above
from Neosmart thinking that it would help other users. The suspension reason invoked by the moderator was that I posted an illegal download link,
which did not conform to forum rules.

When I posted this link I did not think about anything bad (this link is posted here in a serious forum, the content as I read and explained
by Neosmart is OK, it looks like as a stripdown and easier version of the WAIK which is legal and publicly downloadable
from MS. So what do you (forum moderators and you all) think about this ? Is this link really illegal and so my forum moderator
was right, or there are strong arguments to prove that there is nothing really illegal. Does the link aimed to Neosmart user
only and not publicly available for all? If this is nothing illegal and the link can be downloaded publicly, I can then
present those arguments back to my forum moderator.

If there a direct equivalent downloadable link from MS for the iso ? This would be a strong, definite proof for legality.

It seems like the tool is available within the Vista SP1:
http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070929/...-recovery-disc/

besides of course the WAIK.

Though not really clearly worded, the guys at Neosmart do state that:
1) the .iso was made by Microsoft:

2) Microsoft made it available:


from the above and from the fact the file is hosted on neosmart site, it is consequent that they are authorized by Microsoft to distribute the file.

Is it true, and therefore the download is perfectly legal?

Or the guys at neosmart only think they are authorized and thus the download is illegal?

Noone can say, without knowing in details the re-distribution agreement (if any) between Microsoft and Neosmart.

What I can say is that lately, and with the VERY notable exception of the known Autopatcher "cease and desist" message:
http://www.autopatcher.com/134
http://www.autopatcher.com/takedown-notice

See also my comments to it:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...ic=2960&hl=

Microsoft has showed a much more "open" mentality as compared to their previous history, do you remember when Windows PE was only available to a few, and only quite recently it was licensed to all OEMs, including single people, as long as they built themselves their PC and were thus to be considered OEMs?
http://www.msfn.org/board/WinPE-FAQ-t10315.html
http://www.msfn.org/board/Info-Windows-PE-t26230.html
http://www.msfn.org/board/Helpful-links-WinPE-MS-t16764.html
http://www.msfn.org/board/Download-Windows...Kit-t56488.html

You may also remember the discussions (here is just an example) about the legality of BartPE:
http://www.msfn.org/board/Question-BartPE-...ect-t58057.html

So , I tend to trust the fact that the download at neosmart is legal and that the neosmart guys are in good faith hosting it, but of course anything in this post only reflects my personal opinion, nothing you can use as "proof" to the forum moderator.

jaclaz

@jaclaz

Thank you very much for your thoughts and various informative links (as always).
I also "think" that there is nothing illegal, but as you said there is no 100% proof, so
maybe this is why the forum moderator only applied the rule.

By the way, for information, it is very easy for me with grub4dos to add a new entry to my
multibootable USB key to boot this Vista Recovery using the method described in:
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=19439

Over zealous mods, especially those without law degrees, sometimes make errors.

And while the Autopatcher email looks official so do the ones from the Nigerian Generals looking for help moving money around the world. I would think it's highly unlikely a corporation would issue a legal decree with no verification the intended recipient got it. In the US such actions are either delivered in person or by registered mail which requires the individual sign for it. As such I recommend Antonis disregard it.

As for the Neosmart link, the site looks to be a legitimate website and the download looks to be official and legit. If it's not then Internet Inspector can send them an email.

be care full down loading and running that bootable CD
I ran it once it might be coincident
but it knakered my system it has some Bug on it in repair section

even Ubcd4win is not booting up
and niether Vista Pe2
I ran Fdisk /MBR but no use
I am posting this from another computer

Regards Ben

I found no malware on the version I downloaded and I also didn't have boot issues after using it. My tests using it with a "live" system were limited since there was no need to perform any repairs but the files ( I got ) do test clean.

hello again,

Night mare ended eventually managed to boot in with my UBCD4WIN
and changed NTLDR and other start up files then checked the BCD
on the partition where XP is living now .
booted in with the original Vista DVD and did a repair
it throw in the towel saying can not fix .
so I restalled Vista again
formating partition
when it all loaded it was going to Vista partition and not XP
so installed Easy BCD and had a look around and changed the
the setting for ntldr to D:
and it booted in to XP.
that repair thing of Microsoft must have messed up all the
vista BCD store settings .
it dumps all start up boot things in XP partition
and gets confusing .
thanks for your help full comments Rdsok
I think if Easy BCD is sold at a price they will make a killing
as it is very useful (necessary tool for VISTA)
Microsoft Basically are selling a BETA operating system

no you are right there is no virus on that ISO
Just serious BUG in microsoft start up boot repair thing

you can make that bootable CD your self
using WIKE and the boot.wim on the DVD
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...st&p=141715
===========================
if you got the DVD it has a boot.wim 113MB
if you exchange that with boot.wim(153MB) in WAIK PE builder
and also change winpe.wim again with same boot.wim file but this time change name to winpe.wim
and then drop any thing you want on Cd to ISO folder like A43 file manager or Opera
then use 6makeiso.bat to makewinPE.iso
do not mount and drop them in system32 like before as it is different and they will not open (do not know why??)
I have tested it using this method and it works
way I mentioned you can add A43 to root of Cd which is very handy.
==========================================
thanks again
regards Ben

Confusion with volume labels
Hello Again,

I have recently installed Vista to test
I have 3 partitions XP(NTFS), Vista(NTFS), Data (NTSF)
vista dumped a directoty called BOOt with BCD store on XP partition
in xp the vouums are :
XP-->C:
Vista---->G:
Data---->F:
DVDdrive--->D:
CD Drive----> E:
================
in vista
vista--->C:
XP--->D:
DATA ---> E:
etc
===============
in Vista PE
again different this time Vista is E:
==============================

any way if you use BCDedit /store C:\Boot\BCD where BCD is one residing in C:\Boot\BCD
you get different result
to if you export the BCD in Vista and have a look at it with Bcdedit or easy BCD
all the volumes are different.
no wonder there is so much problem with Vista start up issues.
confusion rains.
it is difficult to adjust the BCD device and path when one is not sure which drive letter is ?????

=================================
Result:
-----------------------------
BCD from XP text:


Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=C:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {default}
displayorder {ntldr}
{default}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=C:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

6

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {default}
device partition=G:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=G:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {28c0dc41-d3b5-11dc-b2a0-cc45c32f8757}
nx OptIn

3
===============================================================================
BCD FROM VISTA PE Text:

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=C:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {default}
displayorder {ntldr}
{default}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=C:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {default}
device partition=E:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=E:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {28c0dc41-d3b5-11dc-b2a0-cc45c32f8757}
nx OptIn
============================================
BCD from Vista Text:

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=D:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {default}
displayorder {ntldr}
{default}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30

Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=D:
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows

6

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {default}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Microsoft Windows Vista
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {28c0dc41-d3b5-11dc-b2a0-cc45c32f8757}
nx OptIn

3
==============================================================

that vista PE from the original Installation DVD tool is useless the sooner some one comes with a solution the better

again if one runs easy BCd from XP you get different result to if you run it in Vista partition ?????
just wanted to add a point here that
I ran DISKPART.EXE from windows XP and again from windows Vista and agai from windows PE2(vistaPE)
and the 3 partition numbers where constant that is the same each time.
but there is no option in BCDEDIT.EXE to /set device partition =<partition number>
it is <volume Letter:>
if you see what I mean
Microsoft would have been wiser to deal with constant partition numbers rather than variable volume Letters.
Regards Ben


Regards Ben

Would someone please remove this link... this is again the UBCD4Win plugin and should not be distributed seperately from the project.

Sorry for that !!!

Hey can someone please help me with this? I've followed Jotnars instructions to add the VistaRC to ISOLinux but when I try to boot I get the error:

First it asks to press any key to boot from CD (I've deleted the bootfix.bin file so it doesn't now), then it comes up with the error, then boots straight from the HDD.
I've tried this with my custom ISOLinux menu and a completely stripped and plain one and both get the error.
Can anyone please help me cos this is really annoying me now!
M_Taylor40

Did you followed Jotnars instructions?
That's file BOOTMGR not file bootmgr. Do you use uppercased names?

I've tried both uppercase and lowercase, I still get the error.
I used BBIE to extract the bootsector, which seems to have worked cos I used it to extract the bootsector from a ubcd4win CD i made (Just to make sure I was doing that right) and that works fine, and by the way it loaded bootfix.bin to say press any key to boot I take it it is working, just won't load the BOOTMGR file.
I've put the BOOTMGR file in both the CD root and the ISOLinux folders but still have the problem.
I'm going to try putting it in every folder lol cos I'm running out of things to do!
M_Taylor40

it's a shame that people like you and me have to get old and forgetful! /kickass post

@M_Taylor40

This is my mkisofs build string. What is yours and which version of ISOLinux are you using?



Cheers

Hi Jotnar,
I'm using the versions that come with UBCD 4.11, I've used TinyHexer from UBCD4Win and I think the ISOLinux.bin fine is version 3.35 and in the ubcd2iso.bat file the mkisofs.exe string is:

I'm going to have a go trying to update ISOLinux (If theres an update) and modifying the bat file to use your string, hopefully that'll work but I'll let you know.
Thanks,
M_Taylor40

Just as a note, I'm using Windows Vista (But tried on XP as well), and I've had a look online and can't find a website that maintains ISOLinux, the one that has it and SysLinux has updates but just for SysLinux.
Where can I get an updated version of ISOLinux?
Yes I'm a noob to this but I'm learnin quick thanks to the help of alot of ppl!

isolinux.bin is inside the syslinux package that you can download.

Cheers

Lol, Got it, now I'm using version 3.62 (Just released a few days ago, not beta).
Also I'm now using a slightly modified version of your string:

The parts I've changed (Apart from the name and file locations) where done so the string would find the files.
The new UBCDmki.iso that is built sadly still has the problem with the VistaRC, but everything else is working perfectly.
Just so you can see this is my UBCD file structure on my HDD before being built (Incase I need to change anything here):


The files within my isolinux folder are as follows:
chain.c32
DIAGMENU.cfg - 1 of my menus.
isolinux.bin
isolinux.cfg - contains:

logo.png - Menu background.
main.cfg - My main menu.
memdisk
OTHRMENU.cfg - 1 of my menus.
RECMENU.cfg - 1 of my menus.
VESAMENU.C32

I've typed out all files in the case that they are on my HDD, if u need to see anything else just say!
I hope that there is a simple error that I'm making here!
Thanks again for your help!
M_Taylor40

Well right off the bat I can tell you you're missing the BOOTMGR file which should be at the root of your disc structure. The folders boot and sources and everything in them shoud, capitalized as well. What is the string you use to load the boot sector? It should be something like "kernel vstaboot.bin". The boot sector will then look for BOOTMGR on the root of your disc. BOOTMGR will then look in the folder BOOT for the file BCD. BCD will look for BOOT.WIM inside the SOURCES folder. From there it should just load. Its easiest to just uppercase everything. If you don't have everything capitalized you might want to back off of -iso-level 4 to -iso-level 2 though to avoid some DOS issues with MSCDEX.

Cheers

Now thats the worst typo I could have possibly done now isn't it lol.
The bootmgr file is actually already in the root folder, but I've now gone through and set EVERYTHING to uppercase, lol, absolutely every file is now in caps.
I have just finished changing everything to caps, including within my menu files and it appears to be working now!
So anyone else thats having this problem, first change everything to CAPS!!!
I now have my completed CD!!!
Thank you so much jotnar!!!
And thanks to everyone else thats helped and all the people behind UBCD/UBCD4Win/PE and everything else lol.
M_Taylor40

Would you still recommend doing this even though everything is now in caps? This is the final build sting that I'm using which everything seems to be working with.

Thanks again Jotnar!
M_Taylor40

Well, do you remember Jotnar's instructions?
Yes, use uppercase names.

Remember there is 'mkiosfs -force-uppercase'. However some windows applications require lowercase.
Uppercase all DOS application names, files an folders.
Use mkisofs -iso-level 4.

Hey cdob,
Thats the thing tho, I originally tried all the VistaRC files in uppercase, but that time I went and put every file and folder within my UBCD folder into uppercase.
I must have missed a file originally or something but at least its all working now.
I dont want to force uppercase cos I'm including a build of UBCD4Win as well and I don't want to annoy that (And its workin fine as it is lol!).
Now that I have completed the CD I'm going to try to get it working fully on USB using the SYSLINUX menu system in the UBCD4Win\USB Support tutorial.
I'll be posting this over at the UBCD4Win forums as I know some ppl have been interested in using ISOLinux instead of the BDCW system.
Thanks everyone!!!
M_Taylor40

Glad you got it working! I always uppercase the DOS stuff on my disc and stick with -iso-level 4.

Cheers

sorry i have some error with bootable cd use isolinux

i'm put this file
bcd ,boot.sdi ,bootfix.bin to folder isolinux for booting dvd
and extra SOURCES folder to SOURCES folder
but give me some error lock pic

@Mr.xx: You need to also copy your Boot folder (in the root of the "system" partition as seen from Disk Management), which is what will hold you BCD file. You can't simply copy the BCD file itself into the root. It wont work. You will also need to place the "bootmgr" file in the root as well. You can see these files when you unhide protected system files in the Folders Options of the Control Panel.

Cheers.

now working another questions how to change name sources folder to any name like recvista which file must modify for change name folder
i'm try with bootmgr but not found