Windows Vista cant repair or run vista ultimate

3oh!3

New Member
when i turn on vistai get the message -
Info: Windows failed to load becuase a critical system drvier is missing, or corrupt.
File: \windows\system32\drviers\vidstub.sys
Status: 0xc0000221
..hope that makes sense.
i have a 32bit version of vista ultimate and i have made a recovery disk from this site using imgburn. - "Windows Vista Recovery Disc Download — The NeoSmart Files"
i ran the cd from the boot menu, it runs as a version of vista straight from the disk like it should,, it says "loading windows files", after that it goes through the normal loading screen, but after that, i guess its supposed to be the welcome screen? it stops. and nothing else happens.
thanks in adnvance for your help, =]
 
How long do you wait for? Plus you could try the 'Repair' function and see if that helps any...
 
Worst case: The file is a known virus which replaces the original.
Better: If you have stardock installed, and you can get into safe mode, uninstall stardock.
 
Yup, totally agree about the virus infection.... Good idea about stardock too :)
 
ok, i fixed the recovery disk problem, it was missing something i guess, made a new one and it worked fine.
but ive ran it 3 times now repairing it and it wont fix the missing driver, and none of the safe modes, or any mode will work.
i have stardock installed but its been on there for a while now and had no problems with it, the only thing i could think of is that i installed nero 8 on it and i let it restart and boom! i got the missing deiver error message.
the only thing i can think of doing now is doing a system restore or run the vits install and install the upgrade. but, not sure how, or if you can do the restore without having to run windows.
 
Well, my first post, before you go to that trouble. UNinstall Stardock.
Or, if you want to experiment, have a look at this page I found. You can download the latest "vidstub.sys" and it tells you a little about the virus possibilities.
You could even delete the file, which would also spoil "Stardock".
 
Since Vidstub.sys is actually a Stardock: Bootskins file... Deleting it from your Drivers folder can fix the problem WITHOUT having to Format or Use Recovery disc and Lose your Data.

If you have BootSkin installed
and if it's BootSkin causing the issue - generally you boot into safe mode then uninstall BootSkin or boot off a Windows CD and remove \windows\system32\drivers\vidstub.sys.
 
thanks, didnt think of that, im not the best at this kind of stuff, XD
all 3 safe modes wont work, well. none of the modes.
so theres no way of deleting vidstub.sys through that..
and, this may be a dumb question.. but how do i erase something like that through a recovery disk or the actual vista disk?
 
You could download one of the many autoboot programs on the web (Hiren?) or download a copy of ubuntu live and do it from there.
 
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