Windows 7 Windows 7 Upgrade failure- No automatic rollback continuous loop for setup

[siani]

Went through the recommendations for upgrading to windows 7 as per instructions on CD. Anything incompatible was removed, uninstalled prior to set-up. On first run through set-up failed, BUT, this was easily rolled back. Not so easy the second time round where there was no option to roll back. On rebooting I could not access any of the software programmes on the pc. Instead I was taken straight to the command screen:
X:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Windows\system32>
The only access I have to all my directories is via this screen. I did attempt to a system restore but was asked to identify which system to restore and was unable to do that as I am not very technical. I can, by hitting F8 get to the advanced boot menu, but none of the options listed there function. When selected they take me back to the command screen. If I exit the command screen the pc reboots.
Is there any way I can get to restore my previous o/s Vista and then hopefully I can get to do a clean install of windows 7? it currently looks like I am running two opeating systems and windows and I are confused. Any help wil be appreciated.

 

[Saltgrass]

I have not seen that directory used for the Ram Disk before. It is probably related to an upgrade install. If you open the $WINDOWS.~BT folder, do you see a \Panther directory with a setupact.log or setuperr.log included?

If so, can you copy them to a flash drive or somewhere you can get to them to check?

Getting your Vista install back seems to present a problem for me because you appear to be in a partial install situation but past the rollback area. I do not want to suggest something that might cause loss of data.

If you search for the directory on the net you find some threads that might help like this one at Microsoft.

There is another site that discusses restoring an install from the .old file so you might check it to see if it would help. You appear to be in the command prompt mentioned in Step 2, assuming you have a .old file to use.

If none of this helps, my suggestion would be to run a couple of commands. I cannot guarantee doing this will not hinder your ability to get your Vista install back. But type the following commands followed by enter after each.

Bootrec /FixMBR
Bootrec /FixBoot

Hopefully after this, it will reboot and continue the install, but since I cannot duplicate your situation, I cannot know for sure.

One more thing, I will have to assume the partition on which you are installing Windows 7 is large enough to hold the new install and the backup of the old install.

 

[sevre]

I am now in a situation identical to the original poster's. My upgrade was not successful, and the rollback did not take place, leaving me facing the same command line when I start up. During the upgrade process my screen went black and all activity stopped. After awhile I force rebooted my computer. I first tried to go into safe mode and when I did I received a message about rollback process, and it said it could not be completed.

Unfortunately I see no solution is posted on this thread, and there is scant information to be found on this problem, as I have seen from googling the command line text I am receiving.

A few things I can add, which I hope might help someone guide me to get my system working again:

If I boot from my Windows 7 DVD, the first thing that comes up is a screen that says "Windows Boot Manager" It then tells me to choose which operating system to start, but only one is listed:

Windows Setup [EMS Enabled]

If I choose this I get the usual "Windows is loading files..." screen and am taken to the main Windows Install screen.

I have two partition on my Hard drive. A C partition for the system and a D partition for data. If I choose "System recovery options" from the menu, it asks me to choose from the following:

Windows 7 - C: Local Disk
Windows Setup Rollback - D: Data

It appears the installer stored my rollback data on my second partition. I don't know if this is part of what led to the problem with the upgrade or not, but that's how it is.

The restore option does not function for recovery of Windows 7 on C.

I have not yet tried to run "Startup Repair" which fixes problems that prevent windows from starting, because I do not want to risk losing my data by making the wrong move.

Is trying a startup repair recommended in this situation?

I am also wondering what would happen if I now attempted to do a custom (advanced) install of Windows 7 without formatting my drive? Is this a viable option, and if so should I expect all my data would be preserved somewhere on my drive, despite the fact I did not successfully make it through upgrade or rollback? Should I be able to access my personal data again after doing a custom install, despite the fact ill have to re install all apps and reconfigure all settings?

I would rather not do this if there is a way to get the rollback to function, but if it is my only choice I will do it.

At this point I would be more than happy if I could just find some way to get the system to rollback (using the commandline?) so I could get back to where I was before I tried to upgrade. Is there any way to do this?

It seems I do have a rollback file located on my D partition. There must be some way to activate it?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

 

[sevre]

On a thread the above poster provided a link to, the following command line solution was suggested.

cd to %windir%\system32\oobelaunch msoobe.exe and wait a bit...let setup finish.

this didn't work for me, however.

When I try to execute msoobe I get the message "The program can't start because MsCtfMonitor.DLL" is missing from your computer.

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