# Windows Vista NOT Loading; Safe Mode Freezes; NO Recovery Point Available



## helpneeded08 (Sep 22, 2008)

NOT Loading; Safe Mode Freezes; NO Recovery Point Available 
I installed Motorola Phone Tools (MPT) 4.0 and downloaded updates through Live Update to get to MPT version 5.0. And when I restarted the laptop I got a blank black screen after the Windows loading bar. I used the Windows restore tools available and did a system restore to get back to Windows Vista. But then I tried installing MPT 4.0 and the updates again, and when I restarted, I got a blank screen again. So as long as there was a restore point available I could get back into Windows but since there is no restore point now, I cannot access Windows at all.

I tried all available options on F8/Windows Recovery but nothing works. I tried a system restore but there was no restore point available prior to the installation of MPT. I tried Recover Windows option and it did nothing. And I tried to load all types of safe mode, and the login screen shows up but the pc freezes. I can load into Acer Recovery but it only allows for a full restore/re-format of the hard drive. I don't want to do that b/c I need my files. The laptop did not come with a Windows Vista CD or recovery CDs.

How can I get Windows normal or safe mode to load? Or can I remove the downloaded drivers without going into Windows? Please help. Thanks!


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## Kishzilla (Sep 24, 2008)

That is a trip, because I JUST did the same thing last night and I am having the EXACT same problem. I have an Acer 4620z laptop and installed Motorola Phone Tools from rapidshare, started the program, did the various updates, used it for a few minutes without any issues, shut the computer down, and now I can't do diddly. Now I realize that DLing it from rapidshare is probably my first problem... The only difference is I have tried doing a restore but to no avail. This has got to be either some kind of driver issue or something stupid. I don't think safe mode is freezing however, I think the keyboard and touch pad are disabled somehow, because I let it sit for a while on the password screen and it went into the generic vista screensaver. I thought it was only supposed to load the core drivers so wouldn't the keyboard be included? Anyways, If anybody has any Ideas, I would love to hear them. This has become a pain in the proverbial ****.


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## helpneeded08 (Sep 22, 2008)

Well, I got no help from Motorola support--they're incompetent. (They keep telling me to go to add/remove to uninstall MPT when I wrote that I cannot load windows altogether!) I also posted my issue in different forums around the web and surprisingly no one has any solution. One suggestion was to try booting Ubuntu (a linux operating system) from cd to get into the Windows file to save files. See here: jclark.org/weblog/2005/12/23/ubrescue. I am really surprised and disappointed that no one online or offline has told me how to get around the issue (which seems minor to me given that the previous time I was able to use a restore point and rollback drivers). I'm not exactly sure how you could uninstall drivers manually without messing up the registry and causing more problems. But instead of booting an OS from disk, I took out my hard drive and enclosed it in a SATA enclosure (you can buy one at a pc goods store), which makes it into an external hard drive. I plugged it into my other pc (runs on XP) and was able to view the Windows file system just fine and copied all my files to the other hard drive. 

Anyway, I still believe there is a solution to the problem so I haven't done a full factory restore on the drive just yet. I also had a few Outlook 2007 data files, which I still need to test on my other pc before destroying data. So if you copy any files to another pc make sure they are accessible and editable. If not you will may have to re-assign ownership to all your files to get access. See here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421. I will still wait until tomorrow in hopes of a better solution and will let you know if I find one. Otherwise I will be doing a factory reset and spend hours setting up everything again. Please let me know too if you find a solution.


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## helpneeded08 (Sep 22, 2008)

I submitted a Microsoft incident and got a reply today. I haven't tried this yet but just thought I'd share it with you so you can try too.

Solution 1: use Startup Repair from F8 menu on bootup>Repair your computer

Solution 2. Deleting corrupted components:
F8 on bootup>Repair your computer>system recovery options>command prompt>run these commands:

cd C:
del C:\windows\system32\drivers\pcmcia.sys*
del C:\windows\system32\drivers\1394bus.sys
del C:\windows\system32\drivers\ohci1394.sys
del C:\windows\system32\driverstore\filerepository\pcmcia.infblablabla*
del C:\windows\system32\driverstore\filerepository\1394.infblablabla
del C:\windows\system32\driverstore\filerepository\sdbus.infblablabla*
del C:\windows\inf\sdbus.inf*
del C:\windows\inf\sdbus.PNF*

No personal files will be affected (at least they say). And these steps may help to boot into normal mode. We'll see...


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## Kishzilla (Sep 24, 2008)

I just realized that you're the one who is on Yahoo answers website too. Ha ha, small world. I already tried repair start-up, it reported no problems and only suggested removing any connected devices, (of which there were none), I also tried doing a startup in the last known successful configuration, that didn't work either. So I suppose I'll try the suggestion Microsoft gave and go from there. Good luck and I'll let you know what Acer has for me in the way of an answer other than a reformat. Also, I am for whatever reason, not able to do a system restore. When I attempted to do so, it said it couldn't find the directory path or something to that affect. Basically what it needed wasn't there. Its puzzeling because I have done a a full system restore to factory once before with the same machine after getting a little slaphappy with the registry and it worked like a charm. But for some reason it wont let me now. Hopefully if I do end up needing to Acer will provide the disc without me signing away my life savings.


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## Kishzilla (Sep 24, 2008)

Well, Acer obviously doesn't know what Im talking about, because they told me to use the system recovery widget on the desktop that I can't get to. So I guess it was a swing and a miss. As far as using the command prompt, Im not really that computer literate and couldn't seem to get that to work. It kept telling me It couldn't find the files etc. So Im obviously doing something wrong. What I see is this:

X:\windows\system32>

and then I would type in the prompts you posted like this

X:\windows\system32>del C:\windows\system32\drivers\pcmcia.sys

I don't know if thats correct or not, or if you were able to get it to work, but I couldn't. I know that may seem like a goofy thing not to know, but it is what it is and I don't know ha ha.


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## Kishzilla (Sep 24, 2008)

I ended up finding out a way to do a restore to factory default from acer. I wasn't able to do this from the screen that has the system restore/command prompt/ startup repair etc. but this was an alternative that worked for me. Because my system was set up with a partitioned HD and I store the bulk of the data that I need on the D drive, doing a complete overhaul of the C drive isnt a deal killer for me. Im not sure what your situation is but I have run out of other alternatives. Luckily Acer supplies an application called "eRecovery" bundled with vista (since Vista doesn't offer it for vista home premium or lesser versions) and here is how you can access it:

If Windows will not startup:

Turn the system on

As soon as you see the Acer splash screen, press ALT and F10 together, then release both keys

The ALT key is located to the left of the space bar and the F10 key is along the top of the keyboard.

It should show a screen stating "Starting Acer eRecovery".

You will also see a screen showing Windows XP, don't worry, the original operating system that shipped on the computer is what will be installed.


There will be 4 options:

1. Restore system to factory default

2. Restore system from user backup

3. Restore system from CD/DVD

4. Exit


Choose option 1 (if you would like directions for the other options, please let us know)

1. Restore system to factory default

a. Enter the password you created when you first entered eRecovery.

b. Read the on-screen warning and choose Yes or No. If you choose no the recovery will stop.

c. Click Next. The recovery will start.


When recovery is complete the system will startup and you will need to complete the setup of Windows (assigning time zones, user names etc.)

When setup is complete Windows will clean up the files needed to perform the recovery. Please be patient as this process can take a while. After installation Windows will startup and it will show the desktop with the icons, you will think that it is complete. It is not, you need to wait. Now is when the installation of all the Acer software begins. It will start and stop several times, so you may think that it is complete when it is not. By interrupting this process, you cause it to not install properly and this message on the screen is the most typical result. I would say if it appears to be completed, wait about 15 more minutes, then restart the computer.

Like I said that was the only thing I could find that allowed me back in to windows. So I guess doing a system restore is about all you can do. It blows me away that after looking over countless posts and forums on the net, that this issue has plagued Vista pretty much since it shipped, and its still effecting machines 2 years later. What a joke. I'm personally going to try to find all of the drivers for my laptop and go back to XP and actually using my hardware rather than fixing it.:upset::upset:


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## helpneeded08 (Sep 22, 2008)

Yeah, that's funny how we ran into each other on both websites...I had a hunch it was you on techsupport forum too...haha. It's pretty cool how the internet connects people. 

I know Acer recovery exists but it would be the last resort. Remember I already tried that (from Alt+F10) after the windows system restore attempt but was disappointed with the only option being the full destructive restore?

I believe that the D: drive is a partition created for the purpose of recovery so I'm not sure how your personal files were on it. Have you been saving files to the D: partition instead of C:? That's cool if that worked!

I'm not very good with command prompt either anymore (i used to use it when I was like 8 years old and we had DOS version of Windows). But I know when you get to the command prompt, if the line position is at X: or anything else than C:, you need to write in 'C:' or 'CD C:' before writing any commands so that you are at the C: directory. Then follow the remaining instructions line by line. So entering "del C:\windows\system32\drivers\pcmcia.sys" would not work if your directory position is the X: drive. (please see instructions again above b/c they're probably more clear than what i sent thru yahoo--due to the character limitation).

I actually have not been able to follow those instructions yet because I ran into a complication. When I tried booting into Windows Repair and chose a user name, my passwords did not work on any of the accounts. I thought I forgot my password but then I realized what was happening. Since I accessed the hard drive on another pc running XP, I think the user name has been reassigned to the user accounts/files. I'm not sure how to work around this one! I could try taking out the hard drive (for the tenth time and risking it's integrity) and access it again from my other pc and try making an identical user name and reassigning files. Maybe that will work? Or maybe I am losing my mind and don't recall the password?

I think the idea of going back to XP is an excellent one. Initially I was totally opposed to Vista but when it came preinstalled on my new laptop I was too lazy to revert and just got used to Vista. But now i will make the effort to go back because XP is clearly a more stable environment. At least I didn't get windows crash errors frequently on almost every application.


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## Kishzilla (Sep 24, 2008)

Well, when I got my computer it had the HD partitioned 3 ways with the regular C: drive and a partition labeled D: Data and the another partition (X: is how its labeled on mine) for Vista recovery etc. So I have just always utilized the D: drive to store all of my music photos, paperwork etc. and kept my C drive to run the OS and programs etc. My HD is 160 Gigs so the 80G on the "D: Data" drive is plenty for me to stash everything. And plus I figured something like this could happen so it was just an easy way to keep my stuff the hell away from vista. 

As far as your situation, thats a tough one. I think since you were able to retrieve your information from your HD already, just doing a complete system recovery shouldn't be the end of the world. Also, just as a side note, I don't think that it is an issue with Motorola's software I think its just a coincidence. After doing a lot of research on the net, it's actually a problem that people get after an update and the problem is with Windows Vista and how it relates to the BIOS version youre running and also certain hardware drivers for things like the pcmcia slot or the Lan drivers etc. After looking at the restore points that I had, there was an update right around the time I was messing with the Motorola software. That's why microsoft was having you run those command prompts so you would be disabling those drivers to allow you back into windows, however that may or may not be the hardware driver thats the issue. Its something that people have been running into almost since Vista first shipped. If you go here, it gives an explanation of the common similar issues and how to fix it on an ASUS notebook http://www.technologyquestions.com/...fter-windows-update-crcdisk-sys-lan-bios.html So basically if you burn a disc to flash the latest version of the BIOS and isolate the problem hardware driver then it should fix it. If you just do a quick google search of crcdisk.sys error you'll see all of the other people who have run into the same issue. I hope that helps a little and you are able to get up and running again.


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## helpneeded08 (Sep 22, 2008)

It's been one problem after another for this week...my internet's been down all day and I had to improvise.

You're right, restoring is not the end of the world (and that is my next step since I removed my files) but I wanted to test the problem so I can isolate the issue. Moreover, I know that the Motorola issue is NOT a coincidence because I've had the same thing happen to me everytime I try to install MPT and update it on Vista. I tried it at least three separate times (difference of months) over the last year and had the same problem each time (but at least I did have a restore point to go back to). However I do believe that it may be a Windows Update issue (even though it was not utilized near the MPT install time) because I had the same blank screen problem twice after a a series of Windows Updates. And your advice about the BIOS seems like a good idea. However I could not find any update to download from Acer's support page for my model. And on the forum link you gave there's a link for a LAN driver download, but not a BIOS update. Where can I get the Acer update? Thanks. :wink:


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

I think you need to do a fresh install of Vista. Once done, install the MPT and then install the drivers from the link below. Reboot. DO NOT REBOOT until you have installed the drivers.

http://developer.motorola.com/docstools/USB_Drivers/Handset_USB_Driver/


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## helpneeded08 (Sep 22, 2008)

Thanks TriggerFinger but the MPT update is what causes the problem. I can install the driver manually but whatever problems MPT Live Update Tool downloads I don't know what to do with. And in order for MPT to recognize my phone I need to update the software. And the software works fine with my phone once updated but when I restart my screen goes blank.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Sorry for the confusion what I mean to say is to install the MPT first. I believe the problem starts when you use the live update. If this is so, then do not use the live update. If it starts, cancel it. Then download the drivers from the link I gave you. Install them then try the live update. 

By the way do the restart ONLY if you have installed the drivers from the link.


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