On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:26:51 -0600, Keith Russell wrote:
[color=blue]
> I hope someone can help me before I give up on Microsoft and HP
> forever....
>
> For the third time since I bought my 64-bit Vista Ultimate HP laptop
> last October, it is refusing to boot. I get a message saying "Windows
> failed to start," indicating that there might be a hardware or software
> incompatibility and giving me the following two choices:
>
> "Launch Startup Repair (recommended)
> Start Windows normally"
>
> Trying to start Windows normally just puts me in a loop. Launching
> Startup Repair gives me the following:
>
> "Windows failed to start.... To fix the problem:
>
> 1. Insert your Windows installation disc 2. Choose your language
> settings, and then click "Next". 3. Click "Repair your computer".
>
> Status: 0xc000000f
> Info: The boot selection failed because a required device is
> inaccessible."
>
> The cause of the problem this time (but not the previous two) is that
> Windows was shut down abnormally. (I thought I was hibernating, when, if
> fact, I was turning it completely off. :-( ) It's unlikely that there is
> really a compatibility problem.
>
> The problem is that I do not have a Windows installation disc. All I
> have is HP's System Destruction DVD (They call it a System Recovery
> DVD). I have been partitioning my hard drive for years to protect my
> data in a separate logical partition. On several previous systems, I
> have been able to reinstall Windows--sometimes using a repair
> option--with minor impact on my system, and without affecting my data
> partition. However, HP only allows me to reformat my entire hard drive
> and "recover" the OS and HP's applications. Twice now, I have lost all
> my data as well as my application settings. (I do do backups, which I
> have been able to restore, but it seems that it's always several weeks
> after my last backup when the system decides to crash.) Since the last
> time this happened, I have not even had a chance to reinstall all my
> applications.
>
> Today I actually headed over to the local university to buy a "real"
> Vista disc so that I could run a Startup Repair. (I qualify for an
> academic discount.) Unfortunately, they sell only Vista Business (not
> Ultimate) in an academic version. Other college bookstores in the area
> are closed today, so I'm in waiting mode. Also, after talking to the
> bookstore employees, I'm not sure this will work even if I'm able to
> find an Ultimate upgrade disc.
>
> Can anyone answer the following questions for me?
>
> 1. Is there any way I can repair my installation using HP's system
> recovery disc, without losing all my data? (This would be the preferred
> option if it will work, of course.)
>
> 2. Will I be able to reinstall (preferably a repair reinstall) to an OEM
> system using an upgrade disc with a difference license?
>
> 3. Would it be possible to buy the Vista Business upgrade and use it to
> recover my system files on my existing Vista Ultimate system?
>
> Any additional suggestions, of course, would be very gladly accepted.
> Thanks very much in advance.
>
> --
> Keith[/color]

I'd suggest you boot a Linux Live CD and back up your data to either a
flash drive or external hard disk - then you can continue playing games
with MS without fear of losing data.