Our beleaguered friend Vista comes with a surprising amount of diagnostics built in. Makes you wonder if they knew all along how difficult to work with it can be.
This tool is useful if you are having startup problems that you can't diagnose using other means. Start up Repair is a diagnostic tool that can be accessed via the Windows Recovery Environment. In order to start this you have to boot your computer from the Windows Vista DVD. Make sure you set up your machine to boot from CD/DVD and restart with the Windows disc in the drive. Boot into the Windows DVD and navigate to the main Vista setup screen.
As we are going to repair the computer, you should click on the 'Repair your computer' option. This will bring you to a new screen where the repair process will look for all Windows Vista installations on your computer. Occasionally users have hardware they need to add drivers for, but for most setup the defaults should be more than adequate. When ready, press the Next button to continue.
Depending on what the repair process finds, it will either display a list of tools, or just begin the Start up Repair tool for you. When the Start up Repair tool runs, it will scan your installation for any problems. If problems are found it will attempt to fix these problems automatically.
Once completed you may be asked if you want to send your information to Microsoft. Up to you really. You should now be presented with the summary screen. If all was repaired then the screen will say this. One final reboot should see you on your way again with a fully functioning computer. If it couldn't then it will politely inform you and give you some more options.
Advanced Tools
There is another layer of support built into the system which can be accessed from here. If you choose View Advanced Options while doing your system repair then you should now see a screen called System Recovery Options. These are the advanced tools.
Start up Repair is what we have just done.
System Restore is the same as the one accessed through the control panel. It will restore the system to a point set either manually or automatically. A useful tool, but not one that will fix everything.
Windows Complete PC Restore is not one you may have come across before. To enable this one to work you will need to have created a backup image, which currently only available for Vista Ultimate, Business and Enterprise. If you are fortunate enough to have made an image then this will help you a lot.
Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool. This is a built in memory checking tool that can quite comprehensively test your memory for faults. This may not be relevant for you use right now, but may come in handy another time.
Command Prompt just opens a CMD window which will allow you to use test commands to do things. Invaluable if you have Trojan issues that you can't fix while Windows is running. Also a great place to navigate from if you know your text commands.
Between them, these tools should be able to address most issues you will have with Vista before having to completely re-install.
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