After I installed Service PAck 2 for Vista 64 my computer won't start

Question：I installed service pack 2 for vista 65. After installation my computer went to reboot and stuck in a black screen with a blinking cursor. Please help.

Answer 1：

Hi majinc,

 

Thanks for posting your query on Windows Vista Forums.

To get the computer back to a normal state we can have a few steps. But before doing so we can check if there are any error messages that are reported which can help us identify the cause of this boot loop.

 

Firstly, restart the computer and keep tapping f8 before windows starts to load to get to the Advanced Boot options and choose the option "Disable Automatic Restart on system failure"

Note down the error codes on the screen if we get any blue screens. If yes, then you can have a quick check on www.support.microsoft.com with the error for the possible fixes if any or report it back for me to check if we have any other suggestions.

 

In case the above process fails then we can get back to the normal course of troubleshooting a no boot situation in Windows Vista which is to

 

Method 1 (Startup Repair):

To perform Startup Repair, we will have to boot from the Vista DVD and get to the Win RE (Windows Repair Environment) and choose Startup Repair from the menu.

1. Insert the installation disc. 2. Restart your computer. 3. If prompted, press any key to start Windows from the installation disc. Note: If your computer is not configured to start from a CD or DVD, check the information that came with your computer. You may need to change your computer's BIOS settings. 4. Choose your language settings, and then click Next. 5. Click Repair your computer. 6. Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next. 7. On the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair. Startup Repair might prompt you to make choices as it tries to fix the problem, and if necessary, it might restart your computer as it makes repairs.

Method 2 (System Restore):

 

If startup repair fails to fix the issue then we can attempt a System Restore i.e. getting the computer back to an earlier time when it was booting normally.

 

For this we will have to boot from the Vista DVD and in Win RE (Windows Repair Environment) need to choose System Restore.

---

Thanks & Regards
Ashish Gupta - Microsoft Support

========================================
"Calm seas never make skillful sailors!!"

Answer 2：Ashish Gupta,
Thank you for you reply. I was able to get back my op system and never completed installing the second service pack I am affraid I will lose my computer for business. I have another issue though I do not know if you will be able to help? The reason why I bought 64 bit windows Vista is so that I would get the advantage of running my video editing software on a system that could handle the large amounts of data required for editing HD video. Right now though when I export my files to a video format either uncompressed AVI or some Mpeg2 HD format I get only audio and no video? I have tried downloading a few different codecs and I know it has to do with the windows systems because these files play fine on my 32 but Vista system. Has anyone experienced this problem before? Please help.
Michael