I try my very hardest to only add posts that are absolutely necessary or have something to give (e.g. video tutorials). I also try not to do too many posts in rapid succession. However I would like to point out a Vista issue I had so that maybe google will pick up on it and people like me won’t have to read forums forever to find the solution.

The problem: After installing Vista, removing the install dvd then rebooting, you get a “BOOTMGR not found” error, and asking you to CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart.

The reason: If you install Vista on a SATA RAID array (alone and not with a dual boot) and you also have a PATA data drive, Vista will be installed on the RAID, but the boot manager will be installed on the PATA drive, so if your RAID is set as the default boot device (which it should be), Vista won’t load giving you the above error.

The solution:

1) Put the Vista install dvd back in the drive.

2) Shutdown and then unplug your computer (safety first). Then unhook the power to your PATA drive.

3) Plugin your computer and boot from the dvd. Select the repair windows option that’s at the lower left.

4) At this point Vista goes into the repair options, however, I got a popup saying that Vista sees an error and would like to repair it. I did this but that didn’t work. What you need to do is cancel that popup and go to the repair options and select the repair link that’s in the repair options list.

5) Follow the prompts to repair Vista.

6) Reboot. Vista should load normally without the dvd in the drive.

7) Now you can shutdown and unplug your computer and reattach the power cable to the PATA drive. Then reboot.

8) That should do it!