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After a Windows update, my brother's Gateway computer loads to the "Step 3 of 3: 0%" and reboots.

Safe Mode does not work.

I placed a Vista DVD in the drive, and re-booted. (Note, this is my Vista DVD, not the Recovery/System disc that would come with a computer. Gateway does not give you CD's anymore. I believe they store recovery on a partition, but that partition has been wiped out).

I chose "Repair Your Computer"

I get a dialog box, but no operating system is listed. I'm then prompted to "Load Drivers". What drivers am I supposed to be loading here and where from?

I placed a CD in the drive to "load drivers" but I don't see my DVD drive listed. All I saw where X:/Sources along with several Removable Media slots that were empty.

On another screen I tried Startup Repair, which didn't do anything.

I attempted to use System Restore - but it doesn't detect the hard drive.

I'm guessing that I'm missing some sort of SATA driver and that is why the hard disk is not being found.

Any ideas on this?

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    I think you het the nail on the head...You need to find the driver. Your DVD is probably SATA too.
    – KCotreau
    Jun 29, 2011 at 15:22
  • so I would need to use a thumb drive? If the DVD was SATA how does it boot the Vista DVD?
    – Jack Marchetti
    Jun 29, 2011 at 15:28
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    The thumb drive might work. Vista boots the DVD because it is made accessible on boot by the motherboard, BIOS and drive itself. That said, it is strange you did not see your DVD listed, because that is a function of the former.
    – KCotreau
    Jun 29, 2011 at 15:43
  • My thoughts exactly
    – Jack Marchetti
    Jun 29, 2011 at 15:57

2 Answers 2

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I would use vLite to create a custom Vista installation disk, patched with your drivers.

Alternatively, some motherboards offer means to switch what block storage interface the OS is shown SATA devices though. Thus, you may be able to change that setting in the BIOS to PATA (ATA, etC) and satisfy the Vista installer. This could result in a performance hit, but I think you could probably switch it back to the current mode after and be okay. Still, my preferred approach would probably be to make a custom installer, patched with the necessary drivers.

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  • My brother ended up ordering the Gateway Recovery CD (seriously you have to pay for it) - I'm assuming that'll come with proper drivers etc..
    – Jack Marchetti
    Jun 29, 2011 at 15:56
  • Recovery CDs are the way to go, painless re-install. Be sure to do endless Windows updates until it is fully patched.
    – Moab
    Jun 29, 2011 at 18:03
  • well I don't want to re-install and have him lose all his data. Just run Windows Vista Repair.
    – Jack Marchetti
    Jun 29, 2011 at 21:06
  • If you get tired of waiting, then give my suggestion a whirl.
    – James T Snell
    Jun 30, 2011 at 15:57
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What I ended up doing was downloading the drivers to USB device.

Then loading those drivers after botting from the Vista CD.

Startup Repair did not fix the issue, so I used System Restore.

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