derlehrer- what patio speaks is true.
if a CD has a "read" error, it is either defective media, or a bad burn. Even the most reliable burning program - (in this case, probably the recovery CD/DVD creating program... couldn't vouch for the reliability of any of those) - can hiccup on a disc.
lastly, how about strolling into good old Services.msc and making sure your RPC services are started. - and even better, take a look at the programs that are running at start-up; they might need a trim.
not for childish insults
and where, pray, are these childish insults?
I really thought somebody on this forum would have enough expertise to offer a real solution.
which, I think patio explained well enough. The basic idea is- we weren't there. we don't know the conditions of the burn or what condition these discs were stored. what brand they are, what brand the burner was, and any number of details. If you think that "RPC Server unavailable" means a simple fix- it doesn't. It could be any number of issues with the various services and processes interoperating. I think one of the RPC services was disabled or stopped- if stopped, it begs the question as to what stopped it- a remaining malware process may be running on startup... thus that suggestion. However- given the neccessity to skip a entire CD worth of Image information- it's possible that the OS is missing critical files (such as the RPC services).
The instructions were for me to copy the files in the "System Restore" partition of the hard drive
Does this partition still exist? If so- why all this dilly-dallying about with the discs? (or was this what got corrupted as well?)
I really thought somebody on this forum would have enough expertise to offer a real solution.
your OS is missing ~700MB of image information. the real solution involves getting that disc again, or getting an entire Vista DVD. In this case the Restore CD cost + the shipping charge looks like a mere pittance especially compared to a new Vista DVD- especially since you couldn't use the Vista DVD to begin with.
Since your missing an entire CD worth of image information- your OS is missing critical components that simply placing a check in a checkbox or installing some special utility will solve. This is why the "real solution" of acquiring the CDs was presented.
If a CD says it has problems- it has problems. Wether they developed during the burn or during storage or whatnot is irrelevant- the fact remains that the disc is unusable and the only appropriate attack vector is to get the discs for the manufacturer, a proposal you've shot down several times due to shipping costs.