Boot sector not accessible for Vista Upgrade

Keep in mind there are NO Cross Upgrades.  If you have 32 bit windows then all upgrades must also be 32 bits. XP Pro requires Vista Business to upgrade.  XP Home requires Vista Home to upgrade.

Norton will interfere with the backup programs below.

I would backup everything first so you can try and try again.

• • A free disaster recovery solution for your home computer
  • Protect your personal documents, photos, music and emails

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/br-free/download.html

http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/home-edition/

If you have 64 bit XP then any upgrade must be 64 bit.

If you want 64 bit os and 32 bit is on the machine you must reformat and reinstall from scratch.  This is also why Retail windows 8 purple box packages include BOTH 32 and 64 bit installation media.

To resolve the Boot sector issue you must......

Completely UNINSTALL Norton.  Reboot.

Then download the NORTON Removal Tool and Run.

https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20080710133834EN_EndUserProfile_en_us

Then Reboot.

Then your upgrade will work.

HOWEVER you must also download VISTA SP1 full file 434 megs, Install and reboot.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30

then VISTA SP2 Full file 348 megs install and reboot.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16468

It will then allow windows 7 or 8 "upgrade"

1. Download the norton removal tool ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe
2. 
   

   Save the file to the Windows desktop.

3. On the Windows desktop, double-click the Norton Removal Tool icon.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

5. Restart your computer.

   Your computer may be restarted more than once, and you may be asked to repeat some steps after the computer restarts.

Its best to clean install Windows 7 64 Bit directly as the system will perform much better see here:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/a-clean-install-of-windows/

For drivers and recommended hardware upgrades see here:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/driver-sets/inspiron-desktops/inspiron-530-windows-7-64-bit/

Thanks but no thanks. I DO NOT want a clean install because I don't want to lose my installed programs some of which I have lost the installation disks for. I'd appreciate if someone could address the immediate problem of allowing to modify the boot sector.

I removed Norton Utilities 15, rebooted and then ran the Norton Removal tool. However, it still gave me a can't write to boot sector message. I reran the removal tool, rebooted and the same thing happened. I know there is an EISA sector on my hard disk. Could that have anything to do with this?

You have a rootkit malware or

Explanation:

A critical sector near the beginning of the volume is unwriteable.

User Action:

Back up files from the drive and replace the disk.

.

Back up files from the drive and replace the disk.

I provided links to free backup software.

You will not be able to "upgrade" from 32 to 64 bit os.

Ran Malwarebytes Rootkit Malware tool and found nothing and I don't think that it is a HD problem. Any other suggestions?