Hello, here's the background info:

1. System shut down on its own during install of SP1
2. Kept getting BSOD 0x0000C1F5 (known issue KB 946084)
3. Used Linux-based SystemRescueCD to delete a bad file ($TxfLog) to no longer get BSOD
4. Booted from Vista DVD to repair startup... just hangs
5. Booted from Vista DVD to try a system restore to last store point... I actually see the restore point I want but at the end it just gets stuck at "Finalizing File Restore" (known issue I think as well)
6. Found an identical new harddrive and just did a fresh install onto it (bad drive and new drive on same system)
7. New drive boots to windows fine and I can see the old drive and its files

my question: Can I still recover the bad drive to get it to the restore point I saw. Perhaps I could transfer some files from the fresh drive to the bad drive and then unplug the SATA cable so only the bad drive will show and then run a System Restore from Vista DVD?

This probably seems like a very weird request but all I wanted was to get back to the restore point on my old drive as everything was PERFECT up to the night I decided to download SP1 =(.

Any help or thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

On this page, there is a 'hot fix' in the upper left hand corner...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946084

I believe you have to register in order to download it.

I've seen this once on a Dell system without SP1 - and we solved it by repeated attempts at reinstalling Vista.
I would suspect that the first step would be to run a hard drive diagnostic on the old/bad drive to see if it's failing.
Since you have a new hard drive - what's the purpose of the attempt to restore the system? Data recovery?

Yes, I've seen the KB to eliminate the BSOD but I had already done that by other means detailed in #3.

Regarding why I would want to do this... well the bad drive was PERFECT and the data was perfect for my applications (games) as stated and if I could restore the bad drive back to PERFECT condition the I could use the new drive elsewhere =). Simply dragging and dropping game folders from bad drive to good drive allowed me to play but I've noticed more issues (lag, disconnects, etc.)...

So nobody can tell me if this is possible? I don't want to just REINSTALL Vista on the bad drive. I need to restore it to the restore point but it just hangs.

It is theoretically possible - but there's no telling if it's gonna fix the problems that you've had.
Software can always be fixed - but it's a matter of the amount of time and knowledge that's required to do it.

The issue here is that the restore point which should work - doesn't. Figuring out why that's happening is the first step to seeing if it's possible to fix it.

To start with, you'll have to test the bad drive to see if it's able to be recovered. To do this you can download a diagnostic utility from the manufacturer of the hard drive (a list of the more common manufacturer's is here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic28744.html ).

Also, you'll have to hookup the hard drive and run chkdsk /r on it - either from the Windows installation on the new hard drive, or by the Windows Vista Startup Repair (probably using the command prompt to manually start it - rather than the automated process).

If the old hard drive passes the diagnostics, and chkdsk /r also completes successfully - then there's a chance that you may be able to recover it (it depends on what's damaged). If there is damage, you may be able to recover enough of the data off of the drive to enable you to restore the system to the new hard drive - but this could also damage the new Windows installation to the point where it can't boot (requiring another reinstall).

What I'm thinking of here is the registry repair trick that sometimes works in XP. You manually extract the registry hives from the restore point and use them to replace the corrupt ones in the current installation. I'd try that first with the bad drive (backing up the hives before replacing them). Then, out of desperation, I'd try it with the new Vista installation and hope that it doesn't hose that installation also (if you backed up the current hives you may be able to resurrect the installation without needing a wipe and reinstall).