Toshiba Laptop Running Vista Won't Boot

Hey i believe i have a virus as this seems really familiar. My computer was running extremely slow so i tried to restart it, and now my laptop won't finish booting. It was running smoothly before today and this is after i had downloaded a program from online. It will not get past the very first loading screen as it is booting up, You can hear it is on and it stays on but it will not load past it.

Maybe it matters, my battery won't hold a charge longer than 20 minutes anymore, so it has to be plugged in all the time now. It's not completely relevant but figured any extra info might help. The battery has been like this for about two weeks now.

I have tried safe mode by pressing f8 as it was booting, yet i can not get past the point. It just goes to the black screen. Any help would be much appreciated.

Laptop is only about 2 yrs old but i use it daily for atleast an hour or two.

 

Hey thanks for the reply! But I can't access the link to the guide? It says i do not have permission to access the page. ?

You're very first link. In the quote " What maybe worth starting with is this guide."

 

Hello,
I have the same problem. I believe it is a guide to using bootable CD's for virus removal. For a bootable CD that is good at cleaning, I would try Dr Webs Live CD based on linux. Burn the iso with Imgburn or any program that can burn iso images. Boot the CD and let it do a scan. Be prepared for a long scan time. Dr. Web has the ability to repair a infected MBR also.

Other Bootable antivirus CD's are.

Avira Rescue CD
Kaspersky
AVG

 

Okay, i've been trying the rescue disks, but for some reason my laptop won't connect to the internet. i've tried dr.web so far, and that one freezes at the Loading Environment screen, then i've tried avirex and because i can't connect to the internet the database won't recognize anything. I fell asleep on it's scan of my entire computer and didn't see the results. before i went to sleep though it was about halfway and picked up many alerts but never any viruses.

I tried to start my laptop regardless but still came to the black screen.
SO now i'm trying AVG rescue disk and i feel i'm running into the same problem. It won't connect to the internet.

 

This may be the "Vista Black Screen of Death". See if the solution here will help.

 

If the black screen solution does not help and you still cannot boot, you can try Hiren's Boot CD. You will have to burn the iso image with something like Imgburn or Nero. It has MiniXP which will let you boot into a small XP OS. On Hirens CD there is also DR Web Cureit, which is the windows version of the Live CD. You can download the latest version and replace the older version on the CD with an iso manager. You may also be able to update it because Hirens has pretty good network drivers. It will at least let you transfer files from your computer to a flash or external usb drive.

 

No, you see if you were to watch the youtube video again, Mine would go black right after Alienware (mine says toshiba) popped up. and i don't have the ability to move my cursor.

 

Hey question that i think may work. Okay since i can't connect to the internet on my laptop to update the rescue cd's antivirus. Would I be able to run the rescue disk on my working computer, and update it from there, then if it works i should be able to have an up to date rescue disk, correct?

 

I do not think that will work because you would not be able to write the definitions back to the CD. One thing you can try is what I mentioned in Post #8. download the Hirens boot CD, then download the latest Dr Web Cure it (windows version) and replace it in the iso with an iso manager like Poweriso. Then you can boot to a mini XP desktop and run the scan.

Here is the ftp site of Dr Web. It will have the latest Cure It.

http://ftp.drweb.com/pub/drweb/cureit/

The folder will be listed as such 20110813222511/ depending on the latest date.

 

I do not think that will work because you would not be able to write the definitions back to the CD. One thing you can try is what I mentioned in Post #8. download the Hirens boot CD, then download the latest Dr Web Cure it (windows version) and replace it in the iso with an iso manager like Poweriso. Then you can boot to a mini XP desktop and run the scan.

Here is the ftp site of Dr Web. It will have the latest Cure It.

http://ftp.drweb.com/pub/drweb/cureit/

The folder will be listed as such 20110813222511/ depending on the latest date.




I've tried the Hirens Boot CD and the Dr. Web's cureit either won't open in the regular mode and it freezes in Enhanced protection. The screen goes slightly transparent and there is Dr webs enhanced protection mode in each corner. Something along those lines. And i've also tried some of the scans in the mini xp mode and i've found all it does is scan the mini os, maybe i'm doing it wrong? im not sure how but either way im close to throwing in the towel.

I re-tried Avirex by starting it on my reg computer, updating it, and running it on my laptop. It scanned for 8 hours and found 1.6k alerts but nothing "suspicious." A bit of a waste of time .
So now i'm going to re-try it with AVG's recovery, then if that fails i will re-try hirens.

The biggest problem i have is that I can't get internet access on my laptop. Nothing is faulty as my brothers laptop and my main pc all have internet working, i just can't get my laptop to go.


Maybe i'm missing something in Hirens, i never replaced the iso with an iso manager like poweriso. Maybe you could explain more?

 

I am not sure what is going on. But if Dr Web Cure it did not work, putting on the new version will not work either. It may be better to bite the bullet and reinstall the operating system. Is there anything on the computer that you need to get off of it. You should be able to copy the files you need with Hirens.

Once you get all the data off your computer, including email if you store it on your computer, Toshiba allows you to return the computer back to the factory state. If you wish to do this, power off the computer. Then press the 0 (zero) key and while continuing to press it, power on the computer. When you get a warning screen, release the 0 key.

Just a note: I have used the Dr Web Cure it and when in enhanced mode, it takes a while before it starts. Maybe a minute or so.

 

I tried Dr Web Cure it and confirm that using enhanced mode does not work in Hirens. You have to cancel out and use regular mode. Also when it starts it quick scan, stop the scan and select custom scan and double click the C: drive if you want to do a total scan of the drive.

I completely missed this. :-o If you download the latest Dr. Cureit from the ftp site I linked to, you can download it and save it to a flash drive. Then when you boot to miniXP, it should see the flash drive and then using My Computer, open your flash drive and double click the Dr Web file. You should now be able to do a scan with the latest definitions.

One more thing. When you booted in Hirens MiniXp, did you double click wireless setup. If it does not detect your wireless card, try hard wiring your laptop to the router and double click Network setup and see if it detects your ethernet adapter.

I found something on Hirens I did not notice. When it first boots, it has the screen that asks if you would like to start MiniXP. At the bottom of the screen is "More" scroll through this until you see the option to boot from the Windows7/Vista bootmanager. Press enter. Does this work on your computer?

 

Okay I'm taking your advice of running the mini os again and putting web cureit on a flashdrive, but what do you mean/how do you replace the iso with poweriso.

 

We will not have to do that now. But an iso manager will allow you to delete and add files to the iso file and then save the changes. Poweriso is a paid software though. Using the iso manager, I would delete the old Dr Web and add the new version. Save it then burn it. But I do not know of any freeware iso managers.

 

every time i try to click on the C: local disk drive in Cureit, it freezes for about 10 seconds "Not Responding." And when it's highlighted and i'll click on the Start Scan. It just un highlights it. Lol im seriously going to throw this thing out the window...

But if i click on any other drive, there's a red dot on the drive symbol and the button to start the scan lights up.

Would F: drive be worthwhile to scan?

I'm in Custom Scan by the way.

Would Complete Scan also do the same thing? It says

" in this mode all the objects will be scanned "
RAM
boot sectors of all disks
all removable media
all local disks
startup objects

I am just afraid to waste anymore time.

 

Something seems seriously wrong. I do not think F: would be worth scanning. I tried CureIt from Hirens on my old computer, and after I canceled out enhanced protection, it allowed me to select my C: drive without a problem. Hirens has a DOS tool, Toshiba Hard Disk Diagnostic 2.00b. You might to see if that tells you anything about your hard drive.

Failing that, I would look at doing a factory restore if possible after you take what data you want off of the drive.

 

Yea, restore looks like the best way out... What would i use in Hirens to look through my files to transfer over?

 

When Hirens boots up, it gives several options. You want MiniXP. Then just open my computer and select the files and folders you wish to transfer. Make sure you also save any offline emails if you use anything like outlook or outlook express instead of webmail.

 

You can use the registry restore wizard in Hirens. Maybe taking the computer back to an earlier date will solve your problem. Double click HBCD Menu icon on the desktop.

Select Programs>Registry Tools> Registry Restore Wizard.

 

Sorry, what I said in my previous post is wrong. :-o

This would only work if you had XP installed. But, if you still would like to try and do a system restore to get back to before you were having the problem, you could download the Vista Recovery Disk and burn the iso.

Download Windows Vista 32-bit (x86) Recovery Disc

Download Windows Vista 64-bit (x64) Recovery Disc

You might also want to try the start-up repair and see if that works for you.

 

lol well, that would've been nice to know before. I ran Bootsuite 2011 on it. Now instead of the black screen. I get this message in it's place, which i suppose, is progress.


Windows Boot Manager

"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To Fix the problem:

Insert your windows installation disc and restart your comp.
Choose language settings, and then click next,
Click Repair your computer

If You do not have this disc, contact system admin. or comp. manufacturer for assist.

File: \windows\system32\winload.exe
status: 0xc000000e

Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt."

So that's where i am at. Still a go with the vista iso?

 

Yes, download the iso 32 or 64 bit depending on your OS. Burn the iso and then do the starup repair. You might want to try the system restore first. If you have a virus, possibly rootkit, we can try some commands using the vista recovery disk but I want to do this as a last resort because this will replace your current mbr and rebuild the bootrecord.

 

Alright, idk. It isn't finding any drives at all, the drop down selections come out blank. Yes i tried find my drivers, nothing came down, and it then tried telling me i have to insert a cd. I'm not too sure how much more can be done.. I don't have a cd-key to re-install vista so.. unless you know a key-gen:zzz

 

Can you boot the System Recovery Disk and then at the prompt type.

diskpart <enter>
list disk <enter>

What does the screen say?

If you are able to recover your data with Hirens or Puppy, are you interested in possibly returning the computer to a factory state?

 

X:\sources>diskpart

Microsoft Diskpart Version 6.0.6000
Copyright 1999--2007 micro. corp.
on computer: MINWINPC

Diskpart> list disk

Disk ### Status size free Dyn Gpt
---- ---- ------- ---- ---- ---- ---
Disk 0 online 298gb 993kb

Nothing was displayed under Dyn or Gpt.


And yes i am interested in a factory restore. I just don't have an OS to put on it. Unless that all comes with.

 

Hi,

In Diskpart do a list volume give the information for the partition(s) listed as boot and system.

I want to see if System Reserved or C: is marked as boot just for information purposes.

Thanks.

Edit: One other question when you had the black screen you said you couldn't move the cursor--Did you have a cursor and was it the normal arrow cursor just sitting there in the middle of the screen?

 

@RookieVirusWrangler, please follow sach2's advise. He is pretty good at solving these issues. I am signing off until tomorrow.

@sach2, Did you notice he only has 993kb free?

 

Volume ### Ltr Label FS Type Size Status Info

Volume 0 C --- Raw Partition 290gb Healthy ---
Volume 1 D 2007.11.03 UDF DVD-ROM 120mb Healthy ---
Volume 2 E Toshiba SYS NTFS Partition 1500mb Healthy Hidden



And when i had the black screen, there was NO cursor, only that blinking underscore in the top left of the screen. however, I get this now.

"Now instead of the black screen. I get this message in it's place, which i suppose, is progress.


Windows Boot Manager

"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To Fix the problem:

Insert your windows installation disc and restart your comp.
Choose language settings, and then click next,
Click Repair your computer

If You do not have this disc, contact system admin. or comp. manufacturer for assist.

File: \windows\system32\winload.exe
status: 0xc000000e

Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt."

 

It looks like you have a partition problem because C: should be NTFS not RAW.

I believe you have access to Hiren's MiniXp, so start that and Click on the HBCD Menu icon then Browse Folder. Scroll down to PartitionWizard.cmd and double click it.

In PartitionWizard's main window you should see Disk 1 and a list of partitions. Take a look at the 290gb partition and see what is listed for File System--is it RAW/unformatted or NTFS? If NTFS then double-click it and see if it lists files such as a Windows folder.

IF there is a Windows folder then close out that window and get back to the main PW window. Click on Disk 1 so it is highlighted. Right-click Disk 1 and select Partition Recovery. Choose Full Disk then Next button; Choose Quick Scan then Next button. It will take a few minutes.
You should be at a screen saying Please Choose the Partitions you need from the following list. There should be two 1)290gb and 2) 1500mb. If that is what it shows then tick both boxes (if there are more than two ask for assistance). Before clicking Finish--Double-click the 290gb one to make sure that the Windows folder is listed--if Windows folder is there then click Finish.
You should be at the main P/W window so click Apply if it will let you.

Now, still in the main window look at the 290gb partition and check the Status ( it is to the right of "unused" you may have to drag the slider to see that entry) it should say Active. If it does not say Active the right-click the 290gb partition and select Modify and then Set Active. Hit Apply button.

Try to boot your computer without the CD.

Any questions please ask.

 

Alright, i tried everything you said. However,

"There should be two 1)290gb and 2) 1500mb. If that is what it shows then tick both boxes (if there are more than two ask for assistance)"

There is one that shows the 290gb and another that shows 145mb and third showing 6.9gb.

So i just clicked on the 145mb and went with it. And No success. I still get this message when trying to start my computer.


Windows Boot Manager

"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To Fix the problem:

Insert your windows installation disc and restart your comp.
Choose language settings, and then click next,
Click Repair your computer

If You do not have this disc, contact system admin. or comp. manufacturer for assist.

File: \windows\system32\winload.exe
status: 0xc000000e

Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt."

 

Hmmm, it is strange that the list in PW doesn't match the list from diskpart.

Go back to P/W and right-click Disk 1 and select Partition Recovery. Do the Full Disk and the Quick Scan. Now in the list you have the three partitions so check ALL boxes. Click Finish and then in the main window click Apply. (You want to get all three partitions back.)

Then from the main window tell me which partition is set to Active should be either the 145mb or the 290gb.

 

Well actually i may have been mistaken, now looking at it again. There are two Sizes. Used size and Size. I have been looking at the used size. There is 1.4gb which must have been the 1500mb you were talking about. then 290gb and the next one is 7gb. So still going to try and select all three.


For the 1.4gb the Status is None.
290gb shows Active
7g shows Hidden

They all show NTFS.

After selecting all 3, still receiving the same error message.

 

Now try the Vista CD and see if it finds the installation for startup repair. If it does let it do the Automatic repair.

 

Okay, It completed the scan. But I still can not boot my computer. I still get the same error message...

 

Hi, did it find the installation and attempt repairs?

Try two things:

1) go the menu of 5 choices and select Startup Recovery from the list and let that run and then try to boot.

If no go then go to the command prompt and try diskpart and do the list volume. (I want to double check that the C: partition is now showing as NTFS in diskpart.

 

Alright so after I ran the installation repair scan the first time, i figured i would run it again to see if it had any effect while i waited for a response back little did i know it would take 9 hours.
However, when i tried running the disk again, it goes through the normal loading process, Press any key to boot from disk.. then it says windows is loading files, then it goes through one last screen with Microsoft and a loading bar.

It's once i get past that where the problem is. Now it is just sitting at a black screen WITH a Moveable cursor. It is the full cursor and i can move it, but it will not load further on. I let it sit for about 30 minutes several times and it would not load further.

 

Wow, 9 hours! It really only checks a few things so I'm not sure what was going on.

I'll think about where to go now, maybe tgell with weigh in. (It seems to me we are now where the video posted earlier might be relevant.) I'm on my way out so I can't review it now.

@tgell not sure if something like a chkdsk /r might be a first step to rule out something simple before going to whatever steps were in that video.

 

Hello,

I do not like to mess around with the MBR too much especially on laptops that have the recovery partition. But, can you try something first.

In my post #13

Do you get the warning screen. Do not proceed. Just tell me if you get to the screen. If you do, and now that you get further into the system after the boot, I would recommend that you boot Hirens CD and transfer what files you need if it is possible.

If not I think we can proceed with using the bootrec command but I would wait for sach2 to confirm that. Even if we rewrite the MBR and rebuild the BCD we may still get to the recovery partition by marking it active but I am not 100% on how Toshiba does their recovery partition and if marking the recovery partition as active would indeed make it boot at startup.

 

Remember, this is when I'm trying to Boot from Disk. Not regular start-up, I still get the winload.exe error on regular. Sorry I should have been clearer. Still go?

 

Okay, I think I understand now. The above problem is when you boot with the system recovery disk, correct?

Try to boot the factory restore image as I posted by pressing the zero key while you are powering on the computer. Do you get the warning screen? If you do, do not proceed. Also, have you ever gotten your files off of the computer?

 

I don't believe i get the warning screen that you're talking about. Pressing 0 (zero) does nothing. It just displays the same message i get when starting my computer up normally. The winload.exe error message.
And Yes, whenever i try to boot from Disk now, all i get is the black screen with moveable cursor.

And i have not been able to get my files off the computer. I've tried in Hirens but it can not find the C: Drive.

 

Alright i think it's just the CD itself. I was able to boot Hirens minixp no problem... should i try to re-burn it?

 

are you talking about the Vista System Recovery CD? If so, yes try reburning at a slower speed like 4x.

 

Alright will do that. and also, is there any other way i could possibly recover files from my computer? I have a folder that is a bunch of notes/observations that is in a sense irreplaceable. It would be nice if there was a way i could get it back, if not I could live without..

 

So,
You are saying that Hirens cannot see your C: drive when using miniXP, correct?
I would like to see if you can boot that Vista CD first. We may be able to get it to boot using the bootrec commands. If not there is another thing we can try to get it back to a factory state.

Note: You might want to download Puppy and see if you can access your drive. If Hirens does not see the drive, not sure Puppy will either but it may be worth a try.

 

Alright, re-burned the disk. Still have the same outcome..

and it displays C: drive, but it's blank in the size of the drive and all of that. And it also just freezes/not respond for about 15 seconds every time i click on something/anything so..
My laptop is totally f'ed right now.. i really hope we can fix it lol.

 

Okay, try burning the Puppy iso like I said and see if that boots okay.

Edit: I am not completely sure about what you said about displaying the C: drive. Is this when the Vista System Recovery Disk first boots and it displays the path of the Windows installation after it scans the hard drive? That is the only time you should see anything relating to the C: drive.

 

Ah sorry, again i need to be more clear. This is in Hirens that i'm talking about. However the Vista System recov disk won't boot up. It just freezes at the black screen with the moveable cursor.