Can't boot Windows 7

Discussion in 'Software' started by mattbiel, Nov 22, 2011.

  1. mattbiel

    mattbiel Private E-2

    I have a gateway desktop running Windows 7. I had a pretty bad virus on there last week, and I thought I had fixed it with Malwarebytes and combofix. The computer seemed to run fine for about a week. All of a sudden, today it will not boot up at all in normal mode or safe mode. It just takes me to the "windows failed to start" with the options of "start windows normally" or "launch startup repair".

    When I choose "launch startup repair", it says "searching for problems", then it says "checking for disk errors. This might take over an hour to complete."

    After about 5 minutes, it says "Windows cannot repair this computer automatically". I can then click "view advanced options for system recover and support"

    Those options are: Startup Repair, System Restore, System Image recovery, Windows Memory Diagnostic, Command Prompt, and Recovery Management.

    I have tried system restore, but no matter which restore point I choose it says it cannot recover from that point.

    I have a retail Windows 7 Upgrade DVD if that would help. I also have the ability to slave the drive to a different windows 7 computer to view the contents.

    Also, I have created an image of the drive so if I ruin it I'm ok.

    Can someone help me and give advice as to what steps to try first?
     
  2. mattbiel

    mattbiel Private E-2

    When I try System Restore here is the error message:

    "System Restore failed to extract the file (D:\windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile|AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows from the restore point. The restore point was damaged or was deleted during the restore.
     
  3. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Since it says checking disk for errors and we aren't sure if that has completed, I would choose command prompt and try the command chkdsk C: /r and hit the <enter> key. See if in the results if it finds any errors.

    In the (When I choose "launch startup repair", it says "searching for problems ") window, before you get to Advanced options, it should show the drive letter of your Windows installation; if the drive letter for your Windows installation is different then C: substitute that drive letter in the chkdsk command above.
     
  4. mattbiel

    mattbiel Private E-2

    Thank you Sach2.

    I ran the chkdsk as you directed. All 5 stages came through fine. The only thing that sounded odd is the last line says "Failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50".

    I tried restarting after the chkdsk and I have the same issue. The Windows 7 startup process gets to where it says "starting windows" but then it fails, reboots, and takes me to the screen where I can choose to "start windows normally" or "launch startup repair".
     
  5. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I think the not able to write log is because you are running from the CD not a problem.

    If you hit F8 repeatedly when starting up do you get Safe Mode options? If so try choosing Last Known Good Configuration first. If that doesn't start then try Safe Mode and see if that will load. If not then try disable restart on error and see if you get a blue screen with an error code or file name.
     
  6. mattbiel

    mattbiel Private E-2

    OK I just tried. The computer will not boot in safe mode or in "last known good configuration".

    I tried the option that said "Disable automatic restart on system failure" but all it does is fail and then go to a black screen. Unfortunately, I get no blue screen error.
     
  7. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I'm not really sure where to go next. Is the black screen without any cursor?

    Perhaps someone can suggest a means of doing a repair install with the Windows CD? I'm just not familiar enough with trying to replace system files in Win7 to give much advice. If I find something of use I will post back.
     
  8. mattbiel

    mattbiel Private E-2

    Thanks for trying Sach2. Yes, the black screen is without any cursor.

    If anyone else could provide advice it would be much appreciated! Would it help to try a fixmbr command or something like that? (I don't really know how to do that).
     
  9. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    It is not the MBR or you wouldn't be getting to the Windows is loading screen. A bad MBR would stop immediately after BIOS or the manufacturer splash screen.

    The problem doesn't seem to be your boot manager files either. It looks like either registry corruption or a missing/corrupted system file. The fact that system restore is not working complicates things.

    If it is a system file then sfc /scannow command might help but I have never had to use it although I know others on this board are more familiar with it. If it is a corrupted registry there may be a way to rebuild that but I haven't seen too many threads on that specifically for Win7.

    I have just had virtually no problems in win7 other than startup files after imaging so I haven't experimented too much. I will take a look for anything useful but am hoping someone will jump in with a next step to try.
     
  10. mattbiel

    mattbiel Private E-2

    I booted to the command prompt again and tried sfc /scannow and it says "there is a system repair pending which requires reboot to complete. Restart Windows and run sfc again."

    Does that help anything?
     
  11. thisisu

    thisisu Malware Consultant

    Can you post the details of Startup Repair's analysis? Looks something like this >> Startup Repair diagnosis and repair log

    Yeah unfortunately you can't run sfc /scannow from the recovery CD. It will always give you that message, even if you bypass System Repair.
     
  12. mattbiel

    mattbiel Private E-2

    Thank you both for your help. I believe (finally) that the issue was the hard drive. I tried to use the recovery partition to recover to factory defaults and it froze at 3%. When I rebooted the disk was no longer usable. I bought a new disk and loaded up the image, and although I could not boot to it I was able to use the recovery partition to do a fresh install.
     
  13. thisisu

    thisisu Malware Consultant

    Glad you got it sorted out :cool
    I bet that new hard drive was expensive though!
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds