Computer not booting up stuck with black screen

Discussion in 'Software' started by Rodders9, Jul 9, 2011.

  1. Rodders9

    Rodders9 Private E-2

    Hi All,

    While getting help from Kestrel13 in the malaware section the following happened last night. I was told to come to this section to get some help and then return to Kestrel once this problem is resolved.

    When i came in this evening i started up my computer and fired up MBRcheck.
    Which opened a small black window. I then waited for 15-20 mns while a log seemed to have appeared on my desktop the application seemed to have hung. I tried closing it in every which way i knew but it just would not close at all and remained in the middle of the screen

    I tried to shut the system down from the start button but nothing would work.
    I then just powered the desktop down and restarted it.
    But received some type of error.
    I rebooted it again this time it started up and went straight to a black screen.
    saying:
    'Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
    system32\drivers\nvatabus.sys
    You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows setup using the original setup CD-Rom.
    Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.'

    Tried rebooting numerous times but obviously it seems stuck at this point as i am.
    I am not sure how to use the function from the bios or how to boot from this point.
    I went over to my parents's to pick up this laptop so i could post.
    I have no clue what to do.
    I now have no computer which is tough for me since i also use it for my work.
    Thank you for help.
     
    Rodders9, Jul 9, 2011
    #1
  2. Rodders9

    Rodders9 Private E-2

    Computer info:

    Dell xps720
    Running win xp pro.
    Running raid 0 nvidia which my friend set up for me since i would not know how, showing healthy when i enter the set up for raid.

    Not sure what else to add.

    Thank you for your kind help.
     
    Rodders9, Jul 9, 2011
    #2
  3. Major Attitude

    Major Attitude Co-Owner MajorGeeks.Com Staff Member

    I think your hard drive is failing.

    Did you stick the original setup dvd in as asked and try to repair? This assumes boot to cd\dvd is in the first order. If not, look at the screen when it boots up and you will see something like "press delete to enter setup" and press f2 for boot options". These all read slightly different but you want to go to boot options and select the cd\dvd drive to boot Windows cd\dvd. This can be a difficult problem to fix no matter what.

    I have a different approach then the malware team. After spending more then 2 hours trying to fix a machine, I believe it is easier to do a format, especially if the computer is a couple years old.

    Another option would be to download and burn a diagnostic program so you can run diagnostics from your cd\dvd drive and bypass the hard drive completely, which I suspect is a dead drive anyway:
    http://majorgeeks.com/Ultimate_Boot_CD_UBCD_d4981.html

    I had good luck preparing to format recently on a failing hard drive by booting from a Linux Live DVD and copying files to an external hard drive and then I was able to format the drive from Linux live cd.
     
    Major Attitude, Jul 9, 2011
    #3
  4. Rodders9

    Rodders9 Private E-2

    Thank you for your reply.

    I have tried that, i set the cdrom as bootup and windows starts the set up process but 5 mns into the set up i get a blue screen saying there was an error

    Check for any viruses.Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated.
    Run chkdsk /f to for hard drive corruption and then restart computer.
    Technical information:
    stop: 0x0000007B ( 0xF78d663C,0xC0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000 )

    I cannot use the ultimate boot cd since i do not have a computer that is cappable of writing a cd to set up the boot cdrom. This computer i am using here to post is old and just about works for basic things.

    I would love to reformat the whole thing but would like to try and save some of my work which i have on my computer since when raid runs it shows as healthy.
    Not sure how to reformat the whole c drive but if you say the hard drive is dead, are you saying that i cannot reformat either? so i need to buy a new hard drive and install that?
    To be honest the computer in question is a quadcore 4gb ram machine with a gtx470 which i purchasedin the last 6 months or so, and i am very close to just throwing this whole damn tower away from frustration.
     
    Rodders9, Jul 9, 2011
    #4
  5. thisisu

    thisisu Malware Consultant

    Another sign of hard drive failure.

    Btw this BSOD: stop: 0x0000007B ( 0xF78d663C,0xC0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000 )
    It's quite a general error with many causes, but one of the reasons for it hardware failure.

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103
     
    thisisu, Jul 9, 2011
    #5
  6. Major Attitude

    Major Attitude Co-Owner MajorGeeks.Com Staff Member

    That's a dead hard drive and that is a good bet.

    Get one. Find a friend. See if you can see that hard drive and get files from it. You are heading for either a format or a new drive either way here.

    If the drive has failed, your done. Your not getting data from it and yes, you need to replace the drive.

    Hard drives are a weird thing. Lots of moving parts, most likely to fail. This is why backup should be done as needed. I prefer a second hard drive, then maybe an external hard drive and finally if those don't work, use a cloud based backup service.

    A final option is to buy a new drive, set up your new operating system and plug in your old drive as a slave to see if you can get anything from it. Oh, don't bother with RAID, since you were not backing anything up or using multiple partitions, using RAID is typically a waste for the average user. I'm sure your friend felt smart by doing it :)

    Let me know how it goes.
     
    Major Attitude, Jul 9, 2011
    #6
  7. Rodders9

    Rodders9 Private E-2

    Hi Guys,

    Just wanted to say you were correct, i had my hard drives tested yesterday and it turns out that both were dead.

    Instead of bothering and getting new ones and who knows when the rest of the computer will also give up, i decided to get a new I7.

    So i just wanted to thank all the people that replied to my thread and who were spot on with their feedbacks. You guys are great and the fact that this is a site where you guys do this for free, makes it even moreso the reason why i would like to take my hat off to you guys for always being helpful on this site.
    Top site with fantastic guys running it.

    Thank you and wish you guys well, i hope that you will not see me on here for a while, well at least a year or so unless i get some issues with my new purchase in the future hehe.

    Take care for now.
     
    Rodders9, Jul 10, 2011
    #7

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