Now NO boot up at all

I have been working on this for almost 3 weeks now, which I suspect started with a virus, as booting up has gotten progressively worse, now pc will not boot even in safe mode, and sometimes it will open menus from start up disc.

I have gotten into CMOS Setup Utility twice noticed that the +12v output is only 10.496 . . . would this cause a boot up problem?

Gateway 5675
AMD Quad Core 9600
8 mb Ram
Vista 64 bit Home Premium SP2

In Jan I put in a new main hard drive, which has been working fine until this situation started, blue screen crashes.

I have run multiple anti virus and malware programs when normal boot up was still possible.

I ran a hard drive (Hitachi ) diagnostic, it checked out ok.

Right now my initial question here is about the Power Supply +12v output, then on to the rest of the issues.

I have also unplugged the new main drive and reinserted the old drive, and it too is not booting.

With both drives, the screen just goes to black now when trying to perform a boot or any function.

I have tried the Windows repair functions, but nothing provides any results . . . possibly due to most actions requiring restarting the pc, which it will not do unless through a hard power off, then still no boot up.


so, is Power Supply output causing part of my problem?

Thanks, John

 

Hi, jhald. Welcome to Major Geeks.

**I think you already know the answer.

Also check that the CMOS battery output is 3 volts and not less than that.

 

Thanks for the validation input. I will see if I can find a PSU to test . . or buy one.

Since posting this, I have been able to get the old drive to boot up, but only in safe mode.
And am in the process of running through the Malware removal and cleaning process on this site. Rogue Killer has found some red lined nasties, so will continue, and if needed will post on another category.

Thanks

 

I installed another PSU, no much better output readings, all slightly above listed voltages. At least I have removed the low voltage possibility as a cause, or contributor.

This has not made any difference with operating the old drive, still only able to boot in Safe Mode.

I have been running the malware removal protocol, so will complete that and post in that forum,

Thanks

 

Well this is getting worse and worse with time, which has been the case since the issue began. I was able to runs scans a couple days ago, but then the next day no boot up at ALL.

I now cannot boot in safe mode either drive with operating system.
Boot up starts, I see 'Loading Windows Files' (lists drivers loading), then says “Wait, Loading”
. . . then goes to black screen, sometimes with or without cursor.

I am able to boot to the system Disc and get to Dos Prompt

I attempted to do a couple of things I found to deal with the Black Screen,
1) with the command: . . . System32\winevt>Ren Logs Logs_edit I got a message of error or in use or something (forgot exact )
2) Than attempted doing something with Loading Hive in regedit, I got message: In use or does not exist.

I have removed and disconnected all ancillary hardware.
I have removed and swapped around the 4 memory cards ( must be in pairs in this board)
. . . . no change

So in deep here, assistance needed!

The virus scans I ran did find some things. Not sure now how to get logs out to submit.

Not sure which avenue to pursue first, more checking hardware or look into virus, malware

Is there any kind of hardware scans I can do through CD or thumb drive, as I can't download anything?
Seems the only thing left would be the motherboard.

Also, doing a Windows Repair from the System disc, it was not able to repair and indicated a problem with Start Up.

Please guide me here

 

ok, I have burned the UBCD, and will work with it this weekend.

I will go through testing the memory cards again, trying them individually.

What can you tell me about the program, Reimage, would that be useful to me with this situation now?

And just to clarify, I know a reinstall of Windows would probably be easier, but I have many small programs that would possibly lost, as I don't have most of the activation codes since my windows Mail was destroyed about a year ago.

 

The CPU Stress Tester from in the UBCD has been running now for over 9 hours and still going, at least the "Tested" counter is changing.

How long should I expect this to run?
Does it stop when finished, or do I need to stop it?

 

Please clarify . . .

I said the CPU Stress Tester IS still running ( still now as I write this for about 19 hours )

And you replied that it would be a problem if it DID stop.


Maybe this is the answer, which didn't initially click to me, but here are the last two lines showing on the screen:

EXECUTING 4 THREADS INDEFINITELY
TESTED 1.863402e+15 FP operations. (with the number continually climbing )

so, it will run indefinitely?


Last time I was able to boot in safe mode, I had checked the temps and all were good. There is a large heat sink with fan on the CPU, and a higher powered case fan that I had added some time ago, both running now.
My notes indicate CPU was 44 to 46 C, and Ambient temp was 44 C.

 

Please clarify . . .

I had said the CPU stress tester IS still running and,
you indicated that if it stopped it was a problem.

It is at this moment still running.

But something just clicked, aha! Here are the last two lines showing on my screen:

Executing 4 threads indefinitely
Tested 1.88764+15 FP operations

. . . so, seems it will just keep running.


The last time I was able to boot in safe mode I had checked the temps and they were good, CPU at about 45c and Ambient at 43c.
There is an upgraded case fan, and a large heat sink with 3" fan on the CPU that I had added some time ago, both running. I can look for a bootable temp program to check temps now.


So, a basic question about this situation.. .
Both, my new hard drive, and the old drive that I had copied to the new drive, will not boot up now at all.
Does this indicate a hardware problem only, or is there some operational aspect that would affect completing boot up?
The new drive had been functioning fine since Jan, so seems unlikely that the operating system on both is messed up in the same way.

Another option I am thinking about is, getting an external drive case to install hard drive so that I can try booting on another machine. I don't have another pc that is set up for the sata hard drive, just older pcs and a laptop.
Is this a viable option to be able to run more checks on the hard drive as to problems?

 

This is an off topic aside about odd posting behavior of site.

This may be on my end but thought I should let you know.

This post was done after the previous post, that is now showing, was not showing. It appeared to me that the previous post did not take at all.
It was odd, when I clicked the 'post' button on the earlier post, nothing happened for quite a while, so I clicked it again . . . then the site popped up with a message that the post was just like a previous.
But I never saw either, even after refreshing, thus I retyped the entire post. Now they are both here.

 

You can run a Kaspersky Rescue Disk without booting Windows.

http://support.kaspersky.com/4162

You will need a machine to download the .iso, and burn it to a disc. You will also need a free program like ImgBurn to create the disc. You will also need to connect your machine to the internet to update virus definitions for the KRD when you boot it.

P.S> Fair warning that though malware has been removed, it may have not left nicely and there is always the possibility that Windows is damaged beyond repair. If Windows is not functioning normally, you can try this after the malware removal:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/tweaking_com_windows_repair.html

Note: Tweaking should be run in Safe Mode with Networking

 

well, this is fun!

I stopped the running CPU test and loaded Partition Magic from the UBCD disc.

And it loaded, main page came up, then as I waited to make sure it was fully loaded, it flashed to black and back a few times, pausing in between.
Then the screen went solid blue, as it now sits.

I will wait a bit before restarting to see what happens.

The Mechanic, I just saw your post after posting.

I have iso burner and will try as you say.

at this point, cannot boot at all in safe mode, so, will see.

 

As far as the UBCD goes, there are a host of hardware tests on board including MemTest. With an older machine I try to rule out hardware first because you're just fooling yourself if the issue is not software.

If the hard drive is solid, RAM has tested fine, and the CPU is performing floating point operations without error I would start looking at software.

Technically speaking if you can access the BIOS, you are ahead of the game.

 

I ran the Hitachi hard drive test several days ago and showed as good.

I have been able to get into the Bios menu, but do not really know what to do with it. Previously I reset it to Default, no change.

so, if you can give me specifics as to which tools to use in UBCD, right now I am just trying stuff, which I guess froze.

and, in the Bios, what do i look for and what do i do?

This is the first time I have had to get this deep into the system, is over my experience level.

 

Have you tested the RAM memory?

 

Yes,

Tests run from UBCD so far

Memtest86: passed and cpu temp 43c to 44 c

CPU Stress Tester: Ran for 19 hour continuously, no errors indicated.

And I had eliminated and swapped ram previously with no change.

Currently running hard drive test, different than test run before, just to make sure. And will test both drives with operating system.
This will take a while

 

If you have eliminated hardware as the issue, the run KRD10, recover your data if applicable, and reinstall windows.

If you have eliminated hardware as being suspect to your issues, then what potential for error that remains leads to software.

Can you recover your Vista installation?

 

Test run from UBCD so far

Memtest86: passed and cpu temp 43c to 44 c

CPU Stress Tester: Ran for 19 hour continuously, no errors indicated.

Finished hard drive tests – ok

In DOS had Master Boot Record fixed, no change.

Ran PCI Test and saw a few questionable things, if I would know what they are!
PCI Bridge- Received Master Abort
PCI Express capability – Unsupported request severity is fatal.
PCI Bridge Info – Secondary bus stats – received Master abort.
Not sure if those are a problem or just represent something not in use.
At the end of scan, nothing was noted as a problem.

I did not use any of the processes in the UCBD regarding the Bios ans CMOS, as I am not knowledgeable about them to make any choices without any guidance or doing research.

I am now starting to load and run the Kapersky Rescue Disc scan, took 3 boot attempts to get it to open. Well not sure, have restarted it 4 times it just stops. I will just let it be not appearing to be doing anything, and go to bed, see about it in the morning.

 

Haven't been able to figure out how to get Kapersky program to boot up properly.
It initially opens from CD, then wants to restart (otherwise says not shut down properly), but won't restart from disc.
Their user guide says something about removing disc and booting from hard drive, no go, I then get an "frequency out of range" message on the screen.

Also, in the initial Kapersky set up it shows that CD Drive is not bootable, yet I check in Bios and it is set as 1st boot drive.
And it says needs to Mount CDrom to mnt/cdrom

So, I'm off to work will get into this later.

Any ideas??

 

The one thing that does cross my mind is that if Windows was not shut down properly, the KRD will not want to mount the hard drive.

 

Windows has not shut down properly for dozens of times, as I have been working in this for about 3 weeks. Usually have to do hard shut off.
Even when running a scan program that indicates 'reboot', it will not boot, I must shut off and start from power switch.

What is KRD?

I have been working the virus approach . . nothing yet.

 

Kaspersky Rescue Disk.

As the mekanic said, it may not mount the hard drive because Windows wasn't properly shut down. It looks as if you're going to have to wipe the drive and do a clean install of Windows.

 

I'm thinking the same thing.

However, make sure you overwrite the previous installation. DO NOT delete the partitions. If you overwrite, the OS should create a folder for your data called windows.old for you.

Additionally, Windows will tell you if it is indeed creating this folder. Do not assume it will.

 

I have now been able to get it to booting up in Safe Mode again, and have run multiple virus scanners which removed some evil stuff, and am now running through the Tweaking Windows Repair process.

At this point I am not sure which action made it able to boot again, as it didn't reboot on it's own after I performed an action on it.

In between attempting fixes through DOS, I ran the Windows Repair several different times which would reveal different problems, that it could not fix.

I addressed every unrepairable error it noted, as Winload Missing, Failed setup IBS, MBR issues, and I can't recall all things I did.

Also, it seemed many time the machine was dead as it would not even open with System Disc, it sometimes took 4 attempts, to get disc to start, which is how I got into DOS.

The key was, research every single error and search out every single symptom online.

I now think the whole problem was initiated by a virus, which I stopped battling when I got sidetracked into trying to check out all hardware. I should have kept up with the virus scanning and removal.
From my experience with this, I would say, attack the virus idea first with several scan tools, as this problem got worse as I was trying to check hardware on a system that would not boot.

Will let you know if it gets fully back up to Normal.