Windows 7 boot problems

Hello,

My Windows 7 laptop stopped booting after a download. I posted on the malware forums but they couldn't find anything. I was able to take the HD out and copy over some files to another laptop using an external HD connector. I tried to scan it using AVG and getting rid of the viruses but the windows 7 still wont start. Is there any program I can run on my HD to see why my OS still isnt working or check which files may have been deleted?

Thanks in advance.

 

Make and model of the computer?

Are you getting an error message on boot attempt? If so, what does it say?

Can you boot to Safe Mode? If so, from an elevated command prompt run:

Code:

sfc /scannow

To get an elevated command prompt do one of these steps:

• Click on the Start Button and type CMD in search bar, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter at the same time to get an admin command prompt.
• Click on the Start Button > Go to All Programs> Accessories and right on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator from context menu.

Restart when it is finished. This will attempt to repair your OS...

 

Hello,

Thanks for the help. My computer is a Gateway NV79 - i5 430M running Windows 7.

I cannot start in safe mode. Whenever I do start my computer it goes into a windows start up repair screen which ultimately fails to repair startup. I can go to "system recovery options" from which I can access command prompt. The scans can't find integrity violations.

I took some screenshots of what I did and I've also included a log of a farbar recovery scan I did of the hard drive, I don't know if it would be useful at all. Is there any other programs I can use to scan my hard drive?

 

I would download and burn a bootable disk of |MG| Memtest86 4.2.0 to see if you have a RAM issues.

If RAM is good, then I would suggest trying Last Known Good Configuration, The instructions from Microsoft are here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Using-Last-Known-Good-Configuration

This doesn't always work, but is worth a shot...

You say you copied over some files, if you're satisfied that you have a good backup of all your important files and you have the apps to reinstall with, a reinstall may be in order...

 

So I tried Memtest64 but the computer kept shutting down abruptly at 30% and at this point a reinstall wasn't looking so bad, so I reinstalled the OS and copied over all the files. The PC seems to be working fine, I've been using it all day.

I just wanted to let you know the resolution and say thank you for all the help.

Thanks.

 

Have your run memtest86 afterwords?

 

Excellent point theefool, that failure at 30% is not a good sign.

Good news is, if the RAM is bad or failing, it is fairly cheap to replace and would give you an opportunity to put more RAM on than the laptop came with. Looks like you could go up to 8GB:

https://support.gateway.com/s/notebook/2009/gateway/nv/NV79/NV79sp2.shtml

.

 

I looked at the Microsoft instructions for using the last-known-good-configuration. The instructions assume you are able to start Windows. My problem lately is that Windows 7 fails to start. My solution has been to boot using a Norton Ghost restore point. This works, but it begs the question: why does Windows fail to start? This has been happening too often lately.

I have run the memory test program suggested and no errors were found. I have run comprehensive hard drive tests using SpinRite and not a single bad sector was found. Perhaps Windows is corrupted but, if so, why does Windows start most of the time?