As ignatzatsonic said, be sure to back up everything that you want to keep as your hard drive will be wiped clean. That means documents, videos, software, photos etc.
Adding on to what he said in his second post, do you get any error messages? Is it the same error (0x81000101)? Or does it simply not finish and just slow down to a snails pace?
ok - just did system restore in safe mode and on restart got message about doing a startup repair which it couldn't do automatically - these are the results:
Root Cause Found:
Boot critical file C:\windows\system32\drivers\cng.sys is corrupt
Repair action : File repair
Result: Failed. Error Code = 0x490
Repair Action: System Restore
Result: Failed. Error Code = 0x1f
Repair Action: System Files Integrity Check and Repair
Result: Failed. Error Code = 0x490
Computer has restarted since but still experiencing long long delays when doing most things, eg tried to do virus scans open games etc and sometimes they don't even start after 10 mins. Also getting a lot of "not responding" messages then will all of a sudden it will start. Shut down can take up to 20-30mins. HELP!!!
You might be able to avoid a clean install if a System File Checker scan can repair any damaged or corrupt system files. If any problems are found, run the scan 3 times rebooting in between each scan. Use Option Two from this tutorial:
SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker
Sorry for delay in getting back here - but ts taken me nearly 3 days (between work) to do the sfc scannow 3 times. Unfortunately they have all come back with messages of no problems found. Did dl new updates for windows - service pack - but wasn't able to install so am now downloading the hot fix for windows 7 that might be causing it to not install but has been stuck in the same spot for nearly 2 hours as it installs. Getting very frustrated and on the verge of taking it to someone to blow $200 plus on getting it fixed - any ideas??
Were you able to find out your entire Product Key per the instructions from Jaidynm in post 7?
Were you able to complete the instructions about services in post 3?
Have you contemplated a "repair" install?
A clean install is also a possibility if you were able to recover your entire Product Key.
Yes, I was able to get the product key - but it is a different key to what is written on the label on the underside of my computer (the one I can't read entirely as some of it has worn off) is this a problem? I have also been getting a message in the last two days as it does Windows updates saying that it is not a genuine copy of windows and have not been able to successfully install windows 7 service pack 1. When I bought the laptop from Dick Smiths 1 year ago it came loaded on the comp already so don't know why it would say it wasn't genuine.
In that case, go ahead with downloading the ISO from Mydigitallife.info and use the product key you obtained from the software I linked to activate the new install. If that doesn't work, we'll see if we can sort something else out.
Hi again, am unsure which iso to download from mydigitallife - do I need the x64 or the x86 file? These are the stats on my Operating System:
Windows 7 Home Premium (build 7600)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (Australia)
Installed: 30/10/2010 12:53:48 PM
Processor a
2.27 gigahertz Intel Core i5 M 430
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
3072 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Hyper-threaded (4 total)
As you are using a 32-bit version of Windows you will need the Windows 7 SP1 x86 ISO, if you were using a 64-bit version of Windows you would need the x64 ISO.
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