Weird boot problem in Windows 7

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  1. Posts : 86
    32 bit Windows 7
       #1

    Weird boot problem in Windows 7


    Hello.
    I have a Windows 7 32 bits ultimate version which doesn't boot like it should. It gives the error of not shutting down normally. If I click it to Start windows normally it shows Starting Windows and after 2-3 seconds it says "Windows is loading files" just like it starts windows repair or install. The problem is it shouldn't because it was a working OS. If I choose "Launch startup repair" it shows the same screen but restarts the computer after 2-3 seconds. Disable AROSF doesn't help because there is no BSOD - just a restart always. Safe mode also says "Windows is loading files" and restarts without BSOD.
    Windows was working normally so it must be an updating issue. I tried all the common possible commands (chkdsk /r didn't report problems) and especially bootrec.exe (/fixmbr /fixboot /rebuildbcd says 0 found windows installations) and it didn't helped. I tried sfc /scannow but of course it doesn't allow me because it thinks there is a repair pending. I even tried ERD commander for Windows 7 but it didn't allow me to uninstall hotfixes (cannot find any) and couldn't start the recovery environment for some reason. The automatic repair in Windows 7 recovery console (from the dvd) gives those two errors:
    "Root cause found:
    Boot manager failed to find OS loader."
    and
    "Repair action: File Repair
    Result: Failed. Error code = 0x490
    Time Taken = 4767 ms"

    Memory and HDD are tested and okay!!!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,314
    Windows 7 64-bit
       #2

    I think it is BSODing, but because of a failure to dump the memory to a file (or it happens so fast) that the system is automatically restarting from the BSOD faster than you can see the blue screen.

    Try this: tap F8 prior to Windows logo to get the boot menu like you would when going to Safe Mode, but select "Disable automatic restart", then attempt to load Windows normally. It should have the same issue except this time show a blue screen. If it does, record the details on it such as name of driver/module (if present) and the bugcheck code, followed by the 4 hex parameters in parentheses.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 86
    32 bit Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #3

    It doesn't give BSOD this way. I just wrote it shortly "Disable AROSF" Also now I cannot run SFC /SCANNOW no matter what I do!
    Here is the second error I received (the first was with the pending repair which I fixed with the offline sfc commands) :
    "Windows Resource Protection Could Not Start the Repair Service"
    And after I fixed it starting the windowsinstaller service or something I get the third error IN A ROW:
    "Windows Resource Protection Could Not perform the requested operation"
    I guess sfc could fix my problem but the problem is even starting it! Here is an interesting thread:
    SFC Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation FIX!
    Problem is I cannot edit the registry from the DVD and I cannot enter the Windows in any way.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 1,314
    Windows 7 64-bit
       #4

    oh ok, I didn't know what AROSF meant so I disregarded it, lol.

    It's evident your MBR got totaled as any attempt to recover it or restore any existing partition on the drive is failing. I'm not sure how the MBR got messed up or deleted as only means I could see that could cause it to be tampered with would be through a rootkit MBR infection or a failing hard drive.

    If you want to try to resuscitate the MBR and any existing partition it looks like you're going to need to use something like TestDisk to find any existing MBR and partitions and recover them that way. If it proves unsuccessful at finding or recovering any, I have a feeling your hard drive is dying and is in a degraded state. You should use a bootup version of Seatools to test your system drive for any potential failures. Run all basic tests on it. Note that Seatools is not guaranteed to find that the drive is bad, but it helps. If any test failure occurs, the drive is most likely bad and must be replaced.

    Both Seatools and TestDisk, amongst a myriad of other items of value, are on the UBCD, which I recommend you burn onto a cd using another available PC. It also has PartedMagic, a liveCD environment that you can use to access contents on your drive, perform a myriad of disk-related tools and data recovery stuff, and a whole bunch of other goodies. If the stuff on PartedMagic and TestDisk can't find your partitions, then they're gone for good.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 16,161
    7 X64
       #5

    Problem is I cannot edit the registry from the DVD
    at cmd prompt, type regedit, click File >Load hive and browse.
    What are you planning to do in the registry?


    You could try a shotgun approach:
    if your windows installation is on D ( as seen from booted dvd )

    At dvd cmd prompt:

    bcdboot d:\windows /s c:

    bcdboot d:\windows /s d:

    bootsect /nt60 /mbr all

    DISM /image:D:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 86
    32 bit Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #6

    It seems some important drivers got damaged/removed from the system - I stopped the annoying automatic system recovery because it didn't even start normally with this guide:
    At the Command prompt enter the following:
    bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled No
    After that I saw a more appropriate error saying :
    File:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\compbatt.sys
    Status: 0xc000000f
    Info: Windows failed to load because a critical system driver is missing, or corrupt.
    The driver is a BATTERY driver which was actually missing from the system32\drivers folder but removing the battery didn't helped so I used a copy of the file from NOT THE USUAL FOLDER mentioned here:
    It crashed and I lost all my files windows 7 0xc000000f Can't startup
    which is %WinDir%\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\acpi. inf_97916753
    but in a folder starting with "battery" in it's name (the name of the folder was long and seemed randomized)
    %WinDir%\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\battery...
    inside was the file compbatt.sys and I copied it to \system32\drivers and now I have a new error saying msahci.sys is missing...

    Edit:
    The automatic recovery from my DVD detected the files as important boot file and repaired it successfully :)! Now I get the beautiful 07b bsod which is easy to fix :).
    I still cannot get sfc to run.
    It says Windows resource protection could not start the repair service.
    I started the windows modules installer service (trustedinstaller) but it doesn't help and there is no such file as C:\WINDOWS\WINSXS\PENDING.XML
    My boot partition in C: and my Windows partition is D: so I am not making some amateur mistakes here. The bios hdd configuration was originally in AHCI mode and it still is so it is not such issue. Chkdsk doesn't detect any problems and there are no bad sectors with HDD Regenerator so it must be missing/damaged system files. Typing again the bootrec.exe commands didn't helped.
    SIW2 is there any chance I could delete my partition/files using those commands you told me to use like this one:
    DISM /image:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions

    Second edit:
    It turns out SFC doesn't start because I have to remove the pending.xml file on the recovery partition which is temporarily loaded into the memory from the dvd itself with a letter "x"! I am not even joking and this is some big bullsh*t.
    I even made a picture to prove it to you. SFC runs but it didn't find problems and it runs very fast - for like 2-3 minutes yet the system partition is like 70 GB...
    Last edited by RhapsodyOfFire; 13 Sep 2013 at 12:44.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 1,314
    Windows 7 64-bit
       #7

    You made the attempt to remove the pending.xml file, but did you also make sure that you were running SFC on the recovery environment on the Windows disc and not the drive? You will also want to use the OFFBOOTDIR and OFFWINDIR args for SFC to specify boot and windows directory paths, as instructed here. If that doesn't work, there's a good possibility it cannot find any partition tables or MBR, hence the 0x7B bugcheck. Again, this can easily be caused by corrupted partition table/MBR and/or a bad drive.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 86
    32 bit Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Vir Gnarus said:
    You made the attempt to remove the pending.xml file, but did you also make sure that you were running SFC on the recovery environment on the Windows disc and not the drive? You will also want to use the OFFBOOTDIR and OFFWINDIR args for SFC to specify boot and windows directory paths, as instructed here. If that doesn't work, there's a good possibility it cannot find any partition tables or MBR, hence the 0x7B bugcheck. Again, this can easily be caused by corrupted partition table/MBR and/or a bad drive.
    sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=D:\windows
    I typed exactly this and it doesn't help - it actually shows again "windows resource protection could not perform the requested operation". I can access all the partitions from other computer.
    But it really must take like 30-60 minutes for a real system file check even on fast computers so there is something fishy here. Why it doesn't scan the system drive???
    The mbr should be fixed with bootrec commands as I've done it before dozens of times.
    I scanned with latest definitions of AVG and it didn't found anything suspicious. For some reason my OS is called "Windows 7 Ultimate (recovered)"
    I've runner HDD Regenerator again in the first 70 gb and it didn't find anything and the speed of the test was very good 60+ mb/s.
    Last edited by RhapsodyOfFire; 13 Sep 2013 at 12:49. Reason: windows resource protection could not perform the requested operation
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 16,161
    7 X64
       #9

    SIW2 is there any chance I could delete my partition/files using those commands
    No.
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 1,314
    Windows 7 64-bit
       #10

    "I typed exactly this and it doesn't help. I can access all the partitions from other computer."
    So you've put the drive in another system and yet somehow that system can see all the partitions, but when you put it in the PC that is suffering, applications like PartedMagic cannot discover any of them? If that's the case, it sounds less like a drive issue and more of a motherboard problem with a faulting drive controller and/or BIOS.

    "But it really must take like 30-60 minutes for a real system file check even on fast computers so there is something fishy here. Why it doesn't scan the system drive???"
    If the drive has a LOT of files on it than yes, it can normally take well around that long to do a CHKDSK run, longer if you have it look for bad sectors as well. However, if it's unusually long without not having much space used up, then it's conducive - again - of a failing drive.
      My Computer


 
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