Ok sfc didn't help. But I was able to rip the CI.dll from my install disc (that's the dll it hangs on when booting into safe mode) and want to try replacing the ci.dll file on the HD that isn't booting. However, when I plugged the HD into another computer running Vista x64, it gave me an access denied message when I tried to rename the old one to keep it as a backup. (both when using Explorer and command prompt). How can I make it let me rename that file?
Thanks, that was pretty easy. Sadly, replacing the ci.dll didn't help any.
Ok, I decided that the BSOD that is flickering when my computer restarts during startup each time was probably pretty important. I was able to record my screen while it occurred and then pulled a screenshot of the BSOD out of the video. Here's the best quality picture I could get.
I did a quick google search for the 0x0000007b part of the error and the first link said that it's pretty indicative of a driver issue, which makes sense since the last thing I did before having all these issues was install some additional network and chipset drivers 9as explained in the original post). But I really don't know what else to do with this information. Is there someone who can look at this and maybe tell me exactly what these errors mean? Or at least the ones that be made out.
Try System Restore again from System Recovery Options.
Test your RAM: RAM - Test with Memtest86+. Remove the RAM sticks and check that their slots are clean of debris, try starting with one stick, then the other, swap sticks.
Test your HD with maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan, followed by another Disk Check from Recovery Options Command line.
Reset the CMOS: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS . Check the SATA controller setting in BIOS. Set SATA controller to AHCI to try starting and then reinstall after copying out your files using methods given. Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7
System restore didn't work. Also, I think I forgot to mention that I have a very old Vista installation also on this HD that boots up fine. That's the OS that I'm mostly using until I can get the 7 one back up and running. So I'm pretty sure my RAM is working fine. Hard drive tests came up clean.
Is a reinstall my only option at this point? I think it might boot normally if I could just uninstall the extra chipset and Ethernet drivers I installed for the other computer. But I have no idea how to do that without booting up the OS they're installed on.
I told you in the beginning that Win7 would have to be readjusted to boot it after changing the hardware. It was only luck that you got it to boot on the new hardware, and now it must be adjusted again for it to have any chance to boot on the original hardware.
What were the results of running Paragon Adaptive Restore CD on the Win7 installation? This is how you adjust the drivers, HID, SID and activation to move to another computer - it's a combination of these which most often will stop it from starting on changed hardware.
Windows may fail to start for a variety of reasons::
- Hardware failure
- Bad driver
- Corrupt file or volume
- System misconfiguration
- Virus infection
Just try troubleshooting above mentioned causes, something will work.
Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I have school finals and projects and stuff upon me and haven't had time to do much with this since I last posted. But I haven't given up, and I'll be back on top of it in a couple weeks!
Thanks to everyone who's given their input thus far, I really appreciate it all.
Ok I finally gave up on this and just reinstalled the OS. I couldn't get Macrium Reflect to power through the errors it was giving me when it tried to back up my partition, so I just used TeraCopy to manually copy my entire file structure onto a separate drive. I reinstalled the OS, and now I'm in the process of putting all my stuff back on.
I greatly appreciate all the help everyone gave me here. Sadly, it looks like it's been too long since everyone posted for me to rep them, which I had no idea about. Sorry about that. But thanks a million to everyone anyway!
Quote