Windows 7: Stuck in Startup Repair Loop (NoRootCause?)

The computer I am seeking help for belongs to my father so I do not know all of the specs off the top of my head so please bear with me. The laptop in question is a Dell Inspiron 1764 with Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit. The system had been suffering some malware/trojan/worm problems and I had been seeking help via Bleeping Computer (I can post the link to the thread if requested). I believe the work was almost done but I had to leave it for a day or so due to other things going on.

This evening, as my father turned on the system, it got stuck on something of a System Repair loop. I got the following when I sought more information:

Problem Signature:
Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline
Problem Signature 01: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 02: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 03: unknown
Problem Signature 04: 21200894
Problem Signature 05: AutoFailover
Problem Signature 06: 7
Problem Signature 07: NoRootCause
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033



I have tried a couple methods aside from the obvious choice of allowing the program to run and attempt to repair it. I created a system repair disc with my own laptop as it is running the same OS. Unfortunately I could not find any images or restore points. I tried going through the DOS prompt and running three tasks under bootrec.exe but to no avail. I really don't know what else to do right now and I don't want him to lose his data. Can someone help?

First try booting into Safe Mode with Networking to install, update and run a full scan with Malwarebytes. Then once cleaned run SFC -SCANNOW Command and work through these troubleshooting steps.

If Safe Mode is not working, download, burn to CD or write to flash stick, boot and run a full scan with Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper.

Once the System is clean if it won't start boot into System Recovery Options via the F8 menu or disk as shown in tutorial, run Startup Repair repeatedly no matter what it reports. Post back results.

If this fails, try System Restore from Recovery Options list, then if that fails open a Command Line to run SFC -SCANNOW Run in Command Prompt at Boot.

As a last resort boot free Partition Wizard bootable CD to Explore C to see if your files are intact, make sure C or the 100mb System Reserved partition (preferred) is marked Active, then click on HD to highlight it, from Disk tab select Rebuild MBR, Apply. If Windows 7 doesn't start and you restored Active flag, run Startup Repair 3 Separate Times.

If these all fail you can copy out your data using your Windows 7 DVD or Repair CD: Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console or Paragon Rescue CD.
System Repair Disc - Create

Then run Factory Recovery from its partition or disks you made or order from Tech Support, or find a Windows 7 installation DVD to clean reinstall using Product Key on COA sticker: Clean Reinstalling Windows 7

I'll go ahead and number the options/steps just to keep my train of thought going in the right direction.

1. I cannot start the system in Safe Mode of any kind (simple, with networking, with command prompt). It starts loading the files to do so then freaks out a couple files in and dives straight towards Startup Repair. That aside, I do have Malware Bytes on the system and had just run it hours before this mess. For fun here are the system issues I had been cleaning up prior to all of this with the help of the guys at Bleeping Computer. I believe we'd gotten pretty far into the process before this new catastrophe.

2. Okay, I made the disk via a clean laptop and got it going in the damaged system. The program got started but that's all it got. The program first told me that the definitions are out of date and needed updating. Nothin' doin' on that front so I tried running a scan (Quick, Full, & Custom) but only received a message stating "Windows Defender Offline couldn't scan your PC." Whee. After that the system restarted and went into Startup Repair quickly. The problem details were the same.

3. Since DWO didn't work I went right to my System Recovery disc previously created (on the same system that created the DWO disk). It could not find any System Restore points. I went right to the command prompt and followed the steps for SFC SCANNOW. After a while the results came back with a simple "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations." After restarting multiple times I was still unable to get past the bloody Startup Repair error.

4. I created the bootable Partition Wizard disc and it seemed to run as it should. I can't tell you how happy I am to see his data is still in place. That actually takes the edge off of this whole mess. I restarted the system and it didn't go into it's usual shpeal but it did go into a diagnostics mode. I ran the memory test and all portions passed without problems. Next I ran hardware diagnostics and chose the extended test.

I am currently running the extended test and it should take another couple of hours. I'm heading out soon so I'm going to let it go and do its thing while I am away. I'll post an update on how the test completes and if it behaves tomorrow. Truth be told, I'm not holding my breath. I have a feeling I'll have to save his data and start from scratch especially since he needs to get underway for travel on Thursday.

Were you connected to the web so MSSSS could update itself before running? Google the exact error to see how it is resolved.

Or use one of these FREE Bootable AntiVirus Rescue CDs - Download List

Here's the latest official ISO download to burn to DVD or write to flash stick using Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool:
Win7 Home Premium x64 SP1 English Official ISO download

Then if necessary follow these steps to get a perfect clean reinstall of factory OEM: Reinstalling Windows 7