Infinite restart loop

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  1. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Home premium 64bit
       #1

    Infinite restart loop


    Hello! I have a brand new desktop PC with preinstalled Win7 Home Premium 64bit. I split the HDD and have Ubuntu on the other half. When I logged in Win7 I uninstalled preinstalled Norton Antivirus (it would stop working in two months anyways). After I got rid of it, it asked to restart the computer. I did so but a problem occurred. About 3 or 4 seconds after the restart, the computer restarts again ... and again and again. I lets me go to BIOS but nowhere else because right after that it restarts again. Even when I turn off the computer and turn it on again, it does the same - a restart loop. As I said, the loop takes about 3-5 seconds... Do you have an idea what to do? I do not have an installation CD/DVD, is there a way I can download some boot stuff from the internet?

    Thank you very much
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 6,305
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #2

    Hi dvoriner, welcome to the forums :)

    At which point is it restartting? Are you able to at least tap F8 to enter the boot options menu & boot in safe mode?
       Note
    To access the boot menu keep tapping F8 after the 1st post screen goes blank


    OS
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       #3

    Hello dvoriner, welcome to Seven Forums!



    As the PC is "brand new" this may be the easiest option, there may be a way to recover the PC to factory specifications though all changes you have made to the PC will be lost, have a look at the info below to see if it'll be a help to you; you may get an option to make backups of data so have backup media available before you start, to use if needed.

    Be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.
       Information

    To start the system recovery:
    1. Restart the PC.

    2. When the eMachines logo appears on the screen, press the Alt and F10 keys repeatedly.

    3. If you are prompted with a Microsoft Windows boot screen, press the Enter key.

    4. After the system recovery program has loaded, follow the prompts to reinstall the Operating System.

      My Computer


  4. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Home premium 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Hi!

    The computer restarts right after the eMachines screen appears so yes, I have the option to press Del to enter BIOS or to press F12 to enter the boot setup.

    I tried to press F8 but that did not work.

    However Alt + F10 worked! (finally something works :) So now I have an option to recover the factory specifications on 233 GB of HDD (the total capacity is 500GB so I presume the Ubuntu part will remain untouched). Now I have a stupid question: If I recover the "factory specifications", does it mean I will get rid of the preinstalled Win7 or not? Thank you for your replies, you are very helpful.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       #5

    What I would suggest is to do a partition specific wipe "secure erase" to the Linux partition first because it is the source of the issue and if you recover to "factory" you very well may be right back where you started if Ubuntu/Grub is still there.

    Have a look at Option Three in this tutorial at the link below to see an out-line of the wipe process.

    Be advised: just be sure to do the correct partition, if you 'wipe' the built-in "Factory Recovery" partition by mistake that'll destroy any chance to use that partition to do the factory recovery at a later date.

    Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD


    Once you do the wipe to the Ubuntu partition you may be able to use the info in this tutorial to re-create a new set of boot files to the Windows 7 partition to get it booting again without the need to do the factory recovery.

    Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Home premium 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Wow, so it is not going to be too easy, huh? So the problem is in Ubuntu, that is quite a surprise for me.

    So the main thing I have to be careful about is that I have to erase the Ubuntu partition and not the W7 one, ok?
    But that itself may not be enough so I will need some new boot files for W7 so I could boot it without recovering initial specifications, right?

    Ok, I will try to do that and I will let you know, ok?

    One more question... Would it be easy to reinstall Ubuntu in that erased partition in the future, after the W7 will be working again?

    Thank you!!!

    EDIT: There are 5 segments.
    1) PQservice (NTFS) capacity 19GB, used 10GB
    2) SYSTEM RESERVED (NTFS) capacity 100, used 25MB
    3)eMachines (NTFS) capacity 233GB, used 22.5GB
    4)* (file type: other) capacity 205GB, used 205GB
    5)* (Linux swap) capacity 8.5GB, used 4kb

    I am wiping the 4th one, I hope that is correct :)
    Last edited by dvoriner; 02 Oct 2010 at 08:12.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       #7

    Bare Foot Kid said:



    Be advised: just be sure to do the correct partition, if you 'wipe' the built-in "Factory Recovery" partition by mistake that'll destroy any chance to use that partition to do the factory recovery at a later date.


    This is not referring to the Windows 7 partition, it is the partition that is added at the factory that is used to do the "Factory Recovery" I posted instructions for you earlier and the 2 are completely different, the recovery partition probably has the drive letter "D: Recovery" as listed in the Partition Wizard program.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Home premium 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    dvoriner said:
    There are 5 segments.
    1) PQservice (NTFS) capacity 19GB, used 10GB
    2) SYSTEM RESERVED (NTFS) capacity 100, used 25MB
    3)eMachines (NTFS) capacity 233GB, used 22.5GB
    4)* (file type: other) capacity 205GB, used 205GB
    5)* (Linux swap) capacity 8.5GB, used 4kb
    OK, so I am becoming little bit desperate here. As said above, I wiped the fourth partition. Then I changed the third partition to "active". After that I booted from the Win 7 repair disc and tried to run "startup repair" for few times but the reboot loop is still there. I ran the MiniTool Partition Wizard and saw that SYSTEM RESERVED is active again even though before the startup repair I marked the fourth partition as active! Nevertheless, I tried to run factory recovery from the HDD but also with no result. Now I have no idea what to do again since I think I have tried everything. Any last idea? :)

    Thank you for your admirable patience
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       #9

    Hello again.



    What are the partition names "Labels" as listed in Partition Wizard?
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Home premium 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Bare Foot Kid said:
    What are the partition names "Labels" as listed in Partition Wizard?
    Hi, I am not sure what you mean by labels so here is all information I see in Partition Wizard, if that is not enough I will try to give you more! :

    1) PQSERVICE (file system: NTFS) capacity 19GB, used 10GB, status: None, type: primary
    2) SYSTEM RESERVED (file system: NTFS) capacity 100MB, used 25MB, status: None, type: primary
    3) eMachines (file system: NTFS) capacity 233GB, used 22.5GB, status: Active, type: primary
    4) * (file system: unallocated) capacity 205GB, used 0KB, status: None, type: logical
    5) * (file system: Linux swap) capacity 8.5GB, used 4kb

    I deleted the Ubuntu partition which was number 4 and 5 before (number 4 is called " * " and so was number 5 when it still existed) so number 4 is now "unallocated". Also, as said before, "SYSTEM RESERVED" is no longer "Active" as I switched the "eMachines" to "Active".
      My Computer


 
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