Computer Stopped Working

Hello All,

I just built my first computer a few weeks ago. I installed Windows 7 through a USB stick and everything was working great. Recently though, everything went terribly wrong.

Long story short, the computer will not boot into windows anymore. When I try to use the System Recovery Tools, there is no operating system listed and asks me to restart the computer and select the OS. That does nothing, the OS is never listed. When I try to use that Startup Repair thing, it runs for a minute and gives me the message that it cannot repair the computer, great! After that tool doesn't work it mentions that there doesn't appear to be a HDD, or that it cannot communicate with it. Odd, because my SATA is listed in the BIOS.

So I got fed up and tried a reinstall, that should fix everything right? Well when I try that it asks me to insert the reinstall media and select the driver. Well what driver am I supposed to select? That is my current situation. Any help on this would be much appreciated.

Dan

I haven't tried anything with the connection. I had this computer working up until yesterday. There were programs installed on the HDD, so how could it just stop functioning?

I cannot think of any reason why Windows has failed. I was browsing the web and it became slow all of a sudden. My initial concern was malware, and I was right. I ran CCleaner and malwarebytes. It did find one malware infection and removed it. I then restarted the system. At first it would boot into windows, but it kept getting slower and slower until it would no longer work.

I was just able to run the Startup Repair. It completed and restarted the computer, which then failed to load windows again. So it is now in the process of running Startup Repair again.

It seems like I am encountering new problems each time I try something new.

Dan

Ok after the second time through the Startup Repair it said that it cannot repair the computer. But it seems to have found the operating system. So I am trying to do a system restore now. If that does not work than I will do the wipe.

Dan

I am trying to wipe the Drive but I cannot access it again. When I ask for the list in diskpart it tells me "there are no fixed disks to show."

Ok I found it in the list now.

I am cleaning it now. And because its a 1TB HD, this may take a really long time.

Will keep updating what happens.

If you have not yet tested your HD, you should find the HD maker's diag/repair utility at the link BFK posted earlier, burn to CD and run the full Scan. It can repair physical problems with the disk.

After that run Disk Check from the Win7 DVD Repair console Command Line.

You do not want to install Windows until you have a clean bill of health on your HD. If so, then you can assume it was further infection causing the problems which will be overwritten by wiping the HD.

Thanks guys. I am now formatting and labeling a created partition of 100GB as Windows 7 with NTFS. I will then perform the Disk Scan and check as Greg recommended.

What would you recommend for an anti-virus software? I only had AVG Free. I think I'll upgrade to something with more protection.

Dan