Half the time I get stuck on Windows logo screen on restarts

It seems you're not yet aware that Win7 is the first driver-complete OS, with almost all drivers provided by the installer and then quickly updated via optional Windows Updates when you enable Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3).

Please read Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which steps are the same for retail. It explains all of this.

This is not XP. In WIndows 8 you have no interaction with drivers at all which are all done in the background, an improvement which was developed in Windows 7.

As advised if you're uncomfortable with the Clean Reinstall then try the Repair Install which easier.

marsmimar said:

Just one more thought for whatever it's worth. If you have access to an external hard drive, create a system image and companion repair disk. If a repair install completely hoses your computer (a very, very unlikely event) you can use the system image to bring your machine back to life in about 30 minutes and it will be exactly the same as it is right now.

Excellent advice. I have used Acronis for a long time but have recently switched to Paragon 2012 free edition. Very recently. As in I have three backup copies and I have it backing up every day. My point is, I have yet to use it for a restore. I still have my Acronis backups going back until October with the most recent about 2 weeks old. So if worse comes to worse I can fall back on those. The thing is I am a very active computer user. I am constantly installing programs, uninstalling programs, creating virtual machines, playing video games with save features, etc. Believe it or not, a week old image can be VERY different from what I recently had. With differential/incremental backups it is easy to back up every day. I am going try the repair install and I will get back to you guys. I have complete confidence in your guy's advice it just those warnings about losing your drivers is the only thing that concerns me.

Some folks may disagree with this advice, but it's been covered before in a previous thread. What you can do is:

1. Download and install a free program called DriverMax.
2. Export and save all drivers to a folder on another drive (USB Flash, External HDD, etc.)
3. Run repair install.
4. Check for any driver issues.
5. If needed, use DriverMax to import driver(s) from saved location.
6. Follow prompts and OK

HELP! How do i backup my drivers

gregrocker said:

It seems you're not yet aware that Win7 is the first driver-complete OS, with almost all drivers provided by the installer and then quickly updated via optional Windows Updates when you enable Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3).

Hmm, yeah I thought so too until I was having crash issues with the OS and it turned out to be out dated drivers for the motherboard. I will check out the settings listed in the link you gave me to see if there is a configuration that will insure the motherboard drivers are kept up to date via Windows Updates. Thanks for the help.

Just my luck. I started the repair install and for some reason it is stuck on the step "transferring files, settings, and programs" . The bar hasn't moved a millimeter in over half an hour. Is it normal for it to take this long? What should I do if it becomes clear that it is not going to go any further?

You can abort the repair install. (You might have to do a hard shutdown using the power button. If so, hold the button down for at least 30 seconds.) When you reboot the computer you may get a black screen with white letters that Windows did not shut down properly (or words to that effect.) Use the up/down arrow keys to select the option to reboot Windows normally. The aborted repair install should not have affected your original configuration and you should be able to reboot into Windows 7 without any other issues. You could also run a check disk when you get rebooted just to verify HDD integrity.

Disk Check

Well, it rebooted and went to back to "transferring files, settings, and programs" and is showing 63% with the progress bar actually making significant progress. It's crazy though, I've never had an installation take this long. I'm guessing it's because it is an upgrade rather than a clean install. I started this process about an hour and a half ago.

A Repair Install can take hours depending upon how much crap it has to back up before reinstalling, then replace it all while trying to screen out bad settings affecting System files.

This is one of the most complex software operations in existence. It may ponder a questionable setting for an interminable time trying to decide if it should be reimported. If this cannot be resolved it may abort.

Even if it works perfectly, it will never match a Clean Reinstall where you start fresh with no chance of reimporting problems. But it often solves intractable problems like Updates failure, damaged System files (often from those same sketchy settings) and boot issue since it reinstalls the OS.

gregrocker said:

A Repair Install can take hours depending upon how much crap it has to back up before reinstalling, then replace it all while trying to screen out bad settings affecting System files.

This is one of the most complex software operations in existence. It may ponder a questionable setting for an interminable time trying to decide if it should be reimported. If this cannot be resolved it may abort.

Even if it works perfectly, it will never match a Clean Reinstall where you start fresh with no chance of reimporting problems.

Thank you. That is actually quite reassuring. At least I know that what is happening is normal and that a few hours is normal. I agree that a clean re-install is the way to go but it is infinitely more time consuming if you take into account re-installing all the programs you had and the Windows updates. This is why I keep backup images for three months or more. When I ran into any problems I simply rolled it back. I've had this computer for about a year and a half and never had to OS reload it. However the time may rapidly be approaching.

Sometimes a Repair Install can sort even the most bollixed Factory OEM preinstalls which are huge messes larded onto the OS to begin with.

You have what you need to do whatever is required.