Windows 7: Half the time I get stuck on Windows logo screen on restarts

I have had this issue for a while but didn't decide to address it until now since essentially I still have a perfectly working OS. About half the time I have to reboot for Windows updates or whatnot I get stuck either on the "Shutdown" phase where it shows "shutting down" with the spinner going on infinitely or It goes through the shut down and restarts and gets stuck on the Windows logo. On both occasions I simply give the computer a hard reboot to which it usually boots up. Sometimes I have to do it more than once. Anybody have any idea what the issues could be? All help is appreciated.




Thanks!

You may have some damaged or corrupt system files. Try running a system file checker scan from an elevated command prompt (option two.) If problems are found, run the scan 3 times and reboot the computer after each scan.

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

If that doesn't fix things, one of the Forum experts prepared these troubleshooting guides.

Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot

Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

Thanks for the quick reply. I ran the scan and it stopped at 68% and said that Windows could not fixed the corrupted files. I then got a copy of the CBS report log file (attached to this message) and holy crap is a bunch of files corrupted! Does this mean I have to manually copy and replace each of the files that show up in that log as for example:

Cannot repair member file [l:32{16}]"lpremove.exe.mui"

?

Am I correct in pointing that out as the file name?

Thanks again for your help. I am currently following the steps to open up my Win 7 install CD using 7zip. This appears to be a daunting task.

My usual disclaimer: I'm not an expert at anything.

The lpremove.exe removes language packs that are not needed. So in my opinion only, it doesn't seem to be a critical file. As far as the rest of the corrupted/damaged files shown in your attached sfcdetails.txt, that's another story.

There are some folks here on the Forum who are experts in deciphering and repairing system files by extracting fresh copies from the installation disk. I'm not one of them. Because of my lack of expertise in this area, I usually recommend a repair install. This should fix your currently installed Windows 7 and preserve your user accounts, data, programs, system drivers, etc and take less than an hour to accomplish. The most time consuming part of the repair is reinstalling Windows Updates.

(Which I recommend doing manually and not automatically. Start with the critical updates, then the important, and finally the optional. Keep track of the KB numbers. Install just a few at a time, reboot after each group, and make sure your computer is working OK. If any update causes a problem, you'll know which group to uninstall. Then install one update at a time and reboot after each one. They'll either all install and you can go to the next group, or you'll know which specific update is at fault. Save it for last and go on with the next group.)

And no offense intended to you or any one else who may prefer installing individual files.

Repair Install

It may be faster and easier to invest now in getting the perfect Clean Reinstall following these steps in tutorial which are same for retail.

After setup you can save a backup image so you never have to reinstall again.

If you use only the tools and methods given it will remain a perfect install.

Since the problem might be corrupt boot code on the HD I'd first wipe the HD with Diskpart Clean Command.

Otherwise work through these steps for Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

Wow. So what you guys are saying is that nothing will fix it short of a re-install. I've never tried a repair re-install but from what you are describing, marsmimar, it does sound less painful that a regular OS reload. The steps seem pretty easy although they seem oddly similar to a regular re-install. I might just hold off until my OS is unusable. This seems like way too much work to remedy having to reboot twice instead of once. However I do appreciate the help from all of you guys. I now know what to do as an alternative that the dreaded OS reload. Now I just wondered what would have caused this to happen in the first place? I had to load up a back up image once one of my drives I had in a RAID 0 died. I then restored the image to a single drive. I suspect that my back up software failed to back up these files.

It is a complicated operation that could have partially corrupted. We see nothing but problems here with RAID.

We gave you other options to consider besides reinstall so why say we've said that's your only option? A Repair Install is easy and keeps everything in place, just requiring you to run a few rounds of Updates and insert your Product Key afterwards. It's the next step if SFC can't fix files after being run a few times.

A reinstall is not only not to be dreaded but if it's done right according to tutorial ends up better than buying a new PC, since they come loaded with corrupting bloatware that corrupts and throttles the OS anyway. We see nothing but happy users who have clean reinstalled.

I concur with Greg. A repair install is easy and pretty much a few clicks procedure. And his tutorial on doing a clean reinstall absolutely works. I used it on a Sony Vaio and a Dell Inspiron and both machines are 1000% better than when I first bought them; when they were loaded down with factory crud.

One other thing to consider is something I call "dependency". Your operating system may only require an extra reboot now to get it to work. But there's always a possibility that those extra reboots may corrupt or damage even more system files down the road which could lead to full blown crashes, BSODs, etc. Worst case scenario is not being able to boot at all. As long as your machine is booting now with just minor issues, why not correct those issues before they become major? Just a thought.

Oh geez, buying a new computer did not even enter my mind. I built my current one so the current installation I have is a "clean" install asa you guys put it. No BS software from Dell, HP, or what have you.

If the re-install keeps all of the programs and drivers in place(such as the repair install is supposed to do) then you are correct, it's not a big deal. But if it loses the drivers as the warning on the page posts might happen, then Oi Vey! What a pain in the butt! Since the computer is custom built, I would have to get the drivers for my motherboard, GPU, etc. I think I'm gonna give it a shot anyways. Fingers crossed! Thanks for your help!

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.