BSOD: STOP: 0x0000007B on win7 after removing virus

Hi, I have a win7 system on a Inspiron 1545 that a friend gave me to figure out why it wasn't working. I'm an experienced sysadmin and have been working with Windows systems for decades. After some hours, I removed a ton of viruses, including the svchost.exe rootkit.

After the final reboot, the system no longer boots. It fails with "STOP: 0x0000007B", inaccessible boot device.

I've gone through the whole "Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot" document (Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot) without success.

I'm confident there are no more viruses and the hard disk passes smartctl and chkdsk.

I've also done Startup Recovery and tried restoring a restore point without success.

The system boots to where the window is assembled, then just keeps rebooting.

I have a Repair CDROM I made when the system did boot, and the Recovery DVDs created by the Dell software on the system, but neither boot and I don't understand why.

Could this be a registry corruption issue?

Could this be a bootrec issue, or has it passed that point in the boot process? I've run bootrec /fixmbr, /fixboot and /rebuildbcd and none worked.

Thanks for any ideas.

Arc said:

BSOD stop 0x7B does not allow the computer to boot up, even in safe mode.

A boot virus/bootkit may cause this issue. And, a removal of bootkit resulting to removal of boot files/sectors may also cause the issue (alongwith some other possible causes like a failing HDD, boot priority, or even storage controller mode).

Now please let us see a little more.Do you have access to another computer right now? If so, download Partition wizard Bootable CD (the last one in the link). Burn it in a blank CD or in a USB flash stick.
Boot into Partition Wizards GUI following this instructions. When you are on the last screen, take a camera snap of the screen and upload the snap here.
Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

We need to see the partitions and parameters.

Okay, thanks, please find image attached.

Arc said:

I see that the recovery partition is active, and it contains the boot files.

A common virus scan may not be enough for a boot sector virus scan, a bootkit, that is a frequent cause of this BSOD. Scan the computer using a bootable virus scanner. I would suggest Windows Defender Offline

That's exactly what I did just prior to this inability to boot. It said it found a virus (I assume the svchost.exe rootkit, since that's what other virus scanners repeatedly found), and prompted to reboot. After rebooting, it just BSOD.

Or, run Startup Repair for three separate times, with restarts after every single run.
Startup Repair: Run three separate times.

I also did this. The first time it said it fixed files preventing the system from booting, but even after at least two more times, it wouldn't boot. The times after the first it said it couldn't fix the system and prompted me to send in a report.

Then Follow it:
Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start

I've worked through most of this, but have one or two other things to try.

Arc said:

Then the remaining things are to back up the data externally and then to perform a clean install.

• For backup: Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console
• For reinstall: Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

If the issue bounces back within reinstall, then we have to think about the HDD.

Do you think there's a possibility it's due to some kind of registry corruption? Should I investigate restoring a registry backup?

When I try to run "sfc /scannow" while in the recovery mode on the win7 install disc, it says it can't run because I was in recovery mode. Is there a way around this? Is there another boot mode where this will work?

Arc said:

If restoring the boot records (you are saying that you have already tried that) cannot make the system bootable, then a clean reinstall is the only way.

If you have read the earlier posts carefully, it is already stated that 0x7B will not let the computer to boot in any mode.

I understand the system can't boot in any mode. Stop being so judgemental. There may just be someone who knows more than you one day. I was merely thinking there was another Rescue CD or Rescue Mode available from some other product or utility that would enable me to run SFC.

Thanks for your help.

Is there a way to recover the license number from an unbootable Windows system so I can perform a reinstall?

There used to be a utility for WinXP that I once used but don't remember its name.