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#1
Windows 7 wont start - onto 5th reinstall in one day!
I have been running windows 7 with a dual boot of windows XP for the last couple of months now with no problems at all, until yesterday.
I had a webcam I needed to install so I used the Vista drivers as no Windows 7 drivers were available. This was mistake number 1. As soon as the driver installed the PC blue screened and then would not boot. It got to the starting windows screen and just sat there. I went into the repair option and did a system restore. Now just a black screen, not even starting windows. I tried to repair again and the result was that a "recent hardware install was causing windows not to start", or something along those lines. So, I followed Microsoft's article on finding what driver was causing it and changing the registry to stop the driver loading on boot. I could not find the driver in question and after several hours of trawling the internet I gave up and did a clean reinstall.
After the reinstall I updated windows 7 and installed AVAST anti virus. I rebooted the PC to check progress and the same thing happened again! This time the auto repair said that "A recent patch was stopping windows from starting". I did a system restore and nothing.
Reinstall 3:
I did the same again and then installed the following and rebooted after each action
Sapphire X1650 Windows 7 Drivers - no problems
Adobe reader - no problems
Open Office - no problems
Windows 7 updates - no problems
Windows Live Messenger - no problems
Realtek HD Audio drivers for Windows 7 - DEAD
Same problem as scenario 1 . I did all the same things and came up with the same problem. Recent hardware was causing windows not to start. I looked at the driver again and noticed it said 32/64 bit and further down the page was the one I had used before, so i started XP on another maching downloading that one while I started another install of Windows 7
INSTALL 4 -
Installed windows 7 again - clean install as before and then did the following with reboot after each.
Windows 7 Updates - OK
Sapphire X1650 Pro Windows 7 Driver - OK
Realtek HD Audio Windows 7 Driver - OK
Adobe Reader - OK
Open Office - OK
Windows Essentials Antivirus - OK
Windows Live Messenger - OK
Epson RX425 Scan Driver for Vista - OK
Netgear PS121v2 Printer Server Software & Drivers - OK
Printed test page and scanned a page using above - OK
Rebooted windows 7 - OK
#Rebooted again just to be sure - OK
I know turned off my PC happy that I had got back to normal.
I came to turn the PC on this morning and - YOU'VE GUESS IT - NOT STARTING AGAIN!!!
Nothing has changed since I logged off last night - no updates, no changes.
I ran the auto repair - something new now "UNSPECIFIED CHANGE TO SYSTEM CONFIGURATION MIGHT HAVE CAUSED THIS PROBLEM". I did a system restore to a point just after windows 7 updates yesterday. Nothing.
I am banging my head against a brick wall here.
I am not using (apart from the WEBCAM which I have now binned) anything different than when Windows 7 was working fine from before.
I am running on Windows XP again now.
Before you ask, yes it is a legitimate Windows 7 Home Premuim.
Says it in my profile but here is my setup
P4 2.8Ghz
2GB DDR400 RAM
ASROCK P4VM900 SATAII Motherboard
Sapphire ATI X1650 PRO 512MB
WD 160gb SATA II Drive (holding windows 7)
Seagate 80gb IDE Drive (holding windows XP)
DVD-RW with Lightscribe
I am just about to throw in the towel and give up
Any help please?