Laptop Won't Boot, can't get past Initial Windows Screen

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  1. Posts : 93
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64
    Thread Starter
       #111

    gregrocker said:
    The HD should be listed under the SATA settings, by its name or some code that may be part or all of its serial number. Or it could be just HDD. But often there is enough that if you google it you'll get the make/model.

    Sure you can post camera snaps of what you suspect might be the HD listings, and while you're at it boot free Partition Wizard and show us a snap of your drive map and full listings. That may reveal all. (I know I've typed this at least four times now - I was guessing you didn't have a camera. But maybe you still don't have disks, which are $2 per 5 pack at Walgreens on every other corner.)

    The only way to know if Disk Check is processing files is if there is HD activity light blinking.
    I'll take another look in the BIOS when the disk check is over or I've just decided to shutdown. If I can't find anything, I'll post some pictures for you of the BIOS pages.

    Yeah, partition wizard has been on the "To-do" list.

    Remember though, I'm trying to go in the order of your suggestions, that's why I haven't used it sooner. If you recommend it though, I can just do chkdsk later and do partition wizard now. I do have a bunch of DVD-Rs to use now, so I'll download and burn it at least. Like I said, let me know if you think it'd be a good idea to exit disk check and use it now. It's still currently at 9% and doesn't appear to be making progress.

    My HD activity light is blinking, but not quickly. There's usually a couple of seconds between each blink.

    Anyway, what do you recommend I do right now? I'm unsure if I should stay in chkdsk...

    Edit: And of course right after typing that, chkdsk started making progress again. lol

    Once again though, whatever you recommend I do now, I'll do.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 16,130
    7 X64
       #112

    Cbb to read the whole thread - in a nutshell - what have you done since your post #2 ?
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 93
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64
    Thread Starter
       #113

    SIW2 said:
    Cbb to read the whole thread - in a nutshell - what have you done since your post #2 ?
    You'd think a lot has happened since this is a pretty long thread, but really? Not a lot.

    Since post #2, I was instructed to reinstall windows. So I was shown the methods to do so, but had quite a bit of trouble along the way. First I downloaded Ubuntu and backed up my files, then I attempted to download the Windows 7 install iso and burn it, but a problem was happening with google chrome's downloader, so the full iso was never downloaded. Therefore, I kept getting errors saying I needed more drivers when attempting the reinstall.

    It was at this point that I started following gregrocker's direction. So he helped me undo the damage I did myself in post #2. Beforehand I was unable to reach recovery, but greg instructed me on which partition to activate. From there, I was told to do startup repair up to three times. However, when doing that, I got the warning that it would probably take over an hour. In the past, this meant that it wasn't going to work at all. I've let it run for over 5 hours before without it doing anything.

    At this point I was in the middle of downloading the windows 7 install iso in full, so I used the one with missing drivers to enter recovery. When I entered the recovery environment, I got a message telling me to do a disk check.

    Basically, I'm doing a disk check now. I also set it to fix any problems it encounters, but that hasn't worked in the past. So far, it has encountered over a dozen files that couldn't be read, and has deleted a corrupted attribute record.

    And that's where I am now. The reason this is so long is probably because I'm a novice when it comes to this sort of thing, and often checked back and needed clarification on what to do.
      My Computer

  4.    #114

    If you're not using the official ISO DVD Repair console then I have no confidence in any repairs including the Disk Check, which is why I urged you to wait until download finishes for official Win7 download and certainly not try using the unknown one which wasn't even downloaded fully. What is running DiskCheck now?

    If the DVD Is not ready, then yes I would download and burn PW to CD/DVD, boot, post back pictures of the drive map and all listings. You can then use the steps I gave you in my first post to mark Active and run Rebuild MBR from Disk tab:
    gregrocker said:
    We need to see a picture of your HD. Boot free Partition Wizard bootable CD take a camera snap showing drive map and all listings, post back using paper clip in reply box. The 100mb System Reserved partition (preferred) or Win7 should be marked Active - if not rightclick to Modify>Set to Active. Then click on HD to highlight it, from Disk tab select Rebuild MBR, Apply, reboot. You can also check File System (Disk Check) with repair boxes checked.
    This might start Win7 itself without the need to run Startup Repair from Win7 DVD.

    You can also use PW CD to rightclick on each partition to Check File System with both boxes checked (full repairs), and Surface Scan the HD.

    But first post back the camera snaps of listings and drive map which may reveal a lot.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 93
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64
    Thread Starter
       #115

    gregrocker said:
    If you're not using the official ISO DVD Repair console then I have no confidence in any repairs including the Disk Check, which is why I urged you to wait until you have the official Win7 download and certainly not try using the unknown one which wasn't even downloaded fully. What is running DiskCheck now?

    If the DVD Is not ready, then yes I would download and burn PW to CD/DVD, boot, post back pictures of the drive map and all listings. You can then use the steps I gave you in first post to mark Active and run Rebuild MBR from Disk tab:
    gregrocker said:
    We need to see a picture of your HD. Boot free Partition Wizard bootable CD take a camera snap showing drive map and all listings, post back using paper clip in reply box. The 100mb System Reserved partition (preferred) or Win7 should be marked Active - if not rightclick to Modify>Set to Active. Then click on HD to highlight it, from Disk tab select Rebuild MBR, Apply, reboot. You can also check File System (Disk Check) with repair boxes checked.
    This might start Win7 itself without the need to run Startup Repair from Win7 DVD.

    You can also use PW CD to rightclick on each partition to Check File System with both boxes checked (full repairs), and Surface Scan the HD.

    But first post back the camera snaps of listings and drive map which may reveal a lot.
    greg, you must have missed one of my older posts. The new Windows iso was fully downloaded and burned. I also tested it on the installer to make sure no drivers were missing, and it worked flawlessly. Then I canceled and did the chkdsk that's still going now. I wrote it out a bit more detailed a page or so back if you need any specifics from that.

    So since I'm using the full windows install CD, do you think I should wait it out in chkdsk before proceeding with your other directions? It is running along a little better now, but still running slowly. I;m guessing it's because I specified it to fix any problems it encountered.

    On another note, it has reported 20 unreadable files segments up to this point.

    Edit:

    Okay, step 1 of 3 finally completed. The file segment varification is over, and now it's processing the bad records from before.

    It's running significantly faster than before as well. Hopefully this fixes something.
      My Computer

  6.    #116

    Jim, this sounds promising. I thought I'd read a few posts back you were still waiting for ISO. It's hard to remember everything without reading back through.

    You're doing a great job hanging in there. Let's hope Startup Repair can also get your boot sorted so it starts up. If not let us see the picture from PW CD, and try Rebuild MBR with 100mb set Active, then Win7 partition itself marked Active. If this fails do the same but run Startup Repair 3 times now that Disk Check will be out of the way.

    What we will be doing here is trying to repair or rewrite the System boot files on both the 100mb System Reserved (boot) partition, then on the possibility it is corrupted and irreparable, moving those files to the Win7 partition itself.

    Once both of these methods (PW Rebuild MBR and Startup Repair x3) are tried on Active 100mb and then Active Win7 partition, we'll know we've done everything we can to mark Active - unless no Installation shows up to repair when booting in, in which case we will have to jump start it with Bootrec commands.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 93
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64
    Thread Starter
       #117

    gregrocker said:
    Jim, this sounds promising. I thought I'd read a few posts back you were still waiting for ISO. It's hard to remember everything without reading back through.

    You're doing a great job hanging in there. Let's hope Startup Repair can also get your boot sorted so it starts up. If not let us see the picture from PW CD, and try Rebuild MBR.
    Lol, that's understandable. It's pretty hard to keep track of 12 pages of this stuff.

    Thanks man, and thanks again for sticking with me on this. If this works you will have saved me from losing all of my previously installed things. :)
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 93
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64
    Thread Starter
       #118

    Oops, I missed your edit..

    Alright, sounds like a good plan to me.

    Right now the chkdsk has slowed down again. Odd how it runs at blazing speeds then suddenly slows to snail-like speeds. Currently at 67% in verifying security descriptors. I'll update when something significant happens or the disk check finishes.

    By the way, should I try booting normally after the chkdsk ends? Or would you like me to go straight to startup repair on the install cd?
      My Computer

  9.    #119

    Always try booting normally between repairs, or you might miss something.
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  10. Posts : 93
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64
    Thread Starter
       #120

    gregrocker said:
    Always try booting normally between repairs, or you might miss something.
    Good point. :)

    I've burned the PW CD, so that's ready to use just in case chkdsk doesn't solve the problem and startup repair doesn't do the trick.

    The chkdsk is still running very slowly. It's processing about one file every 15 seconds, with about 11,000 files to go. Any idea why it would run so slow while verifying security descriptors?

    Thanks again!
      My Computer


 
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