Statup stuck on startup repair loop (No Safe Mode etc. possible)

Hey,

my problem is rather odd (or at least I haven't seen it before). Whenever I boot up the netbook it goes right into startup repair, without the option to cancel it, even if I try to start windows in safe mode (or any other startup options for that matter), the system launches the startup repair.

The repair itself runs fine (doesn't freeze or antyhing like that), however it is never able to fix the issue ("Startup Repair is unable to repair this computer automatically").

The problem details read as follows:

Problem signature:
Problem event name: StartupRepairOffline
Problem signature01: 0.0.0.0
Problem signature02: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem signature03: unknown
Problem signature04: 6
Problem signature05: AutoFailover
Problem signature06: 1
Problem signature07: OsVersionMismatch
OS Version 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
LocalID 1033

When I check the diagnosis and repair details, no errors where found, there was only one repair attempt, and there is only one root cause:
"The operating system version is incompatible with Startup Repair"

As for advanced revocery options, I have tried the Windows Memory Diagnostic, which didnt yield any results and completed without problems, and the system restore, which did not work.

The error message displayed upon attempting to perform a system restore is as follows:

System Restore failed while scanning the file system on the drive C:\
The drive might be corrupt. You might want to restore a chkdsk /R on this disk.
An unspecified error occured during System Restore. (0x80070057)

This is pretty much the extend of the problem. It first occured after updating the system for the first time in a couple of weeks on 4/18/2012. Prior to that everything worked fine and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

On a side node, I can't simply pop in a Windows disc to reinstall Windows as its a netbook without a cd drive and was not delivered with a recovery disc anyways.

System
Asus Eee Pc X101
OS: Windows 7 Starter
Processor: Intel Atom N455 @1.66Ghz
Memory: 1024MB
Storage: 32GB SSD
I dont know any of the other specs as they are not mentioned in the Handbook, and I don't know of a way to find them out without actually starting the OS.

Any help is appreciated.

windude99 said:

Have you tried tapping f8 until the Windows Advanced options screen came up. If you get the Windows advanced options screen up, use your arrow keys to navigate to "Start Windows Normally".

Yes I have, and as i stated in a post none of the options provided in that menu allow me to bypass the Startup Repair.

You may find this tutorial helpful.

Startup Repair Infinite Loop Recovery

seavixen32 said:

You may find this tutorial helpful.

Startup Repair Infinite Loop Recovery

I have tried that already and it didn't work.

windude99 said:

Tap f8 at boot and select repair your computer. Let it load up and click next on the 2 boxes that pop up. Now, instead of running startup repair, click on Command Prompt. Type in chkdsk /r.

When i try that the command pront tells me that "Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected"

Try this:

Open a command prompt with elevated privileges i.e. run as administrator

Type diskpart then press Enter.

Type list volume then press Enter.

Type select volume x where x is the problem write-protected drive number then press Enter

Type attributes volume clear readonly then press Enter.

Type exit then press Enter to close the command prompt window.

All being well you should be good to go again.

Work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot - Windows 7 Forums

You must first clear the HD of any possible infection, then work on repairing any damaged System files from the DVD or System Repair Disk. Everything you need is in the blue link including to copy out your files and Clean Reinstall.

windude99 said:

Hmmm. What brand is your hard drive?

All I know is that its a 32GB SSD, there are no further specifications online or in the handbook (Full Laptop Model is: Asus Eee Pc X101-BLK009S)

seavixen32 said:

Try this:

Open a command prompt with elevated privileges i.e. run as administrator

Type diskpart then press Enter.

Type list volume then press Enter.

Type select volume x where x is the problem write-protected drive number then press Enter

Type attributes volume clear readonly then press Enter.

Type exit then press Enter to close the command prompt window.

All being well you should be good to go again.

Still get the same message about the volume being write protected. (The command promt however states that the attributes have been altered succesfully)

gregrocker said:

Work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot - Windows 7 Forums

You must first clear the HD of any possible infection, then work on repairing any damaged System files from the DVD or System Repair Disk. Everything you need is in the blue link including to copy out your files and Clean Reinstall.

I'll try this as soon as I get my hands on an USB drive big enough (might be a day or 2 from now), since the laptop does not have a CD/DVD drive.