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#51
That's 2.5 gigs free you may have to remove more
This is what I got after that command... and the HDD is fine per my uncle. He took it in to be checked. They confirmed all hardware was fine ($99 fee) and offered to fix the boot up issue for another $200. That's when he asked me to try to fix it - before he pays $200. So I'm trying to help him. But I'm a web designer, not a DOS/boot up problem girl! As is quite apparent in this thread I'm sure. Haha
I guess 2.5 GB is good for windows to boot already.
The Next thing you need to do is to how to make the HDD boot for windows again.
You can still save your uncle's Movies by that.
Since you're amenable to a Clean Reinstall Windows 7 and we already know that it ends up with the best possible install, why not solve the storage problem at the same time by purchasing an external drive to back up the files? You can Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console. Then delete all partitions and start fresh with the best install of Win7 one can have.
But if you'd rather focus on getting Win7 started then work through the steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start because deleting files on a crowded drive is not really a fix that I've heard of before for failure to start. Instead you want to try Safe Mode, confirm the hard drive is set to boot first in BIOS, System Reserved (if you have it) or C (if you don't) is the Partition Marked Active, run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times. If that doesn't start it then everything else that possibly can be done is in the blue link.
My guess is that it's infected so you might also want to run a bootable AV scan to see how bad: FREE Bootable AntiVirus Rescue CDs Download List. Once you get an idea they can help you in our Security section if you want to focus on cleaning it up.
It would probably be better and can be a great learning experience to instead do the Clean Reinstall Windows 7 as have over 1.3 million+ others without a single complaint or problem.
It seems the clean reinstall erases the hard drive. That's a last resort. 95% of the storage can be deleted, but small portion is important to save if at all possible. Worst case, I'll have him take it back to the repair shop and pay $200 to have them fix to reboot. But I wanted to try to fix it first. I'll try the bootable AV scan for sure. Thank you! I'll post again tomorrow evening after I'm home from work.
You did not answer the posts did you try to start it normally or safe mode
Yes do check the Safe Modes since you can more easily clean it up from there using the tools in Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7: Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware, SFC /SCANNOW Command, replace bloated AV with MSE, CCleaner, defrag, et al
Are you asking if the Clean Reinstall erases the hard drive, because it doesn't unless you want it to?
You could instead shrink the C partition and Clean Reinstall Windows 7 to a new partition you create using Partition Wizard bootable CD to Resize Partition - Partition Wizard Video Help.
Afterwards we can help you remove the remnants of the old Win7 OS and you can use that partition for storage since it will already have your files.
You'll need a partition of at least 20-50gb for the OS. User folders can be kept on the same partition or linked to the data partition - your choice. Or you can even decide to merge both partitions if you prefer one.
Some more options for you to mull over...