Need to fix boot failure due to driver issue WITHOUT Repair Install

[Note to moderator(s): I wasn't sure which forum to post this in. If you think it should be elsewhere, please feel free to move it. Thanks!]

I ran into a problem booting 64-bit Windows 7 Pro on another computer. I'd applied the September updates, but since I use it so seldom, I stupidly failed to create a full backup, and so my most recent is from mid-July.

It was running perfectly when I last shut it down, but when I tried to boot the other day, it very, veryunfortunately dropped into system repair mode. That was so tragic because in all my years running Windows 7 (since it's release) on 9 different computers, Repair Mode has never done anything other than make my system worse! It's a horrible, horrible failure, because it tries to be "smart" but in reality it always makes the wrong decisions! But enough ranting...

I booted up another OS on that computer and confirmed that CHKDSK found no errors. I also confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the disk's MBR partition table. I tried to perform two system restores from two different restore points, but although both of them reported success, upon booting the infinitely evil Repair Mode ran both times. As part of it's diabolical plot to destroy operating systems, Repair Mode also apparently keeps whatever problems it supposedly finds to be Secrets of Satan, leaving us mere mortals with no clue as to how to overcome them (sorry, I guess I wasn't quite done ranting...)

Subsequently, I disabled Repair Mode in the BCD and booted again. Now that the Evil One did not run, I finally got an error message to work with...

Code:

File: \Windows\system32\DRIVERS\fltsrv.sys
Status: 0xc0000098
Info: Windows failed to load because a critical system driver is missing, or corrupt.

Would anyone be so kind as to help me deal with this issue?

I realize that one possible solution is a Repair Install. But I strongly and deeply wish to avoid that -- if at all possible -- because it's such an extreme PITA! Not only would I have to find and assemble all the latest drivers again (and believe me, some of them are exceedingly difficult to find again), but I'd have to re-download and re-apply all those Windows Updates, some of which damaged my system and had to be uninstalled again, but I don't remember which!

On the plus side, I do have that two month old full backup on an online disk (no recovery or restore tool needed), so I could potentially replace any missing or corrupt file from that backup.

What do you all think? I would be extremely grateful for your wisdom!!

Hi Thenin,

You can try the Windows Repair Tool (http://www.tweaking.com/content/page...ll_in_one.html). I have had some luck with it in the past. It doesn't always fix the issue, but its worth taking the time to try it. It takes about 20 minutes or so. hope this helps!.

Thanks

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or into Safe Mode with Networking? Safe Mode is a stripped-down version of Windows that will allow you to perform some troubleshooting steps. The fact that it is stripped down means it will run in situations where you can't run Windows in normal mode.

To get into Safe Mode, shut down and restart the computer. As soon as the Dell (or HP or IBM or whoever) splash screen disappears, start tapping on the F8 key. You will soon see a menu of different boot options. Choose Safe Mode with Networking (or just Safe Mode, if you can't get into Safe Mode with Networking).

If Windows will run in Safe Mode, you can begin to try some different troubleshooting techniques, such as uninstalling the updates that got installed about the time the problem started happening, and then rebooting into normal mode to see if that fixed it.