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#1
Unable to Boot to Windows or Safe Mode Following Chkdsk
Hello,
I have a custom built PC (about five years old) that I intended to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 over the holidays when I have some time off work. This PC has been running extremely sluggish the past couple months to the point it was unusable at times, and my daily virus scans (with Avast) and on demand malware scans (Malwarebytes) didn't report anything that would account for the slowness. My plan was to install Windows 10 fresh on my HDD next month when time permitted after I backed up all files to my external drive. However, since the PC performance had been so bad recently, I scheduled a disk check (within My Computer) to run at the next boot. This disk check took literally four days to complete, and while I knew that wasn't normal, I didn't want to end it early. I never saw it complete, but the last time I saw it, it was approximately 95% complete, so I'm assuming it finished.
Anyway, ever since I ran the disk check, the PC won't boot to Windows. It hangs for an extremely long time on the Windows logo / Starting Windows screen most of the time, though one time it did progress to a black screen with the Windows cursor, though nothing else loaded. Usually, it ends in the PC restarting. Afterwards, the Startup Repair utility will attempt a repair, though it hasn't solved anything as if yet (it's still running right now).
The things I've tried include booting to Safe Mode, which results in a reboot loop, and starting in Safe Mode with networking. The ends up hanging while loading files with the most recent file shown being one belonging to Avast. Unfortunately, while I have the Windows 10 files downloaded to the HDD, I hadn't yet burned them to a disk or thumb drive, so I couldn't install Windows 10 right now even if I wanted to. Additionally, while I did periodic backups to an external hard drive, there are definitely some files I'd like to back up before clearing the HDD, if at all possible. Assuming the root issue is a hardware issue, I suspect it's most likely the hard drive, though I haven't run any tests to confirm that. This is the only PC I have, so I don't have a way to burn any DVDs or thumb drives without access to a friend or family member's computer. The two CDs I have that could possibly help are my Windows 7 Home Premium OEM System Builder Pack and a Hirens CD boot disk I burned several years ago.
In light of these issues, I could really use some assistance getting to a point I can back up files from my HDD (assuming it's still possible) and then, determine if one or more hardware parts are failing. If so, and the HDD is part of it, I'll then be in the market for a new one (I'd be fine with a SSD this time), as well as any other defective hardware parts, such as memory. Can anyone please offer some advice on how I can back up any salvagable files from this HDD (preferably without having to burn files from someone else's PC, if possible), offer any suggestions as to how I can get and suggest how I can determine if I have a hardware problem? Figuring out a way to boot to Windows 7 to both back up the files and burn the Windows 10 ISO would obviously be ideal, but if that's not possible, I then need some advice on where to go from here. Thanks in advance.