Won't restart, reinstall?

okay, last night, I shut down my pc and it seemed to get stuck on the 'shutting down' window, so after 10 mins, I just held the power button down to shut it off myself. Didn't thnk anything of it until this morning when i started it up, it freezes just after the Windows 7 logo does its little animation. Tried rebooting, same after several tries. Tried safe mood, appears to freeze after several rows of file names, tried last known configuration, nothing and also tried repair, but it just comes with the Windows 7 sky background and a mouse pointer (if lower res mode) but seemingly no icons or options to click.

Any suggestions? Should I just try reinstalling windows over the current one? Haven't done this with Win 7 yet but i'm assuming it create a new windows folder and rename the old one? any other suggestions before I do this?

mitchell65 said:

Have found Dinesh's answer for this here:
Windows 7 hangs on startup

This should help you

Thanks for the link, but Dinesh's answer doesn't work for me, or most people on that thread. Basically, I've spent the last 2-3 hrs, trying to reinstall or repair with no luck. Basically if I put windows disc in and select repair it just comes up with the windows background pic (sky with clouds, leafs, etc) and an mouse curor that moves, but noting else.

I've tried reinstalling a 2nd copy, but it too frozen about 2/3rd of the way in and when I reboot it gives me the option of booting into either, but none of them boot up. Have tried reinstalling since and it doesn't even get pack 'Setup is Starting' windows (bit prior to selecting country and keyboard, etc). Even tried disconnecting main drive and installing it on 2nd drive, but same, it just freezes at Setup is starting. Starting to worry there is something bigger wrong, as surely 'Setup is starting' is just running from the dvd drive? one other thing, I did find a link that suggested replacing classpnp.sys in windows32/drivers as that the file that it stop on in safe mode. Tried that using Umbuntu (which loads and runs direct from DVD okay) to access the drive and basically copied the classpnp.sys file on the Windows 7 laptop I have running the 7100 rc version to both versions on the main drive and no luck, still not booting up.
Next thought is to use Umbuntu to get access to the drive and copy everythng over/backup and then reformat main drive. Worry is, if its not getting pass 'Setup is Starting' now, will it makes a diff if its a totally clean drive, with other drives temporarly removed?

That sounds more like a hardware or bios issue than a software issue to me, but then again, I'm not nearly as knowledgeable on the subject as others.

Reseat your memory modules, swap positions, then try removing one and then the other.

Test your memory using memtest86 CD for at least 6 passes: Memtest86 - Download Page

Check all cables, remove and replace or at least swap cables.

Check your BIOS version to make sure you have the most recent update from mobo or computer model Support Downloads webpage.

Clear the CMOS: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixthe.../clearcmos.htm

What is the SATA controller setting in BIOS? Try AHCI first for reinstall, then IDE.

I know you tried another HD, but continue testing all hardware by running full diag/repair CD scan on HD's: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

Then zero the HD after removing files. Boot DVD to try clean reinstall. If necessary try a bootable USB flash installer to eliminate DVD: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

justjax said:

mitchell65 said:

Have found Dinesh's answer for this here:
Windows 7 hangs on startup

This should help you

Thanks for the link, but Dinesh's answer doesn't work for me, or most people on that thread. Basically, I've spent the last 2-3 hrs, trying to reinstall or repair with no luck. Basically if I put windows disc in and select repair it just comes up with the windows background pic (sky with clouds, leafs, etc) and an mouse curor that moves, but noting else.

I've tried reinstalling a 2nd copy, but it too frozen about 2/3rd of the way in and when I reboot it gives me the option of booting into either, but none of them boot up. Have tried reinstalling since and it doesn't even get pack 'Setup is Starting' windows (bit prior to selecting country and keyboard, etc). Even tried disconnecting main drive and installing it on 2nd drive, but same, it just freezes at Setup is starting. Starting to worry there is something bigger wrong, as surely 'Setup is starting' is just running from the dvd drive? one other thing, I did find a link that suggested replacing classpnp.sys in windows32/drivers as that the file that it stop on in safe mode. Tried that using Umbuntu (which loads and runs direct from DVD okay) to access the drive and basically copied the classpnp.sys file on the Windows 7 laptop I have running the 7100 rc version to both versions on the main drive and no luck, still not booting up.
Next thought is to use Umbuntu to get access to the drive and copy everythng over/backup and then reformat main drive. Worry is, if its not getting pass 'Setup is Starting' now, will it makes a diff if its a totally clean drive, with other drives temporarly removed?

You dont really have that many options do yoou. I would do the clean install.

ken