Boot, Startup Repair issues & call from Pakistan Boiler Room

[vtm731]

ZT desktop used only for Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA training and flight sim. All up to date, no changes or problems until two days ago; integrated HDMI quits, use XFX 5750 HDMI, re-boot and goes right into Start-up Repair or Start Normally but always goes into Start-up Repair. Hours letting it get to and go through "attempting repairs, repairing disk errors, could take over an hour".
Two days after it started, yesterday, a call from "UNKNOWN CALLER". Won't go into all the details but it was obviously overseas, a boiler room with multiple scams going, and was going to hang up immediately when he proceeded to tell me my version of 7, the problem I was having, the dropped my name and obviously had my phone number... long story longer; he said for a "one time registration fee, he'd fix my machine". I told him I wasn't paying him anything, hung up....
Still trying to salvage my box, really don't want to do a clean install. Wondering if anyone else has had this problem, been contacted by South Asian-type people trying to scam others after poisoning machines? And if so, any luck repairing this short of clean install?
Religious about updates, patches, security and have four machines total, this is only Win7, never any problems with other 3. Welcome ANY thoughts. Thanks.

 

[gregrocker]

Starting with disinfection, work through steps here: Windows 7 fails to boot

Is it possible your manufacturer might have sold registration/warranty info to 3rd party service providers whose call was a coincidence? I have read that it is best not to register for this reason, since your warranty is good whether or not you register and often will start it's countdown only after your first Support call.

 

[vtm731]

Thanks for the reply. Not sure, but could be a possibility Mfr did sell my info, but not convinced cuz I upgraded from H.P. to Professional (and they knew it) through Amazon and didn't register it so unless Amazon gave out my info, this was more sinister than that. I could barely understand a word ANY of them said, and I was handed off five times "to my supaviza" who tried to take it further. And the one common line from each was "you have corrupted files but we can fix it for you." But when I pressed for specifics about which files where, that's when it became even harder to understand what they were saying.

I'll keep working at it, try anything at this point. Appreciate the help.

 

[rraod]

Next time when a call like that comes, just hang the phone.

Have a good anti-virus product and a good firewall.

 

[vtm731]

Startup Repair - Follow-up

Have and have had both good antivirus and firewall. Kept it very tight. Did a clean install, antivirus first w/updates, firewall, windows update overnight. Rebooted the next a.m. and went right to Start-up Repair and same grief.

Completely baffled and not sure I want to proceed with another install unless I know it's not going to be a waste of time.

Thanks

 

[AddRAM]

A call FROM a support technician ( or whatever they are ) IS HIGHLY UNUSUAL in my opinion. What exactly are you using to repair, reinstall with ? A recovery partition ? I think using an ISO with your key will solve your problems.

 

[gregrocker]

Reset the BIOS to defaults, wipe the HD, follow these Clean Reinstall steps to get a perfect baseline install.

SSD - HDD Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

 

[vtm731]

That's what I thought, but nothing is working like I thought it should. Using OEM software and this last time around, I got as far as upgrading to Professional, spent an hour plus downloading and installing 75 updates (all while a/v and firewall up and running) but then got "not responding" and no way out of it.

Started all over again, now it won't let me install to partition, won't let me do anything as far as deleting, creating a new partition, formatting...nothing...

Frustrating because I'm always on top of updates, what goolies are out there and don't use the box that much. I've got two other machines that haven't been touched, had any issues whatsoever. Murphy's Law and I'm fed up with it....

 

[AddRAM]

Yes it`s very frustrating, especially when you don`t use it that often.

 

[gregrocker]

What OEM software are you using? Recovery DIsks? Have you tried clean reinstalling with the latest Win7 with SP1 ISO download?

Win7 Home Premium x64 SP1 English Official ISO download
Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool
Clean Reinstall steps

 

[lehnerus2000]

Scam or worse

It's a scam, or worse, a botnet building scheme.

We have had a least 6 calls (from some subcontinental location) claiming that my friend's PC is infected.
They also claimed that his PC contacted MS and that is the reason for their call (i.e. they will fix his PC for a small fee).

How do I know it's a scam?
My friend uses Arch Linux and hasn't used Windows for about 12 years.

 

[Fred Garvin]

That's a pretty weird phone call. I've heard of similar phishing scams, but not when the caller has your info. It sounds like you might be having an update automatically installing which is causing the problem. I would delete all partitions, install Win 7 (make a quick image if you can), then manually install a few updates at a time.

Set Automatic Updates to notify you, but not install automatically. You may have the option set to offer additional updates the same way you receive MS updates. If those are on automatic, they may be installing a device driver that is crashing your system. If you can get a full install working, make a system image of the drive and save it to an external.

 

[vtm731]

Appreciate the reply gregrocker. Gotten worse; Wiped HDD clean, single partition unallocated (1397.3 GB) with "!Unable to install to selected location. Error 0x80300001." Message goes on to say "This puter's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure the disk's controller is enabled in the BIOS menu." Feel like I'm going straight backwards.

Also,am in the process of downloading the ISO file and will give go by instructions you passed along. Nothing to lose except more time.

Thanks again, will let you know what happens.

 

[gregrocker]

Try creating a smaller 100gb install partition for install.

Reset the BIOS to defaults. Check in BIOS if EFI is enabled. Set SATA controller to AHCI.

Unplug all other HD's and peripherals to try install.

If this is an EFI mobo you'll need to install 64 bit following these steps: UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums

 

[Britton30]

You might give these ideas a whirl.
"Windows is unable to install to the selected location. Error: 0x80300001" Can anyone elaborate?

The phone caller may go on to try and get you to install Team Viewer or some other remote access app to "scan" your system. they ask for $40-$100 for their "service" while likely stealing any personal data they can find.

Here's a thread on it: http://www.sevenforums.com/system-security/98111-teamviewer-scam-beware-7.html#post847701

 

[GEWB]

Appreciate the reply gregrocker. Gotten worse; Wiped HDD clean, single partition unallocated (1397.3 GB) with "!Unable to install to selected location. Error 0x80300001." Message goes on to say "This puter's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure the disk's controller is enabled in the BIOS menu." Feel like I'm going straight backwards.

Also,am in the process of downloading the ISO file and will give go by instructions you passed along. Nothing to lose except more time.

Thanks again, will let you know what happens.

Did you use the disk manufacturer's utility to wipe the drive? Did you format the MBR area?

Regards,
GEWB