Boot Loop - Unable to startup - System Repair


  1. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #1

    Boot Loop - Unable to startup - System Repair


    New to the forum, thanks for having me.
    I'm currently unable to get my Toshiba Satellite to start up. I tried to reboot last week, and it went into the endless boot loop. I swapped the drive to an external drive, the drive is visible but no files can be accessed.

    I bought the NeoSmart Technologies Startup Repair disc. It did not work, but the partition manager said that the NTFSprogs are missing. Also, The machine used to be dual boot so it has the 100MB partition, a 4.5GB Linux Partition, and a 460GB partition. I contacted NeoSmart support, and they sent me a new install ISO and said to do a install, but not to format to preserve the files. I've tried to send follow up questions, but They have not responded with additional information.

    Right now, its running startup repair for the second time. the first time took 130 hours with no results. I've tried to read up as much as I can, but I don't know which rabbit hole to go down. The files are important, the computer is not.

    Should I stop the startup repair and go ahead with the install? Would it fix the boot files? I also read that I could boot to Linux and access the files? Also, Ive read that I can use linux to repair the NTFS prog?

    Thank you
    Last edited by DerrickWS; 11 Apr 2018 at 13:18.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,784
    Linux Mint 18.2 xfce 64-bit (VMWare host) / Windows 8.1 Pro 32-bit (VMWare guest)
       #2

    If you boot to Linux, you should be able to access your files, so as to back them up to an external drive. And if you aren't able to boot into Linux in your current setup, you can go to one of the Linux sites, download the install .ISO, create an install DVD, and boot to the DVD.


    Once you have backed up your files, the best way to fix your computer would be to do one of the following:
    1. Do a Toshiba factory restore, to get your hard drive back to the way it was when the computer was new.
    2. Install Linux, and go with that.
    I assume you want Windows, so a factory restore would be the easiest way to fix things; and it won't cost you anything to do it. But be aware that doing a factory restore will wipe your drive and get you back to out-of-the-box new condition, so you'll need to make sure that you can reinstall any software that is currently installed after doing the factory restore. This means that you'll need to write down any install keys (if you don't already have them written down), and you'll need to have a way of actually doing the install of your programs (e.g. the original install disks). All of those things will be lost when the drive is wiped, unless you have them somewhere other than on your hard drive.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Hello, thanks for the quick reply!
    Because all of my attempts to get to the files have failed, I was under the impression that something is corrupt or missing, not allowing me access to the data. I can see the drive, but no files. Will linux (or Windows Install) get around this problem?

    Also, should I stop the Startup Repair that is currently in progress?

    Another note. this is no longer a factory install. the first HD crashed so I replaced it with this one. I installed W7 from one of the links provided here. I then found all the drivers that I needed, and it worked for 2 years.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 1,784
    Linux Mint 18.2 xfce 64-bit (VMWare host) / Windows 8.1 Pro 32-bit (VMWare guest)
       #4

    Linux is sometimes more capable than Windows of reading a drive. Therefore, if you boot into Linux, you may be able to see the files on the drive, and then copy them to another location.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Hello, I tried to boot to Ubuntu. I could see the drive there, but was unable to click on it.
    I also got a copy of MSDaRT, and was unable to mount the drive from there as well. It returned a BSOD using ERD commander. The only software that I can find that accesses the Drive is GParted, which says its missing "NTFSprogs". I read about a way to repair the NTSFprogs using Ubuntu, but I don't think I'm experienced enough to attempt it.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1,784
    Linux Mint 18.2 xfce 64-bit (VMWare host) / Windows 8.1 Pro 32-bit (VMWare guest)
       #6

    Sorry about the delay in getting back to you.

    Here is some helpful information about NTFSprogs:
    https://askubuntu.com/questions/5124...ally-on-ubuntu

    Please note that NTFSprogs is now called NTFS-3g.

    I've never run any of the NTFSprogs programs, but I think that if you first make a copy of your partition, then run the fixes on the copy (not the original), you should be safe in trying a few things. I understand that you can use GParted to make a copy of a drive partition, and that this is an easy way to do a backup of a drive's partition.

    Go to the link I posted above, and scroll to the bottom of the page. The last entry tells you how to run a program called ntfsfix. That sounds like something that would be helpful here.

    In case you don't know this, putting the word "sudo" in front of a command in Linux gives that command administrator rights. Also, to run commands in Linux, open a Terminal session and run them in the Terminal session.
      My Computer


 

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