Can't boot windows 7 after registry restore

[terryl]

After doing a complete registry backup and then a registry restore using GFI Home, my windows 7 (64 bit) machine will not boot from the hard drive. After the startup POST, I only get a blank screen.

I am able to boot to a Windows 7 rescue disk and have tried running the Startup diagnostics and doing a system restore to yesterday's system restore point but with no luck.

I have run the Windows Starup Diagonostics several times. Most of the time it returns 'no problems found - successful boot' but occasionally it returns 'bad or corrupt boot manager - successfully repaired'. In no case will windows then boot.

After it passes the bios screen the hard drive will flash once and the screen will go blank.

Can someone help me with replacing the startup files manually through dos or do I need to restore the operating system to day one?

Thanks in advance for your help.

T

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[Jonathan_King]

Welcome to SF!

Please keep us posted on the thread on the other forum, just so we know what you have tried and what's going on.

Can you boot up in Safe Mode at all?

 

[terryl]

Hi and thanks.

No I can't get windows to boot at all. I can only get my rescue disk to boot.

T

 

[Arc]

Try to run a http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html . If you need, you may download and burn Download Windows 7 System Recovery Discs — The NeoSmart Files to run startup repair .

(blue texts are links. Click on those to get the infos )

 

[terryl]

My bad in the earlier post. Startup Repair is what I have been running...serveral times. Sometimes it reports 'no problems successful boot' and a few time it reports a 'missing or corrupt boot manager - successfully repaired'. The results however are always the same blank screen when I try to boot from windows.

T

 

[Jonathan_King]

Try restoring from an earlier restore point.

 

[terryl]

I've done that a couple of times to no effect.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Try running startup repair a few more times, while I rack my brain and request more help from the Gurus.

 

[pebbly]

hi terryl , do you have a floppy drive in your pc and access to an old vista start up floppy , run it and at the command prompt type "c:\windows\explore.exe" with out the quotes that should get you to the desktop , that way you should then be able to run the win7 repair install , if you do not have access to a floppy drive try to use a bootable usb pendrive

 

[SIW2]

Replace the registry hives in "YourWin7DriveLetter:\Windows\System32\config" with the ones from "YourWin7DriveLetter:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack".

The hives are the files with no extensions.

Can be done from command prompt, but it's easier to use a bootable app. with a file transfer Wizard. There's a good one on this freebie: FREE Rescue Kit Express | PARAGON Software Group ...

 

[terryl]

Hi SIW2;

Thanks for your interest in my pesky little problem.

I made backup copies of the 5 files into a temp directory(with the extension .bak) and then copied the orignals from regback to config. Same result...a blank screen on windows boot.

I then ran Startup Repair again and it detected no problems. Still a blank screen on reboot.

Beginning to pull my hair out now. Any further thoughts??

 

[terryl]

Here's something new and strange...I started to move some files to an external drive using the file transfer utility in the Paragon program. That program is reporting my c: and d: drives as d: and e:. Is this the way my registry is seeing them and how can I fix. I'm not sure I can use the Paragon boot repair program with Win 7.

 

[SIW2]

Can't recall as I haven't used it in a while, but I assume Paragon is allocating letters according to the partition table position.

That may be different from the lettering inside the o/s registry.

Try the Paragon boot corrector - select "correct drive letters in system registry".

I assume your o/s originally declared themselves as C when you booted into them ?

Boot corrector will load the o/s registry and show you how the mounted devices are listed there. It allows you to change the o/s drive letter back to C ( or whatever letter the o/s used to declare itself as. )

 

[terryl]

I changed the drive letters in the boot corrector. Tried to reboot...nada.

I again copied the backup hives to the config directory. Still no boot.

I think I need to go ahead and bite the bullet and reinstall the os from my Gateway rescue disk back to the factory settings unless you've got a better plan.

Thanks again.
T

 

[SIW2]

Unless you made a recent backup image ... reinstall is on the cards.

At least you used the Paragon rescue disc to make sure your important data is backed up.