Solved Infinite startup loop

[UnderhandDread]

Evening everyone, I just put a PC together and besides forgetting the power supply all went well... physically. A little background, this computer used to run Vista 32x but I wanted to upgrade and read that my mobo could support a Phenom II x4 965 if I flashed it which I did and that went well until I reformatted to install Windows 7. I decided to post here because after reading quite a few threads this forum seemed very helpful and friendly. My problem is I'm getting the infinite startup loop but when I follow the instructions here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/139576-startup-repair-infinite-loop-recovery.html
Around step 8 it says to type C: and press enter but when I do it says in the command prompt 'Drive not Ready.' Also it is normal to have 'X:\windows\system32>' stuck there not able to be backspaced? I'm thinking no... Anyway I'm kind of in a rush here because as some of you may know the Beta for Guild Wars 2 is going on and I've already missed a day of it trying to fix my PC so if I've done anything in a way that opposes the posting rules of this forum I apologize. Thanks in advance for reading this whether to help or for the title or both.

~UnderhandDread
or just Dread
or Underhand
Alex works too

 

[Maguscreed]

This is a recycled drive from the previous build of the system then?
If so, I would actually suggest a full wipe of the drive followed by a do over install attempt.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

The truth here is I can't be sure about anything that's going on until we've removed anything that might have been going on with the disk itself from the equation.

It is possible the firmware update has not in fact done the trick of adding full support for the new chip.
It is equally as possible we are just dealing with a drive that needs to be cleaned up too though.

 

[UnderhandDread]

re:

I've done a clean install maybe 3 times but haven't tried http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html so I'll go do that now, I've got a feeling this'll do it.

 

[Maguscreed]

I hope so, because the other possibility that comes to mind is that the firmware update didn't do it's job and the second windows gets to loading and calling on it's higher functions the system resets.
As I said both possibilities seem about equal to me in all honesty.
Hope the drive clean up does it for you though.

actually 3rd possibility ,your new psu isn't working properly.
never hurts to go back and make sure all those connections are nice and solid and you did plug in everything too, I've left a 12volt line unplugged before, generally something that major will result in no startup at all though.

 

[gregrocker]

Besides wiping HD with Diskpart Clean Command to clear the boot sector of code, check SATA controller setting to try AHCI first.

 

[UnderhandDread]

I hope so, because the other possibility that comes to mind is that the firmware update didn't do it's job and the second windows gets to loading and calling on it's higher functions the system resets.
As I said both possibilities seem about equal to me in all honesty.
Hope the drive clean up does it for you though.

actually 3rd possibility ,your new psu isn't working properly.
never hurts to go back and make sure all those connections are nice and solid and you did plug in everything too, I've left a 12volt line unplugged before, generally something that major will result in no startup at all though.

Oh I'm not using my new PSU yet, still have the old 330w logisys that came with it, the 750w (some other brand name) wont get here til Tuesday. But anyway wow that was crappy, I wish I had written down all the stuff that (newly) went wrong from the last time I posted. In no particular order here's a few things: My SATA drives weren't being detected, neither of them. Something about S.M.A.R.T. on the second SATA drive not working. The installation of windows 7 just plain failed once or twice saying it couldn't...(something, don't remember.) Okay, I noticed that the 3 or so previous times I reformatted and re-installed Win 7 each time I had enabled automatic updates and I read somewhere in passing that a certain update was causing the startup loop. Every time I had previously installed Win 7 it updated and immediately restarted so on this install I turned off auto-update. Right now the computer is sitting at the desktop after a successful reformat and install and has no windows updates on it or anything else at all. Honestly at this point I'm afraid to touch it, what can I do as far as checking the current integrity of everything without turning it off? Last time I was at this point I installed Opera, Xfire, and the Guild Wars 2 Beta and played that for a few hours until it froze and restarted my computer (and then started the loop again.)
EDIT:
That was yesterday, right now it's 2:05AM and I'm tired of messing with this, I'm just going to leave it on like I always do. I find that the few times recently I've gone to sleep with the computer off felt really strange, I guess I'm used to the sound of the fans. Thanks everyone for your help, I'll be back later with a clearer... what's the word? Screw it, I'm tired.

 

[Maguscreed]

a SMART error is a hardware level warning that your disk is failing.
A vast majority of the other stuff is then explained by that.

 

[UnderhandDread]

a SMART error is a hardware level warning that your disk is failing.
A vast majority of the other stuff is then explained by that.

Oh, well the computer itself is like 6 or 7 years old and has been under constant use so I suppose a failure of some sort isn't unimaginable. It's an old <$600 budget gaming rig from ibuypower and I have the parts to replace everything in it except the motherboard, HDDs, and CD Burner. Wondering if at this point it might be less trouble (or just plain necessary) to buy a motherboard and hard drive too and just replace everything in my case, it's a nice big case. Well after I posted that last message before I went to bed I went to shut off the monitor and it seems to have restarted itself even though automatic updates were off so I guess it crashed or something. Now on the screen it says:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.
1.Insert Install disc and restart your computer.
2.Select language
3.Click repair your computer
file:\windows\system 32\winload.exe
Status: 0xc000000e
Selected entry could not be loaded because application is missing or corrupted.

Again rather than screw it up further (since this is the closest to working it's gotten since Friday when I got to play Guild Wars 2 for a few hours) I haven't touched it. That previous idea of just getting a mobo and a HDD is looking good but I have no idea how much motherboards cost and HDDs are expensive. I've got all the time in the world to fix this so really the lowest cost solution would be most preferable. (Isn't it always?)

 

[Maguscreed]

Yeah the disc is dead.
7 to 10 years is about the most I generally expect out of even good hdd's.

From this point it's up to you whether you just want to replace the hard drive (which should get the system at least running again) or whether to go ahead and update/upgrade the system. If it's that old it may be about that time.

 

[UnderhandDread]

Okay then, so were I to go from 'major upgrade' to 'just build a new one' I have:

• AMD Phenom II x4 965 3.4ghz AM3 RT
• Four G.Skill PC2-6400 2048mb 1.8-1.9v Dual Channel
• MSI Hawk Radeon HD 5770 graphics card
• Raidmax Hybrid 2 RX-630SS 630W PSU coming on Tuesday
• mouse, keyboard, monitor, case, dvd-rw, windows 7 home premium

So I just need a mainboard and HDD that will work with those right? Oh how simple it all looks in writing... Well, thank you very much for all your help.
I know this isn't a hardware forum but you wouldn't happen to have any suggestions of what to get on a budget would you? I'm good with it as long as it works. Hopefully I can get all this together sometime soon.

 

[Maguscreed]

Theoretically yes, though you may find older motherboards and ram to actually be more expensive (noticeably so) compared to ddr3 and newer motherboards.
You may want to look into a full step up. I don't know exactly what the price difference will be, but if you stick with amd and keep it reasonable you should be able to replace the entire system core.

 

[UnderhandDread]

Wow, you were right about the pricing of newer vs older motherboards and ram. Insanely cheaper to just get a newer one; so I did and a 1TB SATA and some memory. Not sure what I'll do with the 8 gigs of ddr2 I blew $120 on but oh well; I'll use at least 4 of it somewhere. When I get the parts on Thursday I'm just going to truck everything over to the computer store downtown and have them throw it all together. Thank you Maguscreed, you've been extremely helpful throughout this whole thing and even saved me going to another forum for hardware advice. End result of this is I'm replacing everything but the case and the DVD Drive. I should be back up and running before the next Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend. Now to get ArenaNet to send me the e-mails in English rather than German...

 

[Maguscreed]

Wow, you were right about the pricing of newer vs older motherboards and ram. Insanely cheaper to just get a newer one; so I did and a 1TB SATA and some memory. Not sure what I'll do with the 8 gigs of ddr2 I blew $120 on but oh well; I'll use at least 4 of it somewhere. When I get the parts on Thursday I'm just going to truck everything over to the computer store downtown and have them throw it all together. Thank you Maguscreed, you've been extremely helpful throughout this whole thing and even saved me going to another forum for hardware advice. End result of this is I'm replacing everything but the case and the DVD Drive. I should be back up and running before the next Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend. Now to get ArenaNet to send me the e-mails in English rather than German...

It is pretty likely you have a friend or two with a crummy hp or dell that could really use some upgraded memory, just cut them some slack on the price...