Laptop in startup repair loop after hibernation

[vesna]

I have been trying to make my Toshiba Qosmio laptop to start without any success.

A bit of history: since I installed Windows 7 in the laptop three years ago, whenever it runs out of battery I can not start it. After pressing the power button, initial Qosmio screen appears followed by a black screen with blinking cursor. It stays here forever. After reading various forums I realized that my computer enters into hibernation and never gets out of it. I found a way to start it by removing the hard drive and installing another one, starting the laptop, letting it run for few minutes, and then installing back the old hard drive. After this when I start the laptop, a blue screen shows up, but after that I could start the laptop normally. This method worked so many times until yesterday.

What happened yesterday: the laptop ran out of battery, and went into hibernation. I did the usual swapping of the hard drives, but this time after the initial Qosmio welcome screen, a blue screen will show up for a bit of a second (I can barely spot it) and then a screen asking me to start the laptop with Startup repair (recommended) or in normal mode. Since I can not start it in normal mode, I chose the startup repair. But the Startup repair can not fix the problems, and can not even detect the problems. I ran the Startup repair several times with no success. Here is the diagnosis:

Problem signature 01: 6.1.7600.26385
Problem signature 02: 6.1.7600.26385
Problem signature 03: unknown
Problem signature 04: 21201020
Problem signature 05: Auto Failover
Problem signature 06: 3 (this number increases with every additional startup repair run)
Problem signature 07: 0xd1
os. version: 6.1.76002.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

I tried restoring to a previous point, nothing to restore to. Tried the Startup Repair Infinite loop recovery from the command prompt (suggested on this site), didn't work. I can not boot in safe mode. Tried recovery using installation disc, didn't work. Unplugged the cord, removed the battery and pressed the power button for several seconds, nothing changed.

One interesting thing: I tried to mount Linux in order to see the c: drive (needed to search for some files), but Linux doesn't want to mount. It says that windows is in hibernation state and hence, can not mount safely. So it seems that the laptop is still in hibernation and can not get out of it.

I did a back up of almost all of my files, except for several of them that I can not locate. I hesitate to do clean installation of Windows 7, I don't want to lose those files. Any ideas what to do to make the laptop run, get out of hibernation state?

 

[gregrocker]

Work through these steps to try everything possible for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start
which leads up to if necessary rescuiing your files to get a perfect clean reinstall of Win7.

We will then troubleshoot the hibernate feature which is often dependent upon the latest display adapter. So be sure to follow the steps for correctly handling drivers in Win7 if you choose to Clean Reinstall.

 

[Slartybart]

Turn off hibernation and restart
powercfg -h off

 

[vesna]

Thanks for your reply.
I tried to turn off the hibernation by typing the powercfg -h off in the command prompt, but the command is not recognized. Tried several versions of the command (powercfg.exe/hibernation off, powercfg/hibernation off, the above one) nothing. Too bad I was hoping that would help, and make my life easier.
Right now I am running the Windows defender offline. The quick scan didn't find any malware, so I started the full scan. If that doesn't find anything, I will proceed with other malware removal tools as suggested in the Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to start.

 

[Slartybart]

hmmmm, ok try this method then.

click on the power option in your system tray
select more power options
change plan settings for the active plan
change advanced power settings
expand the battery category
change the critical battery action
look at other options for hibernation and change

(also reachable through control panel - power options)

sleep is my choice to replace hibernation
The idea is to remove an existing hibernation file in the event that something is corrupt in it.
You can always turn hibernation back on if you feel it is needed on your system. I would wait to see if the startup loop goes away, then determine if I needed hibernation.

It's odd that you couldn't use the command prompt. At first I thought it might be because you didn't "run as administrator".

I tried in a normal command prompt and powercfg was found, it gave me the options. So you might try Right clicking command prompt - run as administrator. But you reported the system didn't recognize the command at all. hmmmmm

Might be malware - the scans will tell

You could also try searching for powercfg, found in the expected places on my machine.

 

[vesna]

Slartybart I can access the command prompt only through the Startup Recovery screen, i.e. when it finishes its scan and the link to Advanced options for recovery and support (which contains Restore to previous point, Image recovery, Command Prompt, Memory diagnostic) shows up. Maybe that's why it can not find the powercfg; or it is, as you commented, the malware. I will know more when the Windows defender scan finishes.

 

[Slartybart]

Ok, I actually read the thread =:>
I forgot that your machine was stuck in the middle of a boot.

Which drive is in the machine now? I'm so sorry you had to go through those gyrations just to boot your machine.

Changing drives worked for a while, but Windows never liked it. When WDO completes, report any findings.

Put the "original" drive back in the machine and report the symptoms.
Boot to safemode and report

Eventually, I'm going to ask that you reset CMOS, by what ever the easiest means is on on your machine (button, jumper, CMOS battery).... but NOT yet

 

[gregrocker]

Keep us posted on each step's results as there may be other steps indicated.

 

[thebudman]

I didn't read this entire thread but i have a laptop here that did weird some weird stuff and it was because of a bad battery the chip in battery was bad, It wouldn't load programs at boot half of the time all random it totally freak out never shut down correctly had all kinds of weird problems, Took the battery out and it has ran perfect ever since! I still haven't got a battery for it as its old and i could buy a new laptop before i could replace the battery it was a toshiba.

 

[thebudman]

After reading the thread i would fdisk the mbr and start fresh install complete full format, Viruses can get in the mbr and reinstalling will not help you with a plain format, They can also attach to the network adapter or get in the bios of the computer, If it is none of that then it is a hardware issue somewhere. You should be able to force resume hibernation to fail then it should try to boot normally. Check your bios options also.

 

[gregrocker]

Running Diskpart Clean Command from booted installer before doing the Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 should be sufficient if you decide to take that route. Let us know where you are.

 

[Slartybart]

This is one of those simple tests I forget to mention - pull the battery, run on AC, report status.

Thanks

..... because of a bad battery the chip in battery was bad, It wouldn't load programs at boot half of the time all random it totally freak out never shut down correctly had all kinds of weird problems, Took the battery out and it has ran perfect ever since!....

 

[vesna]

Ok, so I tried:

1. the full Windows defender scan revealed no malware.
2. tried to run antivirus bootable discs with ISO files (tried Kasperski and Avi) but for some reason they don't load
3. removed the battery and plugged the AC - didn't help
4. swapped the HDDS again: I removed the original HDD, the one that won't start with another one that works. Then started the laptop and had it running for a little while. Then put back the non-working HDD. In desperation I even turned off hibernation when the working HDD was installed, but nothing helped.

Unfortunately the blue screen that shows up on the start up is very short lasting, a bit of a second, so I can not read anything.
I guess it is time to do the formatting and clean instal of the os. Any more suggestions before I proceed with clean instal?

 

[gregrocker]

Bootable AV's must have their ISO's burned to CD using ImgBurn or Windows Image Burner.

What about the Repair steps in Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start in particular making sure Win7 or it's 100mb System Reserved partition are marked Active Mark Partition Active then run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times.

Startup repair should automate System Restore but if not run it from the options list.

There are other steps to know you've tried everything before rescuiing your files to run Recovery or Clean Reinstall.

 

[Slartybart]

Full system specs might help - use the Easy system specs in my sig so you don't have to type it all in.

A Clean install is really nice, I wanted one for years to get rid of the OEM stuff before finding sevenforums. It's really easy and if you follow it step-by-step fairly quick. Don't miss the part about downloading network drivers or Greg will "remind" you afterwards

I'm looking for Toshiba battery crash and found a few, but I don't know your model. I will say this - a clean install is the quickest way to a stable machine.

The only caveats are that you have to back up your personal data before the install and re-install your application software afterwards.

That too can be a bonus - updated software that was neglected since it worked fine and a little housekeeping of your personal data (if it's backed up and you don't use it regularly, you don't need it on your hard drive).

I'll see what the Google says re: battery and crashes. Collect some things and check back - you'll probably be done the re-install

 

[Slartybart]

Try one at a time, too little information and too little access on your side - the machine won't cooperate to try fixes.
These are a rough guess based on the description you provided and a bit of extrapolation to battery issues:

• Remove battery and AC power, press and hold Power button for 30 seconds
• Boot into Safe mode - fix what you can
  • Change Power Plan -> Processor Power Management - Minimum Processor State (Battery & AC) 15%
  • Uninstall Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery, scan for hardware changes
  • Update BIOS
• Toshiba EU: Battery Program
• Bad power brick

OR
clean Windows install.

That's all I have for now. Good luck solving this issue, what ever your decide to do.

Bill
.

 

[vesna]

Greg thanks for pointing out about ISO files being burnt with Image Burn. I totally missed that part. This time I did it correctly and was able to run Kaspersky. It didn't find anything. So at the end, the problem seems to be somewhere with the hardware.
Bill, I already tried to fix the problem by removing the battery and AC and holding the power button for 30 sec. That didn't change anything.
I will go with the clean install. The laptop needed some cleaning, and this is an excellent excuse to do it now.
Thank you all for your help. You are GREAT!!!

 

[Slartybart]

You're welcome. A clean install is probaly a wise decision at this point. Follow the tutorial verbatim and it's a snap.

Bill
.