Laptop Won't Boot, can't get past Initial Windows Screen

[Jim15]

I didn't mean to be insulting at all. Your screename is Jim15 so why would someone NOT think you are that age. I have helped several that young and had some really good results. I stayed up all night with Mitch in Sydney doing a complicated partitioning operation which he pulled off with flying colors, only at the end finding out he was 14.

We have a team approach here. I didn't know you were following someone else and not wanting my help. I had helped solve those same repair issues at least a huindred times so can use the steps again anyway. Most are glad to have all the help they can get from the senior Guru's here. We have a rating system based on reputation which you can see at the left.

Alright, I suppose I took that the wrong way. I'm not 15, but 21. The 15 in my username is just a favorite number of mine. I figured out of frustration of not following your advise you were trying to say I was immature. lol

I honestly think I'm beyond repair at this point, but I would be happy if you proved me wrong. If you've fixed problems like mine before, I should at least give this a try- if you're still willing to help.

First I need to fix the problem I've created with the partitions before I can follow the other directions. Any idea how I'd go about doing that?

 

[gregrocker]

What problem with partitions exactly?

Can you burn to CD free Partition Wizard bootable CD, boot it to get a camera snap of the full drive map with listings?

The repairs may be able to be done from it, as given in my first post. Any partitioning issues can also be addressed smoothly.

 

[Jim15]

Much earlier on, I followed some directions to make a certain partition inactive. After doing so, I get the Windows Boot manager telling me to use the windows installation disk.

It reads:

"File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc000000f

Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data."

 

[gregrocker]

I just read back through the early posts in the thread which you wrote while I was writing up the Repair steps. It does sound like hash has been made of it. It may be hard to piece back together now. I think I see why you were fed up and not wanting to deal with it!

That doesn't mean that you might not want to make sure 100mb System Reserved (if you have it) or Win7 partition are marked Active, using free Partition Wizard bootable CD or Diskpart Partition - Mark as Active (Method Two).

Then run Startup Repair 3 times from F8 Repair console or the DVD once you burn it or write it. If that fails then you can move on to reinstall.

Have you checked for infection at any time during this period, ideally running Malwarebytes from Safe Mode with NEtworking if necessary, or writing Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper to stick or CD to run a bootable scan?

 

[Jim15]

Which partition did you set Active? It should be the 100mb System Reserved (boot) partition if you have it, or the WIn7 partition itself.

Then boot System Recovery Options to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times with reboots to write the System Boot files to Win7. These repairs are best done from disk and not from the Repair console on the F8 Advanced Boot Options although you can try that now while you wait for your DVD ISO.

I didn't set any as active, but did set the second partition as inactive. I can't remember the size though. Is there any way i can get back to that?

Startup Repair hasn't worked for me so far. I've left it running for several hours, but nothing ever happens.

However, I'm fairly certain I can do it on the installation disk that's missing drives. I was still able to reach recovery from it. Should I try from there? Or is there something different I should try?

Edit: I can't use safe mode right now so I'm guessing malwarebytes won't work out, but I will give Microsoft stand alone system sweeper a try.

 

[gregrocker]

If you set the 100mb System REserved partition (if you have it) or Win7 partition (if you don't) Inactive then Startup Repair would not know where to repair or write fresh the System boot files as it does when run up to 3 times: Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

Can you boot in now to determine if either of those partitions are marked Active? Partition - Mark as Active (Method Two) You can use the F8 Repair console until you have the DVD to use it's Repair console.

Once one of those partitions is marked Active and Startup Repair is run up to 3 separate times with reboots, then you'll know if WIn7 can be repaired. If you first try with the 100mb partition marked Active, next change the Active flag to Win7 partition itself and run the Repairs again.

Finally you can boot into free Partition Wizard bootable CD to post up a camera snap if you can (may reveal all) or try the the Active flags on each of those two partitions again, but this time select from the Disk tab "Rebuild MBR" while the WIn7 HD is highlighted. This will often work when Startup REpair will not.

I'm typing again the same steps I gave you almost 12 hours ago. It is not your fault, but the way this thread has been handled with bad advice at the beginning and elbowing out the actual proven fixes is not at all up to the standards of these Forums.

 

[Jim15]

If you set the 100mb System REserved partition (if you have it) or Win7 partition (if you don't) Inactive then Startup Repair would not know where to repair or write fresh the System boot files as it does when run up to 3 times: Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

Can you boot in now to determine if either of those partitions are marked Active? Partition - Mark as Active (Method Two) You can use the F8 Repair console until you have the DVD to use it's Repair console.

I attempted to reach the advanced options by hitting f8, but even when I do that, it goes straight to the Windows boot manager which says the same thing as I wrote above.

Also, the system sweeper tool is downloading as we speak.

 

[gregrocker]

Then you'll have to wait for the DVD to use it's System Recovery Options to check for Active and mark Active, then Startup Repair x3.

If System Sweeper finds infection then it may be about repairing System files using this method (also given earlier) which is automated in Startup Repair but may also need to be run from DVD Command Line: SFC -SCANNOW Run in Command Prompt at Boot

 

[Jim15]

Finally you can boot into free Partition Wizard bootable CD to post up a camera snap if you can (may reveal all) or try the the Active flags on each of those two partitions again, but this time select from the Disk tab "Rebuild MBR" while the Windows 7 HD is highlighted. This will often work when Startup REpair will not.

I'm typing again the same steps I gave you almost 12 hours ago. It is not your fault, but the way this thread has been handled with bad advice at the beginning and elbowing out the actual proven fixes is not at all up to the standards of these Forums.

Since I'm unable to reach the recovery environment (As mentioned above), would it be a good idea to skip to free Partition Wizard bootable CD and do what you suggested there? Hitting f8 just takes me to my boot manager, so it would seem I have no way of getting to a command prompt to check on the partitions.

I appreciate you going over this with me again greg. I should have given things more of a chance before resorting to reinstalling I guess. hopefully it turns out I was wrong and that all of this is fixable.

Also, I should mention that I'm only working with one flashdrive right now. So since I'm going to need it for multiple things (partition boot wizard and system sweeper tool), I may take a bit longer to do some of these things than normal.

 

[gregrocker]

PW requires the paid version to write to stick so I'd wait for your Win7 ISO to check for Active partition and/or mark Active using DIskpart steps linked earlier, then run the Startup Repairs.

You can also pick up 5 good quality CD's or DVD's for $2 at Walgreens.

 

[Jim15]

Okay, so the DVD recovery options took a bit of an unexpected turn. When I first got to the screen for recovery options where you can choose to use recovery tools, it told me that windows was searching for installations. It took about 5 minutes to do this, then stopped to tell me:

"Windows found problems with your computer's startup options.

Do you want to apply repairs and restart your computer?"

It then gives me the option to restart, or hit "No". By hitting no I'm guessing I could continue on to recovery tools. However, when I look at the details of the problem:

"Repair details:

The following startup options will be added:
Name: Windows 7 Home Premium (recovered)
Path: Windows
Windows Device: Partition=C: (224873 MB)

Name: Windows Recovery Environment (recovered)
Path: Recovery\4dc61ff7-e11df-82d0-aabf0b65d853\winre.wim
Windows Device: Partition=C: (224873 MB)"

Looks like a fix to the partition problem!

BUT I just wanted to run it through you before proceeding. I'm going to make a habit of that so I make no mistakes.

Also, I will buy some CDs tomorrow if possible. $2 sounds like a very good deal.

 

[gregrocker]

Looks like the DVD may be able to repair Win7, although you might have to boot back in to the REcovery tools list to run Startup Repair again if the offered repair fails. Try it now.

It can take up to 3 separate repairs with reboots, and this is providing the Win7 partition (or it's System Reserved partition) is marked Active. But it looks good from here.

Sometimes the onboard Startup Repair cannot repair Win7 because it relies on System files which may be corrupted or offline. This is why my first suggestion today was to run the repairs from disk.

 

[Jim15]

Looks like the DVD may be able to repair Win7, although you might have to boot back in to the REcovery tools list to run Startup Repair again if the offered repair fails. Try it now.

It can take up to 3 separate repairs with reboots, and this is providing the Win7 partition (or it's System Reserved partition) is marked Active. But it looks good from here.

Sometimes the onboard Startup Repair cannot repair Win7 because it relies on System files which may be corrupted or offline. This is why my first suggestion today was to run the repairs from disk.

It pretty much fixed the problem of not being able to reach recovery. I now have access to it.

However, after hitting next when selecting the language (US), the screen stays the same background, but no tools come up, startup repair included.

I'm also almost positive the same thing will happen as usual (Keeps going for hours without doing anything). Didn't you say there was something I should do first to fix that?

Edit: Alright, the tools eventually came up, guess they just took a long time to load. Knowing that startup repair is going to just keep repeating, do you still want me to try it anyway?

 

[gregrocker]

What happened to the repair which you said was offered when you booted into the DVD Repair console and it discovered the "Recovered" Win7 installation? This seemed promising.

Are you already using the Win7 DVD you were downloading?

If not you'll need to use it, making sure WIn7 or it's 100mb System Reserved partition are marked Active then running Startup Repair 3 times.

 

[Jim15]

What happened to the repair which you said was offered when you booted into the DVD Repair console and it discovered the "Recovered" Win7 installation? This seemed promising.

Are you already using the Win7 DVD you were downloading?

If not you'll need to use it, making sure WIn7 or it's 100mb System Reserved partition are marked Active then running Startup Repair 3 times.

The repair ran and restarted the computer. Unfortunately this didn't fix everything, but it did fix the initial problem where I couldn't access recovery options.

So I can now go to advanced options, do repairs to get into the recovery environment, and either do things from the command prompt, or run startup repair.

I'm going to check if the right partition is marked active and update you on that in a moment.

The newest windows install iso is still downloading and at a very slow pace. It likely won't be done for several hours unless my internet decides to speed up.

Also, I have fully downloaded system sweeper on my flashdrive, and it's ready to use. Let me know if and when you want me to use it.

 

[Jim15]

UPDATE:

So upon going through the process of making a partition active, I found the one you were referring to. For me, it's partition 2 that's listed as a 100 MB size as you described, so I marked it as active.

There two other partitions. Partition 1 says that it's a recovery type, while partition 3 says it's another primary, but this one has a much larger size of 219 GB.

Out of these other two, could you tell me which should be active/inactive? Thanks, I'll wait at that prompt for your suggestion.

 

[gregrocker]

Mark the 100mb System Reserved partiition Active and make sure none others are, including on any other HD's. Unplug any externals. Then run 3 Startup REpairs with reboots.

If this fails, move the Active flag to the Win7 partition (likely the 219gb - you should know this) to run the 3 Repairs again in case the 100mb boot partition is corrupted.

If these fail, try this over again with the DVD Repair console so that repairs don't depend upon System files.

Then you can try Partition Wizard alternative method I gave earlier.

As a last resort, you can try marking the REcovery partition Active to see if it will reboot into it. Then try rebooting again tapping the Alt and F10 key together as described here: Acer Support: Restoring a system to factory load

 

[Jim15]

Mark the 100mb System Reserved partiition Active and make sure none others are, including on any other HD's. Unplug any externals. Then run 3 Startup REpairs with reboots.

If this fails, move the Active flag to the Win7 partition (likely the 219gb - you should know this) to run the 3 Repairs again in case the 100mb boot partition is corrupted.

If these fail, try this over again with the DVD Repair console so that repairs don't depend upon System files.

Then you can try Partition Wizard alternative method I gave earlier.

As a last resort, you can try marking the REcovery partition Active to see if it will boot, either using the hotkey at boot or not - try both ways. What the hotkey does is mark the Partition Active so it will reboot into it. Acer Support: Restoring a system to factory load

Okay, I made sure the others were inactive, and that the 100 MB partition was active.

I will now attempt startup repairs. But before I do that, how long would you say I should wait before it's just the same old problem as before? I'd rather not wait hours for no reason like the other times if you get what I mean. Is there a certain speed it usually runs at?

After I've tried your system repair suggestions, I will get to doing system sweeper to see if anything turns up.

 

[gregrocker]

This is why you should run the Repairs from DVD as stated repeatedly. The System files needed for the repair can be corrupt or offline, requiring the fresh copy on the DVD.

Are you being warned that "Startup Repair needs to check the disk which can take up to an hour" as you reported in your first posts? If this happens and then the Repair hangs it can mean the Disk needs checking with diagnostics/repair CD scan as I've also repeated many times.

But Startup Repair could also be failing because it needs the DVD or Repair CD to run successfully, so get your DVD ready to burn the ISO when ready, using ImgBurn at 4x speed.

I will check in the morning.

 

[Jim15]

This is why you should run the Repairs from DVD as stated repeatedly. The System files needed for the repair can be corrupt or offline, requiring the fresh copy on the DVD.

Are you being warned that "Startup Repair needs to check the disk which can take up to an hour" as you reported in your first posts? If this happens and then the Repairs hang it can mean the Disk needs checking with diagnostics/repair CD scan as I've also repeated many times.

But Startup Repair could also be failing because it needs the DVD to run successfully, so get your DVD ready to burn the ISO when ready, using ImgBurn at 4x speed.

I will check in the morning.

Yeah, I should have listened to you... but I'm certainly all ears now. You've started me down the path to recovery and given me hope that this could work out, so I'll definitely listen to your advice from now on.

It's exactly as you say, it warns that it may take over an hour. As I recall, you referred me to a link for the diagnostics/repair CD, but I'm unable to figure out my HDD model and make since I have no access to windows. In that guide, you need to be able to use Windows to figure out the make and model.

I definitely will be ready to burn the DVD, hopefully the right way this time.

Goodnight man! Thanks again for your patience and help.

In the meantime, I'm going to see if the older windows install iso will produce results when I try running startup repair with it. It may be missing some drivers, but perhaps it can still get this particular job done. I'll also run the system sweep and update on how that and the startup repair go.

UPDATE #1:

As mentioned above, I decided to try booting from the Windows ISO that was missing drivers and see if startup repair would work from there.

I selected repair, and from there system recovery options started looking for installations. Then something unusual happened. I got an error. At the top, it seemed to be named "RecEnv.exe - Corrupt File"

The description: "The file or directory D:\found.000 is corrupt and unreadable. Please run the Chkdsk utility."

My only option from there is hitting "OK".

From there, I am able to access recovery tools, but startup repair comes up automatically.

Even though I originally came to do startup repair, I'm going to cancel it, save that for later and do a chkdsk like the system suggested. Will update shortly with results.


UPDATE #2

Looking at the error message, even someone as non-tech savy as myself could deduce that the system wanted me to do a chkdsk of D:. So I specified as such by typing "D:" in the command prompt and ran the command "chkdsk /f", which gave me the following message:

"The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Chldsl may run if this volume is dismounted first. ALL OPEN HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID. Would you like to force a dismount on this volume? <Y/N>"

I don't want to select yes until I get the okay from you greg. I just don't want to mess things up, so for now I hit N for no...

It then asks if I would like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts. When I hit yes, exit the command prompt, and restart, it just goes back to booting from the CD and the check never happens.

I'm going to move on to startup repairs now and see how that goes on the ISO that's missing drivers. Will update soon!

UPDATE #3:

Startup Repair still gives the "Over hour" warning when I do it on the widnows install iso with missing drivers, so I take it I'm missing something important? Luckily the instal of the ISO is nearly complete at the moment. i powered down as soon as I saw the warning. the only thing left to try is running System Sweeper with my USB.

I will return with my final update of the night when the scan is over.

UPDATE #4

When I attempted to scan, I immediately got an error:

"Standalone System Sweeper encountered an error: 0x8050800c. And unexpected problem occurred. Install any available updates, and then try to start the program again. For information on installing updates, see help and support."

I will try to solve the issue. Will update if I find anything before going to bed.