Solved PC shut down during System Restore, chkdsk shows fine, no safe mode

[pocpaul]

Hi guys could really do with some help here having an awful time with this, trying so much to avoid a system wipe as I have too much uni work unbacked up on my drives and no recovery cd that I can find (yet).

I'll start from the beginning and run you through what Iv tried so far; I ran a system restore last night and it froze up for maybe a half hour, so I switched it off - held down off button for 10 seconds (really regretting this now).

When I switched it back on it boots to Startup Repair which concludes that it cannot repair this computer automatically, option to send report leads to the unplug any devices page and restart. Other option of dont send followed by the view advanced options for startup recovery and support leads to the following;
Startup Repair... no result just a cannot repair automatically as before,
System Restore... no result claiming no restore points have been created,
System Image Recovery... no result as I dont have one, (presuming this is the last resort to wipe and replace)
Windows Memory Diagnostic... shows no problems with memory found,
Command Prompt; I basically have been trying many different options from various forums all night mainly this one (Solved) - System recovery options-HELP!! « How-To Geek Forums

X:\windows\system32> diskpart

DISKPART> list disk
DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> list partition

Results are Partition 1 Primary type size 100 MB offset 1024KB and Partition 2 Primary type size 297GB offset 101MB

Scotts next instruction;

DISKPART> select partition 2
DISKPART> detail partition
DISKPART> exit

results with; Volume ### = Volume 2. Ltr = D. Label = Blank Here. Fs = NTFS. Type = Partition. Size 297GB Status = Healthy. Info = Blank here.
Next step exit Diskpart and return to system32> chkdsk /F c: reports that Windows has checked the file system and found no problems. It did this very quick maybe 3 seconds, thought thats not right so presumed i was checking the wrong drive and that it should be chkdsk /F d: as thats where my os is, results then showed file system as NTFS, cant see a volume label indication and Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

Next step was to exit command prompt and restart with no results (I realize now I didn't actually fix or do anything in command prompt), so I restart this time tapping F8 and try Safe Mode options all 3 of them and they all immediately go to the windows loading files then back into Startup Repair and the merrygoround continues. Also tried last known good configuration from this F8 window to the same result. Back to command prompt I also searched; chkdsk with no problems found. Finally I tried Scotts last instruction

Finally, here is the next thing to try. We are going to run chkdsk with a different parameter, /R, which will do a surface scan looking for hard drive errors. This command will take longer to run, much longer. However, it should give you a progress indicator, probably percent complete. So, power up, F8, Repair Your Computer, Command Prompt, and type:

chkdsk /R c:

but changed the c: for d: which took around an hour and found no problems.

If you can offer any help guys please do, if you need any other info please ask ill be sitting here for as long as it takes to fix this or find a solution. Please note I am not a wizz with under the bonnet or behind the scenes on these but will follow instructions to the letter. I thank you in advance.

 

[mitchell65]

Hi and welcom to the Forum
First of all and most important BACK UP all your data to an external hard drive. If you can't get to your data then on another machine download and burn to disc "Ubuntu" from here:
Download Ubuntu | Ubuntu
You can then run Ubuntu from the CD and get access to the drives on your PC. It is essential to BACK UP now as I see you having to do a Clean Install eventually so BACKUP is vital!!!
Then you could try this to get into Safe Mode then try a System Restore from there.
How To Force Windows To Restart in Safe Mode

 

[gregrocker]

Everything that can be done is in Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start
leading up to if necessary rescuiing your files to do the superior Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

I would skip to the file rescue and reinstall as you'll end up with a perfect install if you stick with the tools and methods given. Be sure to delete all partitions during the install, do all rounds of Updates as soon as you get online.

 

[pocpaul]

Hi guys, I followed both of your instructions, I can't thank you enough! I used Ubuntu to access the files - save them and then did a clean wipe and put on a new os, was easy enough to do with your instructions. It took all day to update everything and replace apps etc but i'm very happy with the results, laptops like brand new now, thank you once again.

 

[mitchell65]

Very good news, well done! Thanks for the feedback, always good to hear of success