restore without a system image?

[rinkel]

Hi, my Windows 7 has totally crashed. I only get a blink cursor in the top left corner of my screen after the first bootup screen. Totally my fault... I had my Norton turned off, and I downloaded a "free" video editing program. As soon as I double clicked the .exe file the screen went blank, except for that cursor... I can get into system recovery tools and I can do the first two options, boot repair and system recovery, but neither of them are fixing the problem. I think I need to do a restore from System Image but I never made a backup system image. (i know, i know... dumb as can be..... ) I thought that if it ever completely crashed I would be able to access the recovery partition, but it doesn't seem to be working out like that..... I do have most of my important documents/projects/software saved on an external hard drive, so I'm not too concerned about that, I just want to get windows working again. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HonorGamer]

Hello rinkel and welcome to the SevenForums.

Well it seems like you got a nasty virus. You will need to re-install Windows 7 using the default manufacturer disk. If they gave you one. To be on the safe side i would recommend wiping your entire hard drive first using this tutorial:

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

Then simply re-install windows afterwards.

Let me know how it goes,
Gamer

 

[rinkel]

No re-install discs from HP

 

[HonorGamer]

Might need to order a new one from:

HP Windows installation order

And thanks joules

 

[whs]

If you originally bought the system locally (e.g. BestBuy), I would ask them whether you can borrow an installation disk. With your product key (which is on a sticker on your PC) you can activate it.

 

[Jacee]

Make a Bootable Antivirus Disk ... these are all free FREE Bootable AntiVirus Rescue CDs Download List

 

[rinkel]

Jacee, that worked perfectly. I <3 you forever!! I'm off to create a backup system image on my external hard drive.....
Thanks again!!!

 

[Jacee]

You're welcome