Startup repair infinate loop

[MahLiiSah]

I'm not sure if I am in the right category but I'll just leave it here. I downloaded a corrupt file and my computer went crazy and so I shut it off and now it keeps going through the start up repair over and over. It'll say that it's rapaired and it will restart but then it will go straight back into doing it over and over. Can someone please answer this quickly because finals are next week and I have unfinished papers and websites and animations on my computer that need to be handed in pronto. Thanks in advance.

By the way, F8 does not get me into the advanced boot options. I also see no way to get into safe mood.

 

[Brink]

Hello MahLiiSah,

You might see if this may be able to help.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/139576-startup-repair-infinite-loop-recovery.html

 

[MahLiiSah]

Hello MahLiiSah,

You might see if this may be able to help.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/139576-startup-repair-infinite-loop-recovery.html

I tried that. My computer says that startup repair will finish the repairs once it restarts and then it does so. I do not have the option to click on "View advanced options for systems recovery and repairs" the only thing that I can click on says "Click here for diagnostic and repair details."

 

[Brink]

In that case, open a command prompt at boot (If able. May need to try different options there to do so) and see if you may be able to pick up at step 7/8 in the tutorial above.

 

[MahLiiSah]

In that case, open a command prompt at boot (If able. May need to try different options there to do so) and see if you may be able to pick up at step 7/8 in the tutorial above.

I can't get into the System Recovery Options or the Advanced Boot Options Screens. The only "F" buttons that work for me are F2 and F12. Are there any other ways to get into the command prompt?

 

[Brink]

Do you have a retail Windows 7 installation disc to use to boot to a command prompt with?

If not, then you could download a Windows 7 ISO at the link below to create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive with to use for this. Afterwards, use step 1 in OPTION ONE in the tutorial above for Shift+F10 to open a command prompt at boot.

Dell Community

 

[MahLiiSah]

Do you have a retail Windows 7 installation disc to use to boot to a command prompt with?

If not, then you could download a Windows 7 ISO at the link below to create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive with to use for this. Afterwards, use step 1 in OPTION ONE in the tutorial above for Shift+F10 to open a command prompt at boot.

Dell Community

I tried to created a bootable USB flash drive and this is the message I recieved: "Files copied successfully. However, we were unable to run bootsect to make the USB drive bootale. If you need assistance with bootsect, please click the "Online Help" link above for more information." I went to the online help but I seem to can't find any solutions to this problem.

 

[MahLiiSah]

Okay so I decided to just forget the flash drive and I loaded it onto a DVD and it won't come up on my computer. I put it to boot from the DVD drive and it will be a black screen for a couple of seconds then it will go straight to the setup recovery over and over. I can hear my computer reading the disk but for some reason it just won't show. I know I copied the iso right because I just put windows 7 on my previously vista desktop.

 

[Brink]

Do you not get the "Press a key to boot from CD/DVD" type message at boot to actually begin booting from the DVD?

Have you already tried to open your boot menu at boot by pressing whatever F# key for setup/boot menu, then select to temporarily boot from the DVD or USB to see if it may then?

 

[MahLiiSah]

Okay I got it to work and did the steps in the tutorial. However, Once I restarted my computer, it went back into the loop.

 

[MahLiiSah]

Okay so I finally got it to work. I did everything in the first tutorial and then restarted my computer and it is still doing the startup repair loop.

 

[Brink]

I'm not sure what else to suggest other than reinstalling Windows 7 at this point.

Before you do, you should be able to use the tutorial below to back up any files you want off of it first.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ate-live-cd-dvd-usb-use-emergency-backup.html

 

[MahLiiSah]

I'm pretty sure it's a virus. When I was copying things from my laptop to my desktop, my desktop started acting the same way as my laptop was. Then I deleted all of the files I just transferred off of my desktop and ran norton and it's working fine again. Would you happen to know how to get rid of the virus?

 

[Brink]

You could try creating and using "Windows Defender Offline" to do a full scan of the laptop at boot to see if it may be able to help clean it.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/166445-windows-defender-offline.html
​

Personally, I prefer to do a clean install of Windows when it comes to getting rid of viruses.

 

[MahLiiSah]

I if do a clean install will it get rid of the items on my computer? I don't have anyplace to put them seeing as every time I try to put them onto a different computer the computer starts acting weird.

 

[Brink]

Yes, a clean install would format the HDD and do a fresh blank reinstall of Windows 7.

Go ahead and see if Windows Defender Offline finds anything and can clean it or not first.

 

[MahLiiSah]

Windows defender found it but the loop kept happening so I tried to do a clean install twice and it kept failing after a certain point.

I also realized that I have a second partition called recovery. Is there a way that that could help somehow?

 

[Brink]

Are you formatting the HDD at boot during the clean install like in the tutorial below?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html

What brand is the HDD in your laptop? You may need to look at the manufacturer sticker on the HDD itself to see.

Dell - Support

Afterwards, you can use the program at the link below for that brand to test your HDD to see if it may be bad or dying.

How to Run the Seagate Seatools Hard Drive Diagnostic Program? - KB Article - 350456 | Dell=

 

[MahLiiSah]

I ran sea tools and everything came out fine. I had to try the clean install three more times but it finally worked. Thanks!

 

[gregrocker]

With Dell Recovery will no longer run after Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7
so you can delete the Recovery partition to extend C into it or make a new partitition in Disk Mgmt.

Dell OEM Diagnostic tools partition will run after reinstall so I'd run it now to check over everything to know for sure it works; if not you can delete it too: Dell Diagnostics Utility - How to Run the