Startup Repair - Unable to escape...

[Rebbew]

Hello...
Please help. I have been unable to boot up my Dell Inspiron 1525 since the weekend. As I boot it up, it appears to boot, and then asks on a black screen whether to "Launch Startup Repair (recommended)" or "Start Windows Normally".

A: If I launch Startup Repair, it flickers a couple of times, the Windows 7 squares appear briefly, there is a flash of a blue screen/white writing which disappears instantly, and then I get a plain black screen, and eventually a white arrow cursor appears, and the mouse works, but just a plain black screen. I have let that run for up to 3 hours, and nothing changes. I have done this more than the 3 times recommened. Should I leave it overnight? Will more time help?

B: If I start Windows Normally, then it seems to boot again, and then its says Starting Windows, I get the Windows squares, and it sits there for a while, then there some flashes, and the screen goes black, and it reboots, back the option to either "Launch Startup Repair (recommended)" or "Start Windows Normally" - excatly where I was... Goes nowhere.

C: I have tried to read the Forum posts, and followed the suggestion to hit F8 repeatedly, and boot up in Safe Mode. It just runs through a whole list of Drivers that it is loading, and then hangs up on a line: Loaded: \windows\system32\DRIVERS\CLASSPNP.SYS and then I get a black screen again briefly, and it reboots to the "Launch Startup Repair (recommended)" or "Start Windows Normally" place again. Went nowhere...

D: I have tried to Boot to the Command Prompt, and it takes me back the same beginning.

E: I have tried to boot from my Windows 7 DVD which is in the drive, but it doesn't seem to read it...

I do NOT want to lose my data (I have not back-up in about 3 months, and I have critical files on there). I know that I was running out of HDD space, but it wasn't too bad...

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[hjonesMCT]

I hate to say it, but that EXACT thing happened to me. Bad driver was the issue.

Can you boot into Safe Mode again, and roll back to the last restore point? Please say you had System Protection *not* turned off

 

[Rebbew]

Hello,
Thank you for the quick resposne... I can't get into Safe Mode at all - hitting F8 offers me the option, but then it runs its course, hangs up on the same file each time, and reboots me back to the option of "Startup Repair" or Windows Normally" - doesn't help me...
I doubt I had turned off System Protection - don't know what it is, so can't do it...

 

[hjonesMCT]

Oops! Duh, of course you can't get into Safe Mode.

If you can get into the Boot Menu (F8) and hit Repair your computer--you should be able to access WinRE and be able to perform a System Restore from there. Can you get to that point?

Edit: This is different than Startup Repair.

 

[SIW2]

If not, try booting the windows 7 repair disc - get the right bit version -32 bit for you.

Windows 7 Recovery Disc

 

[Rebbew]

Thanks for the next suggestion - I can get into the Boot Menu, after hitting F8, and it allows me to select the Repair option, then it appears to load files, and I get my black screen again with the white cursor arrow... And then it sits like that... Should I let it run longer like that? It ran for about 3 hours this morning...

 

[Rebbew]

Thanks, SIW2... Is that different from the original installation disk?

At this point, I can't get the laptop to boot to the DVD either... I have the Installation DVD in the drive, and nothing...

 

[hjonesMCT]

The recovery disk is different in that it contains the "Repair your computer" options that I mentioned above.

Make sure you hit F11 or whatever your Boot Options menu key is in order to access your DVD drive at boot. Or, you can change your boot sequence order in the BIOS.

 

[Rebbew]

Thank you both!

Downloading the Recovery Disk now... and I will have to work out how to change the boot options. I know I've been into the BIOS before, but don't remember how...

 

[hjonesMCT]

No problem! It's usually the Delete button that sends you into BIOS configuration. If you watch carefully while it's starting up, your computer should say what key to push.

From there--look for anything that says Boot order, Boot priority, etc.

Good luck!! Come back to us with questions/results!!

 

[Rebbew]

I found it - it was F12... Go figure!
Burning CD now, and will try your solutions...
Thank you!!!

Will let you know when I have succeeded, booted up, and backed up my files again!

 

[Rebbew]

hello,
please help... I have downloaded the Recovery Disk as suggested above, and burned it to a CD. I have been able to enter the BIOS and set the boot order to boot from the CD, but it faisl to boot from the CD. I am not sure if its becuase the CD drive is the problem, or if the files on the CD are not bootable... Any ideas?

If I were to try to do a re-insatll of Windows &, will it wipe off my data from the hard drive?

 

[Rebbew]

I have tried to boot to the Recovery Disk, and it appears to start Windows, and then I get back to that Black Screen... Any ideas?

 

[gregrocker]

Boot from CD - How to Boot your Computer from a Bootable CD or DVD - Boot to CD

You said you have a known-good Win7 DVD? Try booting it using the F12 one-time Boot menu key, then select Repair my Computer on second screen to run Startup Repair repeatedly.

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

The Repair CD might not have been burned correctly. Try ImgBurn at 4x speed with verify.

You can copy out your files using http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93347-copy-paste-windows-recovery-console.html

 

[theog]

Try running the Dell diagnostic tool at F12 options.

 

[Rebbew]

Hello,
Thank you both for the responses...

Yes, I have a good Win7 DVD - have tried to boot from it, but it seems to boot into Windows, and then hits a blank black screen and goes no further.

I can't copy my files yet - I can't get into the HDD ...

I have run the Dell Diagnsotics: Tells me I have errors # 0146 & 0F00.0423/0232/0732, with a Msg: DISK_0 - Block 162366596/597...
I fear my hard drive has been corrupted!

I will try to re-burn the Windows Recovery disk - luckily I have a work laptop to work from

 

[gregrocker]

Run the HD maker's diagnostics/repair extended CD scan: HD Diagnostic

Then run Disk Check from the DVD/CD Repair Command Line: Disk Check

This will let you know the exact condition of your HD and whether it's reparable or needs replacement.

 

[Rebbew]

Thank you everyone for your support, advice and solutions!
My laptop is back, up and running, and I'm I'm doing a Backup as I type this! (on another computer)

I eventually took out the hard drive, and went to Best Buy and bought a SATA drive convertor to USB, and accessed the HDD through another computer - I ran CHKDSK, on the drive, and it was able to repair some corrupted files. The data was then readable as an external drive... I then copied my most importnat files onto the other laptop, and then re-assembled my laptop. Booted up, and there it was!!!

I'm doing backups, now, and after that I will run a whole battery of diagnostics on it...

I really appreciate your support - it has been a rough week since the laptop died, and you guys have been invaluable! We may not have solved it directly, but you all gave me the next step to pursue...
Best wishes, Brett

 

[premkudva]

I too got this problem a few months ago, and tried everything including repair from Windows 7 installation disk. Everything brings you back to this error screen with the "launch startup repair" or "continue to windows boot" legends. I was finally told that the only solution is a re-install, which I decided against. The error came all of a sudden with no addition of any new s/w or h/w as the error message alleges. So even after a painful reinstall I could still face the problem in the future. So now when the error screen comes I just press the down arrow and continue to boot up. Haven't faced any problem with that.

This is a problem that MS seriously needs to have checked. I have come across so many occurances on the web and no one has been able to solve it. Bar a re-install!

 

[gregrocker]

One way to overcome the Startup Repair loop is to boot from the DVD or System Repair Disk
to run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times. This is because onboard repairs are dependent upon System files which may have become corrupted or in bad blocks.

Startup Repair should automate Disk Check and System Restore but if not run them manually from the disk's System Recovery Options .

Sometimes Startup Repair will become bogged during a Disk Check so it never ends. This is remedied by running Disk Check from the DVD or Repair CD's Command line.