Update kb2859537 - cannot boot in normal or safe mode

[TomanMT]

Hello,
I recently had a problem with my computer, which I thought was a virus. After spending hours on this issue it came to my attention that it could be this infamous update. At this point I could access safe mode (which sometimes had some long hiccups), and was able to remove the update. Relieved that everything worked again, I left the computer running, to turn it off at some later point. While I was gone it must have reinstalled the update and after turning it back on a few days later I find that not only does the computer freeze when I boot normally, but that I can't even access safe mode. This being a big dilemma I contacted Microsoft where they told me that I need my recovery discs. This poses yet another problem as I'm currently in France and left those things at home in the US.
Is there any way to work around these discs? Or at least a way for Microsoft to give me a large compensation for my wasted time and money?
This whole business is quite aggravating and I hope someone can help me fix it once and for all!

Thanks,
TomanMT

 

[TomanMT]

Someone help me
Is there any way to run cmd in elevated mode from recovery? It'd be nice to run wusa.exe and remove the update without needing normal/safe mode.
I've read about rootkits messing with the update, but in my previous search for viruses I Rand tdsskiller numerous times and removing any threat. Maybe it's a hardware (hdd) failure?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
TomanMT

 

[SIW2]

Not clear to me what your issue is. Are you sure it is the update, as you already uninstalled it?

Do you now have any kind of recovery/repair cd thing?

 

[TomanMT]

I thought it would be the update, but I just used DISM to try and find the update and remove it, but I couldn't find it.
I have no idea what else it could be if it isn't one of these new updates. Like I said, after removing the update everything worked perfectly again, so I left the computer out to turn it off later. I read about other people doing the same thing and the update reinstalling so that was my best guess.
I've also run a chkdsk which showed an orphaned file, but otherwise it's fine.

 

[TomanMT]

I'm currently in France and left those CDs in the US

 

[SIW2]

You can find a repair cd


You can also get win7 installation media iso files, which have the repair options on them.They are big, of course. About halfway down the page here:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/174907-clean-install-factory-coa-activation-key.html

 

[TomanMT]

I'll have a look tomorrow, thanks!

 

[TomanMT]

What would I do with it though?

 

[TomanMT]

I won't be able to get those discs for a few days but this happened (check attachments)

 

[TomanMT]

At this point I'm just cataloguing what I've done.

I've deduced that the reason why windows won't log me into anything is because windows explorer doesn't work and won't start.
I've created an administrator account with cmd in recovery, which gets me into safe mode but without any toolbar, start button, anything. Just the black screen with safe mode written in all corners. However, I can boot into safe mode with cmd. I tried starting explorer.exe with it, to no avail.
This seems to be some kind of virus, but it seemed like I was completely free of anything after extensive searching with VistaKing. It seems like things have turned around, where I thought my first problem was a virus but was actually a bad windows update, and now what I thought was the update being reinstalled is actually a virus.
Something to note is that I've extensively reskinned my windows, using universal theme patcher and others. I read that this 'weakens' windows and makes it more susceptible to viruses.
The essence of the problem: stuck at welcome screen with both normal and safe mode

 

[SIW2]

I would try this:

If you have space, reinstall win 7 from the iso, without formatting, that should put your existing stuff into windows.old. You should be able to boot into the new installation and get your data out of the windows.old folder.

 

[TomanMT]

Forgot to add that when I boot normally I get this message: "the user profile service failed the logon."

Otherwise I've tried to run wusa.exe in safe mode with cmd to remove the update even though DISM didn't see it (who knows) and so far it looks like cmd is useless in here.

 

[TomanMT]

Thanks for the response, I'll definitely try that!