Win 7 boots with Last known good config, but not without...

[CoastalData]

I've got a laptop I'm working on for a friend running windows 7; it boots up fine using safe mode for LKGC (Last known good configuration) but whenever I try to boot it normally, it never gets to the login screen, you just end up with an almost black screen and a movable cursor.

I've tried a couple of system restores, but I don't want to keep going back without knowing what or when that last "LKGC" was, and/or what's different from now...

I did run Malwarebytes on it, and it did find and remove a few things, most of which were only in temp folders...

I also ran sfc /scannow and it found no windows file corruptions...

Shoot, now I just rebooted with the bootlog option, and... it seems to work as well... NO, it did come up, but I can't click on anything...

What's going on here, any ideas anyone?

Thanks in advance,

--Jon

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Jon how old is the machine mate and what security have you on it.

In any case you can try running these two
(download from bleeping computer)


http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
&

http://www.superantispyware.com/

You could just check out the event viewer too and see if there are any red critical messages.

 

[gregrocker]

Work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.

 

[CoastalData]

Actually, by now I've already gone through almost all of those steps, or variations on them, but the mistake that I realize I made on the title of this thread is that, actually, the computer does boot just fine... the real problem is that, except under safe mode or bootlog mode, windows won't finish loading. It stops just before the login sequence with no background, just a live, movable mouse and no disk activity. Under bootlog, windows completes loading, but no icons are clickable, no links, nothing, I had to use the power button to shut it down.

 

[gregrocker]

If you'd gone through the steps you'd have already rescued your data and run Dell Windows 7 PC Restore or gotten a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 , since those are the last resort if nothing else works.

I'd run Dell Diagnostics Utility to check over the hardware first. If it runs save only its (OEM) partition during booted reinstall since Recovery partition will not work after reinstall.

 

[CoastalData]

Well actually, it's an Acer, and I did not see an option for a builtin restore feature, but trust me, I did look.

I was hoping to find an easy fix for a system that seems so close to actually being fixed, and it seemed that a reinstall was a bit of overkill.

Of course, I do know how to do a reinstall at least 100 different ways, what I was looking for here was if someone had a bit of experience with this specific problem, not so much in the very general sense of reinstalling the OS.

 

[gregrocker]

I thought you had a Dell by your specs. The steps to run Acer Factory Recovery and if possible make the Recovery disks which should be made at setup are here: Acer Support: Frequently Asked Questions list for Recovery media and Restoring a system to factory load

The point of the Reinstall would be to get it done perfectly this one time so you can save a backup image and never have to reinstall again. The steps in the tutorial are based on helping here with tens of thousands of reinstalls, what works best and will assure getting and keeping a perfect install. That's not a hundred different ways, or the Factory Recovery which is the worst possible install one can have and pretend like it's Win7.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Surprise to me too how come the specs were Dell mate? could have been onto this as Greg has just posted way back

 

[CoastalData]

Oh, ooops, those are MY system specs... I never thought about changing that, when working on another computer... Is that what folks typically do?

 

[CoastalData]

Okay, much as I'd rather have not, I did run the Acer restore, and it has reinstalled all the crapware that came with the laptop, and uninstalled all the needed software like Office, hence why I was looking for a solution, not just a way to reinstall the os. Guess that didn't save me any time or effort.

 

[gregrocker]

You also have the worst possible install because if you'd read or interacted decently with us on the steps we gave you (which offer everything known that can be done to fix WIn7) you would know that Factory Reinstall is a corrupt install which smothers Win7 with bloatware.

So you were offered by contrast the best possible install to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 but probably didn't read that either since you asked no questions and just want to complain.

At the bare minimum I'd Clean Up Factory Bloatware to regain some performance smothered by the bloatware.

If you own Office or other programs you should have the installer and already have backed up your Product Keys - which steps are also in the tutorial, so who knows. If you were nice I'd give you links to the Office installers but I'm not messing with you any more.