windows 7 startup loop, can't boot from anything, NoRootCause

[meangene67]

Power went out and so did my pc. I'm not super savy with lingo but can find my way around with good directions.

can't boot from anything
no safe mode
I've tried a few things in command prompt, no luck so far.
not wanting to reinstall
where do I begin?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hello and welcome meangene mate you could try this

BOOTABLEUBUNTU

Makea bootable Ubuntu disk http://www.ubuntu.com/download

Setthe BIOS to boot from the optical when the machine boots it will show you ascreen with TRY or INSTALL > select TRY

Whenit is finished - it takes very little time you will get a screen like in thepic .

Openthe drive you want > User and dig down until you get to the data / settingsyou may be able to copy / paste the material you want to an external source orother installed drive doing this.

Iam not sure if it will but I have recovered tons of data etc using this methodboth on "dead" or just plain drives that you cannot get data fromusing Windows.

This is what I usually post but in your case it will show you what you have in that drive, access the net and then access drive tests etc

 

[meangene67]

That is more like my last option to copy, killdisk, and then reinstall. i dont even know if it would work because i cant boot from disc.

any other opinions?

 

[meangene67]

hello? anyone else have any ideas?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Mate did you try the Ubuntu like I suggested as you can test the hard drive and do several other tests when in that program.

At very least if you have any data you can retrieve it before doing this.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164

There are few things also in this http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219533-troubleshooting-windows-7-failure-boot.html

But if you are not happy with my suggestions then I shall unsubscribe and let someone else take up the cudgel. Please let me know what you want me to do.

 

[meangene67]

im sorry i thought the program was only for retrieving data. but like i said, i can't boot from anything. in F2 during startup, all my bootable devices are enclosed in parenthesis meaning they are disabled. i've read something of a windows partition, is that what would be causing this? I will dl and make the disc ICit2lol, and let you know how it goes. Didn't mean to piss you off, but other posts had more responses. I am trying to soak up all knowledge before proceeding. seeing as i have no clue what i am really doing and learning on the fly with all of this.

 

[meangene67]

it may storm here all day too, so i more than likely will wait till tomorrow to work on it. dont wanna chance being in the middle of something and bam, another power outage to screw it up even more. would've a ups prevented all of this?

 

[meangene67]

Hello and welcome meangene mate you could try this

BOOTABLEUBUNTU

Makea bootable Ubuntu disk http://www.ubuntu.com/download

Setthe BIOS to boot from the optical when the machine boots it will show you ascreen with TRY or INSTALL > select TRY

Whenit is finished - it takes very little time you will get a screen like in thepic .

Openthe drive you want > User and dig down until you get to the data / settingsyou may be able to copy / paste the material you want to an external source orother installed drive doing this.

Iam not sure if it will but I have recovered tons of data etc using this methodboth on "dead" or just plain drives that you cannot get data fromusing Windows.

This is what I usually post but in your case it will show you what you have in that drive, access the net and then access drive tests etc

obsessively been trying anyways.
tried the ubuntu disc, and i think its messed up.

it eventually boots but not after several missing kernel or image messages and scrolling green text screens. it was a very crude main screen. NO TEXTS! listed under all Fkeys, then try without install, install, memory test, boot from device, etc. not at all like your pic from above. i will look into the disc and download

 

[meangene67]

yep only had partial download, same for windows boot disc. re downloading with a hardline.

 

[meangene67]

does it matter which usb port i put it in?

 

[meangene67]

no good on windows recovery usb, if i even have the right iso. is it about 3 GB?
anyways, gonna try ubuntu now.

 

[meangene67]

neither worked via usb. i went into bios and set 1st boot to usb storage too. i guess ill try making a disc. is there a difference?

 

[meangene67]

no luck with usb, windows disc works. went to repair. cant find my operating system. burning ubuntu now

 

[meangene67]

ubunto works in disc drive.

where do i go from here to test and restore my drive.

i prefer not to reinstall

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok mate sorry late reply it is morning here and just got up from latte night (work).
Yes I personally prefer using disks for this sort of thing.

Now in that purple screen as in my original pic the drive(s) should be listed near the bottom of the left hand side of the screen where I indicated with that red arrow. Now click on the drive and it should appear at the top where the yellow circle is. Now it has been some time since I last used this but I think you right click on a drive and it will give you the contents just follow my pics to see the sequence of doing it. The pics will give you an idea of what will be shown but maybe slightly different in colours etc.
Now there will be some files it will not open but you can still save them (can delete them after if not needed if useless) The net can be accessed through Firefox for you to download Seatools or any testing programs. However you may need to save those to a separate stick - I have never used it that way but have tried it. My use was really for retrieving data and opening "dead" drives.
You should be able to run drive testing gear though from the stick if loaded onto that.

NB follow the pics by the numbers on them as the pics are sometimes downloaded out of sequence. I will add the original now to save you digging back to it.

 

[meangene67]

which files should i backup?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

which files should i backup?

Any that are important to you such as documents, pics, spreadsheets etc Now there files that the Ubuntu will not open but may contain stuff you want if it were me I would just save Documents in total to an external or other internal drive.
When replaced onto a new drive or clean install from the external / internal drive you copy them to - you open them with whatever programs they are created with. Stuff you do not want you can delete. Time consuming - yes but it saves missing data you need or would like to keep.

 

[meangene67]

i backed up whole drive

 

[meangene67]

when reinstalling i cant locate my drive(again), so how do i format the drive? i have a killdisk?

 

[meangene67]

screw it using killdisk.

killed my ssd, now killing the 2tb(7 hours to go).
there also lists a recovery drive, should i kill that?

now, the disc i used for windows recovery. is this also the install disc, or do i have to dl that?