Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Update Safe Mode Fix?

[BretMan]

I'm posting my experience to get feedback on what likely happened and why, to understand it. Trying to get to the point, after a reboot my Firefox 29.0.1 browser will normally hang a few minutes after opening to the point of a "Program not responding" alert and requires it to be closed, sometimes with Task Manager, but after that first time it works fine until the next reboot which can be days later. About a week ago it would inexplicably start to hang at any time. Then a few days ago, my Thunderbird 17.0.8 email client also began to hang and stall but would eventually complete. Often I'd get duplicate emails for some reason. Yesterday things got worse and other programs would start to hang and had to be closed. I noticed the Windows Update icon in the System Tray stated Windows was checking for updates. I have my Windows Update settings set to auto download but let me choose when to install. The checking for updates seemed to be taking a long time, like 45 minutes, then it would say Installing updates and m system would hang. My system pretty much would later freeze and at that point I'd have to hard reboot (power off then restart), since it became unresponsive. The HDD would be constantly accessed during these hang periods although Task Manager would show System Idle Process at almost 100%. One time, a small script appeared above the System Tray stating the Microsoft had determined I have and invalid version of Windows and all programs I have are valid. I decided to see if I could do a System Restore in Safe Mode or try one of my diagnostic programs. Surprisingly there were no restore points and I know I had created one a couple days ago. I saw the option at System Security>Troubleshooting problems preventing Windows Update from working correctly and gave that a shot. After it was done it said it can't be run in Safe Mode for a network connection, which I don't have, then it stated "Troubleshooting has made some changes to your system" and to reboot and try whatever I was doing before when the problem started. I rebooted and it was very slow and took almost an hour to get to the Desktop. Once there, my system seems to be working fast and normally again. I saw your post about the Microsoft System Update Readiness Tool and plan to will install it today. So, can anyone explain 1- What happened - so others don't need to almost panic like I did? I lost a whole days work fixing this issue. I assume it was an issue with Windows update. Also: 2- Why did my restore points vanish? 3- Is SURT already a part of the Safe Mode Troubleshooting I performed and by installing the download will I be installing the same tool or an enhanced one? 4- I've always had my Windows Update set to download updates and wait for me choose when to install, it instead always installs when I do a normal shut down. Is there a fix?

 

[NoelDP]

1) your Firefox/Thunderbird problems are consistent with a corrupted or over-large temporary files cache.
2) SURT is NOT part of any built-in troubleshooting - and requires download and install/run (although it may be offered by Windows update, it's more common for it to be downloaded and run manually)
3) you other problems could be caused by a number of problems - my suspicions are either corruption, disk problems, or both.

Please first run a CHKDSK to check the status of the hard drive

Click on Start > All Programs > Accessories
Right-click on the Command Prompt entry
Select Run as Administrator and accept the UAC prompt - the Elevated Command Prompt window should pop up.
At the Command prompt, type
CHKDSK C: /R
and hit the Enter key.
You will be told that the drive is locked, and the CHKDSK will run at the next boot - hit the Y key, and then reboot.
The CHKDSK will take a few hours depending on the size of the drive, so be patient!
After the CHKDSK has run, Windows should boot normally (possibly after a second auto-reboot) - then post your Event logs...


Open Event Viewer
click on the Windows logs entry in the left pane to expand it.
Now click on the Application entry - wait while it loads.
Click on 'File' in the menu bar and select Save...
Save the file as Appevt.evtx
Repeat for the System log
then zip both, and upload them.

 

[BretMan]

Thanks for the reply. First let me mention the huge paragraph I posted was unavoidable as when my correctly spaced post was posted, it all combined into that paragraph. I did it twice and got the same result. Must be a bug with this site. Soon after my post on Friday (I think) I had major problems again experiencing super slow downs (response time clicking on anything took about 15 to 20 minutes) and crashes which would take over an hour to reboot/restore. Fortunately it always restored since after each failure I'd create a restore point since when I'd check they would all be gone. I was able to research with my backup PC and read about Superfetch, which the last update or SURT install may have turned off. It found was on. I stumbled on what I think was the problem, which was a maxed out HDD (94%). I cleaned out 20GB from the Recycle Bin and things sped up some. My guess is the update and SURT install " was the straw that broke the camel's back" I then did a fresh backup to my external HDD. Now, late yesterday (Tues) it's running fast and normal again however I next plan to clean out many unused programs and whatever else I can move out. Follow up questions: 1- At 94% full of my 1TB HDD the update and SURT install accounted for less then 1GB. Even though I deleted 20GB the real speed up to normal happened hours later. Why didn't it happen right away? 2- I can't find any info. on using SURT. You say to use it manually. The install didn't create a desktop icon so I will create one. To use it, do I first execute an update install then run SURT manually or do I use it to perform the install somehow? I'm not clear about what it does or how to use it. 3- Is there any way to create a rescue disk or usb drive file which has a current restore point, so if the ext. HDD backup fails, the system can be restored to my current settings and I won't have to lose everything else as with the rescue disk I have now, made after the first setup of the PC? 4- The reboots always cleared out my restore points. If there wasn't room for them I assume they wouldn't have been created to begin with. Why were they being deleted? Also, I believe the restore point files are .exe files which are hidden and can't be un-hidden. If they are deleted, do they go to the Recycle Bin and if so, how can they be identified to say, from Safe Mode, be restored and executed in an emergency?

 

[NoelDP]

SURT is simply a collection of parts of Windows Update installs that MS has found to be commonly corrupted for whatever reason - when run, it checks the system to see if there are errors in certain areas, and if so, it checks to see if it has the relevant files. If it does, it replaces the corrupted ones, and then exits. If it doesn't, then the log file it creates will tell us which files it couldn't fix (or which registry entries), and we can do most of them manually. The tool is updated every couple of months with the latest data - if you were ever to fully expand it, it comes out to being over 6GB, but the system actually only expands parts of it at need (which is why the progress bar may seem to stall during the run).
It doesn't 'Install' anything - merely corrects problems in the installation of Windows Updates - so there is no shortcut (and no need for one) It just runs, leaves a log file, and exits.

It's always dangerous running any hard drive over about 85% of capacity - it is likely to result in massive fragmentation of files, and system slowdowns - or even crashes, if the Virtual Memory is unable to expand to a required size. It also can result in lost System Restore points, failure to defrag, and other problems - I really do recommend running an SFC /SCANNOW to check that you don't have system problems as a result.

I would doubt that simply uninstalling programs will free the preferred 100GB of space - you should back up data to external media (and check the backup) before deleting it from the partition. You may also find significant performance improvements by partitioning your hard drive properly - say 100GB for the OS and programs, and the remainder for data. This would obviously mean a reformat/reinstall.

 

[BretMan]

Thanks Noel. I ran the SFC ... as you advised and left it running last night. It said it will "take some time" to complete. This morning the window is gone and I don't see a report. Does it put a report somewhere and if so where?

 

[NoelDP]

SFC - or CHKDSK?
IF you ran CHKDSK, please post your Event logs as requested, as the results are buried in there.
If instead, you ran SFC, then post your (compressed) C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log file - you'll need to copy it to the desktop before you can compress the copy, since the file is permanently in use and won't allow normal operations on it.

 

[BretMan]

No. You suggested I run SFC /SCANNOW and I did but there's no result, unless it's still doing it (?). How long does it take to complete? I don't see it listed in Task Manager as a working process now. My system is set to auto-sleep after 3 hrs of inactivity, so when I woke up this morning it was in sleep mode and logging on showed no running SFC /SCANNOW window or report.

 

[NoelDP]

NO - what I said was to follow the instructions...

PLEASE just follow these ones, and post the result - that will probably give us the data we need (but ONLY if you follow the instructions...)


Please follow the Windows Update Posting Instructions and post the requested data
If the file is too large (8MB compressed), remove the older CBSPersist cab files until the final file is below the limit - you can always post them separately after zipping them. (the forum doesn't allow the upload of bare CAB files, for a number of reasons)

 

[BretMan]

Ok, got it. I created the shortcut and found the file and every entry states "Beginning Verify and Repair transaction" but not "repairing" so my guess is it didn't need to make any repairs. It also looks like it only needed 4 minutes to complete. Does that sound right? I don't see how to attach the file here so I copy/pasted it below. Please advise. 2014-06-12 19:15:35, Info CSI 00000009 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:15:35, Info CSI 0000000a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:15:38, Info CSI 0000000c [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:15:39, Info CSI 0000000d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:15:39, Info CSI 0000000e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:15:43, Info CSI 00000010 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:15:43, Info CSI 00000011 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:15:43, Info CSI 00000012 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:15:47, Info CSI 00000014 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:15:47, Info CSI 00000015 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:15:47, Info CSI 00000016 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:15:51, Info CSI 00000018 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:15:51, Info CSI 00000019 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:15:51, Info CSI 0000001a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:15:54, Info CSI 0000001c [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:15:55, Info CSI 0000001d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:15:55, Info CSI 0000001e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:15:58, Info CSI 00000020 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:15:58, Info CSI 00000021 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:15:58, Info CSI 00000022 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:01, Info CSI 00000024 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:01, Info CSI 00000025 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:01, Info CSI 00000026 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:05, Info CSI 00000028 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:05, Info CSI 00000029 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:05, Info CSI 0000002a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:08, Info CSI 0000002c [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:09, Info CSI 0000002d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:09, Info CSI 0000002e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:11, Info CSI 00000030 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:12, Info CSI 00000031 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:12, Info CSI 00000032 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:15, Info CSI 00000034 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:16, Info CSI 00000035 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:16, Info CSI 00000036 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:20, Info CSI 00000038 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:21, Info CSI 00000039 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:21, Info CSI 0000003a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:26, Info CSI 0000003c [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:26, Info CSI 0000003d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:26, Info CSI 0000003e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:30, Info CSI 00000040 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:30, Info CSI 00000041 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:30, Info CSI 00000042 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:35, Info CSI 00000044 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:35, Info CSI 00000045 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:35, Info CSI 00000046 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:42, Info CSI 00000048 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:42, Info CSI 00000049 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:42, Info CSI 0000004a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:45, Info CSI 0000004c [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:45, Info CSI 0000004d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:45, Info CSI 0000004e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:50, Info CSI 00000050 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:50, Info CSI 00000051 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:50, Info CSI 00000052 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:53, Info CSI 00000054 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:54, Info CSI 00000055 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:54, Info CSI 00000056 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:16:58, Info CSI 00000058 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:16:59, Info CSI 00000059 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:16:59, Info CSI 0000005a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:02, Info CSI 0000005c [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:03, Info CSI 0000005d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:03, Info CSI 0000005e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:06, Info CSI 00000060 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:06, Info CSI 00000061 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:06, Info CSI 00000062 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:10, Info CSI 00000064 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:10, Info CSI 00000065 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:10, Info CSI 00000066 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:13, Info CSI 00000068 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:14, Info CSI 00000069 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:14, Info CSI 0000006a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:18, Info CSI 0000006c [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:19, Info CSI 0000006d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:19, Info CSI 0000006e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:23, Info CSI 00000070 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:23, Info CSI 00000071 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:23, Info CSI 00000072 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:28, Info CSI 00000074 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:29, Info CSI 00000075 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:29, Info CSI 00000076 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:34, Info CSI 00000078 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:35, Info CSI 00000079 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:35, Info CSI 0000007a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:37, Info CSI 0000007c [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:38, Info CSI 0000007d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:38, Info CSI 0000007e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:43, Info CSI 00000080 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:44, Info CSI 00000081 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:44, Info CSI 00000082 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:48, Info CSI 00000084 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:49, Info CSI 00000085 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:49, Info CSI 00000086 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:52, Info CSI 00000088 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:52, Info CSI 00000089 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:52, Info CSI 0000008a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:55, Info CSI 0000008c [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:55, Info CSI 0000008d [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:55, Info CSI 0000008e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:17:58, Info CSI 00000090 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:17:58, Info CSI 00000091 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:17:58, Info CSI 00000092 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:18:06, Info CSI 00000094 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:18:07, Info CSI 00000095 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:18:07, Info CSI 00000096 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:18:15, Info CSI 00000098 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:18:16, Info CSI 00000099 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:18:16, Info CSI 0000009a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:18:23, Info CSI 0000009d [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:18:23, Info CSI 0000009e [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:18:23, Info CSI 0000009f [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:18:30, Info CSI 000000a1 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:18:31, Info CSI 000000a2 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:18:31, Info CSI 000000a3 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:18:38, Info CSI 000000a5 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:18:38, Info CSI 000000a6 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:18:38, Info CSI 000000a7 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:18:46, Info CSI 000000ab [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:18:47, Info CSI 000000ac [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:18:47, Info CSI 000000ad [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:18:53, Info CSI 000000af [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:18:54, Info CSI 000000b0 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:18:54, Info CSI 000000b1 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:18:59, Info CSI 000000b3 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:19:00, Info CSI 000000b4 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:19:00, Info CSI 000000b5 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction 2014-06-12 19:19:05, Info CSI 000000b8 [SR] Verify complete 2014-06-12 19:19:06, Info CSI 000000b9 [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components 2014-06-12 19:19:06, Info CSI 000000ba [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction

 

[BretMan]

... How do I get my post to include my original spacing? The site always crams it all into one huge paragraph which must be a challenge for you to read.

 

[NoelDP]

How are you composing the post? what browser are you using to post?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

 

[BretMan]

I'm writing in the "Quick Reply" window now as I would normally write text, using the default settings of the site. I follow a period with a space before starting the next sentence. After a sentence or a group of sentences of the same topic I hit "Enter" twice to start a new paragraph. I'll do that now ...

This sentence should be the beginning of a new paragraph.

This sentence should be the beginning of yet another new paragraph and if this reply posts correctly then my guess is the problem must have to do with the amount which is written. The first time it created the single huge paragraph I noticed that the very end of my message was cut off. So I re-wrote it a little shorter so it would all post but still, it created the single paragraph. If this is how it works, the site should display that it's going to do that so the user can make changes for clarity and save everyone else's time.

(New paragraph) I followed the attachment instructions so the file should be attached too.

 

[NoelDP]

The SFC scan terminated badly - i.e. it appears to have crashed.
I need the FULL data as requested in my link - not the useless cr&p you may have been advised about elsewhere.

 

[BretMan]

I tried everything I could to get it to complete a report but it never went past 12% with sfc /scannow or about 32% with sfc /verifyonly. So, assuming files have been corrupted I decided to perform a Repair-Install following member Brink's post and also PC World's.

It's running great now and sfc / verifyonly completes to 100% with no validation errors.

Thanks for your help!

 

[NoelDP]

Good to know.

Good luck with it.