Solved windows 7 will not proceed past "welcome"

[johnwharper]

I can't use my other laptop as I can't get past the Welcome screen. I have looked at a lot of solutions on Forum, but all seem to be useless in my case. Most are like "If your car won't start, drive it to the repair shop". I can't download, reinstall Windows, or do anything because I can't get past Welcome. Any ideas?

 

[UsernameIssues]

Welcome to the Seven Forums.

Can you boot to the safe mode?
Tapping F8 during a reboot should get you there.

 

[nilank]

Get into Safe mode as suggested by UsernameIssues, then click Start > Type "msconfig" > Hit Enter.

Uncheck everything under Start up tab. Then go to services tab > Check "Hide all Microsoft services" > Uncheck all the services now > Restart into normal mode and report back.

 

[JC Zorkoff]

I have had problems like this when the OS was trying to access some device that was not responding. Usually it would continue if I waited long enough.

You might try disconnecting all devices ... including the network connection ... and allow several minutes for any timeouts to expire.

 

[pscowboy]

You weren't explicit enough on your Windows reinstallation comment.

This happens offline via the optical and there is no "Welcome" until the process is complete.

Have you done this and froze at "Welcome"? That would be interesting!

 

[johnwharper]

The computer is an HP laptop. Not connected to a network or any other device. Sequence is: Turn computer on, enter password when given screen to do so, press enter, then "Welcome" appears and nothing happens after that........hitting F8 repeatedly does not help.........

 

[nilank]

Please note that you've to hit F8 just after you power on your system, before the Windows boot screen appears.

 

[johnwharper]

You are a genius.....Thanks so much........

 

[nilank]

Woah, woah, wait dude! How did you solve your problem? Please post back the solution so that it helps others out there in the future!

 

[johnwharper]

johnwharper

Ha! So sorry, I was just so excited to regain acess to my computer. By hitting F8 repeatedly just after pushing the power button, I got acess to a page which included Recovery Manager. After trying several options, all for naught, I finally had to Restore to Factory Settings. Once that process completed, I had a "new" computer......since I use an off-site backup, I am now "rebuilding". Bottom line, I was only able to correct the problem of "cant get past welcome" by going back to factory settings. Only by using the F8 tip was I able to get access to my Os.

 

[UsernameIssues]

Glad that you got it working.

Sorry that I was not clear on when to tap F8. I looked for a good YouTube video to add to that post, but did not find one.

I hope that your offsite backup really had the files that you thought it did. Too often I find that people trust the default settings for apps like Carbonite, iDrive, Mozy... only to learn that some files were never being backed up. As long as you know where the files are that you want backed up, then those programs work pretty well. Sadly, some of those programs automatically exclude "large" video files. I guess home movies are not important.

 

[johnwharper]

johnwharper

you are right about the backups, of course, but something is better than nothing, which is what I had. worst part is reloading all the softwares.......dont know why none of the recovery/restore options (that you helped me access) did not work, restoring to factory settings was a last resort, but it was the only thing that worked. thanks again.

 

[nilank]

Oh, well, glad to know you got things sorted out!