Windows7 (64bit) booting fails every 5 or 6 times.

[acerman64]

I almost think this thread's title says it all: it seems that after around a handful of successful boots, that after I enter my password successfully, the system transitions to the next window where it proceeds to hang indefinitely. At that point, I power down, wait a minute and then power up. 99.9% of the time the system will boot up successfully. I haven't had any luck figuring out the cause and just 'discovered' this SeverForums website.

 

[gregrocker]

Confirm the 100mb System Reserved partition (preferred if you have it) or C is Partition Marked Active

Then run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times to see if it finds anything to repair.

If this doesn't help post back a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image

 

[acerman64]

hey greg,

first of all i want to say that i think this forum's the cat's whiskers! i plan to tell my computer using friends about it at first chance.

on to this thread:

i'm attaching a screen image i took. the links to other links/replies suggests it's a good idea to take a cautious approach before getting started as it feels like this represents going where i've n'er gone before.

i hope you get to cast your gaze across it and would let me know if it changes anything.

i have tried 'everything' i felt might/could help repair this, e.g. Norton 360, Malwarebytes, WinZIP Utilities, CHKDSK (hours long to finish w/o incident), w/o luck so far.

this PC came with Windows 7 (and 8) pre-installed. I think it didn't require having to downgrade to 7 from 8.

acerman.

 

[gregrocker]

You have a UEFI installation so no need to mark Active just try Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times.

Look over these steps for getting a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which is a much leaner, better performing install of Win7 without the crippling factory bloatware and duplicate utilities which interfere with better versions built into Win7.

Make sure you have a Win7 COA sticker on the PC with readable Product Key.

To reinstall in UEFI mode requires some special steps detailed in UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums or you can avoid the extra layer of complication and do a normal install shown in Bypass UEFI to Install WIn7

 

[acerman64]

If I take the Startup Repair approach, which of the options provided in its tutorial are to be used? I am to do it three times - is that correct? Do I need to do anything with 'BIOS' settings? I would not yet know how to fiddle with that. Am I correct in believing everything after the first sentence would not apply if this remedies the problem I wrote about?

 

[gregrocker]

The Clean Reinstall wouldn't apply if you want the grossly inferior factory install which means you'll never get to experience true Win7 performance, but struggle with the worst install one can have.

You shouldn't need to change settings in BIOS as long as you didn't already change any. UEFI should be set to on in BIOS, you should be booting into DVD with it labeled UEFI DVD on the one-time BIOS Boot menu key accessed during boot by tapping the F12 key. If not then the setting in BIOS may have gotten changed, needs to be reset to UEFI with Legacy Boot or CSM disabled.

So you'd boot the Win7 DVD as above then on second screen select Repair My Computer, let it detect installation, see if it offers any repairs, and if not from the tools menu run Startup Repair.

 

[acerman64]

The myriad steps described in the document "Clean Reinstall" found in this forum take the effort required to get my desktop to behave about the same way it did when it left the box to a new level. I don't see any compelling reason not to take the "quick 'n dirty" approach spelled out anywhere to persuade me to invest the time that would take. Those who'd disagree are invited to lend their tangible reasons to this discussion. (And btw, what did that document mean here:"Special Note to Acer Owners: There is an OEM Preload folder in the C:/ drive that holds all the pre loaded software, including the erecovery software." I'm an Acer owner and I don't understand its relevance.)

Since I want my desktop to be working no worse when I'm finished than it was to begin with, I've attached the first page of a Belarc audit which I hope gets you more information than I could provide myself. As well, I'm adding a screen capture of some system information. As I'm unfamiliar with the intricacies of OS-es and the like, this hopefully defines my system's configuration in the event there's any reason to alter your prescriptive advice.

I hit F12 repeatedly when rebooting to access the BIOS thing and I noticed that there are two choices, each the same, i.e. "P3: Slimtype DVDA DS8A8SH". Does this mean that if I place the "System Repair Disc" I made that it will boot from there? (As you see, I'm one naive user) and that from there I choose the option to 'Repair your computer"? Assuming I'm correct, at the point where the first iteration's concluded, what next, exactly? Does the "System Repair Disc" need to be labelled "UEFI DVD" for this to work?

 

[gregrocker]

Yes, in the Boot Menu you found the Win7 install media or System Repair Disk should be labeled UEFI in order to know you are booting it in UEFI mode, since you have a UEFI install.

The note regarding Acer is to direct you to a folder on your C drive where sometimes you can find the installers for all of the preinstalled software so you can reinstall any you really want after a Clean Reinstall.

Don't worry if you don't want the reinstall as it is a project for tech enthusiasts. Most of the steps are preparatory so you don't forget anything. We'll help you get sorted either way. Let us know what Startup Repair reports.

How to Boot A Computer from CD or DVD - YouTube

 

[acerman64]

Although my Windows account has administrator privs, when I attempted to replace the label w/ "UEFI" , it claimed I had insufficient privs!!!

 

[gregrocker]

Sorry but you have missed the point. To repair a UEFI install you must boot the disk in UEFI mode, not by relabeling it UEFI. UEFI is a new layer of crap they've added onto BIOS to supposedly increase security, but all it does it confound our installation and repair methods which were established here for Win7 under beta. It's better to not install in UEFI but since you have a UEFI install already then when you boot the Repair CD to run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times it will need to be booted as a UEFI disk in the BIOS boot menu. Since you said it was already labeled that way in the Boot Menu, just click on it to boot the disk.

 

[Jay33]

similar problem - but now in boot repair jail

had a similar problem - and ran the Windows Repair 3 times times and got a message that ntoskrnl.exe was corrupt. Ended up running Repair using my install disk and that message went away. Now it says that it doesn't know what is wrong and all the boot routines are working. Only problem is on restart I can only get to the Repair program and the advanced options.... have tried all the options there to no avail. Any suggestions....??? Thanks

 

[gregrocker]

Jay, is yours a UEFI install too? If so then I would not waste any more time if the repair will not work. If you eed to rescue files you can use Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console or Paragon Rescue Kit Free Edition 11.0 Free,

Then I'd reinstall if necessary in UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with, or preferably by Bypassing UEFI to Install WIn7.

If not a UEFI install then you can also try the additional steps compiled here for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.