# Vista won't boot (blinking cursor after splash screen)



## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

Hi,

I'm having quite a severe problem with my laptop and I'm hoping somebody might be able to help me find a solution! My laptop won't boot - it gets past the Fujitsu Siemens splash screen and then just gives a blinking underscore in the top left corner. I have tried several things already:

Pressing F8 to try to boot to safe mode. There is a slightly longer loading time then I get the same blinking cursor and no boot menu.
Changing the boot order (putting the hard drive as the prority). No change.
Pressing F10 to access recovery options. Same symptoms as pressing F8m
Booting from my friend's recovery disk (I have either lost mine, or never mad one - can't remember). Wouldn't let me use the disks on my pc.

I have a recovery partition on the hard drive but don't know how to access it. I'd really appreciate any help as it would be difficult for me to afford a new laptop right now! Also, could anyone suggest whether it's likely to be a software or hardware problem? I'm considering buying a new Vista disk or XP (might be cheaper) and using this to access the recovery partition - but not much point if the HDD is broken!

Thanks in advance for any help!

One more thing - I never installed any service packs, not sure if that makes a difference.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi and welcome to TSF did you set the cd\dvd drive as first boot device when you tried the disc,you can get the manual from here support Fujitsu that should tell you the key combo to access the recovery drive


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## marco23p (Oct 10, 2010)

uhhh, whats you're os?

also if its a hard ware it will be a HDD issue

could you please provide the laptop model you have. Thank you


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

OS is vista


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## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

Hi guys,

Thanks for replying and for the welcome! I did try different boot orders - the CD is before the HD by default, but I've tried moving the HD to the top of the list and that didn't help. I'm running Vista but without service packs, and my laptop is a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pi 2515.

According to the manual, the key is F8 but I've tried pressing this and it doesn't bring up the menu that should come up. The small blue loading bar on the splach screen goes across twice (instead of once, which happens if I don't press the key) so I know something is happening, but then it just goes to the blinking cursor! Does this suggest a hardware problem or might it just be software?


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## marco23p (Oct 10, 2010)

try holding on to the f8 key, I have that issue with acer some times

and joeten, yah I looked where he had os vista and then I felt special... HERKA DERKA...


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi you can use sea tools for dos to test the drive there is a tutorial there too
| Seagate but test only


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## marco23p (Oct 10, 2010)

Uhh I looked up said laptop and aperently it comes with a separate disk for recovery..... I dont think it has a recovery partition


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## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

Tried holding F8, and that doesn't seem to help (the blue loading bar pauses whenever the key is held down, but if I let it go the bar fills up twice and then I get the blinking cursor again). I'm quite concerned that it won't even let me access this menu! Doesn't sound good! Maybe I need to try a different button? (though I've tried all the F keys and none seemed to help!)


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

You have to hit F8 before the Windows Splash Screen, That should give you the *Advanced Bootup Menu* (Safe Mode, etc) First try *Last Known Good Configuratio*n. If that fails, try *Safe Mode*. If that fails, Try *Repair My Compute*r. You may need your Vista DVD to proceed.


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## james137 (Aug 11, 2009)

if you cant get the F8 thing working this is what I do.


this should be done only if you cant get the F8 working....

Start computer
wait to see windows vista logo
pull out the plug from the wall (or hold the on button for 5-10 sec)

restart computer
wait
then...


> That should give you the *Advanced Bootup Menu* (Safe Mode, etc) First try *Last Known Good Configuratio*n. If that fails, try *Safe Mode*. If that fails, Try *Repair My Compute*r. You may need your Vista DVD to proceed.


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## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

Hi guys, thanks for the suggestions - maybe I should clarify, the "splash screen" I was talking about is the Fujitsu Siemens one - it doesn't get as far as the Vista one. Perhaps I used the wrong name!

I have tried powering off by holding down the button (have to do this every time the blinking cursor comes up) and this doesn't seem to help!


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## james137 (Aug 11, 2009)

ok that is a bigger problem. 

Find your vista DVD (bootable) put it in and press "repair my computer"

read this 1st
Boot from CD - How to Boot your Computer from a Bootable CD or DVD - Boot to CD


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## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

I'm afraid it gets even worse as I don't have a Vista CD! My laptop came with Vista pre-installed, and I think I have lost the recovery discs (I've moved house since I got the laptop and must have misplaced them). Is there a recovery utility I could download that might work?


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, first thing to do is turn off all power to the laptop remove the mains connection and then remove the battery. Leave the battery out and boot from the mains only if success turn off power add battery and reboot.

If this fails, the neo smart RE disk will allow you to access the recovery environment, any copy of Vista will do for this BTW. Unlike 7, Vista does not have RE in advanced boot options you need the dvd. Now there are a number of ways to proceed once you are in RE, try a system Restore first. 

Let us know how you get on.


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## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

Thanks for the pointers guys - we're getting somewhere now, I've downloaded the recovery tools as recommended by james137 and put them onto a bootable USB stick. I can now load the recovery options. I have tried Startup Repair, but it concludes that there isn't a problem (odd, since it tests everything including boot logs and surely these would have some record of the problem?).

System Restore is no good as my computer has no restore points (I don't know why but I've never been able to tell it to create them automatically in the past). I don't have a backup disc so the Complete PC Restore option won't be any help.

So really we're left with the Command Prompt but I really don't know which commands will help...anybody got any experience with this and might be able to help?

Btw - I ran a hard disk diagnostic utility from my HD manufacturer, and it didn't detect any problems, so I think the hardware is all okay. I'm really confident this can be fixed but just don't know how to do it via the command prompt!

Thanks guys!


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## i MaRk i (Dec 29, 2009)

Hi-

From the command prompt run

bootrec.exe /fixboot

That will fix any problems with the MBR.

Regards,

Mark


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## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

i MaRk i said:


> Hi-
> 
> From the command prompt run
> 
> ...


Tried this and it gives an error:

"The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted." Chkdsk seems to think the disk is okay. Is this something which can be fixed?


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, I would try a chkdsk in RE (recovery environment) boot with the Cd in the drive and select the repair my computer option. Open command prompt at the X sources type :-


```
bcdedit |find "osdevice"
```
 press enter, this will tell us what drive the RE has placed the OS on (may not be C, usually is ), this is the drive letter will will use. Assume C: 

Then type:- C: press enter

Now type chkdsk C:/r press enter

If this fails we need to load the damaged hive, normally local service has replaced NT authority local service so the OS is not being seen. Using the command prompt in RE follow these instructions:-


At the command prompt, type regedit.exe and load 

the SYSTEM hive, follow the below steps.

a. Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

b. On the File menu, select Load Hive.

c. Browse to %WINDIR%\System32\Config Folder and 

select “SYSTEM”

d. Select Open.

e. In the Load Hive dialog box, type in “MySYSTEM” box 

for the registry hive that you want to edit.


After the hive is loaded, modify the following key 

value per the instructions below: You will need to know 

what ControlSet the machine is currently running on, this 

can be determined by going to 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\MySYSTEM\Select and find the 

“Current” value in the Right hand side. (Example: Current 

value is 1 then the ControlSet will be ControlSet001)

Key: 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\MySYSTEM\ControlSet00X\Services\

RpcSs (X is the Number from the Current Key from above)

Highlight RpcSs and in the right payne find Value Name: ObjectName, right click on this and select modify

Old Value: LocalSystem

New Value: NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService

*Note:-* if the value already is NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService DO not modify anything , this is not the problem, either way we need to unload the hive:-

Unload the SYSTEM hive by selecting the key 

“MySYSTEM” and then select File -> Unload Hive… menu 

item.

Exit regedit.exe

Reboot the system normally

If you get stuck post back and we will assist.


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## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

Thank you for your suggestions! I ran the bcdedit |find "osdevice" command and it gives the output:

"osdevice partition C:"

so I assume C: is the correct drive letter to use in the chkdsk procedure.


I then ran chkdsk /r and it outputted the following:

Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

95893503 KB in total disk space.
57397872 KB in 195093 files.
96840 KB in 29511 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
341735 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
38057056 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
23973375 total allocation units on disk.
9514264 allocation units avaliable on disk.
Failed to transfer log messages to the event log with status 50."


That all seems fine to me (I'm no expert, though) except perhaps the last line - doesn't sound normal?


I finally looked in the registry as you suggested and the registry key was already set to "NT AUTHORITY/Network Service" so I made no changes.


A couple more things I should mention - firstly, when I rebooted after this and returned to the recovery options, I got a message that hasn't come up before:

"Windows found problems with your computer's startup options.

Do you want to apply repairs and restart your computer?"

When I click the "view details" link below, it says:

"The following startup options will be added:
Name: Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium (recovered)
Path: Windows
Windows Device: Partition=C: (93646 MB)"

I clicked the "Repair and restart" button but still nothing is fixed!!!


Finally (sorry for the long message!) I found this article:
How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows

and tried to use the instructions on there to export the old BCD and rebuild a new one:


bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
c:
cd boot
attrib bcd -s -h -r
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /RebuildBcd
 The interesting this is - the bootrec /rebuildbcd command at the end lists the total operating systems as 1 (would usually give 0), but once I choose to include this OS in the store, the problem is still there and bootrec /scanos gives 0 again (not 1). I'm not sure if this is at all relevant?


Anybody got any ideas for what to do next? (And thanks for everything so far guys)


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## i MaRk i (Dec 29, 2009)

Hi-

I should have given you the other command:

bootrec.exe /fixMBR

instead of fix boot, though it may error out in a simmilar fassion.

Regards,

Mark


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## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

Hi Mark,

FixMBR reports that it completed successfully, but doesn't seem to fix the problem.

I can't think of anything to try, but my laptop didn't ship with a Vista disc so reinstalling the OS isn't really an option. I'll pretty much try any suggestion at this point!


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## SiRaff (Feb 20, 2011)

Anybody know if I can reinstall by downloading the WAIK, and burning the disc image to a DVD?

The download I'm looking at is here:
Download details: Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK)

But it's nearly 1GB so don't want to hit download until I know it will help!!!


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi you may have misread it's purpose,contact your computer maker and order recovery discs from them 
The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is designed to help corporate IT professionals customize and deploy the Microsoft Windows Vista™ family of operation systems. By using Windows AIK, you can perform unattended Windows installations, capture Windows images with ImageX, and create Windows PE images.


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