# Windows 7 Problem.



## Vrosco

I have already posted this on the Vista/7 section, but someone suspects I might have an infection.

I am having problems getting anywhere near online with the laptop, I don't know if anyone here has any suggestions, I'm honestly near to tears. At least fixing XP was relatively easy.
Thanks in anticipation of any help you can offer.
http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f217/i-seem-to-have-a-broken-works-laptop-again-563815.html


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## Vrosco

I've plumped for a reinstallation now as this looping 'Startup Repair' seems to be quite a common problem. There weren't any documents on the computer that haven't been backed up, and nothing installed on it that shouldn't have been. I do have a separate driver disk fortunately. I'm not confident enough to do the c prompt repair as detailed in the System Restore section of the Windows 7 forums linked in an earlier posting.


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## Ried

Hello Vrosco,

I'm unsure by your posts if you've decided to reinstall Windows or not. In the event you are still trying to fix this, download *Farbar Recovery Scan Tool* and save it to a flash drive.

Plug the flashdrive into the infected PC.

Restart your computer and tap F8 to bring up the Advanced Menu, then click *Repair your computer*

Follow the prompt to enter keyboard input method, and then the prompt to enter a password. If the machine does not have a password, simply click Enter.

In the next menu, use the arrow keys on the keyboard to highlight *Command Prompt* and press Enter.

In the command window type in *notepad* and press *Enter*.
The notepad opens. Under File menu select *Open*.
Select "Computer" and find your flash drive letter and close the notepad.
In the command window type *e:\frst.exe* and press *Enter*.

*Note:* Replace letter e with the drive letter of your flash drive.


The tool will start to run.
When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.
Press *Scan* button.
It will make a log (FRST.txt) on the flash drive. Please copy and paste it to your reply.


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## Vrosco

Thanks Ried, after it working all fine and dandy last night, and this morning, this afternoon we are back to square one...No windows. As I type, flash drive is plugged in with Farbar on it ready to go. Will post results just as soon as I can, at the moment the screen is black, but I have a loading light is blinking.

Oh and I went for a reinstall using the files stored on the computer, so if I guess they were knacked, then the reinstall will be too. With hindsight I should have done the gmer thing just as soon as I had it all up and running, but at 10.30pm I was just glad to have it all back. :sigh:


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## Vrosco

As I see it on the screen:
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
X:\windows\system32>f:\frst.exe
The subsystem needed to support the image type is not present
X:\windows\system32>


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## Ried

Try this--

At the X:\windows\system32> type in the following:

*cd /d f:\frst.exe*

(there is a space between *cd* and */d* and another space between */d* and *f:\frst.exe*)

Press Enter.


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> Try this--
> 
> At the X:\windows\system32> type in the following:
> 
> *cd /d f:\frst.exe*
> 
> (there is a space between *cd* and */d* and another space between */d* and *f:\frst.exe*)
> 
> Press Enter.


Thanks, this may take some time(about half an hour if past history is anything to go by, the whole thing is driving me mad). In the meantime, if this goes wrong, is there a possibility I can use my daughters Windows 7 recovery disk for her desktop, or am I being completely dim?:4-dontkno


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## Ried

What exactly do you mean by Recovery Disc? If it is the set of recovery discs she created from a recovery partition, then no, you cannot use that.

Is it just a single disc? How is it labeled?


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> What exactly do you mean by Recovery Disc? If it is the set of recovery discs she created from a recovery partition, then no, you cannot use that.
> 
> Is it just a single disc? How is it labeled?


Yes, I have it in front of me now, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit


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## Ried

No harm in asking. :smile: 

Vrosco, by any chance do you know if this is a 64 bit version of Windows 7?

If you still get that message after using the command I just gave you in my earlier post, then I would say this machine must be 64-bit and you'll need the 64-bit version of that tool I had you download.

You can download the 64-bit version from here

Same as the other version, save it to the flash drive, and enter the Recovery Environment. At the X:\ prompt, type this in 

*f:\frst64.exe*

Press Enter. See if the tool runs for you now.


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## Ried

You edited while I was posting. Best if you don't do that. I don't get notifications of edits. :smile:

Ok, download the 64 bit version I just mentioned, and run it as noted.


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> No harm in asking. :smile:
> 
> Vrosco, by any chance do you know if this is a 64 bit version of Windows 7?
> 
> If you still get that message after using the command I just gave you in my earlier post, then I would say this machine must be 64-bit and you'll need the 64-bit version of that tool I had you download.
> 
> You can download the 64-bit version from here
> 
> Same as the other version, save it to the flash drive, and enter the Recovery Environment. At the X:\ prompt, type this in
> 
> *f:\frst64.exe*
> 
> Press Enter. See if the tool runs for you now.


I think this may be 64 bit. I'll try both solutions. I'm at the desktop without icons now, just waiting, after my 150th coffee and cigarette for the language choice to appear.:sigh:


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## Ried

I feel for you. :sayno:

I'll be standing by, if that's any consolation. :smile:


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> I feel for you. :sayno:
> 
> I'll be standing by, if that's any consolation. :smile:



You can read this whilst I put the kettle on again. I think you'll agree that it makes a rather sexy doorstop as it is.

MSI CR720 17.3" WLED TFT Intel I5-460M, 4GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, Intel Graphics, No O.S. - Black/Red [CR720-219XUK]


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## Vrosco

Well it ran, closed itself and said I have to run it once more, so I am. Is this right?


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## Ried

Yes, if it told you to run it again, please do so. The log will be saved to your flash drive.


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## Vrosco

The message read: 'The setup will be finalised in 3 seconds' ...then 'The tool will be closed, please run again'. This is now the 3rd time...eek


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## Ried

At what point do you see that message? Have you clicked the Disclaimer yet?... the Scan button?...


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> At what point do you see that message? Have you clicked the Disclaimer yet?... the Scan button?...


No disclaimer, no scan button...this is the 5th time


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## Vrosco

The message reads 'The tool is setting up itself to read Local Disk. Please wait...
Then:'The setup will be finalised in 3 (now 7)seconds
Then:'The tool will be closed now, please run again'


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## Ried

It can't load for some reason or another. First time I've run across this issue. 

Let's move along then.


> Oh and I went for a reinstall using the files stored on the computer, so if I guess they were knacked, then the reinstall will be too.


 I'm not clear on what you're saying there. Did you do a reinstall? What files stored on the computer are you referring to?


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## Vrosco

Yesterday, I can't remember how I did it, but I got to an option in the recovery console where I could restore the system. My restore points had been wiped, as they have now. I'm really sorry but I can't remember how I did it. I got the laptop working, back online and created a manual restore point which I named restore1. When I switched on this afternoon, and had the same problem as yesterday, The first thing I looked for was that restore point. It too has disappeared. I think the files on the computer that I am referring to are the OS backup files stored on the hard drive.


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## Ried

Ohh, I understand now. You invoked System Restore. Try loading the System Restore from within that Recovery Evironment. When the System Restore window comes up, look toward the bottom of that window and 'tick' the box next to 'show me more restore points'. See if you can see more restore points, including that one you manually created.


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## Vrosco

Bit of a problem there, battery power has gone and we're back to square one. As I type I've gone back into the 'Repair your computer' bit. Given that it's now 11.15pm, I'll give myself till midnight to implement your suggestion, but as I remember it a box popped up saying that windows could not find any restore points and did I want to create one (or something like that). When I clicked the link to do so, a warning box came up, which I could only acknowledge (click OK) then no further suggestions that I could see. I guess I'll just have to put the kettle on again I suppose and wait......then type here exactly what it says on the screen.


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## Ried

Or try Startup Repair a couple more times. Tell me exactly what happens when you run the Startup Repair. Does it say it cannot complete? Does it say it hasn't found any problems?


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> Or try Startup Repair a couple more times. Tell me exactly what happens when you run the Startup Repair. Does it say it cannot complete? Does it say it hasn't found any problems?


It says it can't complete. Each time I restart the computer, it's taking about 30 mins to get to the point where I can choose which tool to use, startup repair itself takes about 30 mins, system restore about the same. As I am typing my daughter has just selected keyboard language.


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## Vrosco

Right, here goes
Restore System files and settings
X No restore points have been created on your computer's system drive. To create restore point open System Protection
System Restore can help fix problems that might be making your computer run slowly or stop responding

System restore does not affect any of your documents, pictures, or other personal data.
How does System Restore work?


That's about what it says.


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## Ried

:sigh:

Get some rest - we'll continue tomorrow.


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## Vrosco

Click System protection, message reads: Your computer is running in a limited diagnostic state. If you use System Restore in this limited state, you cannot undo the restore operation. <click ok>

Verbatim, can't go anywhere from there.
Goodnight Ried, and thanks again x


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## Vrosco

I have managed to burn a 32bit Windows 7 repair disc from an identical laptop at school, however, both my colleague and I are convinced that our machines (without school image) are 64 bit. My colleague has an identical machine without the image, and he has said that he will create a restore disk for me as well, it would be interesting to see which it is, 32 or 64. I realise that it is only 5.40 where you are now, and I'm probably talking to myself, but as there's now a small light at the end of the tunnel which I thought I should share.


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## Vrosco

Vrosco said:


> I have managed to burn a 32bit Windows 7 repair disc from an identical laptop at school, however, both my colleague and I are convinced that our machines (without school image) are 64 bit. My colleague has an identical machine without the image, and he has said that he will create a restore disk for me as well, it would be interesting to see which it is, 32 or 64. I realise that it is only 5.40 where you are now, and I'm probably talking to myself, but as there's now a small light at the end of the tunnel which I thought I should share.


Home now, and this is what is on the Boot CD. It's a bit piddly but it says boot, sources and bootmgr.


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## Ried

Hi Vrosco,

According to your PM this afternoon, after several more attempts with Startup Repair, your system is now booting. Is this still the case?

If so, download http://public.avast.com/~gmerek/aswMBR.exe (aswMBR.exe) ( 511KB ) to your desktop. 

Right click the aswMBR.exe and run as Administrator. 

Click the "Scan" button to start scan. When it has completed (it should only take a couple of minutes), click* Save log*, and save it to your desktop.

Post the contents of that log in your next reply.

*Note *- Do NOT click Fix or Fixmbr at all. I need to see the log first.


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> Hi Vrosco,
> 
> According to your PM this afternoon, after several more attempts with Startup Repair, your system is now booting. Is this still the case?
> 
> If so, download http://public.avast.com/~gmerek/aswMBR.exe (aswMBR.exe) ( 511KB ) to your desktop.
> 
> Right click the aswMBR.exe and run as Administrator.
> 
> Click the "Scan" button to start scan. When it has completed (it should only take a couple of minutes), click* Save log*, and save it to your desktop.
> 
> Post the contents of that log in your next reply.
> 
> *Note *- Do NOT click Fix or Fixmbr at all. I need to see the log first.


Ha! No lol, it worked last night, I left it for an hour, internet and all working, tentatively shut down and restarted, all good, shut it down normally, and went to bed happy that at least for the time it was ok. This morning , yeah it booted up just about fine, I thought it made a funny noise though - like a cartoon arrow being fired from a bow, or a whip sound effect, and I got to the desktop with icons. Google chrome refused to budge, ctrl+alt+delete didn't either..uh oh. So as I type, the laptop is going through Startup Repair...again! :laugh: On the plus side, it went through to the options screen in about 3 minutes instead of 30, and is now scanning. It should be finished before I go to work, hopefully, so I'll leave it on and have a go getting your scanner to work when I get home at 1. As I have only half a day today, I will have the whole afternoon to get frustrated, drink copious amounts of coffee, and smoke myself into an early grave.:grin:


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## Ried

:grin: This may be a hardware issue. Have you run chkdsk yet?


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> :grin: This may be a hardware issue. Have you run chkdsk yet?


No, how do I do that please? Oh and By the way the SR is still running  and it's now 2.10. I think I set it off at around 6 this morning.


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## Vrosco

Vrosco said:


> No, how do I do that please? Oh and By the way the SR is still running  and it's now 2.10. I think I set it off at around 6 this morning.


I needed to edit this, to 'how do I run chkdsk via command prompt, as I cannot get safe mode to work'? After all that faffing around with rescue disks, and my colleague brought one in specially for me today, I don't actually think that using one would bring me any further than I am now! As far as I can see from what I have read, it only brings you to the repair screen, which you can do by pressing F8 anyway, or am I being too simplistic? Would my driver disk be of any assistance to this never ending problem? It has something on it called RESCUE.:4-dontkno


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## Vrosco

Vrosco said:


> I needed to edit this, to 'how do I run chkdsk via command prompt, as I cannot get safe mode to work'? After all that faffing around with rescue disks, and my colleague brought one in specially for me today, I don't actually think that using one would bring me any further than I am now! As far as I can see from what I have read, it only brings you to the repair screen, which you can do by pressing F8 anyway, or am I being too simplistic? Would my driver disk be of any assistance to this never ending problem? It has something on it called RESCUE.:4-dontkno


Tried 64 rescue disk
3+ hour run,,,still ongoing


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## Ried

I'd have to research what that disk would possibly contain, and that could take me a couple hours to figure out. Is it still moving along, or does it seem to have stalled? Anything that happens, I need as much detail as possible.


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> I'd have to research what that disk would possibly contain, and that could take me a couple hours to figure out. Is it still moving along, or does it seem to have stalled? Anything that happens, I need as much detail as possible.


here is a word doc with screenshots I made earlier. It's now 6.30am and it's still 'attempting repairs' that 'might take over an hour'


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## Ried

Thanks for taking the time to make those screenshots. 

Is this a new attempt at repairs, or still the same one that started earlier today?


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## Vrosco

New attempt from repair disk made by colleague. Still going after 4 hours. I'm losing the will to live. Thinking that I will just go and buy a new copy of Windows 7 and be done with it.


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## Vrosco

Since I am terribly hung over this morning and too toxic to drive to the supermarket, I have been researching my problem on the net. This one from start up repair is checking your system for problems sounds alarmingly similar. I am not tempted as yet to follow their instructions, as I have no idea what make of hard drive I have. As a stroke of luck though, the instructions for chkdsk from command prompt were there. Thinking 'oh yeah, I can do that even with a not-quite sober too early for the hangover head on' I went to the laptop and clicked 'cancel' on the repair, only to be told that the repair could not be cancelled. Guess I'll just have to wait..again


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## Vrosco

Wondering if this MSI CR720 265US Windows 7 Driver Recovery CD Restore Disk | CD Disk Download | User Guides |
Is a copy of the driver cd that came with the laptop. I might just email and ask them.


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## Vrosco

Message from the driver disk:

'The system recovery file does not exist, and it might be already removed. If this is the first time you have used this system, please contact your local distributor for further help.'

Oh hell!


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## Ried

You may just be better off purchasing Windows yourself and reinstalling, but you should also check the hard drive for errors/problems first. If you go into the BIOS, the hard drive model will be listed there.


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> You may just be better off purchasing Windows yourself and reinstalling, but you should also check the hard drive for errors/problems first. If you go into the BIOS, the hard drive model will be listed there.


Looks like the way to go, sadly:sigh: 
I don't know which key to use to get to the BIOS either, I'm trying to look it up


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## Vrosco

Right, got the bios up

Hard Drive is WDC WD2500BEVT


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## Ried

There ya go - Western Digital. :sayyes:

What state is the computer in right now? Is it still trying repair..??


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## Vrosco

Something weird here, I'm in the boot and this is what I see:
Quiet boot [enabled]
Bootlock NumLock State [on]

Set Boot Priority
Select 1st Boot Priority [USB Floppy]
Seklect 2nd Boot Priority [USB KEY]
Select 3rd Boot Priority [USB CD/DVD Rom]
Select 4th Boot Priority [USB HardDisk]
Does this mean that the laptop has been trying to boot from a non existent floppy all this time? There are 5th 6th and 7th Priorities


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> There ya go - Western Digital. :sayyes:
> 
> What state is the computer in right now? Is it still trying repair..??


No I'm in the bios and scratching my now very sore head :grin:


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## Ried

Then now would be a good time to run chkdsk

Does the computer boot at all? What is the current state?


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> Then now would be a good time to run chkdsk
> 
> Does the computer boot at all? What is the current state?


It boots to repair or start windows normally options. Shall I change the boot priority before I run chkdsk? I ran chkdsk previously and it found no problems.


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## Ried

No need to change boot priority. 

When did you run chkdsk? 
What happens if you select to start windows normally?


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## Vrosco

Ried said:


> No need to change boot priority.
> 
> When did you run chkdsk?
> What happens if you select to start windows normally?


Ran chkdsk this morning. When I opt to start windows normally, screen just hangs with the glowing windows icon.

On saying that I chose 'start windows normally' on coming out of BIOS and the screen had given me a message about checking file system on C. 

'The type of the file system is NTFS.'
'One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency' ...etc


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## Ried

I think it's time you purchased your own Windows Install disk. It must be 64 bit, since you have a 64-bit processor on the mother board.


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## Vrosco

Seems to have stopped at Usn Journal verification completed.

Rest of it as follows:
94 large file records
0 bad file records
2 EA records
44 reparse records
Index verification
0 unindexed files scanned
0 unindexed files recovered.

I suppose I just wait for it to finish then :/


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## Vrosco

Just to finish this thread, so it may be closed and for others with the same problem, give another possibility to cause. I took the laptop to a technician who ran some diagnostics checks and reinstalled Windows 7. All went swimmingly for a few of hours, then all the problems started again. A further check showed that the hard disk was failing, and there was nothing that he or I could have done about it - it was certainly, according to the readout on the screen, a warranty issue, and not down to any error on my part <phew>.
A word to the wise regarding warranty issues, I read the warranty card, and it stated that the machine must be returned in its original packaging with all its original accessories and bumf in order to comply with their warranty regulations. I still have all that fortunately, and the machine is packed away waiting to be sent back.


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## Ried

Thanks so much for following up here with the 'resolution'. As you said, it will help many people to come, who run across this thread.

:wave:


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