Windows 7 restarting/shutting down and failing to start up again

Discussion in 'Operating Systems' started by Adma192, Sep 11, 2010.

  1. Adma192

    Adma192 Master Guru

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    I suppose this is a continuation of my other thread, 'Windows 7 and registry cleaners' since my problem persists - my computer will, seemingly at random, refuse to startup after I've shut it down or restarted it. 90% of the time I'll be unable to do anything (startup repair will fix nothing and tell me nothing) and my only option is to reinstall Windows completely.. I've done that 5 goddamn times this week alone and I am getting REALLY ****ing sick of it.

    Setup repair has been able to fix whatever is causing the startup failure maybe twice (this isn't an impressive track record since it has to have failed me more than 30 times..) but that isn't a guarantee that it won't fail to startup again as that seems to be how it usually goes.

    For example, last night I did a complete reinstall of Windows 7 (without any registry cleaners or programs that could otherwise cause my frustrations) and played some Bad Company 2 for a couple of hours.. I restarted the computer at least once or twice during this period with no problems.. turned it off around 3 and went to bed. Woke up this morning, turned it on, and bam - 'Windows has failed to start. A recent software or hardware change might have blah blah.' Startup repair managed to let me log on this time, but I just KNOW there's a very distinct possibility (almost certainty) that the next time I shut it down or restart it it will fail to start and my only option will be to do a clean reinstall.

    I probably should mention the first time it happened as well, which was right after a registry defrag with TuneUp Utilities 2010.. when Windows was retsarting a popup showed up onscreen that said a .dll was missing from the Win32 folder.. forgot to take note of what the .dll was but I've never gotten that popup again.. I don't get any explanation, just a failure to start.

    Any help? Beyond frustrated at this point.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2010
  2. ROBSCIX

    ROBSCIX Ancient Guru

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    Failing hardware perhaps?
    If you did a clean install and still have the issue, then one would think the issue is NOT related to software.
     
  3. Kinfa

    Kinfa Master Guru

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    Test your memory with memtest at first. If you have errors set all overclock at default and test again. If errors apear again reseat memory sticks and take mobo battery out for few minutes, put it back and test. Or maybe hard drive is failing.
     
  4. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    I haven't read your other thread, but the most likely scenario is you fubared your OS by running a registry cleaner through it.

    If you want my advice - stay well away from registry cleaners/defraggers/optimizers/fukerupppers/fubarers.

    CCleaner is OK, but w/ most others you're just asking for trouble...


    You can try to repair it with sfc /scannow or chkdsk /r.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2010

  5. Black_ice_Spain

    Black_ice_Spain Guest

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    `probably HDD its dying.


    do some HDD test.

    Anyways it could have problems keeping information when there is no power source so those test could give a positive result but dying anyways
     
  6. ROBSCIX

    ROBSCIX Ancient Guru

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    Well he mentioned he did a reinstall of the OS, so that basically removes any idea that it may actually be an issue with software. I am thinking either RAM or the HDD....or combination of the two. Start troubleshooting your hardware.
     
  7. Adma192

    Adma192 Master Guru

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    What kind of programs can I use or methods of testing can I employ to see if it's a hardware problem? I don't understand why it will run flawlessly for a while and then all of a sudden refuse to start back up after a reboot, though.. if it were a problem with my HD or RAM just being FUBAR wouldn't the computer just refuse to startup at all? Wouldn't I notice problems with performance? Doesn't ake sense that it runs fine and then picks and totally arbitrary time to take the piss.

    But you guys know more than I do.
     
  8. Kinfa

    Kinfa Master Guru

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    Download memtest iso file, burn it on cd, boot from cd and test memory. Here is the link:

    http://www.memtest.org/
     
  9. Adma192

    Adma192 Master Guru

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    Scheduled CHKDSK after restart, restarted my computer and went to pick up some chinese food.. came back to a shut down computer that wouldn't start - tried startup repair which, surprisingly, worked - everything was installed as before (which wasn't much since I'm now used to having to reinstall every other goddamn day) except for my nVidia drivers (although the folder was still in the start menu) and Firefox.

    So is it a safe bet that the HD is the culprit?
     
  10. ROBSCIX

    ROBSCIX Ancient Guru

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    Do you have another drive to use for now?

    You need to isolate it to one component.
     

  11. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    Yeah I only read half his post..

    I agree with Black Ice it could be a bad hard drive....


    EDIT: ...OP are you getting BSOD?

     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2010
  12. Adma192

    Adma192 Master Guru

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    No, I only have this HD plus an external one for storing music and movies.

    And no, no BSOD.. just the inability to boot Windows 7 again after a restart or a shutdown.. the computer will just restart over and over again after Windows 7 fails to boot - sometimes Safe Mode works, sometimes it doesn't - sometimes Startup Repair works, although 99 times out of 100 it doesn't. I'm going to call the shop I bought all my parts from and see if I can exchange the HD since it was a relatively recent purchase and should still be under warranty.
     
  13. EspHack

    EspHack Ancient Guru

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    well you can:
    -try linux from the cd without install it
    -change your HDD

    you have overclocked your rig?
     
  14. Pill Monster

    Pill Monster Banned

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    Well you shud really be sure of wat's wrong before u RMA it, nothing's def yet until u run tests.
     
  15. eagled1

    eagled1 Master Guru

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    definitely hardware....most likely RAM but HD is possible. remove all peripherals and try to start. I would also reset CMOS by removing battery. make sure all your connections are seated properly. I have had many customers PC's with BSOD and startup issues that turned out to be improperly seated cables and pci cards.
     

  16. Kinfa

    Kinfa Master Guru

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    Well, I think testing memory with memtest is the first and easy step you should do. If errors occure cmos reset with battery out and reseat memory sticks. This way I resolved similar problem on my computer. If memtest is OK, than hard drive could be dead.
     
  17. Adma192

    Adma192 Master Guru

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    I burned the memtest iso to a CD but I couldn't boot from it.. the Windows 7 splashscreen came up and the computer shut down. Booting from the Windows 7 CD worked fine though. Might have happened because when I restarted the computer to do a memtest I just happened to land on the one restart that makes me have to do a fresh install of Windows 7 (so here I am on another freshly formatted drive..) - I'm running Western Digital Lifeguard Diagnostics to check the HD and will try memtest again when this is finished.
     
  18. Kinfa

    Kinfa Master Guru

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    You should not see windows splash screen. Boot from CD, tap F12 I think few times at start, boot menu appears, select CD rom and press enter.
     
  19. Adma192

    Adma192 Master Guru

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    Yeah, that's what I did - after I press F12 and select my CD drive a black screen will show up that goes something like this..

    Loading Operating System ...
    Boot from CD/DVD...
    Press any key to boot from CD/DVD...

    When I tried booting form the memtest CD I made it only made it as far as

    Loading Operating System ...
    Boot from CD/DVD...

    before the Windows splash screen showed up, so obviously something was amiss.. what was weird though was that I could boot from the Windows 7 disk with no issues. Either the CD is ****ed up for some reason or I was just running into issues because the computer wasn't able to make it past the startup screen at all. I'll try again when the WD diagstic utility is finished - I can always restart my computer at least a couple times before it becomes FUBAR so hopefully I don't run into any issues this time around.
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2010
  20. Kinfa

    Kinfa Master Guru

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    Something is wrong here, burn memtest iso file on other PC and try again.
    When you load from memtest cd, it loads immediately after you press enter on boot menu.

    Download this zip file http://www.memtest.org/download/4.10/memtest86+-4.10.iso.zip, unpack and burn image file on cd. Must work for sure.
    If you can load Western Digital Diagnostics utility, memtest should load too.
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2010

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