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I'm troubleshooting a laptop for a friend, and her computer will not boot into Windows 7 at all, no matter what I do. I've tried normal startup (logo loads but doesn't go any further), repairing using the recovery partition (same thing), using a repair disk (same thing), an install disk (loads through "Windows is loading files..." but then sits at a black screen), and safe mode (stops loading after avgidsha.sys). UBCD won't load (BSoD stating that acpi.sys is the problem), nor will Hiren's Boot CD (same problem as UBCD). Linux distros load fine, but that's it.

I did run a BootDefender boot disc virus scan and it found several viruses, but they've been removed and all of the same problems persist. I'm at my wits' end and have no idea what to do because I can't access anything in Windows, not System Restore or anything.

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You had viruses? Then the official support response is to flatten the machine and start over. That said, try booting from the Windows CD/DVD/whatever and running a repair. – Mark Allen Nov 8 '12 at 20:45
Thanks, but as I stated in my post I am unable to boot to anything Windows-related, including a repair disc or an install disc. – Steven H Nov 8 '12 at 20:51
That sounds like failing hardware or a really nasty problem needing a low level format of the disk, which you'd have to possibly download a live-CD of from the disk manufacturer. Good luck! – Mark Allen Nov 8 '12 at 21:01

4 Answers

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It could be a problem with your hard drive, but mostly it is a problem with your hard drive due to bad sectors and clusters.

To prevent this, you can boot your system in advanced mode and check if is it hanging there.

If it is, then go to BIOS and perform a SMART test. This will help you locate the exact problem with the hard disk or the operating system.

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could you clarify the steps a little more please? – Malachi Apr 3 at 16:21
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Is AVG installed? As this page recommends, boot using any Linux LiveCD/DVD/USB, go to the Windows\system32\drivers folder and rename all files starting with avg (e.g. avgidsha.sys, avgldx86.sys, avgtdix.sys etc.)

See if the laptop boots properly now. If it does, get rid of AVG and install MSE instead.

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Just tried this, but the problem persists. Normal boot still hangs at the logo, safe mode now hangs after CLASSPNP.SYS, and I still get the BSoD when using UBCD. – Steven H Nov 8 '12 at 20:21
Have you tried thoroughly checking the disk for errors from within Linux or via the drive manufacturer's utility? – Karan Nov 8 '12 at 20:24
The disk check (HP's built-in utility) just completed with no errors reported. – Steven H Nov 8 '12 at 21:39
Well then it's possible whatever damage the malware caused cannot be fixed, and it might well be time for a backup (using Linux), format and reinstall. If the install disc still doesn't work, might need to delete all partitions, repartition, reformat and then try reinstalling. – Karan Nov 8 '12 at 21:59
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This happened to me when I tried windows 8 and attempted to go back to windows 7. It was a fiasco resulting in windows 8 deleting its self and trying to start windows 7 that wasn't installed. After staying up all night working on the problem I took it to Best Buy and had them create a backup of some files and completely wipe my computer. They reinstalled windows 7 for me and my computer has been running well ever since. So in short, the viruses must have destroyed key files in your OS. People such as the Geek Squad can backup your data and wipe your computer. Unless you are under warranty it will cost money.

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Looks like a hardware problem, otherwise recovery CDs wouldn't fail. Boot memtest from HBCD to check RAM, check hard disk SMART status and run every other test you could think of. You can use Linux distros for this too.

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