HELP! windows won't start

[tianhui]

Just got home today,
turned on computer and windows won't start.

What happens

BIOS appears-
loading asus express gate...
microsoft corporation (with small loading bar)

after the loading bar, a windows logo inscribed in a circle should appear and illuminate.
instead i just get a movable cursor on a black screen...

after a while it reboots and the process starts again.

I'm suspecting its the windows update my computer installed last night as it was shutting down.


Going into safe mode and restoring...hopefully this works.
I'm creating this thread from my dad's laptop ><

Any suggestion will be appreciated!

EDIT: i forgot to mention, the first time (blank screen for 5 min) ended in a quick BSOD and reboot.

 

[erocker]

Try disabling expressgate in the bios.

 

[tianhui]

System restore = no dice

asus express gate is currently set to auto
going to try disabling asus express gate.

Darn, i remember this happening a couple months back with another windows update- though i forgot how i fixed it T_T

 

[erocker]

Yeah, I had this problem with my netbook and express gate was the culprit. I could never get it to work.

 

[tianhui]

disabling didn't help ><

still loking for solutions.
in the mean time ima try safemode +restoring again

 

[tianhui]

weirdest things happened.
i left the blank screen with cursor as it is for like 10 min - then suddenly this small vista logo and "windows vista appeared" and disappeared - an abstract art design appeared and dissappeard. Almost as if the desktop screensaver was running. i moved my mouse and everything went blank again

Im restarting again

 

[tianhui]

okay... now safe mode is resulting in blank screen w/ cursor....

 

[vbx]

Try this....

http://www.prevx.com/blog/140/Black-Screen-woes-could-affect-millions-on-Windows--Vista-and-XP.html


--------------

If it happened after you updated, then maybe your serial is invalid. Why do people with a pirated OS try to update? LOL

 

[tianhui]

It's very much not a pirate OS. If i pirate an OS it would not have been vista
but trying your suggestion now,

 

[tianhui]

Alt tab del won't work with blank screen - thanks anyways.

Still trying,

I'll never be carefree with windows updates again- they cause more trouble than they're worth.

 

[newtekie1]

If it was an update, system restore to the point before the update would have fix it.

Try hitting F8 when the system is booting to bring up the options for safe mode, there should also be an option to disable automatic restarts, if it is still restarting on you. That will show you the blue screen causing the restart.

 

[tianhui]

The first time i went into safe mode and restored
it didn't help w/ fixing the bootup

no wi can't even get into any of the safe modes
all of them give me a blank screen with a cursor.

the only advance boot option that isn't giving me a blank screen is the startup repair that gives me a grey version of a vista background but no menu.

this is not looking good

 

[tianhui]

it's not even automatically rebooting anymore

 

[streetfighter 2]

You may have to use a DOS boot disc or Vista disc in recovery mode to do a manual restore of the system registry. Unfortunately I have no idea how to do that in any Windows version past XP. Perhaps the instructions from XP can be adapted? (That's rhetorical; my attempt is below.)

Here's the original XP directions:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Now the directories are slightly different in Win7 (probably the same in Vista).
The backup folder in Windows XP is:
C:\windows\repair\
In Windows 7 it's:
C:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack\

Everything else in Part one up to and including Step 6 should work fine. If it boots into Windows after you do that you will notice a lot of stuff is now broken. We'll tackle that issue if we get there.

Best of luck!

 

[Peter1986C]

I know it does not solve your current problem, but I suggest you disable automatic updates once you fixed this. When you do it manually nothing should go wrong.

 

[tianhui]

Poop.
My disc is a DELL vista disk-
i've upgraded to an asus mobo so the vista disc won't work for it.

Thanks for the suggestion though
ima try a few more things.
if all fails- ima have to call a technician over D:
still open to suggestion

 

[erocker]

Have you tried reseting the CMOS?

 

[streetfighter 2]

Don't give up hope even if you don't have a Vista disc. You can still manually restore the registry.

If you download Hiren's BootCD (with Mini XP) or make a BartPE disc then you can restore the registry in a Windows environment.

I'm almost certain that Hiren's BootCD also has a DOS prompt with NTFS access, which is all you need to restore the registry. (In truth you'll also need a reasonable internet connection and a blank CD/burner or a jumpdrive).

Have you tried reseting the CMOS?

Good idea. Might be something wrong with the ESCD.

 

[tianhui]

Thanks - i some how managed to get system repair to work. Restored a few times and the latest seems to be a success.

Any suggestions for freeware that does a good job in fixing up registry errors?

 

[DRDNA]

Thanks - i some how managed to get system repair to work. Restored a few times and the latest seems to be a success.

Any suggestions for freeware that does a good job in fixing up registry errors?

CCleaner
http://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

 

[Peter1986C]

Yes, definitely CCleaner.

 

[tianhui]

Okay- well i did a full DELL factory image restoration

reformatted harddrive
backed up my important docs
reinstalling drivers and stuff.

k thx guys

 

[95Viper]

Thanks - i some how managed to get system repair to work. Restored a few times and the latest seems to be a success.

Any suggestions for freeware that does a good job in fixing up registry errors?

Try this (Comodo System Cleaner) for cleaning the registry and stuff.
Comodo System Cleaner - Download
It will even let you re-boot try the system and then you can finalize it.
I have tried it and used it... it does work.

Not bad for free.
Remember, any software, like this, is only as good as the one using it!