Catch 22 - Windows 7 won't Start, Won't Reinstall

Byrner

Byrner

Byrner

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Joined
14 Jan 2010
Posts
13
Hello there. I'm hoping you guys can help me fix a problem im having whereby my PC freezes at the 'Windows Starting' graphic and no matter how long I leave it, will not proceed. I have tried searching for other posts but couldnt find any, please redirect me to any threads if there are any. Google throws up a lot of RC issue and nothing quite seems to solve it.

Anyway, my computer was working fine till I decided to restart. Then it froze up at the 'Starting Windows'. So I unplugged it and tried again, this time I got the option to 'Launch Startup Repair (recommended)' or 'Start Windows Normally'. Both options lead to the dreaded freeze.
What is most troubling is that I have no idea what has caused it - be it new driver updates or hardware problems. Windows 7 has been working fine since the day I got it (release day - Student version).

My motherboard is an ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe. The rest is a AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+.

I have tried booting from the Windows 7 dvd but it ALSO freezes up at the loading graphic. I tried booting from a Vista 64 disc and it also froze on the loading graphic (the bars that move left to right). I tried Windows XP home and it went to the Windows Set up (blue screen) but then gave me the following message:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've sen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check for viruses on your computer, Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.
Technical information:
*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78DA63c, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

When repeating this (with other XP discs) i've also had the same messages with the following error codes:
*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xFFFFFADF5D032C0, 0xFFFFFFFFC0000034, 0x000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000)

[Note these '0' could be 'o' for all I can tell]

Does this suggest it is a hardware problem?
I have 3 hard drives - one generic 250gb hard drive (C) and 2 Western Digital WD360ADFD-00 38GB hard drives (D and E), as far as I can remember the F drive is the Western Digital MyBook external hard drive (which I have unplugged)

Note I have tried removing each of the harddrives from the OS seperately and booting from the DVD. My cunundrum is that the OS wont start and I CANT reinstall any version of Windows. I have tried disabling things in the BIOS including 'Onboard 1394 Controller', 'Onboard 1st nVidia LAN' and 'Onboard 2nd nVidia LAN' aswell as the 'USB Controller', 'USB 2.0 Controller' and 'USB Legacy support'. Obviously I have tried unplugging all my USB devices. None of this leads to windows progressing past the windows starting screen.

Could a full harddrive have caused this? What else do you suspect or recommend? Assuming I can't fix it, how do you recommend me going about fixing this problem. Even if it is a hard drive problem, how do I get the Windows disk to start so I can attempt to install it? Do I need a new Motherboard?

Any help is appreciated? Im currently using my old laptop which awfully slow and has dead pixels all over the place. Many thanks.
 
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It looks like it might be a hardware issue. I'd suggest looking at the memory first, you could either run a memtest on the modules, or pull the lot and try one at a time. If your laptop has a CDRW drive and you have a spare blank CD, download UBCD (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com) and boot from that.
 
Thanks for the quick responses. I tried taking all my ram out (2x 1gb generic DDR2 800, 2x Corsair 2gb DDR2) but one of them, the generic one, is stuck behind the CPU heatsink (which is massive), so ill have to unscrew it before I can get it out. I'll try running a memory check another time, I was just looking for ideas of how to proceed with it. I have exams on Monday and Thursday so I cant take too much time...after that if its still not fixed ill probably just try buying some new parts. My student loan is through.
PS: No im not overclocked
 
Stop 0x0000007B or INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

You say you got the above when trying to load XP. This will be either cause you have the wrong SATA Mode in the BIOS or you have a faulty Hdd. For XP SATA mode should be IDE or legacy.

As for not loading Vista or 7 do the following.

1. Run Memtest and confirm all sticks test OK.
2. Strip system to PSU, CPU, system board, optical, Gfx and 1 Dimm & Hdd.
3. Reset BIOS to default settings.
4. Get hold of a known good hard drive & cable and test.
5. If this works test your original 3 hard drives 1 at a time.
6. If possible test your components in another system.

I would also not discount the optical drive being faulty.
 
Byrner said:
Thanks for the quick responses. I tried taking all my ram out (2x 1gb generic DDR2 800, 2x Corsair 2gb DDR2) but one of them, the generic one, is stuck behind the CPU heatsink (which is massive), so ill have to unscrew it before I can get it out. I'll try running a memory check another time, I was just looking for ideas of how to proceed with it. I have exams on Monday and Thursday so I cant take too much time...after that if its still not fixed ill probably just try buying some new parts. My student loan is through.
PS: No im not overclocked
Click to expand...

I think a memory test is the way forward then, UBCD also has lots of other testers, hard drive etc. It is likely to be hardware.
 
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Wow its fixed! Must by the ram that did it, thats the only thing I did differently. I didnt put all the ram back in as I couldnt snap one of them in. I had turned it on and forgot about it. And then noticed on my laptop that it detected a Tversity network on my pc (which I had tried setting up for my xbox). Wierd it is - I dont think its just a matter of me not leaving it long enough, as I had tried leaving it for hours at a time. Thanks for everyones advice.
 
Byrner said:
Wow its fixed! Must by the ram that did it, thats the only thing I did differently. I didnt put all the ram back in as I couldnt snap one of them in. I had turned it on and forgot about it. And then noticed on my laptop that it detected a Tversity network on my pc (which I had tried setting up for my xbox). Wierd it is - I dont think its just a matter of me not leaving it long enough, as I had tried leaving it for hours at a time. Thanks for everyones advice.
Click to expand...

No worries, guess all you need to do now is find the faulty module and get it replaced.
 
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