Reply With QuoteSounds as if you may have a corrupted boot sector or master boot record. See instructions here (good idea to read it all before you start):
windows vista wont boot
Hi Guys, looking for some help.
My pc no longer boots up, all i get is a flashing cursor on screen.
This happened trying to play a file, a message came up to download some other file which was done and pc just froze, and before anyone asks why, it was not me it was my son, he just thought that he was doing the right thing.
I have booted vista dvd and manager to check drive, i can see all files and assume drive is ok. When i choose restore to a previous point pc does not show any points but if i go into command prompt and type in rstrui.exe/Offline:C:\Windows i do get previous restore points to select i have chose a couple and they do restore but when pc boots again i still get the flashing cursor and nothing else.
I can see that on windows system recovery options screen where all options are listed that it states operating system is unknown on local disk.
Already tried startup repair it goes through process for a few seconds and then asks to restart again no luck.
Tried chkdsk command and no issues came up at all.
Has my drive just lost operating system details, as stated above all files are definitly there so can this be fixed without a fresh install.
Any help would be great.
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Sounds as if you may have a corrupted boot sector or master boot record. See instructions here (good idea to read it all before you start):
justolder (05-12-10)
Hi Coldamus, tried this option and i get a message "Element not found"
I tried the option bootrec / rebuildbcd
Really got me stumped, really dont want to reinstall as this is my main pc.
I'm using my mac at the moment running windows using vwmare, so i can run everything thats was on my pc but not exactly upto date.
Really need my pc to run.
If you haven't already done so, try the other two options:
bootrec /FixMbr
bootrec /FixBoot
If it still won't boot, then maybe try bootrec /RebuildBcd again. I could be quite wrong but I'm guessing that command failed because it couldn't find a bootable windows installation to add to the BCD (boot configuration data) store.
bootrec /fixmbr works ok and tells me operation completed successfully
bootrec /fixboot gives element not found error
bootrec /scanos works ok, and tells me that total identified windows installations is 1 and shows location.
bootrec /rebuildbcd also identifies the windows installation is there and also shows location, comes up with "Add installation to boot list? Yes/No/All.
This is where i get the error element not found, it happens no matter what option i type, yes / no or all.
Looks like i am stuffed and only option is to reinstall.
have a quick look here some interesting idea's like the bootsector not being flag to boot ??
tagg
justolder (05-12-10)
tagg, thanks for link, tried a few ideas listed, but still no luck.
does it boot to safe mode ??
Tagg
Update
Tried all that was suggested on microsoft site with no luck, got desperate in the end i started to reinstall windows but only allow system files to be installed then i quit installation, i rebooted pc and came up with error ntldr is missing.
Got back into recovery mode and chose startup repair, got new error messages so got them fixed and rebooted still had same problem so continued the process a few more times again errors appeared.
Just about to give up and thought i'll just reboot one more time and the bugger actually worked, so very relieved.
Pc now loads no problem, but i think there is still an issue with a virus or trojan there so need to fix this.
Hi justolder,
Do a scan with Malwarebytes, now it's working again. Make sure you do a deep scan (full scan).
Mickstv
Last edited by mickstv; 06-12-10 at 08:47 AM.
Pc still working, but i have Trojanos/alureon.A virus, it shows as affecting Boot:\device\harddisk0\dro\(MBR).
Tried Malwarebytes (free version), does not detect issue.
Tried microsoft security essentials, it finds problem and quarantines it and restarts but does not remove it simply quarantines it again and keeps wanting to fix by rebooting, everytime i allow it to reboot i get the same issue just quarantines.
I did have norton 360 installed until about a week ago as my subscription expired.
What other anti virus software is decent?
Microsoft Security Essentials.
Have a read of the first link especially and look at the recovery part. Most likely you'll have to run Microsoft security essentials in safe mode first to remove it then follow the recovery which you've looked at previously.
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Additional recovery instructions for Trojan
This virus may cause damage to the Master Boot Record (MBR) and Boot Configuration Data (BCD). You will need to run the following commands using the "bootrec.exe" tool to ensure a complete repair of your computer:
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd
For more details on these commands, please refer to Microsoft Security Article KB927392, with specific focus to the options "/fixmbr", "/fixboot" and "/rebuildbcd".
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also Here are a couple of links that will help.
Mickstv
Last edited by mickstv; 06-12-10 at 09:57 PM.
Cant boot to safe mode, i press F8 but system boots as normal.
Try this............Originally Posted by justolder
Re: f8 not working / vista safe mode
run - msconfig - boot.ini - safe boot (select tick)
Then save and restart and you should have your safemode option back.
Mickstv
Last edited by mickstv; 07-12-10 at 09:58 AM.
Hi Mickstv, did a search on net and found the option you mentioned, used msconfig to boot to safe mode.
When in safe mode Microsoft security essentials still finds trojan but again will not remove it shows an error stating "the request is not supported" and an error code 0x80070032, i am going to search for this code to see what it is.
I wonder if a antivirus boot cd might be the way to go like AntiVir Rescue CD. This way windows is taken completely out of the picture.
You'll need to burn the file as a iso.
The cd will give you options to boot CD or HDD so go CD and it will instal a virtual Linux with Antivir. Then use the Vista repair options to Rebuild/replace the removed files.
Mickstv
Last edited by mickstv; 07-12-10 at 10:19 AM.
Before you try the Rescue CD i've got a couple more things you can try.
Removal Tool.
You may also need to download a tool called RKill which i've posted about in another thread to kill any unknown active processes. Then try a scan with the above tool.
Mickstv
Last edited by mickstv; 07-12-10 at 12:55 PM.
justolder (07-12-10)
Used tdsskiller, it found and appears to have removed trojan problem, even though i got a few errors when it was trying to remove.
Pc now boots and trojan issue does not appear when running microsoft security essentials.
I have rerun tdsskiller to make sure there is no sign of problem.
All i get now is a suspicious object file that is locked.
service name: sptd
file: c:\windows\system32\drivers\sptd.sys
Not sure if this is a problem.
Really appreciate all the help guys, especially Mickstv, you went out of your way to help by searching for solutions.
Hi justolder, No worries, you might find that sptd.sys might be a false positive if it's being detected only in tdsskiller.
Sptd.sys I believe is part of either "alcohol" or "Daemon Tools" if either of them are installed.
Mickstv
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