Windows 7 Black screen of death after IOLO defrag

[monosierra]

Hello All,

My laptop (Dell Studio 1550, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit) just gave me the black screen upon start-up. The Iolo System Mechanic had defragged the registry, I think, and it seems that the process had damaged my laptop's registry.

I've ran sfc /scannow with no issues, but the memory diagnostic test froze. I am now running System Restore but it too returns a black screen upon completion.

It seems from prior threads that a clean re-install is necessary.

Would like to know if this is indeed the only solution, and if so, how do I go about re-installing without an installation CD (Dell never sent one, and I had bought the laptop abroad while I was in college).

Thanks!

 

[Saltgrass]

If it was a registry situation, using the F8 key for the recovery options and the Known Last Good is supposed to use a backup copy of the registry. If it is that, and the unit has not booted successfully since the cleaning, it might work.

What shows on the black screen (moveable cursor, blinking cursor in upper left) and how are you running the tests? Is the system actually booting but you can't see the output, or is it not booting at all? Can you get into safe mode?

 

[monosierra]

If it was a registry situation, using the F8 key for the recovery options and the Known Last Good is supposed to use a backup copy of the registry. If it is that, and the unit has not booted successfully since the cleaning, it might work.

What shows on the black screen (moveable cursor, blinking cursor in upper left) and how are you running the tests? Is the system actually booting but you can't see the output, or is it not booting at all? Can you get into safe mode?

Thank you. I tried the Last Known Good Configuration and it worked. Have uninstalled System Mechanic. Still scared the problem might happen again when I restart my computer!

 

[Saltgrass]

The registry that was causing you the problem, or so it appears, is now gone. It was replaced by the backup which became the primary version. So right now, I would say your backup and current are just about the same with only differences created in your current session. Since you seemed to have removed the offending application, I would not anticipate any future problems.

I have run registry cleaners in the past but was very careful about what I let it clean. I don't think any of them are 100% reliable, but some may know to stay away from certain sensitive entries.