Windows 7 Win7 goes black at Startup

[tekrsq]

As a new member, let me say, I have searched the forum for a solution to my problem, and discovered many great ideas, but none have fixed my problem.

I'm running Win 7 Home Premium on a home built desktop with an Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe MB, and an AMD processor. It only has a single 160g HD. Automatic updates are turned on, and it has AVAST IS for virus protection.

Here's the problem. I came home from work the other day and the computer was frozen up, so I had to hit the reset button to reboot. When it came back up, it would get as far as the "starting windows" screen, then everything would go black and non responsive.

I've tried to use the repair console, and it keeps telling me it cannot start the repair tool, and it will not go back to a known time through system restore. For some reason, I cannot get it to "safe mode" either.

This morning, I placed the Win 7 CD in it hoping to repair it that way. For some reason It cannot find my installation of Win 7. It keeps telling me the only image of Win 7 is on the "D" drive. I do not have a "D" drive. When I attempted to load drivers (hoping to atleast get into safe mode), I found it apparently thinks I have 3 drives in the computer. "C" drive is now listed as System Reserved (with 70.3 mb free of 99.9mb), "D" is now called Local Disk (with 110 gb free of 148 gb) and something called "X" drive listed as Boot (with 28.9 mb free of 31.3 mb). My CD drive has been relisted as "E" drive, and shows that I have the Win 7 CD in it.

How do I fix this ?

In theory, I guess I could just do a complete wipe and reinstall (but not really sure how to do that with things the way they are). However, I do hae a few important things (like emails and favorites) that I REALLY need to get off if I could. Besides, it was a NIGHTMARE getting the OS installed the first time. It took almost 3 days on the phone with microsoft to get this thing running. I REALLY do not want to repeat that experience if possible.

PLEASE help !!!

 

[JessicaD]

Do you know if any updates were installed prior to this? Do you know that all of your hardware is functioning properly? Can you run a chkdsk? I'm concerned about potentially bad sectors on your hard drive as your Win 7 installation cannot boot and is not recognized by start up repair.

 

[tekrsq]

I hadn't thought about it until now, but I think it was in the process of updating when i went to work, and it was locked up when I got home. How do I get into it to see what updates were installed? How do I remove them? How do I run a chkdsk?

 

[Saltgrass]

Are you saying when you installed Win 7 you did not get the 100 mb System Reserved Partition? If you did, it should be unlettered so the OS would be installed on C: . If for some previously unknown reason a drive letter was added to it, that might mess up all the installs done on C: ......

Do you have access to another computer where you could download and burn a Partition Wizard CD so you could boot to it and look at your drive?

You also say you cannot use the F8 key to get into Safe Mode or the advanced recovery options?

The total GB you say it presents is more than the 160 GB drive could offer. Normally X: is the recovery drive in memory.

And of course, saying you had problems getting the OS installed and not giving any details is really nasty.... Perhaps some insight into your original problem might help here.

JessicaD, do you or someone you may have contact with know how to use pkgmgr to remove updates?

 

[tekrsq]

I've had this system running about 6 months. When originally getting it going, nothing would install right. MULTIPLE hangups, invalid product keys, etc. Once it was installed, it's been a very nice OS, without any issues. As far as I know, I only had "C" drive listed. I've never seen either one of the other 2 "drives" before, and I've always stored stuff to "C" drive.

When I hit F8, it takes me to a screen that asks me to choose which device to boot from. If I do not use F8, it takes me to a screen that asks me to launch the repair wizard or start windows normally. Last night I was actually able to start the repair wizard, but it didn't fix anything.

I do have another computer to use...it's on XP Home. Will that be a problem?

I don't have a clue about pkgmgr.

I'm pretty good with following directions though, if someone will tell me what I need to do.

 

[Saltgrass]

It may take more than one repair attempt. Try running it at least 3 times.

If you had problems originally, perhaps whatever you did to correct the situation has been undone. Microsoft has also been going back and checking installs for certain work arounds.

The Pkgmgr question was not for your. I have thought about trying it to see how it works, but have not done so yet. It is supposed to allow update package manipulation from a command prompt.

 

[tekrsq]

I finally got it to atleast ATTEMPT to run the startup repair. After running it 6 times, I get the same reports. Here's what I get:

Startup Repair:
Problem Event Name- Startup Repair Offline
Problem Signature 01- 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 02- 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 03- Unknown
Problem Signature 04- 21200957
Problem Signature 05- Auto Failure
Problem Signature 06- (ranges from 1-6, but always corresponds with the attempt #)
Problem Signature 07- CorruptAcl

OS Version- 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID- 1033

Files That Describe The Problem:
D;\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Srt\SrtTrail.txt
X:\Windows\Temp\StartupRepair.etl
D:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Srt\disklayout.txt
D:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Srt\bcdinfo.txt
D:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Srt\bootstat.dat
D:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\Srt\bootfailure.txt

Startup Repair Diagnosis and Repair Details:
All the tests that it runs in its sessions showed "completed" until it got down to the problem.
Root Cause Found:
-- A patch is preventing the system from starting

The next session showed all tests "completed" until it got down to the problem.
Root Cause Found:
-- ACLs on file D:\Windows\System32\KGyGaAvl.sys are not proper. Old value=0x12019f

The 3rd session showed all tests completed until it got down to the problem.
Root Cause Found:
-- A patch is preventing the system from starting

Repair Action: System Restore
Result: failed. error code=0x490


I certainly hope that means something to one of you, and you can tell me how to fix it. Thanks

 

[Saltgrass]

Just to see how accurate Google can be, do you run a DivX program on your system?

Since you said it only started after you did an update, it would seem reasonable that the update was, in some way, responsible for your problem. Since you can't get into your system, I will have to do some research to find out how pkgmgr works, unless JessicaD knows.

Can you boot to your virus software and do a scan?

Try F8 again to see if you can get into safe mode. You could delete any updates there. I normally start tapping it (slowly) just after the initial boot screen.

What type of video setup do you have? If you are using an HDMI connection you might try a DVI, or if you have two monitors, unplug one.