[mwise82817]

Hello all. I have a Toshiba Satellite A665-6070 with Windows 7. About 2 months ago it was damaged while being checked in airline baggage. It appeared that the screen was smashed so I took it to a big box chain vendor for an estimate. They sent the laptop to their repair facility and quoted me over $300.

I decided I could do the work myself and asked them to send it back. When I got the laptop back, I went to go retrieve some files off of it. It booted fine but then locked up once the Windows desktop loaded. I did a hard reboot and when it booted up it gave me:

"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause"

"Launch Startup Repair (Recommended)"
"Start Windows Normally"

Start Windows Normally would not work. It would just flash and reboot. So I finally did the Launch Startup Repair and it eventually loaded up after going through hours of self test.

So I got the files I wanted off and ordered a replacement LCD screen. When the screen arrived I did the appropriate hardware replacement and started up the laptop. Again, initially it booted up Windows and loaded the desktop, but then locked up. However, every time I reboot the machine I still get the same options as before, but NOTHING works. Startup Repair, Safe Mode, Recovery Disk, Win Rec Env 64 bit, and a USB stick with Windows PE all end up with a black screen with a white cursor.

I found a post on this site (http://www.geekstogo...linking-cursor/) that seemed similar to my problem so I followed it's procedures. I was able to load xPud on the laptop and copy over the MBR. I then scanned the MBR on another computer with Avast AntiVirus and found no problems. I went ahead and did the MBR fix suggested in the thread and still no luck.

I'm not sure if the laptop is infected or just corrupted. I am willing to wipe the hard drive and start from scratch, but I can't get anything Windows to load.

Thank you for any help at all. I'm at my whits end.

Edited by mwise82817, 23 September 2012 - 07:09 PM.

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Hi, mwise82817! My nick name is CompCav and I will be assisting you with your Malware/Security problems. Please make sure you read all of the instructions and fixes thoroughly before continuing with them. If you have any questions or you are unsure about anything, just ask and I will help you out.

If you have resolved the issues you were originally experiencing, or have received help elsewhere, please let me know so that this topic can be closed.


Please make sure you are saving and printing the instructions out prior to each fix, this way you will have them on hand just in case you are unable to access this site. One of the steps I will be asking you to do requires you to boot into Safe Mode and this process will be much easier for you to perform if the instructions are printed out for you to follow.

If you are ready to get started, please review and follow these guidelines so that we resolve your issues in a timely and effective manner:

• Logs from malware removal programs (OTL is one of them) can take some time to analyze. I need you to be patient while I analyze any logs you post.
• Please make sure to carefully read any instructions that I give you. Since I cannot see or directly interact with your computer I am dependent on you to "be my eyes" and provide as much information as you can regarding the current state of your computer.
• If you're not sure, or if something unexpected happens, do NOT continue! Stop and ask!
• These instructions have been specifically tailored to your computer and the issues you are experiencing with your computer. These instructions are not suitable for any other computer, even if the issues are fairly similar.
• Do not do things I do not ask for, such as running a spyware scan on your computer. However, the one thing that you should always do, is to make sure your anti-virus definitions are up-to-date!
• Please do not use the Attachment feature for any log file. Just do a Copy/Paste of the entire contents of the log file inside your post and submit.
• You must reply within four days failure to reply will result in the topic being closed!
• Please do not PM me directly for help. If you have any questions, post them in this topic. PM me only if I have not responded to your last post in 2 days.
• Lastly, I am no magician. I will try very hard to fix your issues, but no promises can be made. Also be aware that some infections are so severe that you might need to ultimately reformat your hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
  Don't worry, this only happens in severe cases, but it sadly does happen. Please have the software and storage media for backing up your data available.

You may have a hardware issue with your hard drive.

Do you have access to another machine with Windows 7 on it?

If so please make a Windows 7 recovery disk following these directions.


Booting from System Recovery Disk:

• Press key to get to boot menu, normally F12, select your CD (Optical) drive and press ENTER
• Press any key to boot from CD or DVD..
• Select System Recovery Options then click Next
• Select English as the keyboard language settings, and then click Next.
• Select Use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows and click Next

On the System Recovery Options menu you will get the following options:
Startup Repair
System Restore
Windows Complete PC Restore
Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
Command Prompt

[*]Select Command Prompt
[*]In the command window type in C: and press ENTER
[*]Then at the C:\ prompt type chkdsk /r and press ENTER. (Leave a space between k and /)
[*]We want to force a dismount so type Y and press ENTER
[*]Let check disk run to completion, it will take a while, then let the computer reboot and see if it boots normally.[/list]

[CompCav]

Hi, mwise82817! My nick name is CompCav and I will be assisting you with your Malware/Security problems. Please make sure you read all of the instructions and fixes thoroughly before continuing with them. If you have any questions or you are unsure about anything, just ask and I will help you out.

If you have resolved the issues you were originally experiencing, or have received help elsewhere, please let me know so that this topic can be closed.


Please make sure you are saving and printing the instructions out prior to each fix, this way you will have them on hand just in case you are unable to access this site. One of the steps I will be asking you to do requires you to boot into Safe Mode and this process will be much easier for you to perform if the instructions are printed out for you to follow.

If you are ready to get started, please review and follow these guidelines so that we resolve your issues in a timely and effective manner:

• Logs from malware removal programs (OTL is one of them) can take some time to analyze. I need you to be patient while I analyze any logs you post.
• Please make sure to carefully read any instructions that I give you. Since I cannot see or directly interact with your computer I am dependent on you to "be my eyes" and provide as much information as you can regarding the current state of your computer.
• If you're not sure, or if something unexpected happens, do NOT continue! Stop and ask!
• These instructions have been specifically tailored to your computer and the issues you are experiencing with your computer. These instructions are not suitable for any other computer, even if the issues are fairly similar.
• Do not do things I do not ask for, such as running a spyware scan on your computer. However, the one thing that you should always do, is to make sure your anti-virus definitions are up-to-date!
• Please do not use the Attachment feature for any log file. Just do a Copy/Paste of the entire contents of the log file inside your post and submit.
• You must reply within four days failure to reply will result in the topic being closed!
• Please do not PM me directly for help. If you have any questions, post them in this topic. PM me only if I have not responded to your last post in 2 days.
• Lastly, I am no magician. I will try very hard to fix your issues, but no promises can be made. Also be aware that some infections are so severe that you might need to ultimately reformat your hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
  Don't worry, this only happens in severe cases, but it sadly does happen. Please have the software and storage media for backing up your data available.

You may have a hardware issue with your hard drive.

Do you have access to another machine with Windows 7 on it?

If so please make a Windows 7 recovery disk following these directions.


Booting from System Recovery Disk:

• Press key to get to boot menu, normally F12, select your CD (Optical) drive and press ENTER
• Press any key to boot from CD or DVD..
• Select System Recovery Options then click Next
• Select English as the keyboard language settings, and then click Next.
• Select Use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows and click Next

On the System Recovery Options menu you will get the following options:
Startup Repair
System Restore
Windows Complete PC Restore
Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
Command Prompt

[*]Select Command Prompt
[*]In the command window type in C: and press ENTER
[*]Then at the C:\ prompt type chkdsk /r and press ENTER. (Leave a space between k and /)
[*]We want to force a dismount so type Y and press ENTER
[*]Let check disk run to completion, it will take a while, then let the computer reboot and see if it boots normally.[/list]

[mwise82817]

Thanks for the response. While waiting for a response I gave up trying to recover my Windows load and decided to use the "Darik's Boot and Nuke" program off of an Ultimate Boot CD copy I made to totally erase the hard drive. Once the hard drive was erased I was finally able to access Windows utilities from other disk I had. At this point I did a recovery from a previous recovery image I had previously made. Again, in my original problem I was unable to load ANY Windows utilities. Formatting the drive was the only thing that worked. Given that scenario, I would not have been able to run the chkdsk you suggested.

However, I have not done anything since formatting the hard drive and reloading the recovery image. So, I followed your suggestion and ran a chkdsk and it came back fine.

Do you feel any additional checks are needed or would you suggest I move forward with rebuilding the machine. I am ok either way...

[CompCav]

If you are not seeing any issues then I would not be concerned since you restored after a full format of the disk.

Regards,

CompCav

[mwise82817]

Thanks for the help. Please close.

[CompCav]

Since this issue appears to be resolved ... this Topic has been closed. Glad we could help.

If you're the topic starter, and need this topic reopened, please contact a staff member with the address of the thread.

Everyone else please begin a New Topic.