[Lady_Rocker]

Came home yesterday, turned on my computer, it just sat at the windows logo for a very long time.. after 2 hours, I shut it down holding the Power button in... 

 

I waited 1 hour, then tried again.. this time I pressed F2 at the startup... tried to run the recovery AND restore, but no success.. so I went to sleep around 10pm with the computer still frozen at the Windows logo screen.. 

 

When I woke up, lo-n-behold, it was on my normal desktop; but, there was a message about restore was still unsuccessful and that I needed to run "chkdsk /R".. 

 

I closed the message window, ran "CleanUp"... then, updated and ran Malware Bytes.. then, updated and ran SpyBot.. after I "Fixed selected", the computer needed to reboot.. 

Upon reboot, the chkdsk command ran... then after a very long startup (stuck on WIndows logo for 1.5 hours), I finally got into my desktop...

 

BUT, all programs are hanging now.. it took me almost 30 minutes to get into this forum.. HELP!!!

 

 

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Hello Lady_Rocker

 

The first thing that I suggest you do is back up any important data on the drive as a precaution, the OS or the HDD itself could be damaged/corrupt and rebooting the computer again or testing the HDD could result in an inoperable computer.

 

Let us know when the data is backed up or if you need any help with the procedure.

 

Do you have an OS or system restore disk in case a repair installation or fresh installation is required, have you made a note of your 25 digit MS product key for Windows 7.

[phillpower2]

Hello Lady_Rocker

 

The first thing that I suggest you do is back up any important data on the drive as a precaution, the OS or the HDD itself could be damaged/corrupt and rebooting the computer again or testing the HDD could result in an inoperable computer.

 

Let us know when the data is backed up or if you need any help with the procedure.

 

Do you have an OS or system restore disk in case a repair installation or fresh installation is required, have you made a note of your 25 digit MS product key for Windows 7.

[Lady_Rocker]

At the moment I am at the end of my backup. I am only backing up my "My Documents" folder because of important files.  There is a "D" drive that reads "Recovery", but I don't know how to access that.  As for a startup or restore disk, my children misplaced them, but I will try to find it (sadly, that may take me a day or so).

If i have other options, I'm totally open to them

[phillpower2]

Hopefully you will not need the disk but if you do you can always download an ISO to save yourself some time, we will help with this.

 

Post back once you have finished backing up your data, let us know the following please, how is the computer behaving now, has the HDD (hard drive) been making any odd noises or been slow to access and how much free storage space is/was available on the HDD. 

 

For future reference Performing a HP System Recovery (Windows 7)

[Lady_Rocker]

I'm done backing up my most important files!

 

Computer doesn't make noise; but, it still hangs when loading during the windows logo.. here is the screenshot of my computer's storage.

 

 

 

I'm ready!!

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by Lady_Rocker, 01 May 2014 - 12:41 AM.

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the update 

 

From your screenshot we can see that you are getting low on free disk space on the C: drive, I will explain more about this later. 

 

Please restart the computer in Safe Mode with Networking to see if you can boot into Windows without issue and then post back with an update for us;

 

Safe mode starts Windows with a limited set of files and drivers. Startup programs don't run in safe mode, and only the basic drivers needed to start Windows are installed. For more information, see What is safe mode?

Safe mode is useful for troubleshooting problems with programs and drivers that might not start correctly or that might prevent Windows from starting correctly. If a problem doesn't reappear when you start in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings and basic device drivers as possible causes. If a recently installed program, device, or driver prevents Windows from running correctly, you can start your computer in safe mode and then remove the program that's causing the problem. For more information about troubleshooting problems in safe mode, see Diagnostic tools to use in safe mode.

1. Remove all floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs from your computer, and then restart your computer.

   Click the Start button , click the arrow next to the Shut Down button , and then click Restart.

2. Do one of the following:

   • If your computer has a single operating system installed, press and hold the F8 key as your computer restarts. You need to press F8 before the Windows logo appears. If the Windows logo appears, you'll need to try again by waiting until the Windows logon prompt appears, and then shutting down and restarting your computer.

   • If your computer has more than one operating system, use the arrow keys to highlight the operating system you want to start in safe mode, and then press F8.

3. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight the safe mode option you want, and then press Enter. For more information about options, see Advanced startup options (including safe mode).

4. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights.

When your computer is in safe mode, you'll see the words Safe Mode in the corners of your monitor. To exit safe mode, restart your computer and let Windows start normally.

[Lady_Rocker]

I know about the Safe Mode, but exactly am I looking for and reporting on?

[phillpower2]

If the computer boots straight into Safe Mode and then functions normally it may suggest that the problem is driver related, this is also the quickest thing to check as other testing such running SFC (system file checker) chkdsk and/or the HDDs own diagnostic tools can and often do take many hours.

 

There is a possibility that the amount of free storage space on the HDD is causing the issue/s, Windows 7 and your personal data are both on the same partition and this is not a good idea at the best of times as it creates the risk of the OS being accidentally damaged, the risk is increased the lower the amount of free disk space becomes due to the likelihood that the OS will have files overwritten** I will help you with freeing up some space in due course but can I first ask you to run SFC;

 

Go to Start and then to Run ("Start Search" in Vista - 7)
Type in: sfc /scannow
Click OK (Enter in Vista- 7)
Have the correct Windows CD/DVD handy (not always required).
If System File Checker (sfc) finds any errors, it may ask you for the DVD.
SFC sometimes needs to be run 3/4 times before all repairable errors are corrected.
In Vista/7 you will receive the following message: "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations".

For Vista & W7 users ONLY: Navigate to C:\Windows\Logs\CBS folder. You'll see CBS.log file.
The file may be large so upload it to http://www.mediafire.com/ and then post the download link here.

 

How to use mediafire  http://en.kioskea.ne...es-to-mediafire

 

**

 

Please note that in order to avoid data corruption and/or mechanical HDD failure for data only HDDs you must always have a minimum of 10% of the HDDs overall storage capacity available as free space and between and 15 and 20% of a HDDs overall storage capacity available as free space if the OS is on it, the free space allows for information to be copied to and from the drive efficiently and it reduces the risk of the OS being overwritten/becoming corrupted by a simple task such as installing a Windows or a third party software update.

Not having the above can render a computer inoperable if the HDD concerned has the OS on it due to the MBR (Master Boot Record) becoming damaged/corrupt, please see information @ http://pcsupport.abo...sterbootrec.htm

 

[Lady_Rocker]

Hello my friend!

I got into safe mode and recovered my computer. Aka I wiped it clean. It is fast loading again and I am sure it was all the games my boys had.

I would appreciate recommended aNtivirus and other software to protect my comp.

[phillpower2]

Hello Lady_Rocker

 

Avast free or MSE free, both offer very good AV protection and are light on system resources and so will not slow your system down.

 

If you would like a third party firewall consider ZoneAlarm which is also free.

 

Please also take a look at the information provided courtesy of admin which can be found here

 

Can I ask if you have reinstalled all important Windows 7 updates since you restored the computer back to the out of the box settings.

[Lady_Rocker]

Actually the computer installed 136 important updates itself and rebooted. I forgot to change that preference

[phillpower2]

All good then 

[Lady_Rocker]

All good then 

 

 

Yep, definitely all good! Thank you for your quick guidance and responses! 

[phillpower2]

You are most welcome Lady_Rocker