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Win7 No Boot Options
Posted on 2013-01-01
I have a neighbors laptop (Toshiba Satellite, Win7, i5) that was left in a car in very cold temperatures which resulted in condensation on the hard drive...so she says.
Now it will not boot up. Boots to a black screen with a cursor and then just a black screen.
I've backed up her important data. Ran a repair while connected to my computer...no help.
Booted to a Win7 disc and ran a Startup Repair...no help.
Booted to disc and ran System Restore twice, with different dates and still no help.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
I just noticed out of the corner of my eye, it rebooted by itself and back to the same screen it stops on.
P.S. pressing F8 does not present any boot options.
Now it will not boot up. Boots to a black screen with a cursor and then just a black screen.
I've backed up her important data. Ran a repair while connected to my computer...no help.
Booted to a Win7 disc and ran a Startup Repair...no help.
Booted to disc and ran System Restore twice, with different dates and still no help.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
I just noticed out of the corner of my eye, it rebooted by itself and back to the same screen it stops on.
P.S. pressing F8 does not present any boot options.
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10 Comments
First, somene must have mentioned to her about condensation of the hard drive. All hard drives are vacume sealed. Unless someone opened it and broke the seal (very unlikely), there wouldn't be any condensation in the HD.
It sounfs like her boot sector took a hit. Since you already backed up her data, the nest solution is probably a clean reinstall.
It sounfs like her boot sector took a hit. Since you already backed up her data, the nest solution is probably a clean reinstall.
Active 1 day ago
You can try this workaround as a last option
Its a bit risky and will not work in 100%
1. delete bootcat.cashe from C:\windows\system32\codein
the file is 384 bytes when broken , is 2,344,056 when OK. is beeing recreated when booting.
2. copy from a ok pc c:\windows\system32\catroo
3. restart.
Or if you backed up all the data you can just format and re install the OS
Its a bit risky and will not work in 100%
1. delete bootcat.cashe from C:\windows\system32\codein
the file is 384 bytes when broken , is 2,344,056 when OK. is beeing recreated when booting.
2. copy from a ok pc c:\windows\system32\catroo
3. restart.
Or if you backed up all the data you can just format and re install the OS
Since it reboots you have probably got a BSOD. Zip the last 3 *.dmp files (probably in the hidden c:\windows\minidump folder and attach the zip file with your next comment.
You probably have an issue with either your RAM, so run the memory test included with Windows 7, or memtest 86+ from the UBCD:
http://ultimatebootcd.com
Also run the HD manufacturer's diagnostic utility (also included on that CD).
It is also possible your BIOS settings changed from IDE mode to to SATA or AHCI mode, so check if there are any such settings and play around with them.
You probably have an issue with either your RAM, so run the memory test included with Windows 7, or memtest 86+ from the UBCD:
http://ultimatebootcd.com
Also run the HD manufacturer's diagnostic utility (also included on that CD).
It is also possible your BIOS settings changed from IDE mode to to SATA or AHCI mode, so check if there are any such settings and play around with them.
I am suspecting that there is some hardware issues which needs to diagnosed first before going to OS options.
Is there a diagnostic partition the system allows you to boot into to run Toshiba diags? I know Dell includes one on all their systems.
Thank you for all of the great suggestions!!! I'll be working on that computer tonight and will get back to you asap.
Here's a great website on how to fix the bootloader.
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Windows+Bootloader+from+the+DVD
Go down to option two, and option three if necessary.
A lot of times, a rootkit infection can cause this kind of behavior. If you have the hard drive pulled, run TDSSKiller externally.
http://support.kaspersky.com/5350
The only two options that matter when running externally is 'Boot Sectors' and 'Detect TDLFS File System'. You can select these by clicking on 'Change parameters'.
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Windows+Bootloader+from+the+DVD
Go down to option two, and option three if necessary.
A lot of times, a rootkit infection can cause this kind of behavior. If you have the hard drive pulled, run TDSSKiller externally.
http://support.kaspersky.com/5350
The only two options that matter when running externally is 'Boot Sectors' and 'Detect TDLFS File System'. You can select these by clicking on 'Change parameters'.
Changed Hard Drive from AHCI to Compatibility Mode and it worked. Also had ran windows system restore which completed successfully but think the Hard Drive setting was the fix.
Thank you all, especially rindi
Thank you all, especially rindi
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