My PC Wont Boot

[Zack]

Hey guys. I left my computer on last night, and this morning, I noticed it said, "Starting up" in the blue Windows screen.
I decided to wait and let it start, but nothing was happening after 5 minutes. I held down the power button and shut off my PC. Then, I turned it back on, everything seemed fine, the I got the black screen with different ways to start up Windows from a powerfailure, nothing new, Safe mode, Safe mode with Networking, Normal, etc.
I clicked normal, then it went right back through the booting process and landed me right back on the black screen.
Help?

Also, I believe it is a hardware error, and I was sent here to get Greenmonkey's help

 

[Rogue Sniper]

specs?

 

[Zack]

Intel Core 2 Duo clocked at 1.80 or something.
2GB RAM
200GB Sata something Hard Drive
I know that I have an Nvidia 7000 series something.
Thats about it :/

 

[Rogue Sniper]

Have you tried to boot in safe mode?

your specs seem fine. did anything happen over night like a power surge or black/brown out?

 

[GreenMonkey]

Well, you probably managed to turn off the computer as it was writing to a needed windows file or a slew of other posabilities.

See if it boots up in safe mode like suggested above, if it does not boot up in safe mode then pay attention to the last line displayed on the screen before it restarts - try a few times if you have to, the last line determins which driver it is getting stuck on (if its that type of problem) otherwise you may need to do a windows repair or somehting of the sort.

Get back to us

 

[Zack]

Ok, I try booting in safe mode, and it ends on Drivers/Mup.sy then says at the bottom, "Press ESC to stop loading STPD.

That's the only information I got from trying Safe Mode.

 

[GreenMonkey]

so it never boots into safe mode even if you leave it running for 10 minutes, it just gets to 'press esc to to stop loading stpd.sys' and reboots? Even if you hit escape?

STPD.sys is loaded when you install deamon tools or alcohol120 or fantomCD, did you recently install one of these programs?

 

[Zack]

Yes, I have Daemon Tools installed.
So I just recently started to try Safe Mode, it shows me the, Press ESC to stop loading STPD, then that message goes away, and I cleary see that my Wirless Keyboard and Tablet (I do graphic design) turn off, then my tablet starts back up, my keyboard remains off, and it has been staying in the screen listing all of the drivers.

 

[Zack]

UPDATE!

I left it on the drivers screen, and it booted! Im on my desktop now, I'll make a post from my PC.

Ok Im on my PC now Greenmonkey, do you think I should wipe my HD clean and start over? I need to know if maybe it'll fix up my computer. (It'll definitely make it run faster ;D)

 

[GreenMonkey]

ok, when you say 'desktop' i dont know if you mean windows desktop or a desktop vs laptop.. do you have two computers?

Sometimes, just booting into safemode and then trying normal mode will be all it takes. Sometimes you have be proactive.

Can you please think really hard about the last few things you may have installed or changed just before this happened?

Cleaning out the hard drive with a format will almost cirtainly make a nice clean installation fo windows true but you do not always have to go that far, and you also lose your files. Doing a windows repair will keep your files and only necestate reinstalling drivers. But if we can figure out why it happened then we may be able to fix the problem without going through that much trouble.

 

[Zack]

'Windows Desktop'
Ok, now I'm getting the problem again :/
I was on eGO, then I got the Blue Screen of Death and before I could write it down it restarted itself. I tried to boot it back in safe mode, it showd the drivers, then restarted.
The last thing I installed was Limewire (stupid mistake, I know, it was for a song for my friend, I forgot to uninstall) and I probably caught a virus.

 

[GreenMonkey]

what anti virus do you have?

When you get to the desktop by anymeans go into the task bar properties and enable the administrative folder in the advanced options. Then go to start > programs > administrative toolbar OR start > programs > accessories > admin toolbar (I cant remember its default location) and look at the event viewer. This will tell you all the events that occured by time and see what happened at the exact times that you the bsod's.

 

[Zack]

Norton :/

I finally got it to boot back into safe mode, I'll try what you said and get back to you.
I'm really looking towards the hard drive wipe at this point.

 

[Zack]

I can't find what you are telling me to look for.

 

[GreenMonkey]

right click the toolbar, go to proporties, click the tab on the right, click advanced and look through the list of check boxes untill you see the one that says enable the administrative folder or admin tools folder

 

[Zack]

OK now what.

 

[Zack]

In the event viewer I have a lot of errors, here are the main ones:
1.DCOM got the error, "This service cannot be started in Safe Mode"

2.The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run chkdsk utility on volume C:

So I'm guessing it's a Hard Drive error. How do I go into the thingie and run chkdsk?

 

[GreenMonkey]

well, i'm not entirely sure if that will work because you havnt been 100% clear exactly where in the windows boot process that it retarts however, if you open 'my computer' and right click your C drive - then goto tools (or propoerties and then the tools tab) you can click the scan hard drive button thing and it will say somehting like (cannot perform action while window sis running do you want to have it perform at next startup and hit yes).

Also, when looking at the event viewer you need to specifically look at the events exactly at the time when you get the bsod and when the computer restarts. Also, if you ever do get into windows then you ned to pay close attention and listen for any sounds that may occure when you get the bsod. Oftentimes the sounds cna help me diagnose.

 

[Zack]

I can't even get into safe mode anymore. Is there anyway for me to just empty my disk and start again?

 

[GreenMonkey]

yes, put your windows CD in and durring the installation process it will aks you if you want to repair the current installation (reinstalls windows without erasing your files) or if you want to format first (erases everything).

EDIT: or if you have a Dell or other brand recovery disk the questions may be different just read the screen and follow the directions.