windows won't boot - stops after aswRvrt.sys even in Safe Mode

[keltika]

This is a similar situation to many posts. Windows 7 64bit boots to the Windows logo and hangs. Safe Mode boots up to aswRvrt.sys and then hangs. I am unable to create a USB bootdisk because the Windows 7 64bit RC link (in the calcuttaman thread) gives me a 404 error at Dropbox. Consequently I can't provide a FRST.txt file.

If essexboy is available to help me (since he seems to be magic at this issue), I would be very happy.

Additional info: I've used avast with no issues for many years. It did detect a Flufferminer trojan yesterday. The bootscan found some infected Windows Defender file, which I deleted. Also (not sure whether this was before or after), Windows installed some updates yesterday. Booting was fine after all these. My PC did not shut down properly yesterday, since the power went out. I only started it up again this morning, at which point I was met with my current predicament.

Thank you.

[essexboy]

Hi there I will PM the link for the win7 64bit ISO.  I cannot use a public link as it exceeds my download limit and I lose the download folder for 24 hours 

Once the USB has been created could you attach the FRST log

[keltika]

Thank you. It will take a while because my internet connection is woefully slow this time of day.

[keltika]

Okay, I created the USB bootdisk. It showed the screen stating that Windows is loading files, then moved on to a black screen with "Microsoft Corporation" and a bar above it with some green lines moving across it. No further progress is made.

[essexboy]

So the recovery console is not loading at all ..  We can use another programme to access the hard drive and see if the problem is related to the registry

Download Peazip to the desktop 
Run and install the programme
As it installs this page will show, deselect the AVG ticks
Press decline and it will then install cleanly 
 

 
Download the following files to the desktop .. Right click the links and select save as...then select desktop 
 
Rufus
 
OTLPE_standard
 
Right click OTLPE on your desktop and select  ..Open as archive 
 

 
 
Select OTLPE standard 
 

 
Click Extract, ensure that desktop is selected 
 

 
Insert the USB stick Then run Rufus
 
Select the ISO file on the desktop via the ISO icon.

Press Start Burn


Once the USB has burnt then

• Download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool and save it to the flash drive.
  
  
  • Reboot your system using the boot USB you just created.
  Note : If you do not know how to set your computer to boot from USB follow the steps here
  
• As the  Programme needs to detect your hardware and load the operating system, I would recommend a nice cup of tea whilst it loads  :)
• Your system should now display a Reatogo desktop.
• Locate the flash drive and run FSRT
• The tool will start to run.

• When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.
• Press Scan button.
  
• It will make a log (FRST.txt) on the flash drive. Please copy and paste it to your reply.

[keltika]

Is there someplace else to get OTLPE? I've tried and tried to download it and it stops every time. The best I've managed is a pathetic 3MB. Usually I don't even make it to 1 ...

[essexboy]

Not really, are you able to access the command prompt ?  If so we could run a chkdsk from there

[keltika]

I can't access anything. With any form of Safe Mode booting, I get to aswRvrt.sys and then it hangs. Attempting to boot using your USB drive or the Windows 7 installation disc leads to the black screen with the progress bar and tirelessly moving green lines.

Is it possible that my HDD is dead? I'm clinging to the hope that it's alive but just "locked away", due to the fact that Windows does load a couple of files before it hangs.

[essexboy]

I would suspect some form of HDD problem, either an MFT problem or a corrupted registry

Unfortunately the only way I could tell is if I can see a log.  As it stands OTLPE is probably the only one that will work

[keltika]

It turns out the internet turns into the autobahn in the wee hours of the morning in my country and I seemed to be the only one screaming down it. So I managed to download OTLPE in less time it took me to get Peazip yesterday. Alas, my euphoria was shortlived. Booting from this newly created USB disk resulted in a black screen with a blinking cursor in the top left corner (just after selecting the boot from USB option). Nothing changed for at least 20 minutes. The USB drive's light remain on and unflickering.

Then I tried something else. I made an Ubuntu USB boot drive and managed to successfully boot with that. I know absolutely nothing about Linux, but I was able to access my HDD and copy some important data to a flashdrive.

Is it possible to do something with Ubuntu to remedy my situation?

[essexboy]

Just checking out the ability of a Linux distro setting windows to run chkdsk as I believe this will solve the problem.. Back in a bit

[essexboy]

That was quick

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1907603

Sorry to hear about your problem. I was unclear whether you had windows and ubuntu file systems to check or just windows ones?

 Both can be checked from the terminal on the live CD - boot it up and open gparted (on the desktop) to work out what each of the partitions you want to scan are - and what file system they are, for example /dev/sda1 - ntfs, /dev/sda2 - ext4

 then open a terminal by pressing ctrl+alt+t

 For scanning NTFS (Windows)

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-get install ntfsprogs
sudo ntfsfix /dev/sdaX - set X as the number of the Windows (NTFS) partition in gparted
Hope it helps

[keltika]

Okay. Gparted results:
/dev/sda1            ntfs   System Reserved   100 MiB
/dev/sda2   red !   ntfs    931.41 GiB
unallocated    unallocated   1.71 MiB

sudo apt-get install ntfsprogs
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package ntfsprogs is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or is only available from another source
However the following packages replace it:
   ntfs-3g ntfs-3g:i386
E: Package 'ntfsprogs' has no installation candidate

sudo ntfsfix /dev/sda2
Mounting volume... OK
Processing of SMFT and SMFTMirr completed successfully.
NTFS volume version is 3.1.
NTFS partition /dev/sda2 was processed successfully.

I am running Ubuntu in Try mode from the USB drive.

[essexboy]

That should now force a chkdsk run on windows reboot, could you try that now

[keltika]

Rebooting takes me to the screen with the options to Repair or Start Normally. Repair goes the black screen with the bar and green lines. Normal goes the splash screen. Both hang.

I have additional information from Gparted, relating to the red exclamation mark:

Warning:
ntfsresize v2012.1.15AR.1 (libntfs-3g)
Device name   :/dev/sda2
NTFS volume version 3.1
Cluster size   :4096 bytes
Current volume size: 1000097182208 bytes (1000098 MB)
Current device size: 1000097185792 bytes (1000098 MB)
Checking filesystem consistency...
Accounting clusters...
Cluster accounting failed at 23051869 (0x15fbe5d): missing cluster in $Bitmap
Filesystem check failed! Totally 1 cluster accounting mismatches.
ERROR: NTFS is inconsistent. Run chkdsk /f on Windows then reboot it TWICE!
The usage of the /f paramter is very IMPORTANT! No modification was and will be made to NTFS by this software until it gets repaired.

Unable to read the contents of this file system!
Because of this some operations may be unavailable.

The cause might be a missing software package.
The following list of software packages is required for ntfs file system support: ntfsprogs.