windows vista won't boot past aswRvrt.sys

[REDACTED]

having an issue with my computer.  when i try to boot it up, it'll go thru POST and start show the windows loading screen.  afterwards, the screen just turns black, no mouse or anything.  restarted the computer into safe mode and it hangs up at aswRvrt.sys.

to give some back story, a few days ago, i kept getting a BSOD while trying to boot up (same thing, it would BSOD during the windows load screen).  managed to get it started on safe mode and downloaded a program that reads the crash dump files and it pointed it to avast.  uninstalled it, assuming that since it was a out-of-date version that was causing it and re-installed with the newest avast update.
all is fine until today, where now it just loads & is just a black screen.  safe mode gets stuck at aswRvrt.sys and googling brought me to it being some sort of avast file.

this is a custom build computer running windows vista 32bit (i think home premium? it's been so long).  unfortunately, i can't find any of the discs that i used when i built this computer about 7 years ago.

[Eddy]

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=53253.0
Scroll down to "If you cannot  Boot the computer".

[essexboy]

Download the following three programmes to your desktop :
 
 
1.  Rufus 
 
For 32bit systems
2.  Windows Vista RC I will PM the link
3. Farbar Recovery Scan Tool  
 
 
Insert the USB stick Then run Rufus
 
Select the ISO file on the desktop via the ISO icon. 
 
Press Start Burn

Then copy FRST to the same USB   
 
   
 
 
 
Insert the USB into the sick computer and start the computer.  First ensuring that the system is set to boot from USB 
Note: If you are not sure how to do that follow the instructions Here
 
Windows 7 and Vista screenshots 

When you reboot you will  see this.
 Click repair my computer  
 
 
Select your operating system  
 
 
Select Command prompt 
 
 
At the command prompt type the following  :
 
notepad and press Enter. 
The notepad opens. Under File menu select Open. 
Select "Computer" and find your flash drive letter and close the notepad. 
In the command window type e:\frst64.exe  or  e:\frst.exe dependant on system
 and press Enter 
Note: Replace letter e with the drive letter of your flash drive. 
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.
 

[REDACTED]

i don't know if i'm doing it wrong, but whenever i hit the boot menu it can't locate a removable device to boot from.  i had put the iso file in the usb stick & the FRST program like you said.

[essexboy]

You burnt the ISO with Rufus to make it bootable is that correct

[REDACTED]

yes i did.

[REDACTED]

just to clarify, during post, i hit ESC to enter the boot menu.  4 options to choose from, Removable, Hard disc, CDrom & network.  when hit removable it says 'no bootable device found'.  tried a few different USB ports on the computer with no success

[Eddy]

Vista, sounds like a old system.
Check the motherboard manual to see if it is capable to boot from usb.
If not, create a bootable cd/dvd and boot from that.

[REDACTED]

Vista, sounds like a old system.
Check the motherboard manual to see if it is capable to boot from usb.
If not, create a bootable cd/dvd and boot from that.

any program you suggest to use to create that disc?

[essexboy]

http://www.imgburn.com/  imgburn

[REDACTED]

http://www.imgburn.com/  imgburn

thank you, did that and booted the computer. only thing is, it's been stuck at this screen for awhile.


is it normal for it to take this long? been about 15 minutes so far

[essexboy]

No it should only be for a few minutes

Is that prior to the repair your computer option ?

[REDACTED]

No it should only be for a few minutes

Is that prior to the repair your computer option ?

correct.  after booting via cd-rom, it'll go thru the windows splash screen with the little loading bar at the bottom.  then it goes to the screen that i had just attached and stays there.. i left it up for about 2 hrs with no change.

[essexboy]

Hmm it should boot as that is the recovery disc, so it is the same as inserting a retail install cd 

You could try a Linux bootable CD but you may experience the same problem.  I will see if I can find an easy one to use

[REDACTED]

Hmm it should boot as that is the recovery disc, so it is the same as inserting a retail install cd 

You could try a Linux bootable CD but you may experience the same problem.  I will see if I can find an easy one to use

right now the computer is with a repair guy who's pretty reputable, he actually thinks it may be a harware issue as he used the genuine vista home premium disk and it freezes as well.