A horrible pc problem...a viscious loop!

[Roger]

I started getting bsods tonight so I checked the mechanical possibilities; reseating ram and video cards etc. and when that didn't work I started some diagnostic checks. One of these was the mem diagnostic check in Vista. I then found myself in an interesting loop of never ending memory checking. Rebooting took me straight back to the mem diag check.
So onto pc number 2 and some googling. A commandline entry could cure the problem so next to boot into safe mode...except the F8 key also brings up the boot sequence page and no amount of F8ing after leaving the boot sequence page, regardless as to which rhythm or continual pressing will bring up the safe menu. So thanks MS I'm now into the dreadful possibility of a reinstall of everything. I do a regular backup of downloads every month and I have a number of items that need backing up...it's enough to make you want to take up an entirely, non-pc related hobby.

[N2056]

Why not get another drive, install the OS on it and then using that set-up attempt to access the files on the old drive in an attempt to solve the problem? Drives are pretty cheap these days.

[stiz]

aye i do the 2 drive method, OS on one with a few programs, then everything else on another drive, that way if the OS messes up you dont loose anything when you wipe. Sure most programs and games would need reinstalling, but you dont loose any data :)

[Roger]

It's not a drive issue Robert. The drive is only a few months old. The issue is that I am in an inescapable loop from an error in mem diag reported 3 years ago after Vista SP1...which they evidently haven't repaired yet.
So how to get into safe mode without using F8 or msconfig which requires the pc to boot up to Windows.

[N2056]

I did not mean to imply that the drive had gone bad. What I was trying to say is that you could do that in order to get Vista back, and then you can get into the original drive where all your stuff is without having to re-load it all (hopefully).

[rwmarth]

If you dont want to install a new OS or another HD, you could try to use Ubuntu Live CD/flash drive. It will boot into linux of course, but you can access the windows files. It has helped me out a few times when windows wont boot and some windows files were corrupted and needed to be replaced before it would boot into Windows. The best part of that is that after you take the disc/flash drive out, there is no trace of another OS on the system.

[Overshoe]

Rog, try F5 instead of F8. That used to boot right into safe mode. Might still work.

[Meshman]

What a coincidence? I'm checking out a nasty problem with a neighbor's older PC, which runs Vista!! Check out this little bundle of magic;

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

It has the ability to boot from the CD, which if you can get into your computer's BIOS you will be able to change the boot order to look at the CD/DVD drive first. Once you're booted to the UBCD disk there are utilities to backup files, check HDs, RAM and a whole lot more.


Forgot to mention that there's some blurb on the site about using a flash drive in lieu of a CD, if the system supports booting from a flash drive.

[mfitch]

The Vista install DVD can be used to boot into a repair facility which allows a system restore (if it has been active). That has worked for me in similar situations about half the time.

[Roger]

Thanks for the replies fellas!

Just found this on "Tom's Hardware" forum...

1) First, put your Windows 7 CD in the CD drive.

2) Press F8 then choose to boot from your CD (if this doesn't boot from the CD unplug the HDD then plug it back in when the CD has loaded)

3) Select your language and wait for the options menu to appear (can take several minutes)

4) Select "Repair Windows" and choose "Command Prompt"

5) Type the drive letter of the drive that has Windows 7 on if you have multiple HDD's. Example: E: + Enter and Dir + Enter to check its the right drive.

6) Type the below code and press enter. Bobs your uncle. That's all you need to do


bcdedit /bootsequence {memdiag} /remove<!-- No Linking-->

I'm hoping it works in Vista too.

[Mathias]

Oh man, I feel with you! Good luck with that!

[mal998]

As has been stated Vista has a repair/restore function built into the disc. Turn off the rig, insert the Vista disc in your dvd drive and boot it up it will take you to various menus that allow you to repair Windows. It worked really well for me the last time I had a malware attack and could not get anything else to work.

[Meshman]

As has been stated Vista has a repair/restore function built into the disc. Turn off the rig, insert the Vista disc in your dvd drive and boot it up it will take you to various menus that allow you to repair Windows. It worked really well for me the last time I had a malware attack and could not get anything else to work.

I'll try that out later, once I get the disks from the neighbor.

Their old (4 years) Swell Dell spits out HD and memory errors, but both come back clean when using the tools on UBCD.

There is so much CRAP sitting on the HD from when it was sold and a lot of it gets loaded at startup, like MacAfee, Spysweeper and who knows what else that my memory would go bonkers too if you crammed all that stuff into me.

I don't know if the Vista Repair is non-destructive, but I'm hoping it is. If not? Guess they should have backed up that important stuff...

[mal998]

Vista repair was benign...it did not wipe out anything. What it did was to re-install all the start-up files that were wiped out by malware. that allowed me to boot up normally. it also would have allowed me to do a restore right from it's menu. saved my entire install.

[Roger]

The repair function worked a dream! I followed the instructions to the letter and result was a bootable pc.
So then I took the cpu cooling fan off, cleaned the surfaces and applied some fresh compound. Ran FsX for 10 minutes (no time to do a full soak test) and no bsods. I hope it's the end for now...until the next gremlin surfaces:isadizzy:

[Meshman]

My last little tid-bit while on the road to a clean machine. Never have worked with Vista and it's different enough from XP to matter. When it was spitting out all the error dialogs about HD and RAM I clicked on a link, that wanted to take me to a secure (https://) web site. Funny, I never know MS to charge for fixing or recovering the OS...

That trail lead me to some nasty malware that is being wiped clean. Then I'll get in and run Decrapifier to try and rid the computer of most all the garbage Dell put on there. Switch their AV to Microsoft Security Essentials, add a little Spybot Search & Destroy to go along with Malwarebytes fine program and this computer may stay clean long enough for me to load the U-Haul and get out of here!!


Now to try and mooch as much free food as I can before I leave... :wiggle:

[Gdavis101]

As I was reading through this I was going to suggest the Windows 7 disk, I have found this works quite well.. Just to bad Vista doesn't work for s**t!