System Hangs at Vista Load Bar

cyberoptics · 27th May 2009

Hey, I was playing some L4D late at night and everything was fine. I wake up in the morning, the computer is running, but monitor is in standby. So I restart it by holding power button down. Now I have to select start windows normally. When arriving at the load bar for vista, it stalls going nowhere. Eventually It will restart by itself and start over.

I have tried safe mode, it stops at crcdisk.sys. Last known configuration loops like the other way.

So I boot from the vista CD. I select repair. Now the strage part. On the screen where I select my operating system I see my Windows Vista, with the memory listed. When I try to click NEXT it hourglasses. From here I get like .1 frame per second, as it pops up a box to search for any operating system... BUT I JUST SAW IT! Most of the time it will stay at this step for hours. ONE time it did it in 1 minute, but said there was NO OS! BUT AGAIN, I JUST SAW IT HERE!

Obviously at this point command prompt is no good since I cant CD C:

I don't want to reinstall, because I need some of the data!

Please help!

I am running windows vista, I am using 2 raptors in RAID, with a 680i evga mobo. I have taken out every device attached to the mobo and reattached. Checked connections. Removed unecessary piecies like extra ram, sound card, video tuner, etc.

Raid status is healthy, and I see it in the bios, and initialy in the repair cd.

I'm not sure if it went to install an automatic update and something went wrong, but it litteraly worked one moment, then didnt the next.

Note: If I can get it to not go at 1fps like it did the one time, I will try looking for raid control drivers on a floppy. But thats my only guess at this second.

**broni** · 28th May 2009

Being stuck at crcdisk.sys may indicate hard drive issue.

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD, and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, which is not listed, try using Hitachi tools.

**mattman** · 28th May 2009

Not many options from here
What to do if Windows won't start correctly

Quote:

Options to try if Windows does not start at all

•Startup Repair. Startup Repair is a Windows recovery tool that can fix certain problems, such as missing or damaged system files, that might prevent Windows from starting. Startup Repair is located on the System Recovery Options menu, which is on the Windows Vista installation disc. If your computer has preinstalled recovery options, it might also be stored on your computer's hard disk. For more information, see Startup Repair: frequently asked questions and What are the system recovery options in Windows Vista? If your computer does not include Startup Repair, your computer manufacturer might have customized or replaced the tool. Check the information that came with your computer or go to the manufacturer's website.
•Change restart settings in safe mode. If your computer is stuck in a loop where Windows fails, attempts to restart, and then fails again repeatedly, restart your computer in safe mode and select the Disable automatic restart on system failure checkbox. For more information, see Advanced startup options (including safe mode).
•Reinstall. If no other options have solved the problem, and you are sure that your computer's hardware is functioning normally, you might need to reinstall Windows. A custom (clean) installation of Windows will permanently delete all of the files on your computer and reinstall Windows, so only use this option if all other recovery options have been unsuccessful. After the installation, you will need to reinstall your programs and restore your files from backup copies. For more information, see Installing and reinstalling Windows**.

cyberoptics · 28th May 2009

Okay, after much playing around last night I was able to let it sit for 4 hours untill the fps cleared up. However, I still was not able find an OS listed there.

New Info: I mentioned seeing the OS and partition, but when I hit next it wasnt able to fix startup?

Issue: When I hit back, the OS that I saw had disapeared. I tried to load the raid drivers, but they were not able to load.

Steps taken: So I while in the load drivers screen, I was able to use the gui to browse my directories. I saw that my raid drive was not C: but was now E: !! GREAT!

Next: So I got out, clicked next, and opened the dos prompt. I checked my directory with "dir E:" and all my files were here! I saved what I could on a USB stick.

Then: I used "dir E:\windows". Now I notice I have no system folder, and no system32. So I ran a chkdsk /R on the E drive.

Next Morning: I awake to find that It had repaired several errors. Notably, an orphaned system and system32. So After it was done, I close out of the dos prompt. Hit back instead of restart to see if my OS is able to be found. It says that It found an OS now! HOWEVER, the startup seems damaged. Forget the exact term. It asks if I would like that fixed, then a reboot. I click OK, and the computer restarts. After a while on the green loading bar - my original issue, it goes to a black scren where it says there are inconsistancies on the drive, and begins performing a chkdsk.

Now I turn off my monitor and head to work. Atleast I can get to my files now, back what I can, and am hopeful of fixing this issue. BTW There are no backups or system restore points, atleast prior to the chkdsk recovery. (that might have changed, ill know after work)

Any ideas, insight, suggestions?

Another catalyst, I also replaced my PSU as it also failed on me, which explained why my computer would randomly shut down from time to time this past month. This probably help corrupt a file, possibly during an automatic windows update to SP2.

cyberoptics · 29th May 2009

Now it just boots to a black screen w/ a mouse cursor before I can log in. All safemode options do the same. So does last known good config.

Only change is my C drive went from E, back to C now which is good. I have a system and system 32. When I run repair, it said system directory was corrupt. I tried to run another repair and I got a blue stop screen pointing at nvraid driver.

I backed up my files, and will erase the whole drive, im out of time and patience.

**broni** · 30th May 2009

Before you waste even more time, re-read my reply #2.

**mattman** · 30th May 2009

Yes, I always run diagnostics.

You say it is in a RAID configuration (RAID 0 I suppose). That may be the source. Would there be diagnostic utilities for that?

cyberoptics · 1st June 2009

Vista has been reinstalled. I will NOT be using raid 0 this time around. No hardware issues found. Everything is working perfect now. Thanks for the help.

Disabled automatic updates, manually installed vista sp1 then sp2.

**broni** · 1st June 2009

Thanks for posting back