PR-0927 Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Sadly time for my periodic "need computer help, copy and paste thread from Guru3D into LucasForums" thread. Any and all help appreciated! Here's the thread I made at Guru3D regarding this: Hey guys, so the one time I decided not to turn off my desktop during a thunderstorm, my screen went black and I had to manually restart. Upon restart, it did the whole system repair thing. Three times, all met with failure. I tried system restore, some "sfc" thing in the command prompt, the Windows 7 installation disk (ended up with the same repair options), and a memory integrity test (no problems). All of these things just resulted in the system repair thing being loaded every time, with the now-familiar message of something like "Windows was unable to fix the problems preventing your system from booting" and asks me to send an error report. The error details reveals that one system file is corrupt, which is preventing an OS load. Not even system restore is working here. I'd love some input. I have files I'd like to get off the HDD, and I was planning on using some Linux distro on a USB key to copy the needed files onto it before doing a fresh install. Which distro should I use, and how should I go about doing this? Also, is it even necessary to do this whole distro thing? Is there any way to repair this Windows installation that any of you are familiar with? Doing a fresh install is possible, but I'd REALLY rather restore the installation I had, since I have games (and their save files), programs, and system settings all setup in the way I want them. Not to mention, I'll have to re-download a crapton of games via Steam and Impulse, and go home to get the retail copies of my non-digitally-distributed games. Any and all help would be much, much appreciated. - PR-0927 - PR-0927 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boba Rhett Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Firstly, I would try booting the PC with a different power supply installed and see if the error messages change/go away. Also, try getting into the advanced boot options in the bios and selecting "Last Known Good Configuration". Secondly, download this and use the file transfer wizard to grab your files. Or, just throw your drive into another computer and grab them that way. Or just do the windows 7 reinstall but don't reformat the drive; just have it install to a partition. It should ask you if you want to save all of your files to a windows.old folder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 OP, it sounds like you could use an uninterruptible power supply. Even a cheap standby unit should prevent stuff like this from happening. You can find decent ones on sale for $50.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PR-0927 Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 I don't have another power supply available to me, but I somehow doubt that is the problem, because it's a fairly decent one (Antec TPQ-850), and because in the "system repair" details, it listed the cause of the not-being-able-to-boot as one problem: "CorruptFile." Rhett, I tried the "Last Known Good Configuration" last night, to no avail, sadly. Would you recommend re-formatting if I can plug my HDD into a friend's SATA-to-USB dock and copy important files to a different location? Are there disadvantages to going about the "Windows.old" route? Does it seem pretty much out of the question that I will not be able to restore my previous Windows installation? Also, on the Guru3D thread here, one guy theorized that the HDD is bad. But if it was able to do the whole "system repair" thing on its own (no Windows 7 install disc), isn't this unlikely? I appreciate the help guys - thanks so much for replying! - PR-0927 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is, essentially, a cross between a surge suppressor and a battery backup that automatically supplies emergency power to your PC when power company service is interrupted. It prevents your PC from unexpectedly powering off and corrupting your data by providing enough battery power to enable you to save your work and properly shut down your PC. Everyone should have one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 This happened to me once while upgrading to XP. After spending about 10 hours on the phone with a Microsoft help person, I eventually got the old OS working just enough to backup irreplaceable files, then did a format and install. Saving your files on another drive may be your only option. When an OS install goes bad, your options get pretty limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PR-0927 Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it. I ended up downloading Ubuntu and installed it to a DVD. I ran it off the disc, copied important files to my USB key, and then wiped the hard drive. Upon reinstalling Windows, everything worked fine, and a diagnostic I did showed my HDD as healthy. I'll look into the UPS stuff, thanks! - PR-0927 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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