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Configuring Startup and Troubleshooting Startup Issues : The Process of Troubleshooting Startup (part 1) - Startup Troubleshooting Before the Starting Windows Logo Appears

6/7/2013 4:38:12 PM

Startup problems can be divided into three distinct categories:

  • Problems that occur before the Starting Windows logo appears These problems are typically caused by missing startup files (often as a result of installing a different operating system over Windows 7), corrupted files, or hardware problems. 

  • Problems that occur after the Starting Windows logo appears but before the logon prompt is displayed These problems are typically caused by faulty or misconfigured drivers and services. Hardware problems can also cause failure during this phase of startup. 

  • Problems that occur after logon These problems are typically caused by startup applications. 

1. Startup Troubleshooting Before the Starting Windows Logo Appears

Troubleshooting startup problems is more challenging than troubleshooting problems that occur while Windows is running, because you cannot access the full suite of troubleshooting tools included with Windows. However, Windows does provide several tools that you can use to identify the cause and resolve the problem if you cannot start the operating system. Most important, you can start WinRE by booting from the Windows Vista DVD or directly from the computer's hard disk. WinRE can start automatically if Windows cannot start correctly. The WinRE tools include the Startup Repair tool, which can automatically fix many common startup problems.

Follow the process illustrated in Figure 1 to troubleshoot startup problems that occur before the Starting Windows logo appears. After each troubleshooting step, you should attempt to start the computer. If the computer starts successfully or if startup progresses far enough to display the Starting Windows logo, you can stop troubleshooting.

Follow this process to troubleshoot startup problems before logon.

Figure 1. Follow this process to troubleshoot startup problems before logon.

The following sections describe each of these troubleshooting steps in more detail.

Note

After you enable Windows BitLocker, a lost encryption key can result in an unbootable computer.

How to Run Startup Repair

To run Startup Repair, open the System Recovery tools and then start Startup Repair, as described in the following sections.

HOW TO START THE SYSTEM RECOVERY TOOLS

Windows 7 automatically installs the System Recovery tools, which are capable of fixing almost any startup problem related to boot sectors, MBRs, or the BCD registry file. The Startup Repair tool can fix most startup problems automatically, without requiring you to understand the details of how an operating system loads. The tool is so straightforward that you could easily talk end users through the troubleshooting process remotely.

To start the System Recovery tools, follow these steps:

  1. Restart the computer. If the System Recovery tools do not automatically start, restart the computer again, press F8 before the Starting Windows logo appears, and then choose Repair Your Computer from the Advanced Boot Options screen.

  2. Select your language and keyboard input method and then click Next.

  3. Select your user name and type your password. Then, click OK.

Note

Most Windows 7 computers have the System Recovery tools preinstalled by the computer manufacturer. On these computers, you can start the System Recovery tools faster by pressing F8 before the Starting Windows logo appears and then choosing Repair Your Computer from the Advanced Boot Options screen. These computers can also automatically detect startup failure (by noticing that the last startup failed) and start Startup Repair.

If you cannot start the System Recovery tools from the hard drive, insert the Windows DVD and configure the computer to start from the DVD. Then, follow these steps:

  1. Insert the Windows DVD in your computer

  2. Restart your computer. When prompted to boot from the DVD, press any key. If you are not prompted to boot from the DVD, you may have to configure your computer's startup sequence. 

  3. Wait while Windows 7 setup loads.

  4. When prompted, select your regional preferences and keyboard layout and then click Next.

  5. Click Repair Your Computer to start RecEnv.exe.

  6. When the System Recovery tools start, System Recovery scans your hard disks for Windows installations.

  7. If the standard Windows drivers do not detect a hard disk because it requires drivers that were not included with Windows 7, click Load Drivers to load the driver and then select an operating system to repair. Click Next.

From this point, the steps are the same whether you loaded the System Recovery tools from the hard disk or the Windows DVD. If Windows failed to start during its last attempt, the Startup Repair tool will be started automatically. Otherwise, the Choose A Recovery Tool page appears, as shown in Figure 2.

System Recovery provides a variety of different troubleshooting tools.

Figure 2. System Recovery provides a variety of different troubleshooting tools.

HOW TO RUN STARTUP REPAIR

The simplest way to solve startup problems is to load the System Recovery tools, as described in the previous section, and then click Startup Repair and follow the prompts that appear. To run Startup Repair, follow these steps:

  1. Click Startup Repair and then follow the prompts that appear. The prompts may vary depending on the problem that Startup Repair identifies. You might be prompted to restore your computer using System Restore or to restart your computer and continue troubleshooting.

  2. After the Startup Repair tool has completed diagnosis and repair, click Click Here For Diagnostic And Repair Details. At the bottom of the report, Startup Repair lists a root cause, if found, and any steps taken to repair the problem. Log files are stored at %WinDir%\System32\LogFiles\SRT\SRTTrail.txt.

  3. Restart the computer and allow Windows to start normally.

How to Use BootRec.exe

Startup Repair can automatically recover from most BCD problems. If you prefer to manually analyze and repair problems, you can use the command-line tool BootRec.exe by starting the System Recovery tools and then clicking Command Prompt in the System Recovery Options dialog box.

BootRec.exe supports the following command-line parameters:

  • /FIXMBR The /FIXMBR switch writes an MBR to the system partition.

  • /FIXBOOT The /FIXBOOT switch writes a new boot sector onto the system partition.

  • /SCANOS The /SCANOS switch scans all disks for Windows installations and displays entries currently not in the BCD store.

  • /REBUILDBCD The /REBUILDBCD switch scans all disks for Windows installations and provides a choice of which entries to add to the BCD store.

DIRECT FROM THE SOURCE

Windows XP Recovery Console Equivalents

Parveen Patel, Developer

Windows Reliability

The recovery console has been deprecated in Windows Vista and Windows 7, so what happened to all those wonderful commands that were available in recovery console? Well, we were hoping that you wouldn't need them anymore. But if you do, you'll be glad to know that most of them are available via the command line in WinRE. The recovery console commands listed in the following table are different or unavailable in WinRE.

RECOVERY CONSOLE COMMAND

WINRE EQUIVALENT(S)

BootCfg

BOOTREC /SCANOS

BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD

bcdedit

FIXBOOT

BOOTREC /FIXBOOT

FIXMBR

BOOTREC /FIXMBR

Map

DiskPart

Logon

Not needed

LISTSVC

Not available

ENABLE

Not available

DISABLE

Not available

SYSTEMROOT

Not available

All the remaining commands have the same name in WinRE. You can work around the unavailable services-related commands (LISTSVC, ENABLE, AND DISABLE) by using regedit to manually load the registry hive.

How to Diagnose Hardware Problems

If Startup Repair cannot solve the problem or if you cannot start Windows Setup, you might have a hardware problem. Although most hardware-related problems will not stop Windows Vista from successfully starting, hardware-related problems may appear early in the startup process; symptoms include warning messages, startup failures, and Stop messages. The causes are typically improper device configuration, incorrect driver settings, or hardware malfunction and failure. 

How to Use System Restore

Windows automatically captures system state before installing new applications or drivers. You can later use the System Restore tool to return to this system if you experience problems.

To start System Restore from within Windows (including safe mode), click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click System Restore.

To start System Restore when you cannot open Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Recovery tools.

  2. Click System Restore.

The System Restore Wizard appears. Follow these steps to restore Windows to an earlier state:

  1. On the Restore System Files And Settings page of the System Restore Wizard, click Next.

  2. On the Choose A Restore Point page, click a restore point. Typically, you should choose the most recent restore point when the computer functioned correctly. If the computer has not functioned correctly for more than five days, select the Show More Restore Points check box (as shown in Figure 3) and then select a restore point. Click Next.

    You can solve some startup problems by using System Restore.

    Figure 3. You can solve some startup problems by using System Restore.

  3. On the Confirm Disks To Restore page, click Next.

  4. On the Confirm Your Restore Point page, click Finish.

  5. Click Yes to confirm the system restore. System Restore modifies system files and settings to return Windows to the state it was in at the time the restore point was captured.

  6. When System Restore is done, click Restart. You should now attempt to start the computer and identify whether the problem was resolved.

  7. When the computer restarts, Windows will display a System Restore notification. Click Close.

How to Manually Repair the Boot Sector

Startup Repair is by far the quickest and easiest way to solve most startup problems. However, if you are familiar with troubleshooting startup problems and simply need to fix a boot sector problem after installing another operating system, you can run the following command from a command prompt (including the Command Prompt tool in the System Recovery tools).

bootsect /NT60 ALL

Bootsect.exe is available from the \Boot\ folder of the Windows DVD and can be run from within WinRE or Windows 7.

After running Bootsect, you should be able to load Windows, but you may not be able to load earlier versions of Windows that are installed on the same computer. 

How to Manually Update the BCD Registry File

The simplest way to solve problems related to the BCD registry file is to run Startup Repair. However, you can also use the System Recovery tools to update the BCD registry file manually by following these steps:

  1. Load the System Recovery tools, as described in the previous section.

  2. Click Command Prompt.

  3. Use BCDEdit to update the BCD registry file.


How to Manually Replace Files

If startup files are missing or become corrupted, Windows may not be able to boot successfully. Often, Windows will display an error message that shows the name of the missing file, as shown in Figure 4.

Windows can display the names of missing startup files, which you can then manually replace.

Figure 4. Windows can display the names of missing startup files, which you can then manually replace.

Startup Repair can automatically replace missing system files, but it may not detect corrupted files. However, you can manually replace files using the System Recovery command-line tool.

To replace files, follow these steps:

  1. From another computer, copy the new files to removable media such as a CD-ROM or a USB flash drive. You cannot access Windows system files from the Windows DVD because they are stored within a Windows Imaging (WIM) file that is not accessible from within System Recovery.

  2. Start System Recovery tools.

  3. After the System Recovery tools start, click Command Prompt.

  4. Your removable media will have a drive letter, just like a hard disk. System Recovery tools assign hard disk letters starting with C and then assign letters to removable media. To identify the drive letter of your removable media, run the following commands.

    C:\>diskpart
    DISKPART> list volume
    
       Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
       ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
       Volume 0     C   Win7         NTFS   Partition     63 GB  Healthy
       Volume 1     E   Windows XP   NTFS   Partition     91 GB  Healthy
       Volume 2     D                NTFS   Partition     69 GB  Healthy
       Volume 3     I                       Removable       0 B  No Media
       Volume 4     H                       Removable       0 B  No Media
       Volume 5     F   LR1CFRE_EN_  UDF    Partition   2584 MB  Healthy
       Volume 6     G   USBDRIVE     FAT32  Partition    991 MB  Healthy
  5. Use the Copy command to transfer files from your removable media to the computer's hard disk.

How to Reinstall Windows

Infrequently, startup files and critical areas on the hard disk can become corrupted. If you are mainly concerned with salvaging readable data files and using the Backup And Restore Center to copy them to backup media or a network location, you can perform a parallel installation of Windows. Although this may provide access to the file system, it will permanently damage your existing operating system and applications.

If you cannot start Windows after following the troubleshooting steps in this guide, you can reinstall Windows for the purpose of data recovery by following these steps:

  1. Insert the Windows DVD in your computer.

  2. Restart your computer. When prompted to boot from the CD/DVD, press any key.

  3. Windows Setup loads. When prompted, select your regional preferences and then click Next.

  4. Click Install Now.

  5. When prompted, enter your product key.

  6. Select the I Accept The License Terms check box and then click Next.

  7. Click Custom.

  8. On the Where Do You Want to Install Windows? page, select the partition containing your Windows installation and then click Next.

  9. When prompted, click OK.

Setup will install a new instance of Windows and will move all files from your previous installation into the \Windows.Old folder (including the \Program Files, \Windows, and \Users folders). You now have two choices for returning the computer to its original state:

  • Reformat the system partition If you have an automated deployment solution in place , the quickest solution is to back up important files and redeploy Windows. If you need to manually reinstall Windows, you can follow this process:

    1. Back up all important files by writing them to removable media, copying them to an external hard disk, or copying them to a shared folder on the network.

    2. Reinstall Windows. This time, choose to reformat the system partition.

    3. Reinstall all applications and reconfigure all custom settings.

    4. Restore important files.

  • Continue working with the current system partition You can move important files to the proper locations within the new instance of Windows. Then, reinstall all applications and reconfigure any custom settings. Finally, you can delete the original Windows instance by removing the \Windows.Old folder using Disk Cleanup.

Other -----------------
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- Configuring Startup and Troubleshooting Startup Issues : Understanding the Startup Process
- Configuring Startup and Troubleshooting Startup Issues : What's New with Windows Startup
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- Windows 7 Mobility Features : Other Mobile Features
- Windows 7 Mobility Features : Presentations A-Go-Go
- Windows 7 Mobility Features : Windows Mobility Center
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