[nikhilkhurana]

Hi,

I have a Dell Studio Laptop. It runs a Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1 OS.
I recently rebooted my laptop and it went into startup repair option. I went through the below forum:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...epair-this-computer-automatically-768938.html

I tried running the Startup Repair, it didn't Repair.
I then tried the SFC with the below command:
sfc /scannow /OFFBOOTDIR=f:\ /OFFWINDIR=f:\windows

It said there were no integrity issues.

Then i tried the below 3 commands:
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /RebuildBCD

First i ran these 3 commands with environment
X:\windows\system32
I got 0 identified Windows Installations

Then i changed to X:\sources, i got the same 0 identified installation.
Then I found a boot folder in X:\Windows\boot
I ran the same there but with no fruitful result.

I think this would be important, before booting i was having this issue of Windows not being updated. So i searched online and found that if i stop 3 services namely wuauserv, bits and cryptsvc and rename the 2 folders Catroot2 and SoftwareDistribution to Catroot2.old and SoftwareDistribution.old. I was able to update my Windows using Windows update. But then it again got stuck and then i added another '.old' to the old files so it became Catroot2.old.old and SoftwareDistribution.old.old. Since then its not booting.
I tried searching for these folders but i couldn't locate them using command prompt. Tried renaming but it couldn't find the specified file.

Shall be grateful if you could help me out with this issue.

Regards
Nikhil

 

[spunk.funk]

In the RE (recovery environment) X:\ is the temporary RAM drive, and it does not have Windows on it, Same with the SFC command, you must change the drive letter to your Windows Partition, it may not be C: or F:

1– Boot from the Windows Disc/USB
2- Go to Repair Your Computer, Or Press Shift + F10 to go directly to the Command Prompt
3- In the RE (recovery environment) choose command prompt
At command prompt (x: sources) type this exactly as written:
bcdedit |find “osdevice” (Must inc ” and the |), the | before Find is the Upper case \ key) press enter. This will tell you what drive letter the OS is on.It may not be on the C: drive.
Now use the returned as the drive letter for OS, for this example, assume C: or whatever drive letter is the OS device.
To run SFC type:
sfc /scannow /OFFBOOTDIR=C:\ /OFFWINDIR=C:\windows (change the drive letter to whatever Drive letter is returned in the previous command).
To type the other commands at X:\Sources type C: (or whatever drive letter) and Press Enter.
Now type then press enter and try booting normally after each of the commands:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /RebuildBCD

 

[nikhilkhurana]

Hi,

As describe, i checked for the "osdevice" it returned partition F:.
Then i ran SFC command, it showed No Integrity Voilations.
The i changed from X:\Sources to F:
The ran Bootrec /fixboot and rebooted, with no correction.
Then I ran Bootrec /fixmbr. No update.
Now after every restart it starts checking disk for error which takes approximately 2 hours to complete. Is there no way to cancel this and go straight to the Command Prompt?
Once this gets completed, i would run the last RebuildBCD command and update.

Regards
Nikhil

 

[nikhilkhurana]

Hi, So I ran the RebuildBCD, it gave me total Windows Installation found 0.

Regards
Nikhil

 

[spunk.funk]

If RebuildBCD said no Windows then at the F:\ Prompt type DIR and press enter. It will give you a list of the Directories and folders on the F:\ drive. If there is no Windows folder, then you either have the wrong drive letter, try "osdevices" again, or the drive has lost all of it's files.
You will need to reinstall Windows.

 

[nikhilkhurana]

I took the HDD out of the laptop, plugged it into a case and opened it into another PC. Am able to see all the files. The whole Windows is there, with all of my files and all.
What else could i do to boot this Windows as i have a couple of Softwares installed on it that i cannot lose.
Also i have downloaded a copy of Windows 10 for Upgrading. Is it possible for me to upgrade it, at this stage?
And if I upgrade it would the installation of Google Chrome be finctional on the upgrade?

Regards
Nikhil

 

[spunk.funk]

Backup all of your personal files (eg) Pictures, Music, Documents etc from the User Profile from the failed HDD to that computer or an external HDD.
If the commands previously mentioned do not work when you change the drive letter to F: or whatever drive letter it specifies, then you will need to reinstall Windows. Since your computer is not booting into Windows, the Update to Windows 10 might not work, but it may, I have never tried it from a failed Windows boot drive. In the process, it may do a clean install, again, I'm not sure.

And if I upgrade it would the installation of Google Chrome be finctional on the upgrade?

Possibly a mistyping, but if Chrome is not Functioning after the update, you can always download it again, it is free and relatively small.

 

[nikhilkhurana]

Its not about Chrome being small. It has a lot of Bookmarks and Saved passwords of quite a lot of websites that i don't remember. That's why I need to boot the system so i could upload all the data from chrome. then I could probably Update it to Windows 10 or reinstall Windows 7.

And for backing Up Chrome, i found that it saves the files in The User Data\Default folder. i copied it to another Laptop, but it didn't show me any of the saved passwords or bookmarks or history.

Regards
Nikhil

 

[spunk.funk]

The Chrome User Profile with your stored bookmarks and passwords is in your user directory Under the Hidden File "AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default." You can backup this file and restore it into that directory when you reinstall Chrome. If you backup all the files in your User directory (eg) C:\Users\[YouUserName] you will also backup your Chrome Profile.

 

[nikhilkhurana]

As i said in my earlier post. I already copied all the files in the Chrome Folder. Copied it to another laptop and tried to view my History and Saved passwords but it wasn't visible in the Chrome Installation.

Please suggest.

Also is there any other way to boot into the Windows, without reinstalling?

Regards
Nikhil

 

[spunk.funk]

If the commands previously mentioned do not work when you change the drive letter to F: or whatever drive letter The OS is, then you will need to reinstall Windows.