Hi friends! Many articles have already been written by me about what to do if Windows 7 does not boot. But I haven’t written about what needs to be done first of all if your computer refuses to start, or maybe I did :). Well, it's okay, better twice than never :).
This will be such a piece of advice on how to give first aid to the system, in case it fails. Usually I write tips like this and describe in them how to restore Windows 7 in the event of a specific error. But today I will write how to try to cure the system from the appearance of various errors and problems during boot.
If you turn on the computer, and it directly does not turn on. Well, you know how it happens, a certain error appears, a blue screen, or the computer just restarts itself, then you need to try starting the computer with the last known good configuration with working parameters.If we talk about what makes Windows stop loading, then there are a lot of options. For example, a failure may occur after installing some program or driver. After cleaning the computer from viruses. After an incorrect shutdown (when, for example, electricity is lost). I had that in the evening I turned off the computer normally, and in the morning it no longer starts, and it seems that it did not install anything, but here it is.
In such cases, the first thing to do is to start the computer with Last Known Good Configuration. If this does not help, then you already need to look for other ways to solve the problem, for example, search by mistake. But as my practice shows, it helps very often to bring the computer back to life. Moreover, all these actions can be done in a few minutes. Now more.
Everything is very simple. We restart the computer and immediately actively press the key F8.
A black window will appear with a selection of additional boot options. Choose “Last Known Good Configuration (Optional)” and press "Enter".
Modern versions of Windows in such cases can often handle themselves. Windows XP simply crashed when it went bad, and today's Windows tries to do an automatic system restore.
Where to begin
First, try to remember if the problem is caused by your recent actions. Maybe you installed fresh drivers the day before, connected new equipment, or opened the system unit? Perhaps it's the incorrect work of the drivers or the incompatibility of new devices, or maybe you accidentally moved some part while poking around in the case.
The computer turns on but does not find a disk to boot
If the computer turns on, but instead of booting up on a black screen, the message “No bootable device” appears or some other message mentioning “disk error” means that it cannot be detected HDD on which Windows is installed. Enter the BIOS or UEFI settings and make sure the correct hard drive is selected for booting. If it's not listed at all, the drive may be damaged and can no longer be booted from.
In this case, try executing or . If, for example, the Windows boot sector is overwritten for some reason, the system will try to restore it. If the recovery environment won't boot or detect the hard drive, it's likely that the drive itself has failed, although it's a good idea to make sure the recovery media you're using is listed first in the list of bootable devices in the first place. BIOS settings or UEFI.
You can also try to manually restore Windows bootloader using the "fixmbr" and "fixboot" commands. However, modern versions of Windows usually resolve these issues on their own, so you don't have to type these commands manually.
Windows freezes or fails to load
If Windows starts to load, but stops halfway, the reason may be as in software as well as component failures. Software problems can be solved with . If it is not available in the boot menu, use the installation disc or recovery disc. If that still doesn't help, you may need to reinstall Windows or use the new recovery features without reinstalling in Windows 8.
If you encounter errors while restoring or reinstalling Windows, or if the installation completes normally, but then the system does not boot again, the problem is most likely a hardware problem.
Windows blue screen or freezes on boot
If Windows does not load or displays during the boot process, this may also be due to software or hardware problems. The cause may be a virus, a poor-quality driver, or a breakdown of components.
To know for sure, try it - this disables drivers and programs that run during a normal boot. If your computer works fine in safe mode, try uninstalling recently installed drivers, performing a system restore, and checking it for viruses. With any luck, one of these will fix the problem and Windows will start normally from now on.
If none of these steps helped, try reinstalling the system or to return the computer to its factory state. If the problem persists even after that, the problem is most likely a malfunction of the components.
Restoring files when Windows is not working
If you need to save important files before reinstalling Windows, you can restore them using the installation Windows disk or Live CD/USB based on Linux. This environment runs from external media and allows you to copy files to other external media, such as a USB flash drive or portable hard drive.
If the computer does not boot from the Windows installation media or Linux Live CD, make sure that the media is listed first in the list of devices to boot in the BIOS or UEFI settings. If this does not help or the computer freezes or does not see hard drive with files - the reason is most likely a hardware malfunction. In this case, try removing the hard drive and connecting it to another computer to copy the files you need.
Why won't Windows 7 start? The loading of the operating system can fail for many reasons: due to a hardware failure, due to incorrectly installed software, due to viruses, but most often due to problems in Windows itself. To make the description of the process of finding the source of the failure more understandable, we will first analyze the sequence of launching the seven.
The launch of Windows 7 is conditionally divided into three stages, which are divided into phases.
OSLoader - the first stage Windows boot 7, which starts right after the BOIS code is executed. At the beginning of this stage, a small group of basic drivers are loaded, which are necessary for further reading data from the hard disk. Next, winload.exe, the Windows 7 boot loader, proceeds to initialize and start loading the kernel, loads the SYSTEM registry hive and the next batch of drivers into RAM with the BOOT_START startup parameter.
The OSLoader stage lasts 2-3 seconds. By the time the system logo appears on the screen, it has already been completed.
MainPathBoot is the main and longest stage of Windows boot. Consists of several phases. Visually, this stage continues from the appearance of the system logo on the screen and ends with the start of loading the desktop. The duration of this stage can be different - on average, from ten seconds to a couple of minutes.
During this phase, the Windows 7 kernel is fully initialized, the plug and play hardware manager is launched, and previously launched BOOT_START drivers and hardware drivers are initialized.
Errors that occur during this phase are often related to problems with the main devices of the computer or their drivers.
The phase begins with the transfer of control to the session manager - SMSS.exe. At this time, the remaining registry hives are initialized, drivers are loaded with the “auto” startup parameter. At the end of the phase, control passes to Winlogon.exe, the Windows user logon program. Visually, the end of SMSSInit is indicated by the appearance of the login prompt on the screen.
Crashes and slowdowns during this phase are often related to video driver loading delays or video subsystem issues.
This phase begins with the start of Winlogon.exe (welcome screen) and ends with the loading of the desktop - the start of the Windows shell - the file Explorer.exe. During its run, the system reads and executes scripts group policies and starts services (system and third-party). The phase can last quite a long time and be accompanied by high CPU usage.
Failures at this stage are often caused by services third party applications, including antivirus.
It starts with the start of a shell and ends with the start of the desktop window manager process. During this phase, desktop icons appear on the screen. At the same time, services continue to start, startup applications start, data caching, etc. All this is accompanied by a high load on hardware resources - hard disk, memory, processor.
Failures and delays during ExplorerInit are often due to insufficient power or hardware failure.
The PostBoot stage begins with the appearance of the desktop and ends after loading everything that is written in autorun. During this period, the bulk of the applications that run with Windows begin to work. After the end of the stage, the system goes into inactivity.
Delays and failures at the PostBoot stage are associated with startup programs, sometimes with virus activity.
As already briefly mentioned, malfunctions at different stages Windows startup 7 manifest themselves in different ways: some are related to hardware, others to drivers, and others to the system registry or other files that are critical for booting. Understanding what processes occur at each stage of the system start, you can determine the range of possible problems.
We will not dwell on hardware problems in detail, since our topic concerns Windows 7, but sometimes it can be very difficult to determine what is broken - a physical device or a system.
During the early stages of Windows startup, corruption or missing critical files may be indicated by the phrase “Bootmgr is missing” on the screen or other error messages. But it happens that no messages are displayed, and the user simply observes a black screen with or without an arrow cursor.
Bootmgr - the bootloader for Windows 7 and 8 operating systems, like other boot items, is not available to the user - it is located in a separate hidden section and cannot be deleted by accident. However, the user can unknowingly format this partition by booting from external media. Then Windows will not boot.
The screenshot shows the hard disk boot partition accessed from the recovery environment.
Another part of the files important for downloading is located on the system drive in the C:Windows directory and subdirectories. The system registry is also located there.
If the registry is unavailable or corrupted, Windows may not even start loading.
The system itself will inform you about the failure and automatically launch the built-in recovery wizard. It often helps to identify and fix the problem - the registry will be restored from a backup.
But self-healing boot Windows 7 is not always possible. For example, it does not occur if the restore wizard cannot find backup copies of missing or corrupted data. In these cases, the system needs user assistance.
Rebooting Windows 7 is much more convenient than Windows XP, because the seven is equipped with a set of tools Windows Recovery Tools (WRT), which is available from the recovery environment. The Windows installation recovery environment is installed on the hard disk, in a separate partition, and has its own bootloader. Therefore, it remains operational regardless of what happens to the system.
To get into the recovery environment, select from the F8 menu (Windows 7's advanced startup options menu) "Troubleshoot your computer".
To access the recovery options, the system will ask you to enter a password. If you do not have administrator rights or have forgotten your password, Windows recovery 7 will have to run from the installation disk.
After the “System Recovery Options” window opens in front of you, select the first option from the list: “Startup Repair”. After self-diagnostics, corrupted boot files, the registry, or individual startup options will be repaired.
This tool solves the problem in most cases and should be used when you are not sure why Windows won't start.
If a failure occurred after installing the program, due to a virus infection or due to changes in the registry, “System Restore” will help restore the ability to boot to the seven. But it will only be useful when the recovery checkpoints are saved on the hard drive.
The operation of this tool is familiar to many: you select a suitable checkpoint when the system was functioning normally, and perform a rollback. Any changes made after the selected date will disappear and you will be able to boot Windows normally.
If there are no points, but you saved a system backup on an external drive, the System Image Restore tool will help. Connect the backup media to your computer and follow the instructions in the recovery wizard.
If the above manipulations did not help and Windows does not understand why, but does not start, you can try to manually restore the registry from a backup. A copy of the Windows 7 registry is automatically created every 10 days and stored in the C:WindowsSystem32configregback directory. To restore the system, you need to copy all 5 files from the above folder to the C: WindowsSystem32config folder, where the current registry files are located. It is better not to delete old files, but to rename them (as a last resort).
The reset button is at the bottom of the Recovery Options window.
Proprietary recovery tool for protected Windows files- the sfc.exe utility can be successfully launched in the recovery environment. It is usually launched with the /scannow option - to automatically find and fix the problems found. In the recovery environment, you will also need to specify additional options: the location of the offline boot directory and the offline Windows directory (for the recovery environment, the Windows folder and the drive where it is located are offline directories) These are the /offbootdir and /offwindir options.
The command is written in full as shown in the picture:
In offbootdir you need to specify the path to the system drive, and in offwindir - the path to Windows folder. Just keep in mind that in the recovery environment, the partition letters may not match what you see in File Explorer when you boot Windows normally. The “correct” letters can be viewed by opening the explorer using notepad.
If Windows 7 still won't start after this, you may need to manually repair the boot files and overwrite the hard drive's Master Boot Record (MBR) and system partition boot code. Windows native tools will also help you with this.
To recreate the boot files, open a command prompt and run the following command: bcdboot.exe C:Windows. Don't mix up the partition letter.
To overwrite MBR and VBR (partition boot code) run the following commands: bootrec /fixmbr and bootrec/fixboot.
After that, check the download.
Good time everyone!
Although every new Windows version becomes more and more stable and reliable - all the same, unpleasant incidents often happen to her ...
For example, a seemingly banal thing, a power outage and a crash can easily lead to the fact that after turning on the computer - Windows will no longer boot (moreover, this also applies to the newfangled Windows 8.1, 10)! Although, of course, there are many more reasons for this misfortune.
Actually, in this article I want to analyze in more detail what can be done to restore windows boot(or at least minimize your losses).
By the way, it is worth immediately clarifying one moment:
So, now on to the topic...
The first thing I would advise you to do is pay attention to the screen. Often you can see an error message on it, its code, description (and knowing this information, it will be easier to find and diagnose the cause).
For example, the photo below shows one of common mistakes"Disk boot failure..." (an error related to bootable media, by her decision, I have ). I note that in your case the error may be somewhat different (there are quite a few of them).
In general, all popular errors that can be seen at the stage of loading a computer have long been sorted out by many experts (including on the official Microsoft website).
In general, the message of the first step is simple.: if you get a specific error - write it down and try to find a guide to solve this particular problem. The situation is worse when there are no errors at all and it is not clear what to do next ...
⇒ By the way!
If after turning on the PC / laptop you just have a black screen (i.e. there is no image on it) - I recommend that you read this instruction:
The next thing to advise is to disconnect all unnecessary equipment from the laptop / computer: a second monitor, printers, mice, speakers, headphones, etc. Particular attention to flash drives, CD / DVD drives, SD cards, and other drives.
The fact is that with certain BIOS settings, the computer can "search" for boot records on the same flash drive, and not finding them, simply do not proceed to boot Windows from the hard drive.
Note: after you turn off all the "extra" - restart your computer.
If you changed the BIOS settings (or reset them, for example) or connected another hard drive to the PC, then it may happen that incorrect settings will be indicated in the BOOT (boot) section (for example, the wrong boot device may be selected).
As an example, below is a photo of the BOOT section. Pay attention to the sequence: 1st is the CD / DVD drive, 2nd is the hard drive. In some cases, the PC may "refuse" to boot Windows from the hard drive (in this order).
Need: put the hard drive in first place, save the settings (usually the F10 key) and restart the PC.
⇒ Help! By the way, you can simply reset the BIOS settings to factory settings (as a rule, they are universal and by going to them you can solve most problems) -
⇒ Supplement!
Detailed recovery instructions Windows Health -
Some viruses can damage system files, delete information from the hard drive, block some functions and features of the OS. All this can lead to a wide variety of problems with Windows, including the one discussed in this article. (Moreover, restoring in the previous step can help exactly until the next reboot).
In order to drive your disk from the OS to viruses (when Windows itself does not boot), you can resort to two ways:
⇒ Help!
How to create a bootable LiveCD/DVD/USB flash drive operating system Windows and service utilities that do not require installation on a hard drive -
Often, many users wait for Windows to load for 5-10 minutes (some of them, by the way, believe that it is frozen and are in a hurry to restart the PC again and wait for this time again).
In general, the first thing I would advise you to do in this case is check autoload(the more programs it contains, the longer it will take to load the OS). Pay special attention to all sorts of torrent programs: if you have hundreds of torrents in them, downloading can become very long!
In Windows 10, to see the autoload, just open the task manager (shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc). You can also use various special utilities such as .
In addition, check Windows with some utility to clean up junk, temporary files, fix registry errors, etc. All this in a compartment can also seriously affect the speed of the OS.
I have a separate article on my blog dedicated to the best utilities for maintaining and cleaning Windows. -
⇒ Supplement!
Why does the computer (laptop) take so long to boot / restart, what should I do to make Windows boot faster -
If all the previous recommendations have not been successful, then before formatting and reinstalling Windows(or, by some other more radical measures) - it is advisable to make a copy of all important documents from your hard drive. You never know ... suddenly something goes wrong? ..
Method 1
The easiest way is to remove the hard drive, connect it to another computer and transfer all important data from it. By the way, now on sale you can easily find various "boxes" for connecting an HDD to a regular USB port(Makes the job a lot easier.)
Method 2
That's all for now...
For additions - a separate merci!
Probably, it is not necessary to explain that situations when the computer does not boot are quite common. The reasons for this could be myriad. Now we will try to figure out why such situations arise and how to deal with them. Let's consider desktop computers, not laptops, although in some cases the methods for solving the problem can be very similar.
First of all, in the question of why the computer does not boot, you need to understand that among the main reasons there are two main reasons: physical damage to the components of the computer system and software failure (in this case, Windows).
Both of these can cause serious problems. Consider the most basic causes of failures and figure out how to eliminate the consequences.
As for the damage to physical components, for starters, you should pay attention to the initial stage of booting the PC. Probably everyone knows that when turned on, the system unit makes a characteristic sound (one-time squeak). This indicates that all the "iron" components are in order. True, this is not always the case. The fact is that the failure of the hard drive is determined only after the start (the system does not see it).
Sometimes the system speaker may emit short and long beeps. Now that's worse. This can mean only one thing - some component does not work, is out of order, or is simply incorrectly connected to motherboard. For different BIOS versions, the signals may be different. But all of them may indicate violations in the operation of the RAM, video card, central processor, etc. In some cases, the signal may be absent altogether.
In this case, it is recommended to remove the panel of the system unit and check if all the components are connected to the "motherboard". It may well be that the device does not work due to failure, but because the corresponding cable is damaged. Naturally, it is not possible to determine such a malfunction yourself, so you will have to contact specialists.
Often there are cases when the computer does not boot even when turned on. There may be good reasons for that too. It is very likely that there is simply no power supply. It is worth checking the outlet or "uninterruptible". Sometimes when you turn on a large number of electrical appliances in an extension cord, protection and much more can work. You can check the battery that is installed on the motherboard. It may very well be that after replacing it, turning on and loading the computer will go on as usual. Often no one pays attention to this, nevertheless, the fact remains.
In general, you should immediately check all cables, sockets, extension cords, etc. Maybe this is really the reason. That is why it turns out that nothing starts, nothing loads, the computer is black and does not show any signs of life.
Of course, you can replace the hardware, but the situation with the OS itself is much worse, because no one obviously wants to reinstall the system, format the hard drive or partitions, which will entail data loss.
There are just a lot of reasons for Windows to “crash”: a sudden power outage, incorrect shutdown or shutdown, software failure, viruses, hard drive damage, etc. The list is endless.
As for the physical damage to the hard drive, the severity of the problem can only be determined after a complete testing of the surface and contacts. If it burned out, you understand, you will have to fork out for a new one, there's nothing you can do about it. If the damage is minor, you can try to restore the damaged sectors. This will be discussed a little later.
As it is already clear, in terms of hardware failure, when the computer does not boot, the black screen hangs constantly, the system unit does not make a sound, the solution will be a complete test of all components. It is very possible that reconnecting or replacing some of them will clarify the problem.
It is worth noting that in some cases, when the system does not detect the hard drive, the most banal situation may appear. In the BIOS, the first boot priority can be, say, a CD / DVD / ROM, the second device is a USB drive, etc. It is clear that when media of this type is inserted, the system will display a message stating that this is not a system disk.
It also happens that the computer does not boot from the disk with the Windows installation distribution. Here you have to check the disk itself. It may very well have some scratches or other damage. By the way, maybe the drive itself is damaged and simply does not work.
Now a few words about how to fix the situation when the computer does not boot, Windows 7 does not start, and in general it seems that nothing can be done.
Let's just say: do not despair and panic. Bill Gates is not stupid at all. Creating his system, he left loopholes for restoring the performance of "OSes", and today there are quite a few methods that allow you to quickly and effectively apply measures that can, so to speak, breathe new life into the system. The most common problems and methods for their elimination will be described below from the point of view of the Windows program shell.
As a rule, even after very serious errors in the operation of Windows 7, as they say, it does not just give up. On reboot (if everything is OK with the boot records), a test is performed, and then in most cases a message is issued about options boot, including Last Known Good Configuration boot.
This happens because the system, as it were, remembers its last working state and offers to go to it, bypassing all the changes made before. It helps 90% of the time. However, it also happens that the computer does not boot even if Windows is self-healing, and the user eventually receives a message stating that such a configuration could not be loaded.
The same goes for using System Restore, which may be offered when Windows starts. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. In principle, both services are very similar. In this state of affairs, more effective measures will have to be taken.
Many users, when faced with a problem, for example, when the computer does not boot after updating Windows 7, clearly underestimate the benefits of safe mode, but it allows you to access a fully functional system and fix many software errors.
To boot into safe mode after the system starts, press and hold the F8 key. When the system boots, we can deal with our problem. In this case, you can check all the "iron" components for operability and the availability of appropriate drivers, run a disk check for errors, and finally start restoring the system.
First of all, using the control panel, you need to go to the "Backup and Restore" section. It can also be accessed from the main Start menu under All Programs/Services. Here you need to select a checkpoint (the last one created or one of those that are on the list) and start the process itself. Of course, this can take a lot of time, but if you don’t want to reinstall, you will have to be patient.
Now let's say that after the updates, the computer does not boot. In the same control panel, if you go to the "Center windows updates"You can view the update log, in which, in fact, you will need to remove everything that was installed before the "collapse" of the system, no matter whether these updates were installed automatically or manually.
In many cases, this approach allows you to revive Windows without resorting to more serious methods that not every user will be able to handle.
If the above method does not work, you will have to use other methods. One of the most effective and radical methods in the case when the computer does not boot is to use the recovery console, which is available either on the installation or on the Windows 7 emergency recovery disk.
To use such disks, of course, in the BIOS, you should make the appropriate settings for the boot priority, indicating CD / DVD-ROM in the list first.
The boot menu will show the "Welcome To Setup" screen, after which you will need to press the "R" key to go directly to the console ( command line). It is worth considering that if more than one “OS” is installed on the computer, folders with files will be shown first, and then a request will follow which system the user wants to work with. Now you just need to enter the number corresponding to the number of the selected system. This may be followed by a prompt to enter an administrator password, provided that one is available. Now about commands. What and how to enter and why to use, we will now figure it out.
As a rule, one of the reasons for the "departure" of the system is damage boot file Boot.ini responsible for booting the system. To restore it, almost all systems use a tool called Bootcfg. Bootcfg / Rebuild is entered at the command line (not including other tools for scanning its entries, redirecting an action, adding identifiers, etc.). It seems that, in addition to the main recovery command, the average user does not need anything else.
The master boot record contains tables of all logical partitions on the hard drive. The so-called primary loader places the active and boot sectors in the tables, after which, in fact, the system starts. If the boot record is damaged, the active sector will simply not be able to start the system.
For recovery in this case, the Fixmbr command is used, after which the composite name of the disk or partition is entered. For drive C, the command will look like Fixmbr\Device\HardDisc0.
The boot sector is a small section on a hard drive for storing data in file systems FAT32 or NTFS to boot. In case of damage, the Fixboot \ c: recovery command is used (provided that the "OS" was installed on drive C).
Again, consider the situation when, after updating Windows 7, the computer does not boot, and the system simply does not want to start. In extreme cases, you can apply the so-called quick reinstallation of the system to the same folder where the previous OS was installed. In some cases, this may fix errors.
After starting the system from the disk, a license agreement window will appear. You can agree to the terms by pressing the F8 key, after which you will be prompted to select an installation method. The "R" key - restore the existing version, Esc - cancel the restore and go to a new installation. In most cases, recovery proceeds without problems.
Now a few words about another unpleasant situation when the system does not start and the computer does not boot. The black screen may be the result of the spontaneous action of viruses that either prevent the system from booting or modify boot records.
In this case, it is recommended to use utilities such as Kaspersky Rescue Disc or Dr. Web Rescue Disc. As is already clear, such programs start directly from the optical disc, but, most interestingly, they are loaded even before the start of Windows. They have a graphical interface, so working with them is not difficult. It should be noted that in 99.99% of cases such applications remove even those viruses that are simply impossible to remove using standard scanners installed in the system. After all, they can “hang” even in RAM. At the end of the check, the computer terminal is restarted, and, hooray, the system works again as if nothing had happened.
So we considered the question of what to do if the computer does not boot. It seems that some solutions to this problem will be useful to many users. Of course, right away like this, on the fly, it’s quite difficult to say why the computer or “OS” does not boot. But if you conduct a comprehensive test and find out the cause of the problems, then you can choose the most appropriate method for correcting the situation.
