Win boots to black screen with blinking mouse cursor

[Leozack]

Hi all. Nearly a week I've tried to fix this n no luck. Typing this up on an iPad...

So I have intel raid on my system with a mirror for C system and D data.
I was away 1 week n as PC is 5yo it lost bios settings due to being unplugged.
When I booted up I set date/time etc but left sata mode on IDE by mistake. Raaah! It booted n updated flash n 'found' lots of new hardware. I hadn't seen my raid window I expected so shutdown worried. Went through bios n found sata mode n set to raid.

Since then the best I get is booting to black screen with mouse cursor flashing the loading icon every second briefly. I had to use a backup SYSTEM reg from a week or 2 before as the other seemed corrupt. The worst is booting to wrong drive, win load error, whatever. I've used bootrec, bcdedit, I've tried all sorts.

I can run cmd using the sticky keys hack
I can run taskmgr showing nothing goin on
I can ping google!
I can run reedit but all looks ok
Rstrui doesn't appear so can't try a restore point
No msc/mmc stuff opens (interface not recognised)
Can't open explorer (no such interface supported)
I can browse both c n d ok (copied c to d backup last night in minicomputer environment)
I can run win7 setup from USB but it bails (could not retrieve information about the disks)
It sounded like virtual disk service needs to be running but it won't start
I can't do repair install win7 from rescue boot

I'm stressing my face off - can anyone save me from a complete reinstall? So many tabs open researching!!

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Leozack

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[goombawaho]

Last Known good configuration helpful after F8 startup??

Link
Can you make a Windows Recovery Environment boot disc from someone else with a working Win 7 PC, boot to that and run system restore from that? There may be restore points accessible.

Could you try booting with one disk unplugged at a time? Maybe one disk has the correct RAID config and drivers on it and was "unmolested" by the hijinks. Try each one separately with the other unplugged from SATA port. If it works, the system may complain about a degraded RAID1. Then all you have to do is format the other disk and re-add it to the system and tell it to re-mirror. CYA: Have a good backup of your data just in case thing implode.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Leozack]

Within mini so its a pe environment - you can't run sysrest from another environment that I know of? If I boot to recovery on win7 install USB and click system restore it says there's no restore points.mbut I'm sure I saw 1 in sys vol info folder?
If I unplug any he's I fail to boot iirc. Even with bios in aching not raid. But if I were to boot that way surely I'm just rebreaking the drive it's booting off? Also a repair install would be pointless from such a boot as it wouldn't be in raid?
I have considered trying to rebuild the volume by wiping 1 C disk but I'd rather not - esp if the 1 kept is still not right, or worse the 1 wiped was better. :/

_________________________________
Leozack

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[Leozack]

No one else? I'm shocked that so many threads online resort to full reinstall of windows when in this painfully near operational running state! Even if I rebuilt my mirror it would be a non booting install still that I'm mirroring.
Unless anyone has any bright ideas I guess I'm in for a wipe n install n that's a long slog. D;

_________________________________
Leozack

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[Leozack]

I've read lots of threads n tried lots of stuff. I've now ended up worse cos I was booted to recovery n used disk part to remove C letter from boot volume n assign it to system volume. But on this occasion it left system with no label n file system went from NTSC to raw! Now I can't set it in the BCD or anything - it's even worse! I was just thinking to export the reg from black screen environment before givin up n doin new install :/

_________________________________
Leozack

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[goombawaho]

You're hosed I'm afraid. It was a step in the wrong direction that windows XP had a repair install option but Windows 7 doesn't if the system is non-bootable.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Leozack]

After reading online I ran chkdsk /r on the raw volume n after 3h of stuff it's back. I tried swapping the reg hives in from regback folder in sys32 config but still black screen (no flashing cursor this time?)
Think ill boot back to recovery, copy cmd over the sticky keys file then boot up again n see if I can't launch reedit to export the reg. after that I guess it may indeed be full reinstall time for no good damn reason at all. X/

_________________________________
Leozack

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[Leozack]

Ok so chkdsk brough C drive back but now I still boot to black screen but no flashing mouse anymore. Also my cmd trick doesn't appear so can't run reedit grrr.
if I boot to recovery console I can remove C from system boot partition n change my win system volume from E to C, I can bcdedit so that sys boot device says boot not C and the win sys entry says partition=C instead of E - but it then boots to the missing win load error so I have to let startup repair reset it all again . Bah ... Reinstall becoming required ... So lame

_________________________________
Leozack

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[goombawaho]

Not trying to throw salt in the wound, but next time, don't outsmart yourself by unplugging the PC power. Certainly shut it off but leave it plugged in (hopefully with a UPS in place).

I have tried very hard over the years to stop these self-inflicted wounds when I start thinking "maybe I'll just......." and now I try to stop myself and say "maybe not". Not that all (my) ideas are bad, but those unintended consequences are sometimes painful when you're brainstorming.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Leozack]

Just to clarify - it's not being "too smart" to leave hardware unplugged while on vacation. It's sensible. Avoid accidental power use and power surge damage etc.
All my probs came from user error when I booted not in raid mode. I'd never have though about that. Hopefully if bios wipes in future I will time for reinstalls n setin up dev environments n all the game n app installs yaaaaay

_________________________________
Leozack

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[Leozack]

Ok so I set the sys boot 100m volume to id 27 in disk part which makes it hidden utility - now instead of hogging C letter it gets given to data drive instead! Argh! Why not sys win C drive like normal?
bah. Still booting black screen so think it's time to give up n full fresh install. So lame

_________________________________
Leozack

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[goombawaho]

If you have a UPS, which you should, it IS outsmarting yourself by unplugging it. You directly hosed yourself. If you don't have a UPS then it was more prudent to unplug it, but you had a weak CMOS battery - DOH!

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Leozack]

Most people don't have a ups
A ups won't survive a lightning pulse
Therefor always best to save money & avoid risk by unplugging expensive hardware before going away. This applies to TVA etc not just computers
My problem was a 5yo mono battery but mainly the fact I didn't spot the raid setting before booting
From then on it's totally MS fault for allowing it to change vital stuff without questioning me or asking permission n then hose itself

Fresh install on now. But a big fat waste of a week

_________________________________
Leozack

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[goombawaho]

Windows just does what it thinks it should.............. new hardware found due to bios setting change. And we're off.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.