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I'm troubleshooting a laptop for a friend, and her computer will not boot into Windows 7 at all, no matter what I do. I've tried normal startup (logo loads but doesn't go any further), repairing using the recovery partition (same thing), using a repair disk (same thing), an install disk (loads through "Windows is loading files..." but then sits at a black screen), and safe mode (stops loading after avgidsha.sys). UBCD won't load (BSoD stating that acpi.sys is the problem), nor will Hiren's Boot CD (same problem as UBCD). Linux distros load fine, but that's it.

I did run a BootDefender boot disc virus scan and it found several viruses, but they've been removed and all of the same problems persist. I'm at my wits' end and have no idea what to do because I can't access anything in Windows, not System Restore or anything.

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    You had viruses? Then the official support response is to flatten the machine and start over. That said, try booting from the Windows CD/DVD/whatever and running a repair.
    – Mark Allen
    Commented Nov 8, 2012 at 20:45
  • Thanks, but as I stated in my post I am unable to boot to anything Windows-related, including a repair disc or an install disc.
    – vaindil
    Commented Nov 8, 2012 at 20:51
  • That sounds like failing hardware or a really nasty problem needing a low level format of the disk, which you'd have to possibly download a live-CD of from the disk manufacturer. Good luck!
    – Mark Allen
    Commented Nov 8, 2012 at 21:01

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It could be a problem with your hard drive, but mostly it is a problem with your hard drive due to bad sectors and clusters.

To prevent this, you can boot your system in advanced mode and check if is it hanging there.

If it is, then go to BIOS and perform a SMART test. This will help you locate the exact problem with the hard disk or the operating system.

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  • could you clarify the steps a little more please?
    – Malachi
    Commented Apr 3, 2013 at 16:21
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Is AVG installed? As this page recommends, boot using any Linux LiveCD/DVD/USB, go to the Windows\system32\drivers folder and rename all files starting with avg (e.g. avgidsha.sys, avgldx86.sys, avgtdix.sys etc.)

See if the laptop boots properly now. If it does, get rid of AVG and install MSE instead.

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  • Just tried this, but the problem persists. Normal boot still hangs at the logo, safe mode now hangs after CLASSPNP.SYS, and I still get the BSoD when using UBCD.
    – vaindil
    Commented Nov 8, 2012 at 20:21
  • Have you tried thoroughly checking the disk for errors from within Linux or via the drive manufacturer's utility?
    – Karan
    Commented Nov 8, 2012 at 20:24
  • The disk check (HP's built-in utility) just completed with no errors reported.
    – vaindil
    Commented Nov 8, 2012 at 21:39
  • Well then it's possible whatever damage the malware caused cannot be fixed, and it might well be time for a backup (using Linux), format and reinstall. If the install disc still doesn't work, might need to delete all partitions, repartition, reformat and then try reinstalling.
    – Karan
    Commented Nov 8, 2012 at 21:59
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This happened to me when I tried windows 8 and attempted to go back to windows 7. It was a fiasco resulting in windows 8 deleting its self and trying to start windows 7 that wasn't installed. After staying up all night working on the problem I took it to Best Buy and had them create a backup of some files and completely wipe my computer. They reinstalled windows 7 for me and my computer has been running well ever since. So in short, the viruses must have destroyed key files in your OS. People such as the Geek Squad can backup your data and wipe your computer. Unless you are under warranty it will cost money.

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Looks like a hardware problem, otherwise recovery CDs wouldn't fail. Boot memtest from HBCD to check RAM, check hard disk SMART status and run every other test you could think of. You can use Linux distros for this too.

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Well I know this is a little late but the same AVG file loaded for me and the system halted. I ended up getting a Ghost 15 boot disc and saw the partition type was incorrect (17 instead of 07 which is installable NTFS). I backed up the partition table before that but it only took 15 minutes to fix.

Before I even got the option to boot safe mode I needed to do a system start up repair with the windows disc. Tough to say if my clone jacked up the partition table or if windows worked on more than the boot configuration (bootcfg or bcdedit tools).

Anyhow that's what worked for my windows 7 cloning. Good luck!

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I have faced the same Issue.

This is caused due to the 3 party software's which has changed/damaged the boot sectors.

This can be caused due to AVG antivirus software installation.

Following attempts can be made to solve this issue

  1. Download the AVG Rescue on to USB/CD and Boot the computer from the USB/CD. Follow the steps given in the Download link.

  2. If the AVG rescue doesn't work, then make a boo table USB/CD of Ubuntu/Linux and boot your computer using USB/CD and select Try Ubuntu/Linux without installing. Now check whether u have access to drives (i;e C and D drive on your computer), If you don't have access to the drives then hard drive is corrupted and cannot be restored. If you can access the drives then backup all the data in those drives and install the Ubuntu by complete formatting of the disk. After successful installation of Ubuntu, make boo table Windows 7 on USB/CD and install it.

  3. If installation of ubuntu doesn't work then try to recover your system using recovery CD which are available.

  4. If all the 3 options doesn't work then its hard drive failure consider replacing your hard drive.

I was able to recover my computer using recovery CD. First two options failed.

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