Vista Will Not Start

I am in desperate need of some advice and if anyone can help me I would really be grateful.

I am running Vista 32bit Home Premium on a Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop.

I shut my computer off last night as I normally do before I went to bed. It shut down without any issues. Everything was the same as it normally is.

When I went to turn on my computer today, it goes through the Dell startup screen, then it tells me there might be a problem with some hardware or something to that effect and gives me the option to either “Launch Startup Repair” or “Start Window Normally”, then windows attempts to start (has the green scrolling bar at the bottom). Either of these options take me to the same place next which is a screen that states “System Recovery Options”, and asks me to select my keyboard language. So I did and hit “next” to continue to a screen that asks me to sign into my account on the computer, and then it took me to another page that displayed a box of system recovery tools.

Being a little confused about what was happening, I selected the option for “Startup Repair”. When it finished I chose to restart the computer as it noted that if the problem was fixed it would start normally. It didn’t start normally and I went through the same process again when it rebooted. I have tried this option many times today, and it isn’t working.

I also have tried a few times the option for “Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool”. It goes trough the tests, says nothing about finding a problem, then the computer restarts to the same situation.

I have tried many different options, including starting in all the Safe Modes, starting in different screen resolutions, starting from the last known good configuration point, system repair, start windows normally, etc. It takes me back to the same screen every time.

I have tried to use the option for “System Restore”, which stated that it could not find a previous restore point, when I am almost certain that I have created on in the past.

I tried the option to go to the command prompt, where I tried a few commands. The first command was “sfc /scannow”. The response was something to the effect of the command could not run because another repair attempt was already in progress. The second command was “Bootrec.exe /fixMBR”, with the response being it had completed successfully. The third command was “Bootrec.exe /fixBoot”, again with the response being that it had completed successfully. None of this has worked, as it still takes me to the system recovery options upon turning the computer on.

I got the installation DVD out, booted from the dvd, and tried to repair it that way. It gives basically the same options as I tried before, but I went through them again anyway, and still have the same problem.

I used the F12 key to get into the boot menu, and used the “Diagnostics” option. This automatically started a “PSA+ Pre-Boot System Assessment”, and everything checked out. I ran a memory test on the computer from this same option, and all the tests passed. I will be running the extended hardware test overnight tonight. It also seems like I have tried a few more options throughout the day but these are the ones I can remember for sure.

I took down some information after some of the tests I ran and will post it at the bottom hoping to shed some light on the problem I having. But right now I am lost on what to try next. It has been a while since I have backed up my information to my external hard drive, and there is a lot of stuff on this computer that would be devastating to lose.

I don’t mind the idea of a fresh install or wiping the system clean if that is what it needs, if I can get my files off the computer before that happens. Does anyone know of anyway to retrieve these files? Is it even possible?

Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated. I have looked online for answers but all the suggestions have been a dead end for me. The computer starts to come on, starts to boot, but then goes to this same screen about system recovery options every time. I can not recall anything that I would have download the last time the computer was on or anything that I have done different than normal from other times over the 2-3 years I have had this computer. It just out of the blue did this today.

Thanks!!! The results of some of the tests are below. From what I can tell, the problem may be with either of these files:
Boot Critical File C:\windows\system32\drivers\wdf01000.sys is corrupt
Boot critical file C:\wdfldr.sys is corrupt

TEST RESULTS:

I do not remember which test this was exactly, maybe the “PSA+ Pre-Boot System Assessment”?

Problem Signature:
Problem Event Name: StartupRepairV2
Problem Signature 01: SystemDisk
Problem Signature 02: 6.0.6000.16386.6.0.6001.18000
Problem Signature 03: 6
Problem Signature 04: 393225
Problem Signature 05: Corrupt Volume
Problem Signature 06: NoRootCause
Problem Signature 07: 0
Problem Signature 08: 2
Problem Signature 09: WrpRepair
Problem Signature 10: 0
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033


This was a result from the System Repair Test:

Startup Repair Diagnosis and Repair Log

Last Successful Boot Time: 7/9/2009 11:27:31 AM (GMT)
Number of repair attempts: 7

Session Details:
System Disk = \Device\Harddisk0
Windows Directory = C:\Windows
Autochk Run = 0
Number of Root Causes = 1

(then is lists a bunch of different tests it ran that were completed successfully….I didn’t write each test down)

Root Cause Found:
Boot Status Indicates That The OS booted successfully

Session Details:
System Disk = \Device\Harddisk0
Windows Directory = C:\Windows
Autochk Run = 0
Number of Root Causes = 2

(then is lists a bunch of different tests it ran that were completed successfully….I didn’t write each test down)

Root Cause Found:
Boot critical file C:\Windows\System32\drivers\Wdf01000.sys is corrupt

Root Cause Found:
Boot critical file C:\WDFLDR.SYS is corrupt

Session Details:
System Disk = \Device\Harddisk0
Windows Directory = C:\Windows
Autochk Run = 0
Number of Root Causes = 2

(then is lists a bunch of different tests it ran that were completed successfully….I didn’t write each test down)

Root Cause Found:
Boot critical file C:\windows\system32\drivers\wdf01000.sys is corrupt

Repair Action: File Repair
Result: Completed Successfully. Error Code = 0x0
Time Taken = 8673ms

Root Cause Found:
Boot critical file C:\wdfldr.sys is corrupt

Repair Action: File Repair
Result: Failed. Error Code = 0x2
Time Taken = 7722ms

Repair Action: System files integrity check and repair
Result: Completed Successfully. Error Code = 0x0
Time Taken = 676920ms

you have tried everything i would recommend and i dont think anyone else could offer any other suggestions all i can offer is............

How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows Vista

which may have a few extra options but you need a vista DVD

ive had a few pc's too look at with corrupt boot files/sectors and only once has fixMBR worked all the other times ive ended up reformatting

edit


are both these from the same run? It repairs the file then finds it to be corrupt again then cant repair it? the 0x2 means the driver couldnt be loaded

sys w listing: page 0 - Systemfiles.net

i found copies of the two files you need on this site, but somebody smarter than me would have to explain how to copy them to the correct folder from a command prompt.
you could do a reinstall of windows, selecting the upgrade option, so you wouldnt lose any of your data.

yuo could give this a shot

create a recovery disk

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/141820-create-recovery-disc.html

that will get you into microsofts recovery console not Dells

then try a system repair that way

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/91467-startup-repair.html

im not sure if its the same thing but it might be worth a shot?

Thank you for your replies to the post. Here is a quick update. Overnight I ran the extended hardware test. It showed no problems. At one point it seemed to "time out", as I think it was needing a response from me but I was not around to give it one. Since the test couldn't continue at that point, I clicked on another option to run a test for the computer not being able to boot. I left the house and came back to see that this test showed no problems.

I started with archie123's post about the bootrec.exe option. I followed the link to the microsoft website and started to follow the directions. There is said to put the installation DVD in and start the computer. I did this, and when it propmted me to press any key to boot from the DVD, I pressed a key. After nothing happening for about 30-60 seconds, the screen showed a message that said "The file is possibly corrupt. The file header checksum does not match the computed checksum." I had no issues booting from the DVD last night. This just started when I sat back down to work on this today. I am praying that this is not a serious problem, but I am scared to death right now. To clarify what DVD I am using, it is the one that came with the computer from Dell saying it was already installed on my computer, and is the "Reinstallation DVD Windows Vista Home Premium 32BIT".

Archie123, I was confused when I read that as well, about the file being reparied then corrupted again. I do not know if it was from the same run. That is just the information it showed when I looked at the diagnostics log after that specific run. If the 0x2 means the driver couldn't be loaded, then is it something I could fix by loading the cd that came with the computer from Dell that is "For Reinstalling Dell Portable Computer Software" with "Contents: Device Drivers & Diagnostics and Utilities"?

Kword88, thank you for the link to the files. I am willing to try this from the command prompt if you think that would work and if I had directions. Maybe I can do a search on that. As for the reinstall of windows....you are saying that if I choose to select the upgrade option, I would not lose any of my current data on the computer? I would be more than willing to do this also. I am not really concerned about saving any software or anything that can be replaced. It is just that some of the data on the computer cannot be replaced and this is what I want to save if at all possible. I saw something somewhere online about an option to even put the hard disk into another computer to get the data off....would this be an option to try and save the data?

Archie123, I will look into creating the recovery disk you mentioned. This is something that I do not already have with DVD from Dell that I mentioned above correct?

Thanks again for everyone's help. I guess I will eventually find the fix or have no choice but to loose everything. I don't really know where to put the blame for this (not that I am looking to place blame) as this could have been something I could have done, or whether it is the computer manufactuer, or the operating system. Ever since I bought this computer though it hasn't been what it could have or should have been or performed that great.

assuming you have the upgrade option, all your files and programs will be saved to a folder named "windows.old".
this is probably the best solution if you are not familiar with using the command line.

If you want to use command prompt, here you go

Step 1: This will backup your current files, but since they are corrupted you probably don’t need to, so you can skip to Step 2

cd c:\windows\system32\drivers
copy wdf01001.sys backupwdf01001.sys

Step 2: this takes ownership of the file, changes the access control list to allow the administrator group full access, and copies the file from your cd/thumbdrive and pastes it to the current directory.

takeown /f wdf01001.sys
cacls wdf01001.sys /G administrators:F
copy [path for the new copy of wdf01001.sys] wdf01001.sys

Where it says path for the new copy, don't type the brackets, if your cd drive is labeled your D drive and you burnt the file directly to the disk, not into a folder it would just be

copy d:\wdf01001.sys wdf01001.sys