HELP PLEASE!?!?! Gateway desktop will not boot (WIN 7)

[savmom]

SCROLL DOWN IN THIS POST FOR UPDATE

Hi and thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm not totally computer illiterate but I'm no guru either. I don't have problems following directions though 😉

I have a Gateway DX4870 desktop. It's running Windows 7 64-bit. Not sure what other info you need but please ask, I'll find & provide any info you want!!

It's been working fine until I powered it up this morning. It goes to the black Gateway screen (gw logo, press del for boot etc) the windows start up logo comes on for about 10 seconds (as normal) then a screen comes up that says reboot and select proper boot device (or something similar it disappears quickly). Then it restarts and goes back to the same gateway startup screen 😛

I've tried going into the screen with the system repair/recovery which just goes to a grey screen and never does anything else.

I've tried going into the screen where you can change settings (can't remember what that is called I think BIOS settings) but I'm not sure what to do there to make it boot up.

I do have a Windows 7 repair disc, and the recovery disc I created when I first got the computer but putting them in the cd-drive when restarting does nothing.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


______________________________________________
UPDATE

After spending hours trying to figure it out, I went into the command prompt via startup repair and tried chkdsk

After 3 hours, it said it removed/replaced a file but at the very end it said Failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50

I was searching google with our kids game/school work pc and found a thread about a possible virus and trying the Windows Defender DOS disc (virus not likely but hey, it's worth a shot right).

I booted up with the disc and after it ran forever with no issues found--system clean-- I selected exit fully expecting it to do that stupid gateway screen thing and it BOOTED into WINDOWS!

OK so I get into windows and it's crazy!

My date/time were set to 01/01/2012 at 6:05am

Taskbar icons are gone...no network icon, no sound icon, no print icon, no AV icon, just the clock & the start button.

Ran SeaTools (my HD is an ST1000DM003-9YN162) and the SMART passed but short failed with code AF66D6E2

Check S.M.A.R.T. and there's a bunch of stuff all of a sudden that was not there before!!! I have no idea what it means so I posted a screen shot on dropbox (by the way I did the smart check a couple weeks ago and none of the stuff that is currently showing as bad was bad then)

So I am guessing I need a new hard drive unless there is some miracle fix...any suggestions for one that is not too expensive but is decent quality?

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[turkey3_scratch]

When you said "Then it restarts and goes back to the same gateway startup screen" do you mean the computer shuts itself completely off and then starts itself up again, or does it just simply go back to the "grey screen"?

 

[FALC0N]

If you don't have any critical data to worry about, just use the restore disks. You have tell it to boot from the DVD drive. Read the small print as the system is starting.

 

[savmom]

Sorry I wasn't more clear!

Here's the rundown.

I hit the power button.

Lights flash on keyboard, I get the initial "beep"

Gateway screen comes up that says del for bios F12 for boot (or something like that)

The windows screen comes up: black background with the 4-color pattern and that little bar running across the bottom that says starting windows

After about 10-15 seconds, the screen goes black, and a little message at the top says "reboot and select proper device" (not 100% certain what it says because it only lasts for a nanosecond

Then it restarts with the "beep" goes back to the gateway screen with the del/F12 options and another screen pops up that gives me two options:
Start windows normally
Start windows repair (recommended)

I have tried both.

Start windows normally just does that loop I described

Start windows repair (recommended) goes to a grey windows type screen, similar to when you start a brand new computer and you are setting it up for the 1st time. I tried leaving it at that grey screen for an hour but nothing ever happens.

Sorry I wasn't more descriptive originally, I am sort of panic mode at this point 😛 Should I copy & paste this into my initial post?

THANK YOU so much for your quick response

 

[FALC0N]

One of those "Del/F12" options has the boot from cd setting. That's why your restore cd won't boot. It needs to be told to boot from cd. It's not automatic.

 

[savmom]

OK. So I did what you said & told it to boot from cd. I put in the disc, it took a few minutes but after loading files, the grey screen came up that said system recovery options & to select keyboard language, clicked next then after another long wait it now says :

System Recovery Options

Option 1 Use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting windows.

If your operating system isn't listed click load drivers etc....


Then in the middle box:

Column 1 Operating System -- Windows 7
Column 2 Partition size -- 0mb
Column 3Location D: local disc


Option 2 Restore your computer using a system image you created earlier


On top of that box is a smaller box that is active with a blue status bar and it says "Searching for windows installations"


Thanks so much for answering, I am trying not to panic because I DO have important files on there. Some are backed up but we use it for business and I was waiting for my new external to get here since my old once crashed.

 

[savmom]

So I ran the windows repair disc, it took a while but finally a screen came up that said restart to finish repair, which I did.

But now that I set the cd set to boot, I'm not sure what I need to select to boot to get back into windows! Should it be set to the hard drive itself or there is another one called EFI device.

Thanks!


EDITED TO ADD

After trying to repair windows for the last hour, I finally got into the main recovery screen with the options for restore/command prompt/system image recovery etc

It will complete the startup repair and tell me it needs to restart to finish.

I select finish, it restarts, and does the same problem I originally had--get to the windows start up screen, restart & return to the gateway del/F12 screen, tell me to insert bootable media or something along those lines, and keep looping unless I turn it off.

I did try something else from this link (getting your files when windows won't boot)

Following the directions at the link & using the system repair disc I was able to get to the command prompt. I opened notepad as suggested and selected "open' from the file button. When I get into windows via notepad the only thing shown is an "X" folder and system reserve. I cannot see anything else or locate any files.

Should I assume my HD is bad or is it just that I cannot see anything in that notepad open option (I did read that it may not work for everyone).

Thanks again!

 

[savmom]

Edited the last post with more info...thanks!

 

[FALC0N]

Can you start the system in safe mode?

 

[savmom]

Tried safe mode just now and it starts to load files then stops at a file that ends with classpnp.sys then reboots back to the gateway del/F12 screen 😛

Ugh this is frustrating!

Another thing I noticed is after it ran startup repair it gave a list of tests that were run. At the top it says:
Windows 7 on Local Disk D:

Root Cause Found:

followed by a long list of tests such as system disk test, disk failure, disk metadata test, volume content check, etc.

They all say the same thing after the test "Completed successfully Error code 0x0" and at the very bottom it says

Repair Action file system repair completed successfully error code 0x0 time taken 764561ms

 

[savmom]

UPDATE IN ORIGINAL POST--THANKS!