Instant shutdown on Windows 7 Startup?

[Olympia_88]

This is probably one of the most irriating problems I'm trying to find a solution to.

It POSTs fine, I can access the BIOS screen, and Windows starts. However, when Windows is finished loading, the system shuts down and starts back up again.

My friend swore up and down that he tried restarting it in safe mode, so I assumed that it may be a problem with his PSU and so he went to get the new Corsair. That turned out not to be the problem.

So I take a crack at restarting it in Safe Mode and I successfully boot it that way . He already tried Windows repair, but that did not work either. What I try to do is System Restore from a backup that was a week before he last successfully booted his computer.

Reportedly, Windows started fine without problem, but then it shut down and started acting up again. I went to msconfig and set it so only the there is a basic run of applications at Startup. That hasn't worked either.

-I have a feeling that its the ATI driver that's doing it.
-I have not checked the RAM sticks yet
-Is it likely that it is a Virus and if so will doing a wipe fix that?

Windows starts up fine in Safe Mode.

You guys have come through before, any help would be appreciated.

Core 2 Duo
ATI Radeon 4650
Corsair GS600
4 GB of RAM

That's all the spec information I have at the top of my head.

 

[scout_03]

do virus test and use malwarebytes in safe mode without network,for the ati uninstal and install the new one for the memory use memtest one stick at the time or use windows memory diagnostic in win 7

 

[hpdeskjet]

If it starts up fine in Safe Mode, it is probably likely a driver problem.

What mobo does the system use btw? Might not be relevant to the problem here, but it is nice to have complete system specifications whenever possible.

 

[Olympia_88]

I tried uninstalling the ATI driver, but no dice. Thoughts?

 

[scout_03]

coud you try to install the ccc 12.1 and see what system report and give us all the system specs

 

[Olympia_88]

I tried Startup Repair and I saw this error:
Problem signature 07: bad driver.

It's hard to understand what you're saying scout_03, sorry.

If it starts up fine in Safe Mode, it is probably likely a driver problem.

What mobo does the system use btw? Might not be relevant to the problem here, but it is nice to have complete system specifications whenever possible.

I'm fairly certain that it's a Gigabyte mobo.

 

[hpdeskjet]

scout is recommending that you reinstall catalyst control center 12.1:

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/downloads.aspx

Were there any Windows updates that your friend installed recently that coincides with this happening? Maybe some Windows updates (or some anti-virus software update?) corrupted the driver.

Meanwhile, it probably wouldn't hurt to run some tests to check the integrity of the hard drive.

 

[Olympia_88]

Good idea, my friend wants to do a fresh install of Windows.

I ran AVG in Safe Mode and it found malware in some of the sys32 .dlls. It killed them but that didn't seem to do the trick. He has remorselessly browsed shady ass websites and I'm pretty sure he has driver corruption due to malware.

I'll fiddle with the ATI software but I ruled that out after uninstalling the driver. I was suspicious because ATI drivers are awful.

Thanks for the help!