Windows 7 Ultimate x64 won't get past the Wallpaper loading.

[Persheis]

Hello!

Today, there was a power shortage while my PC was on. Quickly, after it happened, I turned off the PSU and the Surge Protection in fear something might have happened there.

After the power came back, I turned everything on again and started Windows.
It booted normally, no strange sounds nor other stuff.
My PC has only 1 user (me) so there's no User Panel. It automatically went to loading Windows.

The problem started here. Windows would load my wallpaper and Task Bar (I dunno how it's called in English, it's the one with the Windows Button), but no programs nor the icons would load. It's stuck there.
I have tried CTRL+ALT+DEL, but there was no response (actually, there was, an error message saying Windows wasn't able to show the user panels and power panels, and that I should reboot my computer manually).
After some time, I was able to get into Computer. My 3 partitions were there (2 HDDs, 1 for OS and another partitioned in 2) but I couldn't access them.

Haven't tried safe mode, but I'm fearing HDDs damage/corruption. What steps should I follow on this problem?
Thank you!

 

[COLGeek]

Sounds like your user profile is corrupted. Try creating another user account to see if you can access your information.

 

[Persheis]

Sounds like your user profile is corrupted. Try creating another user account to see if you can access your information.

Ummm... by access I meant I couldn't get it to enter the drive. There was no "Access denied" message or privileges conflict.
I can't reach the User CP from there, as no option seems to work (or it takes way too long for me to wait).
Fast times should be expected, as my system is running AMD 1100T X6 and 2*4GB G-Skill Ripjaws.

I can't access any option from there. Even opening the CTRL+Shift+ESC Task manager won't work.
The system boots at normal speed, loads Windows to the Wallpaper at normal speed, and POSTs with no problem.
I'm afraid it might be a CPU/RAM problem... but it wouldn't POST at all, right?

The CTRL-ALT-DEL thing took like 5 minutes to deliver the error message. That makes me worried about some other component being fried.

 

[COLGeek]

Do you have a bootable Linux disk (CD or DVD) that you could boot the system with to verify whether the hardware is good to go , or not? I recommend Ubuntu Linux (boot and select the Try It selection).

This really sounds like a Win7 issue and not hardware, at this point.

 

[Persheis]

Do you have a bootable Linux disk (CD or DVD) that you could boot the system with to verify whether the hardware is good to go , or not? I recommend Ubuntu Linux (boot and select the Try It selection).

This really sounds like a Win7 issue and not hardware, at this point.

Thanks for the reply.
I launched Ubuntu from a USB flash, and checked everything

Apparently, everything is unharmed save for the SO drive. According to SMART analysis, it has bad sectors. Fortunately, the Big Drive (Containing all the info, media and stuff up to 450GB) says SMART Healthy.

This HDD was plain old, so I guess it's no surprise it failed under these circumstances.

The unavoidable question... is SMART analysis reliable?
Could you recommend a nice cheap low capacity SSD (just for the SO) for my build, please?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Best answer selected by mousemonkey.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey