repair not working, even in safe mode

[nick fury]

hi i recently downloaded your product, and ran it once and it worked great. after that it stopped working. i am using windows 7 home premium. when i try to do repairs the command prompt opens and shuts quickly and says server not available a few times. it tries 4 times to no avail. i also tried downloading a vpn. i tried around 20 different ones and none would download. few other things wrong like settings and extensions being reset on my browser etc...

help appreciated,
thank you,
Nick

[Boggin]

Are you able to download anything in Safe Mode with Networking ?

If you are then I'd like you to download and run a scan with the free version of MBAM and then follow that up with a scan by AdwCleaner.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/

https://www.malwarebytes.com/adwcleaner/

With the latter after it has completed its scan it may list some things in the lower pane it considers to be unwanted programs.

If you have specifically downloaded them and want to keep them, then uncheck their boxes then have a look at the Log to see if it has found anything.

Close the log and then hit Cleaning where it will produce a report after the reboot.

If it hasn't found anything then it will say so.

Do all of this in Safe Mode with Networking and then see how things are after the reboot.

If you aren't able to download anything in that mode then go Start - type mrt.exe and press enter and opt for a full scan.

That scan can take a while but when done, go Start - type cmd then select Run as administrator - accept the UAC and enter these commands -

netsh winsock reset catalog

netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

shutdown /r /t 00

and see how things are after the reboot but also run those cmds after the scans with MBAM and AdwCleaner if you were able to run those scans.

[nick fury]

hi, nick here,
since none of those things worked, i tried to format and install windows from the manufacturers disc which came with the computer. it didn't work either. this is the message i received-

this version of windows could not be installed. your previous version of windows has been restored, and you can continue to use it. before trying to install this version of windows again, check online to see if it is compatible with your computer.go to the microsoft website- www.microsoft.com. and search for upgrade advisor.

i did this and the upgrade advisor said it was in fact compatable. i tried again, and windows 7 still would not install...if  i can't get this piece of junk running smoothly, i'm bringing it to a different store next time, as i couldn't install windows last time something happened also.

thank you for your time and help,
Nick

[Boggin]

When you can't download anything it is usually because of an infection which is why I suggested a scan with those programs.

Your current version of Windows will have SP1 installed which is unlikely that the install disk that you got with the computer would include, although I don't think that would have affected a clean install with a vanilla install disk.

To do a clean install of Win 7 you would need a valid retail key as an OEM install is vendor product key activated.

An alternative to a clean install is a repair install but some OEM machines will give the same rejection as does my Toshiba Win 7 laptop.

For this you would need an install disk which includes SP1 - I can supply you with a couple of those should you want to try this.

Where about on that website did you find the upgrade advisor and did it apply to Win 7 ?

When you have failed to download anything, have you checked Event Viewer to see if anything has been recorded ?

[nick fury]

hi , i was finally able to format and reinstall windows and even got a vpn, the tweaking repair has been running for close to 2 hours, and all security including firewalls and antivirus have been shut off for quite a while...is this normal during repairs? it is currently on repair 5 of 45. - repairing WMI . it is now running repair under user account after exporting security info. kind of nervous about all security being off for so long...

thank you for help,
Nick

[nick fury]

also, when i ran system file checker it found errors, even after format and install of windows,  but i was prevented from looking at them- access denied.

[Boggin]

Is the CPU usage active - that will tell you if the program is still working or is hung.

When a sfc /scannow finds errors it is unable to repair then copy & paste the following cmd and press enter.

findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log > %userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt

This will place an icon onto the desktop which when double clicked will open the CBS log in Notepad with what it could and was unable to repair.

For a more condensed report, download and run SFCFix.exe and copy & paste its report into your reply box.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/sfcfix.html

This can sometimes repair where a sfc /scannow is unable to.

This needs to be run immediately after a sfc /scannow as the CBS log can be volatile.

If the machine is working okay then you can usually ignore anything a sfc /scannow says it has failed to repair.

When you run Windows Repair in Safe Mode with Networking as advised, there's no need to disable your antivirus program as it won't be loaded in that mode.

Windows Firewall takes over in that mode but Windows Repair will disable that as well, but your computer will remain safe.

[nick fury]

problem was , i wasn't running in safe mode with networking. tried that and ran it twice. should be ok now, hopefully. will try and get details on sfc.

tyvm, boggin
Nick

[nick fury]

said it could not open still on the first suggestion (sfc). and on the second it said it couldn't update and did nothing. said it could be due to an internet connection problem or temp prob with servers. will check again at a
 later time.

thank you,
Nick

[Boggin]

From your last post do I understand that the CBS log wouldn't open in Notepad after applying that cmd ?

Does the Internet/server problem relate to Windows Repair or SFCFix.exe ?

[Rick]

Hi B,

I would ask him;
Open MSCONFIG
Click the boot tab
Click the tick box that says start in safe mode
restart and then apply your ideas

Alos, noted that MSCONFIG in this case has a system flaw in that it don't select user account so it starts in administrators account which solves the problem of people not doing operations in administrator mode.

regards