Win 7 freeze on startup

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idofxeno

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Dec 20, 2011
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A friend asked me to fix his laptop, which is a Sony Vaio PCG-71318L E series. Upon booting, the system will go as far as the picture below, and then it freezes (notice the green shit at the top -- that's there every time as well).

2011-12-23_06-10-34_458.jpg


What I've tried:
Booting into safe mode gives me the same results -- freezes at the same exact point every time. I've done surface scans of the HDD and it checks out. I've used the built-in format and recovery options, reverting everything back to factory settings (5 times to be precise) to no avail. If I attempt to use safe mode with command prompt, the computer freezes at this point every single time:

2011-12-17_13-26-39_85.jpg


Does anyone have any insight as to how to fix this issue? I don't think it's a hardware issue because I can get into the Vaiocare rescue application, but beyond that this thing will absolutely not go farther than the 2 screens I've posted.
 
Looking at the screen images that you posted I am wondering if there might be something wrong with chipset or the gpu if it is not integrated. Also have you checked to make sure that the fan is not full of junk causing the system to over heat in some way? Or there might be a chance that there is a ram issue.

Also is the top of the screen the only area that has the video corruption? And when you are in the Vaiocare rescue application does it have the video corruption on the screen or only when you are loading windows?
 
kirk121 said:
Looking at the screen images that you posted I am wondering if there might be something wrong with chipset or the gpu if it is not integrated. Also have you checked to make sure that the fan is not full of junk causing the system to over heat in some way? Or there might be a chance that there is a ram issue.

Also is the top of the screen the only area that has the video corruption? And when you are in the Vaiocare rescue application does it have the video corruption on the screen or only when you are loading windows?
Click to expand...

The video is integrated, but that anomaly at the top of the screen doesn't occur until the moment it freezes. Anytime before that, there is nothing outside of the ordinary at the top of the screen, even in the Vaiocare rescue app.

I don't believe it to be an overheating issue simply because the rescue app will run all day and the computer will never freeze. I have not tested the ram yet, so I guess that'll be next on my list of things to try. And yes, the video corruption only happens at the top of the screen and nowhere else, and it only shows up at the moment the system freezes.

At this point, the only thing I can think of is that the rescue operation is corrupted or something and that one of the necessary files for a proper operating system bootup is a victim of the corruption. That's only a shot in the dark though, so if anyone has anymore suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks for the response Kirk.
 
Ok another question. Does anyone know where I can download the recovery CD for a Toshiba Satellite L655D-S5109 Model No: PSK2LU-02800C ? All the google searches and browsing the Toshiba support site has not yielded any relevant result. Thanks.
 
you will have to call toshiba and get them to mail you one. should be around $20 to 35 or you can get a generic ISO/CD from MS for $10 once you present them with a valid key on their website
 
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You said you haven't tested the ram yet as of your post. Did you ever try that? could be that it is hitting something in memory that it doesn't like. I've seen bad memory cause the exact issues you are describing there. Odd things on the screen. computer not starting, reinstalls hanging on certain files or it will install but then not start. Once had a computer crash on the exact same file during a reinstall with 2 different disc. Did a memory test, found one stick was bad, replaced it and all was well.
 
Exavior said:
You said you haven't tested the ram yet as of your post. Did you ever try that? could be that it is hitting something in memory that it doesn't like. I've seen bad memory cause the exact issues you are describing there. Odd things on the screen. computer not starting, reinstalls hanging on certain files or it will install but then not start. Once had a computer crash on the exact same file during a reinstall with 2 different disc. Did a memory test, found one stick was bad, replaced it and all was well.
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I ran memtest86 and everything passed, so I don't think it's a ram issue. I used knoppix livecd to boot up and at least as far as running knoppix itself, everything is good. I'm really not sure what I need to do from this point to fix the problem. I guess I'll see if I can find and replace the existing copies of hal.dll and go from there. Keep the suggestions coming guys, I really appreciate the help.

UPDATE: I took a copy of hal.dll from my computer and put it on the computer in question and it still freezes at the same exact spot no matter what. Perhaps it's the next file that is loaded in the series? Maybe it's an MBR issue? If it's an MBR issue, how would I go about fixing that? Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to get this fixed. Thanks again for the help.
 
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Again, have you attempted to boot into a linux live CD yet? and does it work or not?
 
Yes, I used a knoppix livecd to boot and it worked perfectly. That's how I was able to replace the hal.dll file. Unfortunately the same problem still exists when attempting to load Windows 7.
 
pwrusr said:
Again, have you attempted to boot into a linux live CD yet? and does it work or not?
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read his last post, that worked fine.



If you go to the windows setup, under repair options you can bring up a command line where you can fix the mbr and stuff like that.

One more thing you could try also from there. you could format the partition completely leaving only the recovery drive. then try do the reinstall. Could be that some file is corrupt and not being correctly replaced.

Another thing you could try might be to see if the drive boots in another computer. would need to be close the same type of hardware otherwise it might not boot due to driver issues not leading to much help then.
 
Exavior said:
read his last post, that worked fine.



If you go to the windows setup, under repair options you can bring up a command line where you can fix the mbr and stuff like that.

One more thing you could try also from there. you could format the partition completely leaving only the recovery drive. then try do the reinstall. Could be that some file is corrupt and not being correctly replaced.

Another thing you could try might be to see if the drive boots in another computer. would need to be close the same type of hardware otherwise it might not boot due to driver issues not leading to much help then.
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Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try these out when I get home from work in the morning and update accordingly.
 
Had a similar issue and threw everything at it I could. Ended up reformatting. This came after a mobo replacement.
 
I believe the crux of the issue to be corrupt file(s) inside of the recovery partition of the hdd, meaning that any reformat attempts using said partition would result in the same problem (which, so far, is what I'm experiencing). To be honest, at this point it seems like I'm probably just going to have to take YeuEmMaiMai's suggestion and hit up either Toshiba or Microsoft (I'll probably just ISO from MS) for what I need so that I can reformat from scratch.
 
Yeah, that would be the best thing to do. Get the media and install from that. If you have an OEM copy from dell or anyone else you could also use that media and then just use the key that is on there
 
idofxeno said:
I believe the crux of the issue to be corrupt file(s) inside of the recovery partition of the hdd, meaning that any reformat attempts using said partition would result in the same problem (which, so far, is what I'm experiencing). To be honest, at this point it seems like I'm probably just going to have to take YeuEmMaiMai's suggestion and hit up either Toshiba or Microsoft (I'll probably just ISO from MS) for what I need so that I can reformat from scratch.
Click to expand...

sometimes you can hit up the local mom and pop shops and get a copy for the same $10. Rules are the same, present them with a valid key and you are good to go.

On a side note, just because a linux live CD works does not mean the problem is not HW related. those disks often come with very BASIC support for hardware and the problem may not be evident until a driver is loaded that offers more advanced functionality. the reason for this is that the CD has to run on a wide variety of hw and thus offeres only enough to get the job done.

One thing you could do is take a hdd from another machine and slap it in and see if windows boots (ie an old hdd with a windows image on it). I have an old vista instal on a hdd that I use for this purpose. If it boots without any errors, I know the HW is good (outside of the hdd that was originally in the machine)
 
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