ASUS K50AB, 1.5yrs old
AMD RM-75
ATI Radeon HD 4570
4gb RAM (I don't know the make)



When I try to boot windows 7, it goes to the "starting windows" screen, flickers once, and freezes up. I've tried system restore, startup repair, and start with last known good config, all with no success. It will start fine in safe mode with networking.

I don't think it would have anything to do with the hardware, since it's been running strongish for 1.5yrs with no new additions of any sort. Assuming it's a software bug(not that I know, that would just be my vaguely educated guess), how do I go about tracking it down and fixing it?

I don't have a system image, nor a physical windows disc, so I can't just do a fresh install or I certainly would.

[Edited on March 9, 2011 at 5:52 PM. Reason : .]

3/9/2011 5:52:21 PM

If it will start in Safe Mode with Networking, thats a good thing

I'd start by starting in SMw/N then look in your Startup folder for anything that looks suspicious

Also look in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run part of your registry (regedit.exe) and see if anything fishy shows up there

Looking there will at least give you an idea of whether or not its some kind of virus/spyware/trojan or if its something else, like a hardware or configuration issue

3/9/2011 6:11:35 PM

The startup folder was empty and the /run folder just contained two things: ETD Ware(touchpad driver) and something called "(default)". Is that legit? What's next?

3/9/2011 6:36:06 PM

the Startup folder is probably the default Startup folder, ie from Safe Mode, not your normal login...you might want to navigate through the Users\ folder to your normal login's startup folder

I'm surprised the /run part of the registry doesn't have much in it though...I'm not that familiar with Win7, but in Vista, XP, W2000, etc, you'll generally find a bunch of startup stuff, like antivirus programs, touchpad drivers, etc..."(Default)" is legit

basically there is nothing malicious in your registry's default run key, but I expected more stuff...ie i would expect the processes that would normally be running in your Task Manager during a normal boot, whereas currently the only tasks you should have running (in Safe Mode) are the bare minimum Windows

I dunno what the next step is...have you tried running a virus and/or malware scan while you're started in safe mode? something might turn up, thats what i would do next

3/9/2011 7:07:57 PM

VICTORY

I unplugged my usb adapter for my wireless mouse and an SD card(which seems to be dying) I had in the card reader and it booted up normally twice in a row. I'll call it fixed. Thanks for the help TreeTwista.

3/9/2011 7:21:42 PM

good to hear

3/10/2011 2:56:27 PM