Asus Notebook suddenly won't load windows!

I can't get into my OS -- please help!

Never had this problem before on my 2-year-old Asus M50Vm laptop. Suddenly Windows Vista crashed, for no apparent reason, and I couldn't even get the Task Manager when I pressed Control-Alt-Delete. So, I manually shut down the computer by pressing the on/off button.

Now I can't get back into Windows Vista. If I try loading normally, it stays stuck on the windows loading screen (with the bar). The hard drive light is active, and then it suddenly goes black, and the HD makes a similar noise as when I put the computer to sleep. It will either stay that way indefinitely (with the windows loading screen), or restart on its own.

If I start via the various safe mode options, it loads files up to crcdisk.sys (it's the last one it shows loaded) and then it stays stuck here (with the hard drive light solid), and either restarts eventually or stays here indefinitely.

If I boot from my Asus Windows Vista CD, it appears the only option it gives me is to reinstall my OS, which I prefer to be the last option (a big pain plus will lose all my files and settings). I don't see a repair option when booting on the CD.

I do occasionally get a blue error screen, but it only flashes for a second (not long enough for me to read it) before restarting.

After many attempts of rebooting, it is now automatically running chkdsk (before entering Windows). It appears it is going to take forever (it's only at 6 percent after a hour), and it's finding many file record segments (77192, 77193...1099444) as unreadable, although it does appear to have fixed two corrupted files. I am not optimistic that this is going to result in anything, or even finish within hundreds of hours!

I can't think of what caused this problem. I don't remember doing anything unusual today, and my antivirus protection is up-to-date. I did upgrade to MS Office 2010 a couple of weeks ago, that appears to have had some bugs in it and may have caused my system to be somewhat less reliable, but not sure if that had anything to do with this severe issue.

Any suggestions, please!?

Thanks,
Tyler

 

Are you using AVG anti-virus by any chance?

 

Nope, Norton Internet Security 2010 (with updated definitions).

 

What has probably happened is your filesystem is very corrupted, or your hard disk is failing. I hope you have backups of your data. If you don't, I'd use a livecd or another computer to recover the data, since it probably won't run the OS anymore. You can use a utility on a livecd to check the SMART data and see if the drive is reporting errors.

 

An update:

I eventually gave up on chkdsk when it stopped on a certain file fragment for over 2 hours and therefore seemed to crash.

When I called Asus, they pretty much said to do a full recovery (ie. reinstall OS and start from scratch). Of course, tech support usually is quick to resort to this, which is my last option for obvious reasons. They thought it was a software issue, not a hardware issue. This at least makes me hopeful that there is a way to fix it.

Also, I was able to finally read the blue error screen that I was getting occassionally, which pretty much said "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED...." It goes on about disabling or removing any newly installed hardware or software, but of course I cannot do anything without getting into Windows or even receiving a command prompt...

I'd like to try a System Restore or to use the system repair on the Windows Vista installation CD, but unfortunately the Asus Vista CD doesn't seem to have either of these options (just a full recovery/reformat).

Any more suggestions please?

 

I have downloaded and burned a copy of the Recovery Disk and was able to load it. However, the Startup Repair was unable to "automatically fix" any startup problems. Not sure if I'm reading the repair report correctly, but part of it says: "Root Cause Found: No OS files found on disk. Repair action: Partition table repair. Result: Failed. Error code - 0x490." Not sure what this means, if anything. After all, the Recovery Disk had already confirmed earlier that it detected Vista on my computer.

Also, System Restore unfortunately does not show any restore points (although I thought Vista automatically created restore points for me).

I can at least get to a command prompt via the Recovery Disk (it shows X:\Source>); not sure this opens up any other options...

I am in the process of making a Live CD to save my data (hopefully). Not losing my files would at least make this whole ordeal somewhat easier to swallow.

I ran chkdsk overnight, but again it stalled (at 6 percent, although for a different file record segment number).

The full blue screen error message I get (although not always; sometimes the computer will just indefinitely stall when loading) is:

"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer..

PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware of software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x00000068 (0xC0000102, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"

Besides installing Office 2010 a couple of weeks ago and updating Skype the day before, no software or hardware updates come to mind that may have caused this problem. I don't know how to disable BIOS memory options as instructed.

Any other suggestions for saving my computer? If it can't be saved, will a re-install of Windows likely fix it, or is it likely a hardware issue (ie. need to get hard drive replaced)?

 

Well, NORTON is a problem - don't use it in the future.

For the present, your best bet is a live USB so you can copy off any files you need to the USB key. A Live CD and extra USB key will help.

Chances are that a hard drive replacement and windows reinstall will fix ALL your hardware problems.

A drive replacement is generally easy, if you can hold a screwdriver, you can switch a drive. Your computer isn't likely to be broken, the hard drive probably got jolted one too many times and/or reached the end of it's life ...

 

Really appreciate the Ubuntu Live boot CD idea. I was able to boot into this other OS, and copy all my important files onto a thumb drive. Thanks! By Ubuntu saving the day when Windows fails, what a great marketing tool for them!

At this point, I'll probably just re-install Windows and see if everything works; otherwise, I'll assume it's the hard drive and buy a new one (or a new computer).

Thanks for all the replies.