After an antivirus update XPS 17 (L702x) won't boot

My XPS had to restart because the preinstalled Anti Virus program McAfee updated with some new version or something. Well now Windows won't boot. It won't go past the loading Screen. I've tried everything from repairing Windows to reformatting but nothing works. I've even pressed F8 and done the options that come up. Going to previous working version of Windows doesn't work and neither does setting everything to default in BIOS.

This frustrates me beyond believe and I've only had this computer 6 months. Everything was working fine before this. I just reformatted about a month ago and I had this computer running rock solid. I'm always good about keeping it up dated and cleaned.

I've tried contacted Dell but they are busy and I can't get ahold of the XPS team. Does anyone have an idea of what might have happened? When I reformatted I got rid of the partition that Dell had to recover because I hated their bloated software, now I'm regretting that.

When I'm not even able to format the computer without having it hanging up on the Starting Windows Screen then it must be a serious problem.

 

Have you tried a system restore? To an earlier point? You can access that via bios. Im guessing the problem is a corrupt update install.

 

When I boot from the Windows 7 Disc it never goes passed the loading screen. It will say Windows is loading files and then when it shows the Starting Windows it just keeps going. I've let it set there for 10 mins and it just does nothing.

 

Well you might not like this suggestion but boot the pc with Ubuntu and save all you can, then format.

 

I don't mind losing all of my date. I store everything on external Drives. The problem is when I boot from Windows 7 is it just hangs when it says starting windows.

 

Well got it figured out talking to dell. I came up with this error when pressing FN and power button.

error code 0142

msg error code - 2000-0142

msg hard drive 0 - self test unsucessful status 79

Hard Drive apparently has died on me. Only 6 months old too, ! Apparently they are coming out to replace it. How does updating McAfee cause this lol? It prob just died and was a coincidence but still it's an odd one.

 

Dam, thats strange it died after just 6 months! My 4 year old hdd in my hp is still going strong with usage everyday lol. Glad you found the cause and somethings being done.

 

Hey thanks Sam

It is very odd that this happened. I've never really even moved the laptop but a couple times from where it sets for 6 months. I pretty much treat it like it's gold. I should have bought the Solid State Hard Drive but I upgraded everything else to the best available and didn't have enough Dell Credit at the time to be able to afford the Solid State. I believe after they send me a replacement I'll get a Solid State Hard Drive when I save up.

 

Yeah, well i can only say good things about the Crucial M4 SSD. Its a great drive, very quick and reliable! I did use this guide How to: Setup SSD boot drive with secondary Hard disc optimization to move my users folder to my hdd to save space. But tbh if your just having the main win install and your main programs, while moving your users folder, a 64gb m4 ssd would be big enough.