Windows explorer malfunction

[deathville]

My computer just got a really serious problem right now. Nothing is working when the desktop loads. No applications load when I can click anything on the desktop. The start menu is completely frozen, and the loading symbol (blue spinning thing) comes in place of the mouse pointer when I place it over the menu. No CDs or USBs register when I put them in. Even when I try booting in safe mode, the problem persists. I have no idea what to do. Any ideas?

 

[KSoD]

Either going to have to use a Restore Point from before this started to happen and hope they are alright or do a factory reset.

 

[deathville]

But how do I access the system restore or factory restore options if I can't even click the start menu?

 

[KSoD]

You need to either use the Recovery Media that you should have created for yourself or use the Advanced Boot Menu.

 

[large909]

Boot into safe mode, check event viewer. I would think you will be able to see errors in there. They should give some indication of what the problem is. No point in reinstalling winodows etc until you have an idea of what the problem is.
also you could run a gmer scan, ensure there are not rootkits etc

 

[KSoD]

My computer just got a really serious problem right now. Nothing is working when the desktop loads. No applications load when I can click anything on the desktop. The start menu is completely frozen, and the loading symbol (blue spinning thing) comes in place of the mouse pointer when I place it over the menu. No CDs or USBs register when I put them in. Even when I try booting in safe mode, the problem persists. I have no idea what to do. Any ideas?

So if this happens in Safe Mode as well, then how would a user check the Event Viewer? No applications load, no ability to click on anything, Start Menu frozen and the working mouse icon is all that registers.

My suggestion to reinstall was not ill conceived nor quick to be said. It was said cause that IS the only option available. With no ability to do anything at all within the system, there is no option but to go to that extreme.

If the user is extremely lucky, and I do mean extremely lucky, their Restore Points might not have been affected and they could save from having to do a reinstall by using one of said Restore Points. But if the user has not created any manually and has not prompted for one to be done by installing any Windows Updates that does this automatically, then there is no telling when the last Restore Point is from and therefor a Reinstall could actually be a better option. Saving trouble in the long run from trying to troubleshoot what is wrong with the restore.

 

[large909]

Hey
i would be tempted to run some test's, could be bad sectors on the hard drive. Use the Hirens cd Hiren's BootCD 15.1 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info

Forgive me, not sure how you intend on running a system restore if you are not able to use the pc in safe mode.
I certainly recomend running a hard drive test and memory test, if both of those come back ok, ya go for a reinstall/recovery of windows.

 

[kjsisco]

Could you try using your serial port to connect to another computer? Use the other computer as your power source (u s b is the same) and access your computer.

 

[deathville]

So if this happens in Safe Mode as well, then how would a user check the Event Viewer? No applications load, no ability to click on anything, Start Menu frozen and the working mouse icon is all that registers.

My suggestion to reinstall was not ill conceived nor quick to be said. It was said cause that IS the only option available. With no ability to do anything at all within the system, there is no option but to go to that extreme.

If the user is extremely lucky, and I do mean extremely lucky, their Restore Points might not have been affected and they could save from having to do a reinstall by using one of said Restore Points. But if the user has not created any manually and has not prompted for one to be done by installing any Windows Updates that does this automatically, then there is no telling when the last Restore Point is from and therefor a Reinstall could actually be a better option. Saving trouble in the long run from trying to troubleshoot what is wrong with the restore.

Yeah, I tried restoring the computer to an earlier date, but that didn't solve it; the computer boots up saying "There is a critical error with windows. It will restart in one minute." Additionally, I've also tried running start-up repair tests, to no avail. And every time I forcefully shut it down from the power button (since I can't go to the start button), it'll start up saying that it wants to do a disk check, and its highly recommended, but the check doesn't solve anything either. As for restoration, unfortunately, there is no recovery partition on the computer, and the backup discs have been misplaced somewhere. I do have my original Windows 7 installation disc that I used to upgrade the laptop from Vista a while back. Is there a way I can access BIOs/command prompt etc. and have the disc actually boot up so I could re-install Windows?