how long does windows 7 startup repair take

The Startup Repair tool automatically fixes many common problems. To troubleshoot this problem, use Windows installation media to start the computer, press Shift+F10 for a command prompt, and then use any of the following methods. Unable to boot due to system hive missing or corrupted.Boot Configuration Data (BCD) missing or corrupted.If the screen is completely black except for a blinking cursor, or if you receive one of the following error codes, this indicates that the boot process is stuck in the Boot Loader phase: If the system is stuck at the BIOS phase, there may be a hardware problem. If it does not, this indicates that the startup process is stuck at BIOS. Press the NumLock key to see whether the indicator light toggles on and off. If it is not working, this indicates that the startup process is stuck at the BIOS phase. If there are any external peripherals connected to the computer, disconnect them.Ĭheck whether the hard disk drive light on the physical computer is working. To determine whether the system has passed the BIOS phase, follow these steps: If the computer repeatedly boots to the recovery options, run the following command at a command prompt to break the cycle:īcdedit /set bootmenupolicy legacy BIOS phase This article provides troubleshooting techniques for problems that occur during the first three phases. Before starting troubleshooting, you have to understand the outline of the boot process and display status to ensure that the issue is properly identified at the beginning of the engagement.Įach phase has a different approach to troubleshooting. Here is a summary of the boot sequence, what will be seen on the display, and typical boot problems at that point in the sequence. The kernel passes control to the session manager process (Smss.exe) which initializes the system session, and loads and starts the devices and drivers that are not marked BOOT_START. The kernel loads into memory the system registry hive and additional drivers that are marked as BOOT_START. Windows Boot Manager finds and starts the Windows loader (Winload.exe) on the Windows boot partition.Įssential drivers required to start the Windows kernel are loaded and the kernel starts to run.

Firmware reads the master boot record (MBR), and then starts Windows Boot Manager. This pre-boot process ends when a valid system disk is detected. The PC’s firmware initiates a Power-On Self Test (POST) and loads firmware settings.

To troubleshoot boot problems, first determine in which of the following phases the computer gets stuck: Phase There are several reasons why a Windows-based computer may have problems during startup. If you're looking for more general information about recovery options, see Recovery options in Windows 10.

This article is intended for use by support agents and IT professionals.

How long does windows 7 startup repair take