In this somewhat complex post (not so much from a technical point of view but rather to organize a lot of information in a synthetic way), we try to solve the problem of a Windows PC that no longer starts and that gives an error during the Boot procedure, ie when the initial black screen appears before the Windows logo. When the PC does not start, it may be that a continuous loading loop is created or that error messages appear, usually in English, of the type " I cannot find the operating system " or " I cannot find a boot disk " and so on.
The problem depends on some error in the boot instructions or in that sector of the disk called MBR ( Master boot Record ) that prevent the correct boot of Windows on the computer and do not start it right.
This error can be caused by malware or by a bad system configuration.
The solution in these cases is to use a boot cd that loads an emergency operating system or a rescue disk and that includes all the most useful tools to resolve errors, remove any viruses and restore the normal state of the PC.
In more difficult cases, this type of boot disk can also be useful for saving important data that was on the hard disk before formatting it, erasing everything and reinstalling Windows from scratch.
Boot CDs are live operating systems that can be booted from CD or DVD and even from a USB stick.
In general, these are ISO files that can be easily burned onto a USB stick with programs such as Unetbootin or Rufus, which make the ISO bootable on boot.
You can then change the boot order on your computer to boot these emergency Boot CDs or Rescue Disks and be able to use the tools they include.
1) Ultimate Boot CD or UBCD is an emergency boot cd to check everything on the computer, even if there is hardware damage on the motherboard or ram.
The CD contains an emergency operating system that has many built-in tools to perform tests and scans and to repair corrupt disks or partitions. The good thing is that to create the boot CD with UBCD is easy, the bad thing is that the tools inside you must know a little in order to avoid working haphazardly.
2) Parted Magic 2013 (the latest version of Parted Magic is no longer free) is one of the best programs to clone the disk, to correct partitioning problems, to scan with antivirus and to erase all data permanently.
3) All In One System Rescue Toolkit is the best emergency disk that exists in the world and for those who want to learn how to repair any type of computer, the most complete boot CD that in lite version also becomes easy to use even for those who are not System Engineer. The normal version of the All In One System Rescque Toolkit is an ISO to download and burn to CD or USB.
Among the many features within AiO-SRT, there are the basic applications of Ubuntu, remote desktop tools, programs to clone, partition and erase the disk, tool to recover and reset the Windows password, stress test software and then automatic applications to check the integrity of the Windows system and solve common errors.
This set of tools can also be obtained in Lite version by downloading it as a program to be run on the Windows PC, without therefore having to start the computer from CD or USB.
AiO-SRT Lite automates the repair process of a computer that does not start using all its integrated functions and thus solving Windows errors and problems. The application is very easy to use, just download it, run it and let it work for a couple of hours, until the checks and tests are finished. During the scan the computer may also restart automatically so it is better to save any jobs so as not to lose them. During the whole process, Rescue System Toolkit can also download additional tools such as Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool for an antivirus check.
The checks that are performed are:
- CPU cooling test;
- RAM memory test;
- Hard Disk Test;
- Windows PC security check;
- Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware scan;
- Windows network recovery;
- Checking system files
- Disk cleaning and Defrag.
AiO-SRT is certainly one of the most effective programs to repair the PC, both with a boot CD in boot, and also from Windows itself, by running the lite version.
4) Hiren's Boot Cd is one of the most complete boot CDs, which contains multiple maintenance and recovery tools all together, recently updated with the Hiren Bot CD PE version, based on Windows 10 PE.
It contains all the latest antiviruses, system tools that act on disks, partitions, MBR and system files, programs such as Partition Magic, Acronis True Image, Drive Image XML, Norton Ghost, Restoration, PC Doctor, MemTest, Bios Cracker. and also a light version of Windows 10 included in the package. In addition there are all the tools to find or reset the password on Windows, many antivirus, hijackthis and anti rootkits and 100 famous or less famous programs that use the best hackers in the world.
5) Similar to Hiren BOOT CD there are other modified versions of Windows PE and with the purpose of providing a recovery environment for the computer that does not work or does not start normally. They are:
- Bob.Omb's Modified Win10PEx64
- WinPE 10-8 Sergei Strelec
- Gandalf's Windows 10PE x64
5) Medicat DVD declares itself as the successor of Hiren boot CD, more modern, updated with all the latest tools inside, which also includes a live Windows PE system to boot any computer even without an operating system.
Among the tools are those to do the virus check, to recover the administrator password, to recover deleted data, to diagnose and correct errors on disk and to restore and repair the startup of Windows.
Medicat DVD, depending on whether you choose to include Windows 10 PE or not, can be a big download from 1.5 GB up to 8 GB.
6) Avira Antivir Rescue System is what is called a rescue disk, a system rescue disk, especially useful if the computer no longer starts due to a virus .
The tool is free and it is simple to use, in the sense that it makes a check, tries to correct errors and, in the end, gives the result of the scan allowing Windows to restart or not. On Antivir rescue system, at the configuration menu you choose to correct the errors and to rename the corrupt or infected files if they cannot be resolved. You can also choose which disk to check and in this case the nomenclature is that of unix systems where each partition is called with the abbreviation SDA. Pressing on smart Scan starts the control and, as we have seen, it is very simple to use.
7) To scan antivirus from CD or via USB, at system boot, you can also use:
Trendmicro Rescue Disk .
The Kaspersky Rescue Disk .
Avira Antivirus Rescue Sistem
AVG Rescue Disk mentioned in the article with the procedure to use if you are unable to eliminate a virus.
8) Trinity rescue Disk is a Linux Live distribution, only to be copied to CD or USB stick to start the computer, which includes all the tools for repairing Windows.
9) System Rescue CD, a Linux-based toolset for recovering data and repairing a Windows system that won't boot.
Among the tools, the main ones are Driveimage XML to save data from the broken PC to a backup disk, MBRfix which corrects errors related to computer startup instructions, MBRWix and other partition tools to be used very carefully, and then still there are also some antivirus and antimalware like Spybot or Avira Antivir, tools for disk defrag, scan disk or disk check, Cleaner and tools to remove busted registry keys and obsolete files, file recovery tools to recover deleted data or corrupt. This boot cd that installs with Windows XP should also work on systems with Vista.
10) Live CDs, like the two seen above, can be useful for saving important data and for trying to correct errors in registry keys or corrupt files, by hand, always if you know what you are doing.
Their operation is very easy, for example we have seen in other articles how to create Windows PE Live CDs or how to use Linux Live CDs to find Windows passwords including the administrator password.
In other posts, then, we have seen how to install operating systems on USB sticks such as Puppy Linux, or even Kali Linux for security tests and networks or Fedora and Ubuntu.
These Linux systems are very simple and should not be frightening, especially because, in these cases, they can only be used to recover important files, even if errors are renounced.
To be precise, a live cd is an operating system that uses RAM as if it were its hard disk and does not write anything on the real disk, unless you impose it.
To finish, I remember another guide to repairing the MBR to restore boot loader and computer startup .
On another page there are other ways to fix Windows problems that won't start and save all your important data and files .
Specifically, if the PC does not start, also check the guides:
- If Windows 8 does not start, how to restore or save data
- Ways to repair Windows 10 and create recovery disk
- fix errors if the pc crashes often
