Skip to main content

How to: Startup Repair in Windows 7

Startup Repair is a utility created by Microsoft itself that is designed to fix any problems with Windows startup. Startup Repair is meant to be used when your computer is having trouble starting up. Basically, if there is an issue on the software side of your computer that is preventing it from starting up as it should – such  as missing startup files or damaged files that are critical to the Windows startup process) – Startup Repair should be able to fix it. Startup Repair is available for almost all versions of the Windows Operating System, and that includes Windows 7.
When Windows 7 came out, computer manufacturers were not very big on packaging system recovery utilities like Startup Repair with their products. Since that is the case, you can only perform Startup Repair on a Windows 7 computer in two ways – using Windows 7 installation media or a Windows 7 system repair disc.

In order to start the system in start-up repair, you will need either the windows installation media that came with your system or a system recovery disk if you have. If you do not have these, then you can buy it from the manufacturer or create one using a different computer using steps here

How to BOOT into BIOS to change Boot Order

You must know how to boot and change boot order since this will be needed to perform the solutions below.Restart your computer. Enter your computer’s BIOS (or UEFI) settings as soon as it starts up. The key that you need to press to enter these settings depends on the manufacturer of your computer’s motherboard and can be anything from Esc, Delete or F2 to F8, F10 or F12, usually F2. This is displayed on the post screen, and the manual that was supplied with your system. A quick google search asking “how to enter bios” followed by model number will also list results. Navigate to the Boot. 

How to perform a Startup Repair using Windows 7 installation media

Insert the Windows 7 installation disc or USB into the affected computer and restart
As soon as the computer starts booting up, get into its BIOS settings (the instructions for which vary depending on the manufacturer of the computer’s motherboard) and configure the computer’s boot order to boot from the installation media instead of the hard drive. On most systems, it is the F2 key that needs to be pressed when the first screen appears. The key to enter bios is also displayed on the first screen that appears just for a few seconds. Save the changes once done and exit the BIOS settings.
windows 7 startup repair - 1
when it says, press any key to boot from the installation media, press any of the keys on the keyboard.
2015-12-09_042032
Choose your language settings and other preferences and then click on Next.
2015-12-09_042620
When you reach a window that has an Install now button at its very center, click on Repair your computer in the bottom left of the window.
2015-12-09_042800
Select the Operating System you want to repair.
2015-12-09_042955
If Windows 7 is your only Operating System, only it will be displayed in the list. At the System Recovery Options window, click on Startup Repair.
startup repair windows 7
Once the Startup Repair begins, simply wait patiently for it to be completed.

How to perform a Startup Repair using a system repair disc

If you happen to have thought ahead and created a Windows 7 system repair disc for your computer in the past, you can go ahead and use that. However, if you don’t have a system repair disc handy, you can always create one using a Windows 7 computer that actually works. A system repair disc can be created by navigating to Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore > Create a system repair disc. 
2015-12-09_043527

To perform a Startup Repair using a system repair disc, you need to:

Get into the computer’s BIOS settings on startup (the instructions for which vary depending on the manufacturer of the computer’s motherboard) and configure the computer’s boot order to boot from the repair disc instead of the hard drive, on most system it is the F2 key. Save the changes once done and exit the BIOS settings.
windows 7 startup repair - 1
Insert the repair disc into the computer. Restart the computer. If prompted to do so, press any key to boot from the repair disc.
2015-12-09_042032
Choose your language settings and other preferences. Choose the Operating System you want to repair. If Windows 7 is your only Operating System, only it will be displayed in the list.
2015-12-09_042620
Once you reach the System Recovery Options window, click on Startup Repair. Wait for the Startup Repair to be completed.
startup repair windows 7

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Fix the ‘Failed to Acquire the VirtualBox COM Object’ Error

Several users are reporting that they are unable to launch VirtualBox. The critical error message that comes up is  “Failed to acquire the VirtualBox COM object. The application will terminate”.  In some cases, the error is also accompanied by a second error message pointing towards the problem. The issue does not seem to be specific to a certain Windows version since it’s confirmed to occur on both Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. Failed to acquire the VirtualBox COM object. The application will now terminate. What is causing the ‘Failed to Acquire the VirtualBox COM Object’ error? We investigated this issue by looking at various user reports and the repair strategies that are commonly deployed successfully in this particular scenario. As it turns out, there are multiple culprits that might end up triggering this issue: VirtualBox is not installed with admin access  – Virtualbox is one of those software products that will require you to install them with a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fix: System Found Unauthorized Changes on the Firmware, Operating System or UEFI Drivers

Several users are struggling with the  System found unauthorized changes on the firmware error  at every startup or when trying to take their computer out of hibernation mode. Most affected users report that the issue started occurring after they installed some pending Windows updates. The issue is mostly encountered on Windows 7. The system found unauthorized changes on the firmware, operating system or UEFI drivers. Press [OK] to run the next boot device, or enter directly to BIOS Setup if there are no other boot devices installed. What is causing the System found unauthorized changes on the firmware error We investigated this particular issue by looking at various user reports. This error will occur whenever your system is checking the firmware one some computer hardware parts as part of a new security feature. To be precise, the error is occurring because not all Windows versions will support this new security feature. As it turns out, there are sev...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fix: Adobe Acrobat won’t Open

Adobe Acrobat is a commercially available variant of Acrobat Reader and it includes many enterprise content management and files hosting services in addition to the basic features of the Acrobat Reader. However, quite recently, a lot of reports have been coming in where users are unable to open PDF files using the applications. The cursor refreshes for a while and then nothing happens. Adobe Acrobat In this article, we will guide you with viable solutions to completely eradicate this problem. Also, we will provide you with the reasons due to which this error is triggered. What Prevents Adobe Acrobat from Opening? There are several reasons due to which the application might face issues during the launch. Some of the most common ones are: Preferences:  In some cases, the applications preferences are configured incorrectly. Certain configurations might be incompatible with the operating system and they might cause conflicts during the launching process. Corrupt Insta...
Post a Comment
Read more