Dell question how to access System Repair Win 7

[Russ Smith]

So Dell M4600 Win 7 64 bit. Suddenly started bluescreening and the error message is supposed to be memory management but it passed all Dell diagnostics and Memtest diagnostics.

From googling for NTOSKRNL.exe, which is apparently the driver causing the bluescreens, you are supposed to let Windows repair it using System repair. The problem is, the system doesn't fail to start windows so it never gives me the option to run repair? Because of how Dell does things, they don't ship a Windows CD with the system, all that stuff is in a separate partition on the hard drive.

I can't for the life of me find out how to access that so that it manually runs repair and hopefully fixes that driver?

I tried googling it and looking on Dell's site and even sat in the queue on their chat for 15 minutes but I can't do it from the problem system because it bluescreens too often.

There has to be some function key that gets you to that screen but F2, F8 and F12 don't seem to do so?

 

[Russ Smith]

Just to clarify I know I could get there with a Windows CD but Dell doesn't provide one.

And people insist F8 is supposed to get to advanced boot options one of which is "repair your computer" but I can't get there. I've hit F8 until my finger is sore with no results. In fact i even went in via F12, told it to boot from the HD(as it normally would) and then immediately started hitting F8 and that did nothing either.

What I ended up doing worked, for now, but is not at all a desirable fix, I just ended up using system restore and restored to a point 2 days ago and now it's not currently bluescreening.

My concern is, it was possibly a windows update that caused it and once the system checks for updates again, it will come right back.

 

[BillsCarnage]

Is it a USB keyboard? I've had the F keys not work before with older types. Also make sure there's not a F-lock key that shifts the functions of the F keys.

As for the restore partition, can you change the boot drive in the bios/uefi to boot to that partition?

Can you order the CD(s) from Dell? They'll probably charge you shipping though, but they should have come w/ the comp.

 

[Chaz]

Just to clarify I know I could get there with a Windows CD but Dell doesn't provide one.

And people insist F8 is supposed to get to advanced boot options one of which is "repair your computer" but I can't get there. I've hit F8 until my finger is sore with no results. In fact i even went in via F12, told it to boot from the HD(as it normally would) and then immediately started hitting F8 and that did nothing either.

What I ended up doing worked, for now, but is not at all a desirable fix, I just ended up using system restore and restored to a point 2 days ago and now it's not currently bluescreening.

My concern is, it was possibly a windows update that caused it and once the system checks for updates again, it will come right back.

If it had an error during the update then it could cause damage that might not be repeated next time.

However, to be safe, now that it isn't blue screening this is a good time to create a recovery disk that you can boot from next time.

If they didn't ship disks then they should have the dell backup software that will burn the disk from the image on the recovery partition.

 

[Russ Smith]

Is it a USB keyboard? I've had the F keys not work before with older types. Also make sure there's not a F-lock key that shifts the functions of the F keys.

As for the restore partition, can you change the boot drive in the bios/uefi to boot to that partition?

Can you order the CD(s) from Dell? They'll probably charge you shipping though, but they should have come w/ the comp.

No it's the keyboard on the laptop. I actually can use essentially any Win 7 CD I just don't have one and the only one who does, my boss, has it in a locked office and he's out of town.

So far the restore worked but it sucks I had to do that I hate rolling back machines people never realize what they needed until after you rolled it back.

I asked is there anything I need to copy to the server or backup and he said no the backup ran last night I'm good. Now there's 2 files he had that weren't backed up that are gone. Which is why I hate using restore.

 

[Russ Smith]

If it had an error during the update then it could cause damage that might not be repeated next time.

However, to be safe, now that it isn't blue screening this is a good time to create a recovery disk that you can boot from next time.

If they didn't ship disks then they should have the dell backup software that will burn the disk from the image on the recovery partition.

That's actually a great idea because then I can boot off it and run repair that way.

Thanks, I was so focussed on how to get it from the recover partition it didn't dawn on me to do it that way.

 

[CardsFan88]

Well sometimes it's all about WHEN you hit the buttons. If you hit it too early or too late it won't work. The way to do it is to hit it every second or so, but not holding it down since that can make it not work (or at least it has for me over the years). So I just keep hitting it every second, maybe half second.

Usually it's best to have a Win 7 disk and to a repair install that is a new install that isn't a fresh install. What that means is it reloads all of the core stuff without taking away your programs and such.

If that doesn't work then it's a full on fresh install with Win 7. That's what sucks with buying premade PC's that come loaded with the OS. You're locked into that copy of the OS and can't reinstall Windows if something happens.

But back to your problem. There's also a way to do it in windows in the sense that you tell it to start in boot mode on next restart (thereby bypassing the issue).

Go into Win 7 (if you can for a bit) and get into 'system configuration). Type it in the start menu search bar and it should come up. Then click on Boot, and Safe Boot. (perhaps some of the other options too, but what I describe should get you in there). If you're fast you can do that in like 10-20 seconds. (though it depends on how slow your startup process is)

I've had it where windows repair repairs stuff, and times where it doesn't.

You could try restore points, if you have them when at windows repair.

The best way if none of the above works is to have the Win 7 disk. Any of the stuff you get from Dell or any other provider can be duplicated with free software. Like Memtest86 (you put it on a usb or burn it to a cd/dvd).

It could be your hardware. Hell I just had to build a new PC a few days ago because my motherboard went out while I was patching leaks on the roof and they don't sell LGA 1366 motherboards anymore. Which meant new processor, and since I didn't know what caused it since it shut my TV and even affected the microwave in the kitchen, a new power supply. (and heat sink, and might as well did case lol). It sucks. My i7 920 was good for a few more years and the i7 3820 is maybe 30-40 percent faster, but not even that much for games.

Windows issues can also be hardware issues, as my windows wasn't coming up. It was saying my hard drives were screwed (nope, still using them), and was hanging during repair and windows 7 disk loading. So at first I didn't know if was just my windows, my hard drive, my win 7 disc, my bluray writer, or multiple. I would say most likely it is a windows issue, but just be aware if you have a hardware problem it can manifest itself through windows problems.

Also if you have a friend that has Windows 7, you could try borrowing their disk and using YOUR key that should be found out. You might need to have to find someone with a disk that is old as yours. Or perhaps even someone with a DELL.

Or you might have to buy a new copy of Win 7. Which is hard to do since Windows 8 is out and it's very hard to find Windows 7 in a store, and MS wants to force everyone into their Win 8 debacle.

 

[Russ Smith]

Well sometimes it's all about WHEN you hit the buttons. If you hit it too early or too late it won't work. The way to do it is to hit it every second or so, but not holding it down since that can make it not work (or at least it has for me over the years). So I just keep hitting it every second, maybe half second.

Usually it's best to have a Win 7 disk and to a repair install that is a new install that isn't a fresh install. What that means is it reloads all of the core stuff without taking away your programs and such.

If that doesn't work then it's a full on fresh install with Win 7. That's what sucks with buying premade PC's that come loaded with the OS. You're locked into that copy of the OS and can't reinstall Windows if something happens.

But back to your problem. There's also a way to do it in windows in the sense that you tell it to start in boot mode on next restart (thereby bypassing the issue).

Go into Win 7 (if you can for a bit) and get into 'system configuration). Type it in the start menu search bar and it should come up. Then click on Boot, and Safe Boot. (perhaps some of the other options too, but what I describe should get you in there). If you're fast you can do that in like 10-20 seconds. (though it depends on how slow your startup process is)

I've had it where windows repair repairs stuff, and times where it doesn't.

You could try restore points, if you have them when at windows repair.

The best way if none of the above works is to have the Win 7 disk. Any of the stuff you get from Dell or any other provider can be duplicated with free software. Like Memtest86 (you put it on a usb or burn it to a cd/dvd).

It could be your hardware. Hell I just had to build a new PC a few days ago because my motherboard went out while I was patching leaks on the roof and they don't sell LGA 1366 motherboards anymore. Which meant new processor, and since I didn't know what caused it since it shut my TV and even affected the microwave in the kitchen, a new power supply. (and heat sink, and might as well did case lol). It sucks. My i7 920 was good for a few more years and the i7 3820 is maybe 30-40 percent faster, but not even that much for games.

Windows issues can also be hardware issues, as my windows wasn't coming up. It was saying my hard drives were screwed (nope, still using them), and was hanging during repair and windows 7 disk loading. So at first I didn't know if was just my windows, my hard drive, my win 7 disc, my bluray writer, or multiple. I would say most likely it is a windows issue, but just be aware if you have a hardware problem it can manifest itself through windows problems.

Also if you have a friend that has Windows 7, you could try borrowing their disk and using YOUR key that should be found out. You might need to have to find someone with a disk that is old as yours. Or perhaps even someone with a DELL.

Or you might have to buy a new copy of Win 7. Which is hard to do since Windows 8 is out and it's very hard to find Windows 7 in a store, and MS wants to force everyone into their Win 8 debacle.

I did much of that including memtest but in the end the only thing that worked was the restore rolling it back. I'm sure the update installed again but it seems to have NOT harmed the system this time around.

So it worked, I just didn't like that I had to roll it back.

I like win 7 but it sure is picky. Dell had me installing drivers on another one yesterday. the 6th driver was the freefall sensor, installed, rebooted bluescreen. Restarted bluescreen. Went into repair failed, went back into repair failed again and wanted me to restore. Then it showed no restore points. I had literally just installed windows again on it Friday and was pretty ticked. So I let it run repair again, it failed, restarted, and for who knows why booted into Windows.

Then I uninstalled the driver, reinstalled it ,booted it, and no problem since. No idea why.

That machine has a weird issue too the F12 doesn't work. If you try to get the onetime boot menu you hit F12, the system clearly sees you hit it, tries to do something but you end up with a black screen that never loads anything. dell insists it has to be BIOS but we updated that and still happens. So if we ever get this machine to stop blue screening, then we have to get Dell to figure out the F12 issue.

They did concede yesterday they sent out more memory and said if it still bluescreens, we'll replace the laptop.