Startup Repair -- how long is too long?

Anonymous
2010-03-17T13:27:39+00:00

I'm trying Startup Repair on a Windows Vista laptop that won't start up after having reportedly been shut down normally, after what sounded like a Trojan attack.  (Not sure what happened to it exactly, but my friend wasn't running antivirus software!)

Startup Repair says "Repairing disk errors. This might take over an hour to complete," but it's been running for about 9 hours now, and trying to Cancel it yields the message "The current repair operation cannot be cancelled" -- is it still actually doing anything? Would it be worth it to let Startup Repair run any longer?

Thanks

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2011-02-04T04:23:51+00:00

Sorry for not getting back to this thread at the time. In the case of the laptop I was having trouble with, the hard drive had to be replaced. I don't know whether the HD was the cause of the original problem, or shutting down the Startup Repair process damaged the HD.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-05-25T19:57:01+00:00

    Sorry to hear of your trouble. 

    In response-- 9 hours is not too long.  On my 11th attempt to have the resident startup repair (F8) complete, I had to let the computer run, uninterrupted for 3.5 DAYS. 

    A boot  from the recovery DVD worked, restoring the system (use F2 and modify setup to boot from CD/DVD first, then the internal  HDD ) . Then the F8, repair computer.  Days later, F8 again and safemode with networking.

    I have subsequently had no additional problems, but have decided to add norton utilities to my already functioning NIS2011.

    No virus was implicated-- just conflicts with software and drivers. the resident Windows utilities (used faithfully) and keeping drivers updated was insufficient to resolve all conflicts.

    patience paid off-- no $400 fee to have someone else restore the system.

    Good luck.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-02-24T01:54:39+00:00

    don't shut it down,it may affect the hard drive or hurt it. I was just about to ask for help to when my laptop just finished start up repairing, it took at least 12 hours and it finished. So as long as the progress bar is moving let it be or consequences may arise

    Wow! Good thing I read this, my computer has been on start up repair for about 4 hours now.. that's why I decided to research repair times.  I guess I'll wait it out so I don't damage the HD. Thanx for the info.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-03-04T20:09:16+00:00

    I just started doing this yesterday.  "Attempting repairs..." bar has been going now for about 13 hours.  Ridiculous.  When do I pull the plug?

    Vista home premium on an HP Pavilion dv6000.  (The HP is probably the first mistake.  These machines have really gone downhill.)

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-07-21T23:42:24+00:00

    I just ran startup repair in Windows 7 and it finished in 5 1/2 hours. My hard drive light mostly just flickered lightly. I was sure nothing was happening but I was very wrong. Success, computer runs better than I can ever remember, superb. I have had this PC for 5+years and it seems to run better than the day I bought it.  Knowing what I know now, I would let Startup Repair run for a very long time. I am discovering little things like the search index are now performing crisply. My original problem was getting my external drive to do a windows 7 system image backup. Now it works and the backup is not only successful but much faster. Previously it backed up for two hours and then issued a (0x8078015B)  error accessing the remote shared folder. I give Windows 7 Service Pack 1 a very high grade. Good Luck.

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