system
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Let me summarize the problem, because I don’t think everyone understands what happens…and what I have done to fix it.
The system, in both Safe and Normal mode, loads part of the way, then starts thrashing the hard drive.
I loaded to a Bootlog system.
When I inspect the Bootlog file, the system loads normally in both modes until it encounters the following commands, after which it stops loading drivers, then it loads a driver, then it stops loading drivers, ad nauseum in a loop:
Loaded driver aswVmm.sys
Loaded driver aswRvrt.sys
Loaded driver ??\C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\aswFW.sys
Avast has been uninstalled and the default Windows registry files were copied from the Repair folder. I also did a manual search for all ASW files and there are none remaining on the drive.
Therefore, it’s clearly not a registry problem, as the system does the same thing when a fresh registry is installed.
ChkDsk has been run, repairs have been run from the original Windows CD, the system has been restored to four different backup points, and the same drivers still try to load.
I am baffled as to exactly where these loading instructions are coming from. A fresh registry from the initial Windows installation should not allow this to happen. What other file(s) instruct Windows as to which drivers should be loaded? And why should these drivers be loading during Safe Mode at all?