Stuck with black screen of death

[Mephesto]

A system restore I was running was interrupted and now I get a black screen with a functional cursor after I boot into windows. No logon screen. I have no idea why I'm asking here but does anyone know how to fix this shit? I've searched hours on google and this seems to be a common problem but none of the solutions worked for me. Everybody is able to get into safe mode. For me, that just brings me to a black screen with a bigger cursor. I tried all the preliminaries. This piece of shit Windows 7 only lets you do a repair install when your system is perfectly fine, because we all only wanna repair our system files when nothing is wrong, right? I'd do a manual system restore too but I just checked the System Volume Information folder and... the actual files and registry hives aren't there like on XP. AAAAAAAAGHHH!!!

I seriously regret ever upgrading to this shitty operating system which only has worse alternatives.

Anyone have a clue how to fix this?

[redwudz]

You might try a Linux live disc and see if you can boot to that. I'm assuming you can see the BIOS screen. Versions of Ubuntu are easy to use.
Just burn it to a CD and set BIOS to boot from it. Then you should be able to see your files.

Several things can cause your problem. Maybe the bootloader is corrupted. Then the BIOS can't find the boot ini and so no boot.

[El Heggunte]

Never again use the System Restore "feature".
On Windows XP, it was very useful for restoring worms and rootkits
Under Vista and Se7en, well, I don't want to learn what the System Restore is good for
(besides wasting disk space, I mean).

[hech54]

Never again use the System Restore "feature".
On Windows XP, it was very useful for restoring worms and rootkits

That's probably one of the dumbest things I've ever heard, but then again it's not the first time I've heard it.
Got a runny nose?....off yourself....don't try to get rid of it.

[Bjs]

C:\Windows\System32\config contains the registry hives ... using a recovery boot disc enter command prompt.

Using commands create backup folder then copy files named System and Software to it

Now copy these from Regback folder to Config Folder, yes to overwrite ... reboot.

This restores registry to original install which should allow you to regain windows access.

[nic2k4]

This piece of shit Windows 7 only lets you do a repair install when your system is perfectly fine...

So, what's wrong with that? Your system is obviously not perfectly fine if all you get is a black screen. A repair install will preserve your programs and data, but should be used as a last resort. You should use the system recovery options in the boot menu first. There you can run system restore again; pick a date prior to when you did it. And don't interrupt the process whether intentional or not. If it's a stormy night, not a good idea. If you live in a zone with unreliable power, get a UPS. Jman98 would tell you that it would save your hardware too.

[Mephesto]

The hives in the regback folder are TWO MONTHS OLD, that's when I upgraded to this dysfuctional, garbage OS which means the registry hives never were automatically backed up ever. I absolutely love how I can't do a manual system restore anymore because the files and registry hives are no longer in System Volume Information folder.

So, what's wrong with that? Your system is obviously not perfectly fine if all you get is a black screen.

Yeah and it only lets you use repair install from the desktop, A PLACE I CANT FÜCKING GET TO.

You should use the system recovery options in the boot menu first. There you can run system restore again; pick a date prior to when you did it.

I CANT, I tried that. The last system restore which got me into this shitheap in the first place was interrupted so it is still pending, a process that will never finish now. I get a rstrui.exe Application error if I try to do system restore from the recovery menu. sfc /scannow fails because of the pending system restore that's never gonna complete.

And don't interrupt the process whether intentional or not. If it's a stormy night, not a good idea. If you live in a zone with unreliable power, get a UPS. Jman98 would tell you that it would save your hardware too.

I did not interrupt it, a fücking BSOD did which are abundant on this unstable shit OS.

You might try a Linux live disc and see if you can boot to that. I'm assuming you can see the BIOS screen. Versions of Ubuntu are easy to use.
Just burn it to a CD and set BIOS to boot from it. Then you should be able to see your files.

I can already "see my files" from this spare partition I'm talking to you from right now installed on the same computer.

[jagabo]

it only lets you use repair install from the desktop, A PLACE I CANT FÜCKING GET TO.

Boot a Windows Install disc.

[Steve(MS)]

^ That's what I would do, stick in the install disc and do a repair.

If that doesn't work, do a clean install.
If something happens to my OS, I won't think twice about reformatting and doing a clean install.
Many times people spend many hours or days trying various steps when an install disc option solution is minutes away.

[Mephesto]

it only lets you use repair install from the desktop, A PLACE I CANT FÜCKING GET TO.

Boot a Windows Install disc.

I did... it won't let me run a repair install from boot, it tells me I can only run it from the desktop. How many times do I have to repeat this?

[nic2k4]

The hives in the regback folder are TWO MONTHS OLD, that's when I upgraded ...

Probably the old XP files!? Am I getting this right when you say you upgraded XP to 7, you did an in-place upgrade of XP to Win 7? It's a little late, but XP to 7 upgrade doesn't work. The only way to do it and not have issues later on is to upgrade to Vista before 7 and even that is not recommended. You're always better off to transfer your user with the easy transfer wizard tool and do a fresh install (you will have to re-install your programs, but it's a good way to weed out the ones you don't use).

Did you get to the system recovery options from the HDD with F8 or did you use a boot disc? I think the boot disc would use its own copy of rstrui.exe. While you were in system recovery options did you try a startup repair?

If indeed you in-place upgraded XP and did not delete the Windows.old folder you should be able to downgrade back to XP. Is that a good idea, I don't know, but at this point you look totally screwed (sorry!). The only other help I can offer is to direct you to the Win 7 experts.

[Mephesto]

I did upgrade to Vista first before upgrading to 7.

Did you get to the system recovery options from the HDD with F8 or did you use a boot disc?

I did both and both were equally useless.

The only other help I can offer is to direct you to the Win 7 experts.

Already posted there. They were as useless as tits on a bull much like the guys I paid $45 at justanswer.com whose entire expertise revolved around telling people the obvious that every idiot knows to do BEFORE going out of their way to beg for help online: click on startup repair, try safe mode, try system restore. Didn't work? It's out of my league now. What you expected us to be more useful than free tech support forums just because we exploit people too dumb to know to go to free tech support forums and get the same common advice for free? Silly Mephesto, you didn't even know your own name should be spelled with an I on the second vowel. At least the ******s refunded me.

Microsoft is charging a $100 consultation fee if they fix the problem and IF I have a credit card which I'll sooner suck a duck's dick than get.

[Steve(MS)]

Unless you have something really valuable on your OS, I wouldn't fool with all that.
Get a full W7 Pro installation disc...{ or W8...with which you'll need one of those start menu programs like classic shell, then you will be in business again.

I would imagine going through all those upgrades then having that bad luck...just wasn't your day.

Perhaps one of those computer specialists will see this thread and maybe offer better advice.

On another note, was there any chance this was caused by malware? If so you could try a rescue boot disc and clean it.

[betwixt]

Before any attempt to go further - do as you have already been advised, get hold of a bootable Linux (Ubuntu is easiest) CD or USB stick.
1. Boot off the CD/USB, nothing in your Windows installation will be touched and nothing will be installed on your hard disk.
2. Use the Linux to copy all you valuable data to somewhere else, preferably a USB memory or CD. The process is exactly the same as in Windows (but easier!)

The Linux is free and even if you don't want it as your main OS, it will serve you well as a 'back door' into a crashed Windows system and allow you to recover all your data. Linux can read all FAT and Windows filing systems so it should be able to see everything, even the files Windows hides from you.

When you have done that and have a secure backup of your data, start to work on recovering the Windows installation. You could use Linux to copy Windows registry backup to it's original position to get it working, then copy the data you saved back to where it came from to bring your files back up to date again.

As a longer term solution - keep frequent backups of your whole computer using a non-Windows utility. Personally I use Acronis products and in the event of a complete system failure, even a replacement hard disk, I can completely restore a system within a few minutes. It is well worth the cost and saves you sleepless nights!

Brian.

[racer-x]

Agree with betwixt 100%, only I use SnapShot instead of Acronis and Linux Mint instead of Ubunto. Who knows, you may actually like Linux.....

[nic2k4]

Did you get to the system recovery options from the HDD with F8 or did you use a boot disc?

I did both and both were equally useless.

The same rstrui.exe error? That and "all the blue screens" you complained about my guess would be a bad video driver, but if you get a black screen in safe mode too, then it would have to be higher up the chain like a chipset driver. BTW, what's your motherboard. You could boot to the F8 screen and select enable boot logging, let it get to the black screen and reboot into a Linux as Redwudz and others suggested and look for the bootlog file in the root of C: Anything that failed to load and the last thing that did are of interest. And while you're there take the time to backup your data 'cause this looks like you're not likely to recover from.

I can tell you that Win 7 installed from scratch runs solid, Win 8.1 even better if you can hold down your lunch. Most problems I've ever had installing 7 was due to video drivers from vendors that don't use ATI's or Nvidia's base driver.

[Mephesto]

Did you get to the system recovery options from the HDD with F8 or did you use a boot disc?

I did both and both were equally useless.

The same rstrui.exe error?

Yes.

That and "all the blue screens" you complained about my guess would be a bad video driver,

I don't care about all the blue screen, they didn't fück my system up, system restore did. The BSOD I got was about the most petty, miniscule one I could possibly get. It's the fact that I got at that specific sensitive moment.

I'll post the boot log in a bit. EDIT: scroll down for bootlog.

betwixt, I already have an image backup of my broken system drive, as useless as backing up a broken OS is and I'm talking to you from a spare partition with Win7 installed on it where I can access the files on my broken drive as we speak.
I agree with your long term solution. My latest image backup is 2 months old, I made it just before doing the upgrade to 7 because I never expected any stable experience with it. But now after all these hours I spent customizing it to make it at least as visually convenient as XP and after the massive cleanup of all my scattered shit, I'm reluctant to use that 2-month old image. I'm using an SSD now and XP doesn't support TRIM for fücks sake, I can't go back to XP no matter how much of a piece of shit 7 is.

FYI, I was just about to make an image backup exactly that day on January 3 but I noticed a recent windows update was causing some of my apps to malfunction so I wanted to do a quick system restore to undo these bad changes so I would have a proper, functional image backed up. And right there during that system restore I get into this mess.....

 Service Pack 1 1  9 2015 11:13:24.610
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\ntkrnlpa.exe
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\halmacpi.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\kdcom.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\mcupdate_GenuineIntel.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\PSHED.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\BOOTVID.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\CLFS.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\CI.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\Wdf01000.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\WDFLDR.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ACPI.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\WMILIB.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\msisadrv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\vdrvroot.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\partmgr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\volmgr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\volmgrx.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\pciide.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\PCIIDEX.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\mountmgr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\atapi.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\ataport.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\msahci.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\SscRdBus.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\amdxata.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\OCDE.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\SCSIPORT.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\SscRdCls.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\fltmgr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\fileinfo.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\IoloFltr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\PxHelp20.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\truecrypt.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\msrpc.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\ksecdd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\cng.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\pcw.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\eufs.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Fs_Rec.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\NETIO.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\ksecpkg.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\fwpkclnt.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\vmstorfl.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\volsnap.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\spldr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\rdyboost.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\mup.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\hwpolicy.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\fvevol.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\EUBKMON.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\eubakup.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\disk.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\CLASSPNP.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\cmderd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\crlscsi.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\cmdguard.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Null.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Beep.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\vga.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\RDPCDD.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\rdpencdd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\rdprefmp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Msfs.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Npfs.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\tdx.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\cmdhlp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\afd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\netbt.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\wfplwf.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\pacer.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\vpcnfltr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\inspect.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\netbios.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\serial.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\wanarp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\vpcvmm.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\VBoxUSBMon.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\VBoxDrv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\termdd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ssmdrv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\SCDEmu.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rdbss.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\nsiproxy.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mssmbios.sys
Loaded driver \??\C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\HWiNFO32.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\hmd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\FileDisk.SYS
Loaded driver \??\C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\eudskacs.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\ElbyCDIO.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\discache.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\csc.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\dfsc.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\blbdrive.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\avkmgr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\avipbb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\AsUpIO.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\AsIO.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\tunnel.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\intelppm.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\dxgkrnl.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\HECI.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\usbehci.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\HDAudBus.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nusb3xhc.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\Rt86win7.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ASACPI.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\serenum.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\CompositeBus.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\AgileVpn.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rasl2tp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ndistapi.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ndiswan.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\raspppoe.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\raspptp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rassstp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rdpbus.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\kbdclass.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mouclass.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\VClone.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\swenum.sys
Loaded driver \??\C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\eudisk.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\umbus.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\nvvad32v.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\vpcusb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\vpchbus.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\vga.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\usbhub.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\exfat.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\RTKVHDA.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nusb3hub.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\usbccgp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\hidusb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mouhid.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\VBoxMouse.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\monitor.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\kbdhid.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\LHidKE.Sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\LMouKE.Sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\USBSTOR.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\luafv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\avgntflt.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\WudfPf.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\lltdio.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rspndr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\fastfat.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\HTTP.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\bowser.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\mpsdrv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb10.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb20.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\parport.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\aspi32.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\LBeepKE.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\npf.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\peauth.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\secdrv.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srvnet.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\tcpipreg.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srv2.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srv.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srv.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\avgntflt.sys

[nic2k4]

Everything looks normal, all the important drivers loaded. Was a long shot, would have been too nice. Have you tried the safe mode command prompt only option, then run rstrui from there?

The only other thing I can think of is to disable all the I/O's in the BIOS, remove all add-on cards and replace the video card (use the onboard video if your board has it) that should force Windows to load a new set of drivers.

[Mephesto]

No shit everything looks normal, worthless Startup Repair perfectly agrees.

No safe mode works.

disable all the I/O's in the BIOS

What?

remove all add-on cards and replace the video card (use the onboard video if your board has it) that should force Windows to load a new set of drivers.

Umm ok but I'm talking to you from a different partition on the same computer with the same video card so I doubt this is it.
EDIT: Monitor didn't turn on at all when plugging into onboard video port.

If the failed system restore messed up video drivers can these not be replaced like anything else?
Tell me something useful here, people.

[newpball]

A system restore I was running was interrupted and now I get a black screen with a functional cursor after I boot into windows. No logon screen. I have no idea why I'm asking here but does anyone know how to fix this shit? I've searched hours on google and this seems to be a common problem but none of the solutions worked for me. Everybody is able to get into safe mode. For me, that just brings me to a black screen with a bigger cursor. I tried all the preliminaries. This piece of shit Windows 7 only lets you do a repair install when your system is perfectly fine, because we all only wanna repair our system files when nothing is wrong, right? I'd do a manual system restore too but I just checked the System Volume Information folder and... the actual files and registry hives aren't there like on XP. AAAAAAAAGHHH!!!

I seriously regret ever upgrading to this shitty operating system which only has worse alternatives.

Anyone have a clue how to fix this?

I'd say the simplest thing is to simply reinstall windows.

I take it you have partitioned your OS and personal data on different disks or drives so it should be pretty smooth.

In case you did not, then just mount the drive to another computer and copy the data you need.

[Mephesto]

It's not the simplest thing to start from scratch and reinstalling apps, many which I lost the registration keys for is never smooth.

[newpball]

....many which I lost the registration keys for is never smooth.

Oops!

Needless to say I would advice going forward for you to save the registrations keys in a safe place.

[Mephesto]

Doesn't matter, my key that I do have saved for one program I've been gifted with ages ago doesn't work on a different installation or VM.

[newpball]

Doesn't matter, my key that I do have saved for one program I've been gifted with ages ago doesn't work on a different installation or VM.

I feel your pain, live is a drag sometimes.

[nic2k4]

remove all add-on cards and replace the video card (use the onboard video if your board has it) that should force Windows to load a new set of drivers.

Umm ok but I'm talking to you from a different partition on the same computer with the same video card so I doubt this is it.
EDIT: Monitor didn't turn on at all when plugging into onboard video port.

If the failed system restore messed up video drivers can these not be replaced like anything else?
Tell me something useful here, people.

Check your boards manual, you may have to enable the onboard video in the BIOS (assign some amount of memory to it...) or it may be disabled automatically when you install an add-on card. Apparently you can do everything you do in a GUI from the CLI if you know the commands, but since you can't get a command prompt... Unfortunately the recovery console can only use a subset of all the commands.

Sure you can replace the drivers like anything else, but you'd also have to check the registry entries; fun. If you want to go that route Hirren's boot CD has an offline registry editor and a file browser, check method two.

If Windows is still functional enough to do a PnP driver install replacing the video card should make it reload the drivers and hopefully get you a desktop again. If after removing all the add-on cards and I/O's it still doesn't work you're left with the recovery environment (the command prompt in system recovery options) and disabling services/drivers one by one.

This is what MS has to say about your problem. Here's a nicer explanation.

[nic2k4]

It's not the simplest thing to start from scratch and reinstalling apps, many which I lost the registration keys for is never smooth.

Have you tried a key finder?

This is a perfect example of when to use a KVM or why not to upgrade for the sake of it. If you needed Win 7 for TRIM support you should know that a Seagate hybrid drive doesn't need it and would be fine with XP. It's not as fast, but it's still noticeably faster than a standard platter drive.

[Mephesto]

That article does not describe my problem in the slightest.

"After you install a device or update a driver for a device, Windows Vista or Windows 7 may not start"

I did not install anything, I did not update a driver and my problem is far more specific than a general "Windows cannot start", it starts with a black screen with the mouse cursor perfectly functional and this was caused by an interrupted system restore.

[davexnet]

Check out this video.
The guys uses a recovery tool to check some important registry keys...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyAOTdfKD0

[Mephesto]

Check out this video.
The guys uses a recovery tool to check some important registry keys...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyAOTdfKD0

Already watched that video and already checked the registry keys. explorer.exe certainly is inside the ShellEx reg folder or whatever it was.

[nic2k4]

That article does not describe my problem in the slightest.

"After you install a device or update a driver for a device, Windows Vista or Windows 7 may not start"

I did not install anything, I did not update a driver and my problem is far more specific than a general "Windows cannot start", it starts with a black screen with the mouse cursor perfectly functional and this was caused by an interrupted system restore.

Read the first and second points in the resolution section, sounds a lot like what's happening to your PC. Anyway, thought about it even if you could disable a bunch of services and drivers it still wouldn't work anymore than safe mode didn't work.

I re-read your first post and realized I misunderstood what you were saying about the restore point files in the SVI folder. I read it as if you were saying there was no restore points, doh! Actually with Win 7 there are 2 places where you will find the registry hives, in C:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack (those are the files that are used when you select last good config) and the usual _restore folder in SVI. Here's a nice guide on doing a manual restore with recent versions of Windows.