Slow startup on windows 7 - repair on boot up seems to fix things, but next time I try to boot up, the windows logo comes up, and then nothing - an occasional flicker of the hard drive light, but no boot for at least 5 minutes - haven't waited longer than 5 minutes.

hi Andrew.
"Upon the 'Preparing automatic repair' window, press-and-hold Power button 3 times to forcefully shut down the machine. The system will enter boot repair page after 2-3 times of reboot, choose Troubleshoot, then go on to Refresh PC or Reset PC."

Get Rid of Infinite Preparing Automatic Repair Loop - EaseUS

https://www.easeus.com/resource/fix-preparing-automatic-repair-loop.html
How do I bypass startup repair?Fix #1: Boot into Safe ModeInsert the disc and reboot the system.Press any key to boot from the DVD.Choose your keyboard layout.Click Repair your computer at the Install now screen.Click Troubleshoot.Click Advanced options.Click Startup Settings.Click Restart.More items...Startup Repair Infinite Loop: Fix for Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1https://neosmart.net/wiki/startup-repair-infinite-loop/Search for: How do I bypass startup repair?
How do I boot my laptop up in Safe Mode?Open Windows in safe mode using Command Prompt.Turn on your computer and repeatedly press the esc key until the Startup Menu opens.Begin a System Recovery by pressing F11. ...The Choose an option screen displays. ...Click Advanced options. ...Select Command Prompt to open the Command Prompt window.More items...HP PCs - Windows Safe Mode (Windows 10, 8) ' HP® Customer Supporthttps://support.hp.com/bg-en/document/c03439317Search for: How do I boot my laptop up in Safe Mode?

or go to this link if you need more help.
laptop preparing automatic repair Google Search

The loop on your Toshiba Satellite laptop refers to the computer not booting properly.

During the loop, the computer will try to boot the Windows operating system and keep restarting over and over again.

This is not a hardware issue with your Toshiba Satellite A106.

The issue resides in the startup files on your computer's hard drive.

You can fix this by running a repair tool that comes with your Windows operating system.

This repair tool will fix your startup disk and allow you to get your computer back up and running.

Insert your Windows 7 installation disc into your computer's optical drive.

Start your computer and wait for it to boot from the install disc.

Choose your language from the menu and then click the "Next" button.

Click "Repair your computer" from the menu.

Choose the operating system you are using and then click the "Next" button.

Click on the "Disable Automatic Restart On System Failure" button to disable the startup loop.

Click the "Startup Repair" tool from the menu and wait for the computer to fix your startup disk.

Wait for the computer to finish repairing your startup disk and then allow it to restart automatically.

Wait for the computer to boot correctly to your login screen.

Hope this helps

How to Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html

"This will show you how to create a Windows 7 system repair disc to use to boot to the system recovery options if you don't have a Windows installation disc, can't find your

Windows installation disc, or can't access the recovery options provided by your computer manufacturer."

or
If you do not have access to either disc: Windows 7 - Repair Disc download
http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/

I suggest that you perform a Startup Repair.
Method 1: Startup Repair
1. Please insert the Windows Vista/7 DVD and reboot the computer.
2. When we are prompted to press a key to boot from the DVD, please press Enter or the space bar.
3. Choose your language settings, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. On the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair. Startup Repair might prompt you to make choices as it tries to fix the problem, and if necessary, it might restart your computer as it makes repairs.

Access the link below for more information about startup repair:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/5c59f8c1-b0d1-4f1a-af55-74f3922f3f351033.mspx

You can also try "Rebuild BCD".

Method 2: Rebuild BCD
1. Put the Windows Vista/7 installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD ...". appears.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. (Click the operating system that you want to repair), and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type bcdboot c:\windows /l en-us, and then press ENTER.
Note: C:\ should be changed to the default partition you installed Windows Vista/7.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

The boot manager is on the hard drive. It sits at the start of Windows. Since you have a netbook, you are not able to just put in a CD to repair it. An external CD (connected by USB) would work. If you have Windows 7 on a flash drive, you could boot from that.
This is the one major drawback of having a netbook, I think.

Hi,

If the problem lies on Windows this can be repaired. First, If you are using Windows 7 or Vista, we can try to launch startup repair from the advance boot options menu. You can access this through tapping F8 right after you turn the computer on. Tap F8 until you get to the advance boot options menu. Choose "Repair your Computer" and this should guide you on how to do the startup repair.

If you are using Windows XP, we need to try to boot to safe mode and see if you can boot the Operating System from there. To do this, it's the same drill, tap F8 repeatedly on your keyboard once you turn the computer on until you get to advance boot options menu. Choose safe mode and press enter. This should load the operating system to safe mode. If you are able to boot from here then that means one of your "drivers" has failed the OS to boot normally. If all of these fails, We can try to repair the Operating System by booting using your Restore CD or your Operating System CD from the CD-ROM drive. Reboot the computer and press F12 (or whatever it is that makes you choose to boot to CD) while seeing the pc manufacturer's logo, this should give you the options to boot to CD-ROM. It will give you a quick prompt of "press any key to boot to cd..". Make sure you press the space bar during this time to initiate the boot from CD-ROM.
For Windows XP, Once the Windows Setup loads, Choose "Recovery Console" to repair your computer. Just choose the installation you would like to repair (normally it's number 1) then it will ask you for the administrator password. By default, the password is blank, but if you set a password for admin then use that password.
Once you get to the prompt, Type this command. "CHKDSK /R" (without the quotes). It will initiate the repair for your OS. This might take an hour or so. Just wait for it to finish and it will automatically reboot your computer. Let the computer computer reboot normally. You should be able to get to your normal windows screen back.

For Windows 7 and Vista, do the F8 and choose Repair your Computer, Choose the installation you want to repair then choose command prompt. Type CHKDSK /R and that shoudl initiate the repair for your OS. Most of the time, the "startup repair" should do the fix for Vista and 7, but just in case it fails, do this step.

BTW, these repairs are designed to repair the OS without you losing the data you have on the pc.

Hope this helps. Good Luck.

What you can do is attempt to repair the system using System Restore or startup repair. I would suggest trying startup repair first.

Method 1: Use the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to run System Restore

======================================================

1. Insert the Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation disc into the disc drive, and then start the computer.

2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD ...". appears.

3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method, and then click Next.

4. Click Repair your computer.

5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your Windows installation and click Next

6. At the System Recovery Options Dialog Box, click on System Restore.

7. Follow the System Restore Wizard instruction as usual and choose the appropriate restore point.

8. Click Finish to restore the system.

Method 2: Startup Repair from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)

======================================================

1. Insert the Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation disc into the disc drive, and then start the computer.

2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD ...". appears.

3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method, and then click Next.

4. Click Repair your computer.

5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your Windows installation and click Next.

6. At the System Recovery Options Dialog Box, click on Repair your computer.

7. (Click the operating system that you want to repair), and then click Next.

8. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Startup Repair.

Hope this helps

Ray

Hi there,

Follow the below steps it would fix your issue.

Method 1: First you need to try safe mode and check if you are able to boot to the desktop.
Follow this below provided link to start your computer in safe mode.
Advanced startup options including safe mode
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Advanced-startup-options-including-safe-mode
Method 2:
If you are able to boot into safe mode then in order to troubleshoot this issue further, you may unplug all the external devices except keyboard and mouse and check if you are able to boot to the desktop.

Method 3: If the above provided steps don't resolve the issue then, I would recommend you perform startup repair.
Follow these steps:

To perform a Startup Repair follow the steps below:

a. Please insert the Windows 7 DVD and reboot the computer.
b. When we are prompted to press a key to boot from the DVD, please press Enter or the space bar.
c. Choose your language settings, and then click Next.
d. Click Repair your computer.
e. Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
f. On the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair. Startup Repair might prompt you to make choices as it tries to fix the problem, and if necessary, it might restart your computer as it makes repairs.

Access the link below for more information about startup repair:Startup Repair: frequently asked questions
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Startup-Repair-frequently-asked-questions

Try start up in Safe Mode press F8. Choose Safe Mode, when at the choice window, to select either Safe Mode Desktop, OR System Restore, chooses system restore and choose a time before you had the "Problem" and follow instructions. This should get you back.

Ok ...that message about the PXE is showing up because the computer cant find an operating system on the hard drive for some reason.

Try booting from your Vista DVD ,let setup start then running Start Up repair ....

3. If prompted, press any key to start Windows from the installation disc.
NoteIf your computer is not configured to start from a CD or DVD, check the information that came with your computer. You may need to change your computers BIOS boot order

4. Choose your language settings, and then click Next.
5. Click Repair your computer.
6. Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
7. On the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair. Startup Repair might prompt you to make choices as it tries to fix the problem, and if necessary, it might restart your computer as it makes repairs.