Windows 7 and classpnp.sys safe mode loop.

Question

Hello,
First of all this is an outline to the system I am running.
Acer Aspire X1800
Brought as a Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit, has now been upgraded to the equivalent in Windows 7.
Intel® Core™2 Quad processor
NVIDIA® GeForce® 7100 and nForce® 630i
4 GB of DDR2 667/800 MHz SDRAM (single-channel support on two DIMMs)
Serial ATA hard disk 1 TB
AMI PnP BIOS compatible with SMBIOS 2.4
PCI Express® 2.0 x16 slot
PCI Express® 2.0 x1 slot
Integrated NVIDIA® GeForce® 7100 graphics solution
PCI Express® 2.0 x16 graphics card support (low-profile)
I have been running Windows 7 now for some time a month or two and have no problems until now. I wanted to put my computer into safe mode so I can install the second disc of Fallout 3 Game of the year Edition. Frist of all I restarted the computer and used the F8 trick which did not work. The computer just booted into regular old Windows 7. So then I went through the msconfig way of things.
Now it is important to note that I had this problem when installing Fallout 3 on the same machine but running Vista. However the computer managed to "fix" it self back then.
The computer loads through all the drivers until it gets to C:\windows\system32\drivers\classpnp.sys
It stops loading here and tries to go into safe mode. The computer then comes up with a message saying entering Windows safe mode (or words to that effect) and lists some of the system details. The screen then changes to a blank screen with a mouse cursor in the middle of it. The computer then shuts down and begins to restart itself. It has gone into a infinite loop of restarts.
Ideas I have tried.
Pressing F8 brings up the boot menu, i have tried all options available in that. Nothing worked.
Interrupting the start up with a fake power cut. This resulted in the computer showing two options. Start Windows normally and start Windows recovery. Neither worked.
I have tried renaming the problem file C:\windows\system32\drivers\classpnp.sys to C:\windows\system32\drivers\classpnp.old
This resulted in the computer loading until the next value C:\windows\system32\drivers\disk.sys The computer then did all the usual loading. However before restarting the it showed the dreaded blue screen of death. It was over before i could see the error message that it contained.
I have tried resetting to a prior system date. this does not work either.
Other than that I have not been able to get into windows or anything else. The reason I am able to post this is a have access to another computer for the mean time.
Any ideas on this would very appreciated
Cheers
*EDIT*
Because the computer is Acer it should have a working E Recovery on it. However i can't remember if i deleted this or not. Will try using the hidden partition in the near future. This will most likely send me back to Vista but its a risk I am willing to take at this stage.

Answer 1

Hello Limbix
Thank you for your initial problem and the follow-up discussion on such a conundrum of a problem. As evidenced by the number of hits under Google for "Windows 7 boot sequence classpnp.sys" and 0 fixes, this problem is systematic of this OS. As
such, this is a ticking time bomb waiting for the most inopportune time to strike.
Furthmore, this problem has been known since RC1 of Windows 7. The problem still persists and there is no known remediation method.
KB 925810 is a unique solution when the OS is healthy. When this phenomena occurs, KB 925810 is a hoax for Laptop users and systems purchased from a vendor without a hardcopy of the OS media. For Home builts with a purchased hardcopy of the OS, KB 925810
is the option. But the option is to reinstall as opposed to a repair.
Using Ubuntu, to effect change by replacing CLASSPNP.SYS with a 6.1.7600.16385 version has produced mixed results. In addition, the method of downloading any file is fraught with problems of possible infection or worse yet a trojan. This essentially
leaves Option 2 and 4 as the SOP for this OS failure mode on laptops.
Problem:
New Toshiba A500 i7 with 8 Gig - Windows 7 Professional (Business)
A series of three critical patches were deployed to this machine at 9:30 pm on 5/26/2010 from Windows Update.  At 6:30 am 5/27/2010, the machine was discovered to have restarted and was stuck at the Starting Windows logo. Here were
the initial steps taken to remediate the problem.
Step 1. CTRL-ALT-DEL was used multiple times to restart the machine.
Results: The machine did not restart.
Step 2. Power recycled the machine.  Windows 7 offered to Launch Windows Repair on the OS. The repair was selected and completed with a request to restart.
Results: The machine stops at the Starting Windows logo. Still stuck.
Step 3. Restarted the machine through a power recycle. Pressed F8, selected last known good and restarted.
Results:  The machine stops at the Starting Windows logo. Still stuck.
Step 4. Restarted the machine through a power recycle. Pressed F8, selected Advanced options.
Results: No options were available.
Step 5. Restarted the machine through a power recycle. Pressed F8, selected Boot loggin and restarted.
Results: The machine stops at the Starting Windows logo. Still stuck.
Step 6. Restarted the machine through a power recycle. Pressed F8, selected Safe Mode with Networking.
Results: The machine's last entry for the loading list was on
CLASSPNP.SYS and hung up.
Step 7. Began researching for the Windows 7 boot loading list for the before and after sequences to see if CLASSPNP.SYS was the culprit.
Results: Found this discussion and many more. Spent too much time researching for a solution. Most ended in silence.
Step 8. Considered taking the STATA drive and putting into an external enclosure.
Results: Did not take this step as the machine is under warranty. It was purchased in April, 2010.
Step 9. Going back over the Google research, discussion
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winservergen/thread/64a52415-f9aa-448e-b79c-f4d9d27836c3 has Moderator Tim Quan MSFT stating that
"To obtain the phone numbers for specific technology request, please refer to the website listed below:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;PHONENUMBERS"
This support site will take a user to a list of vendors. The Toshiba link was selected. The link is the Toshiba home page. The Support link was
selected and a direct call was made to Toshiba at 7:30 am on 5/27/2010. A Toshiba case was opened. All 9 steps were presented to the support person and as directed the machine was put into a Factory reset mode.
Results: The machine has completed rebuilding as of 11:11 am 5/27/2010. Windows update patching is continuing the assult to be "secure".
Comments: One thing is certain, to be secure in one sense is have a machine in an inoperable state. However business cannot operate in an inoperable state. Neither
can a business operate in an insecure state. So, to receive an OS patch which causes the machine to be inoperable, has the quest to be secure been reduced to inoperability?
Suggestion: This problem needs more eyes and a better tracking method.
1. Is this a vendor issue, e.g. Motherboard, Memory, Hardware?
     1a. Is this lot specific?
     2a. Is there a driver mismatch?
2. Is this a process/sequence issue?
3. Is there a recovery process other than "Scorched earth"?
Sincerely,
John
risc of KY