Computer won't restart

[mrfreeze]

So I'm having a rather big problem. I can't get this damn thing to restart normally. It's restarting in safe mode fine more or less, but if I try to restart normally it just sits at the black "Windows XP" screen and the keyboard locks up.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Hindmost]

So I'm having a rather big problem. I can't get this damn thing to restart normally. It's restarting in safe mode fine more or less, but if I try to restart normally it just sits at the black "Windows XP" screen and the keyboard locks up.

Any help would be appreciated.

Start with doing a scan disk in the safe mode...see if it repairs the boot sector. This can correct a lot of problems. You should also do a full virus and spyware scan.

Next would be to boot with a XP startup disk and work some more repairs, but start with the above.

glenn

ETA: does your forum name indicate your luck with computers?????

 

[Upchurch]

slightly off topic and of no help whatsoever:

My favorite advice that I've ever gotten from a professional tech support person concerning a computer that wouldn't boot was, "Have you tried downloading our newest driver update online?"

 

[jimlintott]

This computer does that same thing and a friend of mine says his does it too. It will just sit at the black Windows screen with a moving status bar and sit and sit and sit. Sometimes the status bar stops sometimes it doesn't, sometimes the disk access light stays on sometimes it doesn't. After about three minutes we will hit the power or reset button and it will boot. Sometimes it boots in seconds.

What is it doing?

This particular machine dual boots so the boot sector is controlled by Grub and works everytime. Linux boots the same everytime probably within a second each time. Windows? We run two adware programs and AVG virus. I almost never use the Windows XP on it, the kids do. I use Linux which boots the same, runs perfectly and I don't run anti virus or spyware detector.

The slow XP boot thing is annoying. What gives?

 

[stormer]

Did you happen to do anything physically to the computer before this started happening? Plugged something in? Unplugged something? Changed the cables around?

Or did you install or uninstall any software?

This is only a shot in the dark - Did you plug the keyboard into the correct PS/2 socket? Mouse and keyboard plugs are exactly the same.... Or the pins are bent in the plug. (it happens)

If it was software, then safe mode and uninstall the software might cure the problem.

 

[kevin]

slightly off topic and of no help whatsoever:

My favorite advice that I've ever gotten from a professional tech support person concerning a computer that wouldn't boot was, "Have you tried downloading our newest driver update online?"

heh, yeah. Broken computers are so much easier to work on when you have a second, working, computer handy.

 

[MortFurd]

It doesn't look like you're getting a lot of help.

A couple of things to try:
1. Did you install any new hardware or software before the problem started? This has been asked before, but I don't see an answer. If you installed hardware, remove it and unistall the driver in safe mode. I you installed software, uninstall it. Reboot and see if that helped. Let us know what happens.

2. Since you can get into safe mode, go to the start menu and open the "Run" box. Type eventvwr in the box and hit enter. The event log viewer will open. Check the System and Application logs for errors and warnings. Read the messages for any errors. If you can't make any sense of them, post them here and I'll see if I can decode it for you.

3. Boot to safe mode and run your antivirus program and spybot or adaware if you've got them. See if they clean up any crap, and then see if your PC will boot.

4. Get hold of msconfig.exe for Windows XP. Boot to safe mode and use msconfig to check what is getting started at boot up. Look for anything wonko in the startup.

5. Check to make sure that your RAM is properly installed and that the CPU fan is working. Also, take a look and see if any of the electrolytic capacitors are bulged or leaking. These things are on the motherboard of your PC. They look like little metal cans. They have a plastic label, but you can see the metal on top. The top usually has scored line in the metal, but is otherwise flat. If the tops are bulged, then you've got a problem.

6. If none of the above helps, we can try deactivating things in msconfig until the regular boot up works. We'll have to work together closely to try that.

That looks like a lot, but it really would help to figure out what is wrong.

 

[jimlintott]

It doesn't look like you're getting a lot of help.

A couple of things to try:
1. Did you install any new hardware or software before the problem started? This has been asked before, but I don't see an answer. If you installed hardware, remove it and unistall the driver in safe mode. I you installed software, uninstall it. Reboot and see if that helped. Let us know what happens.

2. Since you can get into safe mode, go to the start menu and open the "Run" box. Type eventvwr in the box and hit enter. The event log viewer will open. Check the System and Application logs for errors and warnings. Read the messages for any errors. If you can't make any sense of them, post them here and I'll see if I can decode it for you.

3. Boot to safe mode and run your antivirus program and spybot or adaware if you've got them. See if they clean up any crap, and then see if your PC will boot.

4. Get hold of msconfig.exe for Windows XP. Boot to safe mode and use msconfig to check what is getting started at boot up. Look for anything wonko in the startup.

5. Check to make sure that your RAM is properly installed and that the CPU fan is working. Also, take a look and see if any of the electrolytic capacitors are bulged or leaking. These things are on the motherboard of your PC. They look like little metal cans. They have a plastic label, but you can see the metal on top. The top usually has scored line in the metal, but is otherwise flat. If the tops are bulged, then you've got a problem.

6. If none of the above helps, we can try deactivating things in msconfig until the regular boot up works. We'll have to work together closely to try that.

That looks like a lot, but it really would help to figure out what is wrong.

Thanks for the tips. In my case I'm sure it isn't hadware as Linux runs fine. It has also done this slow boot thing since new (about 8 months ago) with a fresh install. I've googled the issue and it seems common. No one seems to know why but a couple of reasonable things are that boot partitions larger than 32g can take a long time to boot (mine is 200g). Another is that it may be sniffing the network and busy trying to make some connections. This one makes sense for me as it is on a network with some shares. That may not apply to the OP. I'll try some experiments later.

I wonder if the OP mentioning keyboard lockup applies at all or if they are mistaken. The screen that it sits at doesn't accept any keyboard input (I could be wrong about that) and it may just appear locked up while it is actually waiting for several background processes to time out. I know I've seen my machine take almost ten minutes to finally boot. Oddly a couple of my other XP machines never exhibit this problem. They have much smaller disks. Hmmmm.

 

[RayG]

Have you tried booting into safe mode and doing a system restore to a date before the problem began?

RayG

 

[MortFurd]

Thanks for the tips. In my case I'm sure it isn't hadware as Linux runs fine. It has also done this slow boot thing since new (about 8 months ago) with a fresh install. I've googled the issue and it seems common. No one seems to know why but a couple of reasonable things are that boot partitions larger than 32g can take a long time to boot (mine is 200g). Another is that it may be sniffing the network and busy trying to make some connections. This one makes sense for me as it is on a network with some shares. That may not apply to the OP. I'll try some experiments later.

Guess what? A hardware problem could still cause XP to boot slowly or not at all when Linux can boot just fine - and the opposite can happen as well.

Do you have a DHCP server in your network, and is XP setup to use it properly? If not, then it could take a long time for XP to decide on an IP address to use. This can also happen if you've got two network cards and one is disconnected or otherwise not capable of getting an IP address.

 

[jimlintott]

Guess what? A hardware problem could still cause XP to boot slowly or not at all when Linux can boot just fine - and the opposite can happen as well.

Seems bizzarre but I'll buy it. Computers can do strange things. I'm usually pretty good at spotting hardwarea problems.

Do you have a DHCP server in your network, and is XP setup to use it properly? If not, then it could take a long time for XP to decide on an IP address to use. This can also happen if you've got two network cards and one is disconnected or otherwise not capable of getting an IP address.

I do have a DHCP server and I believe XP is setup properly but it might be worth checking. Windows will sometimes change things for no apparent reason. Only a single NIC in the box. I have one box that runs XP and is basically only a file and print server. I'll shut it down and try booting. Later.

 

[Hellbound]

I'll second the hardware issue. Typically, if it's a software problem, it almost ahs to be corruption in the OS itself (or low-level utilities, such as interface modifications, some monitor software, core system drivers like drives or systemboard, or anti-virus software). Most other types of software will still booth the system (even many of the types listed before), but then produce freezes or errors.

Hardware is likely. I'd try to download a disk-bootable memeory tester (Microsoft offers one for free that you put on a boot disk, but it's hard to find on their site. Use a google search of MS's domain and you should find it). BAs RAM could cause problems (but I'd expect to see errors in Linux if this was the case). As others have suggested, scan the hard drive as well, as this is a likely culprit, as well.

On an offhand note, I have an issue with my system and a particular USB device. I use a Memorex USB key. I've reformatted they key in XP with an NTFS format. If the key is plugged in when I start the computer, it will hang as it tries to use the USB key as a boot device (I've been too lazy to change my BIOS settings).

If you have time, try starting at the basics and working up. Unplug all the hardware but the essentials: video, CPU, boot drive, keyboard, mouse. Try and boot. IF it doesn't work, you've narrowed it down to these, and can play some more (like removing one memory chip at a time, or swapping parts out if you have some known-good replacements). If it does boot, then something you've removed caused the problem, and you start adding things back one at a time (add the CD or DVD drive, reboot...add a net card, reboot, etc). It's slow, but it'll identify it if there's a hardware problem.

Try the things MortFurd suggested first, howeve,r as they are typically easier to implement. I did want to point out something about MSConfig, though: it allows you to selectively disable some startup software, and you can use this for troubleshooting, as well. Start by disabling non microsoft stuff, for example, adn see if the problem is still there. Then you can add one service/app at a time (or a small handful at a time) back in and see if the boot issue re-appears.

 

[jimlintott]

There is RAM testing utilities on a Knoppix boot disk. I'll try running it. Although this particular machine is stable as a rock once booted.

It seems to be a widespread problem which makes me question the hardware angle. Although I wouldn't discount it. My friend who notices the same problem also has a small network with some shares. I think the network angle may be the best vector of attack to start.

Thanks for the tips. Windows often leaves me baffled.

 

[BenK]

Have you tried booting into safe mode and doing a system restore to a date before the problem began?

RayG

I'd be interested to see just how it performs in Safe Mode or Safe Mode + Networking. Unnecessary services will be disabled in Safe Mode, perhaps one of them is responsible.

 

[MortFurd]

Seems bizzarre but I'll buy it. Computers can do strange things. I'm usually pretty good at spotting hardwarea problems.

A simple example:
I had a laptop once that would boot once after installing Windows. On the second boot, the system was corrupted and you'd have to reinstall windows to get it to boot again. If I installed Linux on that same laptop, it would boot and run. I could shut it down and reboot and never have any trouble - except that it was slug slow.

It turns out that the DMA section of the IDE controller was damaged. The Windows installer doesn't activate DMA, so that was fine. The first normal boot would activate DMA, and then the controller would write garbage all over the place and destroy the operating system.

The Linux IDE driver would try to activate DMA, get an answer that it didn't like, and just run without DMA. Nice and stable and SLOW, but it did run.

I've also seen a motherboard with popped capacitors boot fine with Windows, but not with Linux. Reliably, reproducibly Windows would boot, Linux wouldn't. The difference lies in how the CPU is loaded and how much (or how often) it needs to pull a lot of current. Linux loaded it just a little more than the bad caps could stand at some point, and it hung. Windows didn't stress the caps as bad during boot up, and actually got to the login screen - and rebooted just as soon as you started any real applications software.

 

[De_Bunk]

Start in Safe Mode

Go Start / Run

When it opens put chkdsk /f into the box ( complete with space between the last k and the /f

If it asks if you would like to run this command on next restart, press Y

Then restart...

Try that...It fixes errors and sectors on your disc..

DB

 

[De_Bunk]

PS...

When my PC went ass up...i couldnt find what was causing it.

Turned out to be one of the memory cards...i pulled it out and the PC ran just fine, albeit with half the RAM..

I'm assuming you know about the perils of opening the case and the effects of static electricity on memory cards...

DB

 

[monoman]

So I'm having a rather big problem. I can't get this damn thing to restart normally. It's restarting in safe mode fine more or less, but if I try to restart normally it just sits at the black "Windows XP" screen and the keyboard locks up.

Any help would be appreciated.

This has worked for me a couple of times.

When you're at the screen that asks if you want to start in safe mode, there should be an option that says something like "start with last known good configuration"

Select this.

 

[jimlintott]

Well, I switched of the file and print server box and this machine booted in seconds. I did several reboots and it was fast. Looks like it's a network thing. Must be with Windows shares as the DHCP server was left on. I'll have to observe it's behaviour for the next while to be sure. This is probably my friend's problem too.

Doesn't sound like the thread starters problem though.