vista start up problems

Aitch7

Hi,


I have a Dell computer with vista business, intel core 2 CPU, 66oo@240ghz, 2046mb, 32-bit operating system. I have had it for 3 months and it has been working just fine until the last few days.

It now freezes 9 times out of 10 on start up almost immediately as the bar goes across the 'microsoft corporation' - I then have to do a forced shutdown by switching it off using the power button and start it in safe mode which it does - then try to shut down and start again.

I have not recently downloaded any new software and have run an avast virus check along with spybot search and destroy and ad-aware checks.

The only thing that I have done is leave a USB drive in the USB port over night by accident which means that I shut my computer down with it still in and then started it up also.

Is there a connection? I have googled this issue and there is some information but it is just too technical for me to understand.

the other problem that I have is that when my computer is left for periods of time it seems to go into a deep sleep - sometimes I can 'wake' it by pressing the keyboard button with the sun on it and sometimes it is just dead and I have to do a forced shutdown again.

I think this might also have contributed to the problems I am now having.

Can anyone explain in simple language what might be going on? I would be very grateful.

kind regards
aitch7

HoofeHearted

Modern BIOS systems can boot from USB devices.

Maybe your BIOS sees the USB device and interrogates it to see if there are bootable files on it.

HTH

MercilessKiller

The input I can give is limited.

1) The USB thing is not a problem. A USB device is an external device and would not interfere with the startup/shutdown process on your pc

2) The deep sleep thing is to do with power managament on your computer and would have no effect on your computer startup process.

so it freezes while showing the "Microsoft Corporation" bit? Could be a corrupt hard drive but I'd need someone else to confirm that it sounds something like that.

Aitch7

HoofeHearted wrote: »

Modern BIOS systems can boot from USB devices.

Maybe your BIOS sees the USB device and interrogates it to see if there are bootable files on it.

HTH

Sorry but I did ask for answers with 'simple terms' - I have no idea what a BIOS is or why it might have interrogated the USB device to see if there were bootable drives on it?

Could you translate what that means?

cheers
aitch7

HoofeHearted

No problemo!

"BIOS: Stands for Basic Input/Output System. The BIOS runs at the startup sequence where it configures devices and then boots the operating system. The function of the BIOS is so vital that the information on the BIOS is stored on a ROM chip separate from the hard drive to protect it from potential crashes."

This is the first program to run when you switch on a PC. It is stored in Read Only Memory (ROM) on the MotherBoard. It checks basic functionality of the motherboard and attached devices (Hard Dive , Memory, CD drive etc).

From within the BIOS setup (press F2 or other key sequence as it is booting up), you can select the boot order. With this you can make the pc try to boot from other devices before booting from the hard drive.

Older PCs were able to select Floppy drive and CD drive as well as Hard drive. Newer PCs can select USB devices as well as the above ones. This enables you to boot from a suitable USB device (e.g. USB pen drive or external USB hard drive). If your USB device is one of these, as opposed to a USB printer, then remove it before powering up your PC and see if it makes any difference.

MercilessKiller

HoofeHearted wrote: »

Maybe your BIOS sees the USB device and interrogates it to see if there are bootable files on it.

nice idea but I don't think a none teccie will have a USB device with bootable files on?

To the OP:

BIOS = The operating system on your Motherboard. In other wrods, when you start up your computer and see a random logo like "American Megatrends". Thats the operaating system of your motherboard that processes all the information and then tells the computer to loads your operating system on your hard drive.

What the other poster was saying is that if you have a type of operating system on your USB device, it may be set to look there BEFORE it looks on the hard drive.

However that's not the problem here so I wouldn't worry about that.

susieb

Hi
My windows vista goes to sleep as well, and I cant wake it, I end up having to switch the power off, which I'm sure is not good for it.

MercilessKiller

Check the power management options in the control panel to turn off the sleeping bit

Crabman

I've got an almost identical spec (except for Vista Home Premium & only 1GB RAM) - my DELL PC has also stopped loading properly - it will load onto the desktop and then becomes sluggish - won't open any applications & sidebar crashes. Once in windows it won't shut down or go to sleep, so I have to force it off (holding in power button). It's pretty much useless now as I can't do any work on it (using laptop for now)

I can't help but wonder if this is something to do with the monthly updates from microsoft which downloaded the other day :think:

I'm loading into safe mode and am backing up all m'data onto an external HDD before doing a clean install. DELL are useless at providing support in this area :rolleyes:

Please keep updating the thread and I'll let you know if DELL Tech Support manages to suggest anything remotely useful :beer:

sevlow

I also have the same issue with a similar spec machine running Vista.

Start up is always a problem if I leave certain devices attached to the PC. The operating system will not load and as in your case the progress bar just freezes.

I have found by trail an error that I need to;

Disconnect my external HDD (used for back ups)
Ensure any USB memory stick is removed
Switch off my printer

The machine will then allways start to load up vista but occassionally I still have problems when the Vista log appears as sometimes this just appeas for a second and then the machine freezes with a blank screen.

As I don't usually switch off my machine very ofen I've not found it a major issue, but I guess Dell should be asked to check it out.

apk1

I have my Dell XPS dual booting with XP or Vista as most business applications won't run on Vista, I have found xp does this, and now I cannot get to start at all, when starting either it freezes on the windows startup or if it goes further the screen goes blank then freezes, I have tried restoring but makes no difference, the only thing I can do is start in safe mode..............HELP!!!!