Vista Update - System crash

HELP! Yesterday in the middle of my work day my computer just shut down.

The only thing I've recently done was windows/vista updates the night before.

Right now when I restart I get the Dell logo, then the windows loading bar running at the bottom and then nothing, just black screen. The mouse cursor sits on the black screen and I can move it and the screen saver ultimately shows up but that's it.

Initially I was able to boot into safe mode run a restore point and then nothing. I can't get back to safe mode and have tried all variations of safe booting to no avail, some of which gave me the blue crash dump screen before going black.

It is definitly not the monitor as I'm using it now connected to another computer. I contacted Dell and they think it has to do with the updates and registry issues, but want money and for me to format my hard drive.

I know, I know backup backup, but the system died last year 3 months after I bought it so it's a new hard drive and I have limited stuff on it. However I do have enough stuff that I'd like to save it before having to reformat.

Any help is so much appreciated. THANK YOU!

 

Please return to the Windows Advanced Options Menu and choose to "Disable automatic restart on failure" and allow the system to attempt to re-boot normally. You should get a look at the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), with an error message. Click on "Details" to see full error message and record the exact details and post here.

Return to the Windows Advanced Options Menu and choose "Last known good configuration that worked", and attempt to boot normally. If that does not work, try it again .... and continue trying for at least 10 times, before you rule that option out as a means of getting your OS up and running again.

It is somewhat premature to be talking about wiping the hard drive and re-installing Windows at this stage. There is a good chance that you can repair the problem ... surely the fact that your screensaver eventually appears is a very good sign (I haven't read of that before!).

FYI: If you google the terms together "black screen" mouse xp vista you will find many, many other cases of this happening.

Please post with your results of doing the above jobs.

 

Thanks for replying. And please forgive my ignorance, but how do I get to the Windows Advanced Options Menu. From the setup menu I don't see anything that mentions "Disable automatic restart on failure" and the only other place I can get is the boot menu and again I don't see the option.

Thanks for your help. Beth

 

Sorry, I am not familiar with a Dell system: Perhaps Dell has changed some of the options here.

Please detail how you get to the above point on your machine .... to attempt a Safe Mode boot .... and detail what options you see listed as available.

 

To attempt a safe boot mode, when I power on the machine, I click f12 to open the Boot Menu. I can then choose to boot the hard disk or cdrom( the only other option is to boot from cd drive). It then brings up a screen telling me windows did not shut down successfully and gives me the choices to boot in:

safe mode
safe mode with networking
safe mode with command prompt

start windows normally

I have tried all the options none of them work.

While I was duplicating this to get the exact wording for this posting I hit something that brought up the blue screen and got this message:

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

The BIOS in this system is not fully ACPI compliant. Pease contact your system vendor fjor an updated BIOS.

Technicl information:

***STOP: 0x000000A5 (0x00000011, 0x00000006, 0x00000000, 0x00000000

Thanks! Beth

 

Thank you Beth; that is exactly what I wanted to know.

 

Not absolutely sure here, DomLuc ... but you seem to be thinking that this option is not available with XP?
Well, I thought it was, so I just booted an XPsp3 machine tapping F8, and sure enough, that option is there, in the Advanced Options Menu.
Forgive me if I made an incorrect interpretation of your comment.

 

Beth,

***Please disconnect any and all external hardware devices that are connected to the computer .... especially all USB devices/hubs etc. Leave only the monitor, mouse and keyboard (both of which should be connected via the PS2 ports in preference to USB ports ... if at all possible.)

And carry on from there ... with DomLuc's instructions.

 

I have nothing connected to the computer, however my mouse and keyboard are usb.. I also tried F8 and was able to get that menu. I chose disable auto restart on system failure. The system restarted but no blue screen and nothing changed, I'm back to the black screen. I've tried it several times now. I assume each time I have to go through F8 and disable. You mentioned having to do it many times. Shall I keep trying?

 

Well, I've done it at least 10 times probably more and no luck. Any ideas on what to do next?

Beth

 

The problem you describe can have many causes, and equally as many "fixes", if not more ... but you have done well so far in eliminating the easy first steps to try. Now, it is a matter of trying to "guess" the most appropriate next step forward.

While you were working ... I was having a google & browse ... and read through the following thread, and thought it might be useful if you were to follow through it and check some of the suggestions there and see what the results were on your machine.

social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/

While waiting for further suggestions here, see what you can accomplish using the above link ... and let us know of anything useful that you find applicable to your system/situation.

 

In order to assess the options available to you, I would like to know what you have available to work with. I think I can presume you have "recently" purchased a new Dell desktop PC, which would have come with a preloaded operating system. However, there was a mishap, and you had to install a new HDD, and re-install the operating system. Please confirm or correct this.

So, how did you re-install the OS? Do you have a full Vista installation disk to work with? Do you have the Dell-supplied Vista installation disk? Do you have a Dell-supplied "recovery" disk? Please supply as much detail as you can.

You also have another computer available with which to download and burn to CD. Is this correct?

 

I read through the link and followed directions to use the install disk to do a restore which Voila worked! BUT though I have now booted up vista and I will quickly make a backup of those files I need, I am worried about what caused this, how to find the source and prevent this from happening again.

Any ideas on how I can get to the bottom of it?

Thanks for your help. You guys on here are life savers!!

Beth

 

Ah, good, you have the OS up and running again, and are doing the correct thing by transferring your personal files to another place/machine. That is good!

I suggest you do not shut down Vista ... guess you won't anyway .... until you have done a few more steps to ensure your system is repaired.

First up, create a new System Restore point, with a name you will recognise.

Second, have a look in System > Device Manager and check whether there are any devices with error symbols, indicating a problem with drivers.

 

It dawned on me not to shut the machine down! I will be backing up files probably overnight and will then create a restore point. Once I've done that I'll post again after the review of device manager.

Thanks for your help. I'll touch base again tomorrow. Beth

 

Thank you Beth. I will post a couple of other things to do, before shutting down/restarting ... so that you will see them in the morning.

 

Beth

I suggest the following before you shut down/re-start your computer (which will happen in order to run Check Disk, below), and then continue with the remaining steps:

***Check whether you have Roxio installed ... this is a notorious culprit, and if you do have Roxio, then you should update to the latest drivers for this, to ensure that this is not a problem.

***Ensure that in Device Manager there are no errors displayed (yellow exclamation/question marks) on any device. If there are any problems, then they should be fixed.
Start > right-click on My Computer > Properties > Device Manager

***Run sfc /scannow .... info in following link ... and if requested, insert the Vista CD, and allow to finish ... there will be no obvious message to say that it has finished, when it does finish.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/verify-the-integrity-of-windows-vista-system-files/

***Run Check Disk and select options to recover data and to repair ... system will have to re-boot before doing the job.
My Computer > and right-click on C: drive > Properties > Tools > Error checking > Check now > and check both boxes > Start! When complete note whether any errors were found and fixed. If there were, then run Check Disk again ... and again if necessary ... until no more errors are found and reported.
----------------------------
***Download and install (if you don't already have it) 'CCleaner - Slim No Toolbar' http://www.majorgeeks.com/CCleaner_Slim_d4191.html
Launch CCleaner and in its default settings (make NO changes) run its standard 'Run Cleaner' to rid your system of all junk files.
Now run CCleaner's 'Registry > Scan For Issues > FIX all issues' as many times as is needed until '0' issues are found *BUT* say 'ok' each time to saving a 'back-up' and save those back-ups in their own folder in a convenient and memorable location. (These back-up entries may be needed if a problem results from this action. They may be deleted after you are absolutely sure that your system is running properly, and has suffered no ill-effects.)
Restart your system (normally)

***If there is any possibility that your system may be infected with malware, you should follow the "Read and Run me first" instructions in the Malware forum here at MG. Even if you don't think malware may be part of the problem, and you don't want to post in the malware removal forum, this is a very good procedure to study and follow in any case.
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

***Check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic utility.
Find out the brand of your hard drive: Either pull the box apart and maybe take the drive out to read the label, or (easier), download and run Belarc Advisor (on-line analysis of your computer):
Belarc Advisor download: http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
You may have to google the model number to determine the manufacturer: Go to their website and download and run the diagnostic utility to confirm that all is well with your hard drive.

***Check the memory cards (RAM cards):
Download memtest86+ to use on either a floppy or a CD.
Download for floppy: http://www.memtest.org/download/2.11/memtest86+-2.11.floppy.zip
Download for CD: http://www.memtest.org/download/2.11/memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip
This test must be done on booting .... without Windows loading .... so you will need to boot from either a floppy or a CD, and allow the test to run. It will run indefinitely, until you stop it. Five whole passes of the test, should be regarded as a minimum to get some idea of the reliability of your RAM. Ideally, to be completely confident in your RAM reliability, the test should be allowed to run for 24 hours .... if you can bring yourself to do that.

Hopefully the above work will give you some idea of the source of the problem, but it may not. I suggest that you also look at:
***Microsoft update of "the night before" .... check out what update this is/was, and whether is installed successfully. If it didn't, then watch out for it being offered to you again and take care in case it causes the same problem again.
***BIOS version and ensure it is updated to the latest version. TAKE CARE if it is necessary to update the BIOS.
-------------------------
I would also suggest you visit this link and have a quick read of what is necessary to test for a completely stable system:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=335813
There are three tests to be carried out to check that your system is "rock solid", and in light of your machine having a history of catastrophic failures, I am going to suggest you also follow the steps outlined in the link. You have already run one of the tests (the third one), namely memtest86+, so it just remains to run the other two. Follow the instructions for each test in the link provided above. Because the guide was written for older versions of the two programs, I will provide you with links for the two items to download (they are the ones that I use):
Download prime95 (p95v2414.exe): ..... I can't seem to find anywhere to download this old version from ?
Download prime95 (latest version): http://mersenneforum.org/gimps/p95v259.zip ... so this will not conform to the guide instructions.
Download 3DMark (3dmark2001se.exe): http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml
==============
Hope the above is OK ... I am getting too tired to carry on tonight, but I think it is all there now.
Good luck.

 

Thank you for all the info. I do have Roxio, but don't see any updated drivers available. As much as I like this program I don't use it enough to compromise the integrity of my entire system. I would not be adverse to uninstalling it if you think that might be a viable solution.

There are no conflicts showing in Device Manager.

I am on to the next task and will post with more info.

Thank you, you are my hero!

Beth

 

Beth

Very pleased to see that your Dell PC is still running OK.

Re: Roxio

In view of your particular situation then, yes, I would suggest you un-install .... at least for the time being, until you are 100% confident that your system is "rock solid" without Roxio.

However, if you wish to go the other way, and keep Roxio, then you need to go to the Roxio website and ensure that:
1. the Roxio software that you are using is in fact regarded as compatible with Vista
2. the driver version you have is the latest for your particular version(s) of their software.

FYI: Google roxio vista compatible patch and have a quick look at some of the results.

 

Thanks for sticking with me through this mess. I have:

Run sfc /scannow-no problems
Run checkdisk - no problems
uninstalled Roxio
run cccleaner a few times and cleaned and fixed all registry errors
I've run all my virus/malware checks - no problems
Downloaded belarc and got the info on my system and will look for a Dell diagnostic utility

I have not done the memtest or stability tests yet because it suggests running for 24 hours. That's difficult for me, but will try this weekend to give it a go.

I have had to reboot the system and TA DA it rebooted and opened vista. I will run out and purchase an external hard drive and keep everything backed up, everyday. I have absolutely no faith in dell or windows.

Do you have any thoughts on Linux and if it's worthwhile to convert and/or a difficult learning curve? Also when this thing dies permanently I have to consider MAC, do you have any insights on their drawbacks/ flaws/ weaknesses?

Thank you again. You have no idea how enraged I was when I started this thread. If I had a doctor she would thank you for the impact you have had on my blood pressure!

Beth

 

Beth1234

I am very pleased to know all is going well with your computer so far.

In the Belarc Advisor report, under the heading "Drives", you will see an entry something like this for your hard drive:

ST3300622A [Hard drive] (300.07 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 4NF1GNY1, rev 3.AAE, SMART Status: Healthy

ST3320620A [Hard drive] (320.07 GB) -- drive 1, s/n 5QF2QDXB, rev 3.AAE, SMART Status: Healthy

(I have two hard drives in this machine .... ST3300622A [Hard drive] (300.07 GB and ST3320620A [Hard drive] (320.07 GB))

"ST3320620A" represents the model of this particular drive, and if you don't already know the manufacturer/brand, then doing a google search will enable you to find it. In this case, the "ST3" tells me that this drive was made by Seagate.
----------------------
Let me know what you see in your Belarc Advisor report on the hard drive .... and I will see what I can find out for you, and try to point you in the right direction for the diagnostic utility.
-------------------

Please let me know details of what you are using for this. Dealing with/avoiding malware is a complicated business: Some extra advice might not go astray.

There's no extra charge for this service.

The external hard drive is a very good thing to have and use. Backup, backup, backup .... Yes, I know you know, but you actually have to do it!

That is perhaps an unwarranted conclusion to arrive at ... and I would suggest you re-visit this thought when you have calmed down and regained your composure, and your Dell has been serving you well for awhile. These things happen ... no matter how much money you have spent, no matter that you have paid top dollar for the best of the best, or bought a cheapy, no matter whether it is this brand or that brand, this system or that (Windows or Mac or Unix, it doesn't matter!) Best you can do is learn all you can to deal with whatever crops up ... and get on with it. Failing that ... next best option is .... well ... dare I say it .... ME?

Around here, old computers just don't die .... they come to my place and I get to use 'em. Cheap thrills ... I know, but it keeps me occupied.

As far as the questions go .... perhaps one of the more notable quotes from one of our former Prime Ministers would sum it up:
"Life wasn't meant to be easy".

 

Well I'm glad you're an "option" and here and have a sense of humor. My issue with Dell is it's lack of support and lack of interest in whether I buy another one or not. This particular machine has had many problems and they just don't seem to care. I suspect they are all alike, but I keep hearing the same doesn't hold true for Apple. Makes one kinda go "hmmmmmm."

As for virus protection. I network in with a work computer and the guy that did it set up a firewall and avg which he seems to love. Previously I used TrendMicro (my friend is a VP there) but the Norton's, TM, and McAfees of the world are so large and memory crushing that I'm loving avg. I also run ad-aware and spy bot fairly regularly and now of course I have ccleaner. I have had infection problems in the past on different machines (read "teenagers") and have worked my way through major geeks tutorials and software recommendations. They are excellent!

Thanks for the link about mac-linux-windows. I'll do some reading later. By the way, off topic, I want to throw out my old pc but am concerned about data that never dies, how can I be sure it's really gone? Hey if you're in Florida I have some great old machines just waiting to be dismantled and adopted!

Thanks as always! :-D Beth

This is what I get from Belarc:

Drives
320.07 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
199.33 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-H73N SCSI CdRom Device [CD-ROM drive]

HP photosmart 7600 USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 1
TEAC USB HS-CF Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 2
TEAC USB HS-MS Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 4
TEAC USB HS-SD Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 5
TEAC USB HS-xD/SM USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 3
WDC WD32 00AAKS-75B3A SCSI Disk Device (320.07 GB) -- drive 0, SMART Status: Healthy

 

You have just the one hard drive: Take it out of the box, and vent your frustration with a big hammer .... all data gone for good! It's that easy!

Bit of a waste though .... for a perfectly good hard drive. Better you remove it from it's box and fit it into your new/next computer as a second hard drive and use it. Even better idea ... ? Leave it where it is and keep using it and save yourself some money!

 

I confused you with my chaotic writing. It's not the system we've been working on I want to get rid of, but rather a machine that has to be 6-7 years old. I haven't used it in ages and I think the video card is shot as well. It's an antique, but I'm sure there are passwords, and banking info and gee maybe even photos of me when i was skinny!! OOPs never mind ...

Thanks for all of your help with this. I am a lean mean computing machine now ready to fight the good fight!

Beth

 

I am easy to confuse after working all night ...

I see what you mean now ... but I guess my advice still holds good, about what to do with your old HDDs.

More later after some sleep, maybe ... ?

Oh, yea, I like it!