Problem booting from cold

RVF

RVF

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Name
Giles
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Hi all

Have been having a few problems when booting the PC from cold.
It gets to the black windows screen with the scolling blue bar & then instead of carrying on with the rest of the boot procedure (blue screen, mouse pointer, desktop, etc) it'll start all over again as if I've only just switched it on. It'll sometimes do this several times then finally run. Very, very occasionally it'll freeze on one screen. Once running everything is fine, similarly if I have to do a reboot after installing software or an update there's no problem.
Admitedly the machine is getting on a bit now & I haven't done a format & re-install for a few years now so am wondering if some of windows may have become corrupted :thinking:

OS is XP Pro SP3
 
sounds like its crashing and auto rebooting.

right click my computer -> properties -> advanced tab -> startup and recovery settings -> untick automatically restart.

that should give us some clues as to why its crashing out.
 
RVF said:
Hi all

Have been having a few problems when booting the PC from cold.
It gets to the black windows screen with the scolling blue bar & then instead of carrying on with the rest of the boot procedure (blue screen, mouse pointer, desktop, etc) it'll start all over again as if I've only just switched it on. It'll sometimes do this several times then finally run. Very, very occasionally it'll freeze on one screen. Once running everything is fine, similarly if I have to do a reboot after installing software or an update there's no problem.
Admitedly the machine is getting on a bit now & I haven't done a format & re-install for a few years now so am wondering if some of windows may have become corrupted :thinking:

OS is XP Pro SP3
Click to expand...

how strange as i have a similiar problem except i will press the power button and it will power up but nothing happens on the screen then after its made a powering noise for about 5 seconds it will turn off and boot up only then does it boot properly.
 
It could be a few things, first off it's worth just disconnecting all the drive & power cables from the motherboard & then re-connecting them - I've had this a couple of times & it's sorted the problem, don't ask me why :shrug:

The other thing is do you run more than one hard drive, extra IDE cards etc..if so it's worth stripping the system back to a basic setup - just graphics card & main hard-drive & seeing if it boots ok..if it does add a device at a time and reboot in-between, sometimes drivers etc decide to conflict & this process can solve the problem

It's also possible that the main hard-drive is about to fail (hope you have a backup !!)...is the drive making any strange clicking noises ?

Just a few ideas

Simon
 
you can also disable automatic reboots by tapping F8 when the pc is 1st starting and it will give you a boot menu, with normal and safe mode etc. One of the option should be to disable automatic restarts.
 
As mentioned it could be a few things, however I had this prob a few weeks back.Try undoing the vga cable on the back of the pc and slide it on and off a couple of times and then tighten it back on, also do the same with the graphics card and memory. Me? I have had no probs since :shrug:
 
mastertrinity said:
how strange as i have a similiar problem except i will press the power button and it will power up but nothing happens on the screen then after its made a powering noise for about 5 seconds it will turn off and boot up only then does it boot properly.
Click to expand...

Do you turn your PC off at the mains or use the on / off switch on the back of the PC's power supply?? This "double boot" is a common feature on modern motherboards / PSUs, can't recall the exact reason for it BUT it only occurs if you physically remove power from the PSU either at the mains socket or by using the on / off switch on the back of your PSU. Basically just shut your PC down, don't turn it off.

Carl
 
neil_g said:
alternatively it could be a faulty psu or motherboard.

it would be handy to know if he's tried turning off the auto reboot..
Click to expand...
Thanks everyone, & appologies for the late reply, just got in from work :)

I did as you described in your previous post last night before I turned it off, did a reboot & was fine but today it was the same as usuall.......took several goes to get it to boot all the way.

I'm running two HDD's, one is basically for the OS & a few programs, & the 2nd is for all data, photo's, docs, etc & yes my docs & photos etc is backed up on a USB exterenal HDD.
The drives seem to be operating normally, ie; no abnormal noises & they access data/files etc fine, no errors.

As for the PSU or motherboard, I suppose it's possible this could be the problem. I've had PSU problems in the past that have led to a motherboard failure (undervoltage) so have been using a UPS between the wall socket & the PC. I do turn the UPS off AFTER the PC has shut down, wonder if this could be what CReid is describing :thinking:

HDD failure is something I've considered as it's quite an old drive & this only happens if the PC is booted from cold. If I reboot or turn it off wait a few minutes (go & make a cuppa) & boot it up again, it's fine, boots all the way no problem.

BTW the method of shut down I'm using is from the software ie; Start>Turn Off Computer>Turn Off which will shut down windows & then shut down the PC.
 
I had exactly the same problem, hard-drive went kapput:(
 
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