Win 7 - Computer will not start after 'starting windows.'

[PPRuNe Pop]

A good friend, a well known ppruner, has been helping me but even he is flummoxed and suggests Google. Done that and continued trying but to no avail. Plenty of ideas to use downloads but how you are supposed to use them with no screen and a non-working machine I don't know. A lot of them in fact.

To begin:
Had an overnight start and when I got to the machine it was a bit warm, not hot, but the PSU had left this world.

Replaced that, connected the new one but have not got passed 'starting windows.' When and IF I got into safe mode the amount of files varied from a few to a page full - waited on one occasion for 30 minutes to see if the files showed but they never did.

Tried putting my Win7 disc in a dvd drive but it didn't even show it was there let alone give me a chance to do all you can do with it working.

Tried the BIOS and starts were never quite the same each time.

A warning that CMOS time and date were out happened a few times but corrections did not include a day change, that only served to stop any kind of start up.

There is a lot on Google about what to do but not much of a help when you can only think - I wish!

My hard drives are all working as far as I can tell. Certainly, they show up as such in BIOS, I find SATA connections iffy but with a push now and again they seem OK.

Right now its a PITA.

Any ideas to get past Starting Windows? It has been doing that without problem since I first installed W7 2-3 years ago. I have a dual core AMD and 2gb of RAM

This my laptop btw.

[mixture]

PPRuNe Pop,

Did your chum try safe mode ? Did he make any discoveries there ?

Personally I think your friend may be politely trying to tell you its time to reformat the drive, re-install windows and restore files from backups. :cool:

[PPRuNe Pop]

With respect, you are suggesting the very things I said I cannot do. Nothing, zilch. Also, the hdd's are relatively new - also my friend and I have discussed it. Any other ideas.? Try looking in Google you will find that this is a huge problem, which oo-one has resolved yet!

[Avtrician]

Have you replaced the backup battery ( the little disc one about 3/4 inch).

If thats dead, you lose the clock and bios settings.

[mixture]

With respect, you are suggesting the very things I said I cannot do.


I asked you a simple question, did your friend experiment in Safe Mode ?

If he did not, then he is not very computer savvy.

If he did, then what were his findings ?

There is no point us going round in circles here suggesting stuff your friend has already tried and failed at.

Try looking in Google you will find that this is a huge problem

The reason you will not find anything on google is that there are a million and one reasons why Windows will not boot up correctly. There is no correlation between reasons why Windows will not boot up correctly.

Thus calling it a "huge problem" is a misnomer.

You are just A.N.Other person having a problem with Windows booting up ... sure there may be a couple of thousand other people having the same symptoms as you, but then there are probably a million other people whose symptoms vary.

Good luck with resolving your problem. But if I were you, I'd do what I said, bite the bullet, reformat and restore !

I'm outta here....

[PPRuNe Pop]

Avtrician. Including stripping out everything on the mobo I replaced the battery yesterday, and re-installed everything back onto the mobo today. There was a small improvement but it just freezes at 'Starting Windows.'


There appear to be so many different reasons. One is that Safe Mode rolls down list of files but most times they stop at classpnp.sys - no amount of waiting helps - a mass of replies on that too. I cannot get my Win 7 disc to play and although there is a plethora of 'answers' none seem to help. My hard drives are working OK. 'Windows Boot Manager' just says put the install disc in and use it to 'repair computer' - I wish.

[dazdaz1]

Memory chip problem, happened to me once. The laptop was still under guarantee, that's what I was told after it was returned with new memory chips.

[BOAC]

PPRuNe Pop,
Did your chum try safe mode ? Did he make any discoveries there ?
When and IF I got into safe mode the amount of files varied from a few to a page full - waited on one occasion for 30 minutes to see if the files showed but they never did. - Specsavers calls?

The big problem is why the DVD will not boot (set as 'first boot')- no prompt to boot from it at all which I reckon ?rules out the memory chip angle? - daz? - and makes bite the bullet, reformat and restore ! an interesting challenge, I fear.

[cattletruck]

Tried the BIOS and starts were never quite the same each time.

If your BIOS starts are failing then it has nothing to do with Windows. If your PSU failed perhaps it damaged something sensitve in the laptop on its way out.

If I've read the OP wrong and it is windows, then in one past experience due to a power failure I lost some Windows system files and got some weird behaviour. The fix was easy: Boot of an alternate source (I had dual boot) and restore the Windows folder from a backup.

[Mr Optimistic]

SATA cables iffy? Perhaps you need to make them un-iffy first?

[PPRuNe Pop]

Yep! Thought of that and bought three more, one for each drive.

[flywatcher]

Something like this happened to me once after replacing a power supply. Left of one plug off motherboard from power supply. Plugged in the obvious ones but one with about 6 or 8 wires hung out of sight and I never noticed the receptacle on the M/B for it. Silly me. Luckily someone noticed there was one not connected, plugged it in and all was well. Hope this helps.

[Keef]

Do you have a bootable Linux CD? I keep one that I've used a few times to repair PCs (one particular friend came round so often that I made him his own Linux CD).

If that will boot all the way to desktop, you may be able to use it to repair damaged files in the Windows folder. If it won't, it may tell you why it's not happy - Linux is very chatty in boot mode.

If it's getting to the "Starting Windows" screen, then a memory fault is possible. If you have more than one memory chip, try taking them out and starting with one only. The trick of wiping the contacts with an eraser (the plastic variety) may help - but be careful about static.

[PPRuNe Pop]

Keef! You been chatting to the angels? Well thank you so much it WAS memory. I have two 1gb strips and I have now ordered two 2gb strips (DDR2).


I am so grateful. There are hundreds on Google in an absolute tizz over this problem and I think I might find a way to let them know. It has been a week of intense effort with nothing to show for it With only one strip working the machine is a bit slow but ebuyer tell me that I will get delivery tomorrow. Anyway you came along with one of the girls and its done. Thanks again. I really do appreciate it.


Funny thing is I was just about to go to my laptop downstairs to write this!................... :ok:

[dazdaz1]

Pprune pop.... "Keef! You been chatting to the angels? Well thank you so much it WAS memory"

I told you so in my post #7 no one takes my advice.

[BOAC]

Well, daz - I did, but assumed with the DVD failure to boot it was something else. I also expected a memory problem to indicate during boot/POST? Is a memory problem enough to stop a DVD being read for boot?

Anyway - good news if it is sorted.

[The Flying Pram]

@ PPRuNe Pop (http://www.pprune.org/members/67724-pprune-pop) - did you verify that it was definitely one of the memory strips at fault? I only ask because I had problems for a long time with my old laptop, which eventually proved to be the memory slot controller on the motherboard. It didn't matter which chips, in whatever combination, I fitted - there were always problems. But when I inserted just a single module it worked OK.

TFP

[Loose rivets]

Keef beat me to Occamizing the memory strips. One at a time is the key as it's probable that only one has failed.

Also, for the future, and in a case where the DVD will not work, a USB made ready with Linux type OS is a lifesaver - well, that's if you can get into BIOS reliably enough to set the boot sequence.

[PPRuNe Pop]

daz - am so sorry. You were right and my only excuse is that I was so fed up with hard drives and optical drives that I couldn't get my mind round memory. I will not pass you by so easily next time, daz.


I am all over embarrassed !!!!!!!! Thanks again.


Flying Pram, I removed first one and then the other. The first one turned up trumps but slowly - the second one gave the MS logo just a blur. put them both together and it was back to square one. There does seem to be a similarity there. I might get your help in regard to the DVD drive but have yet to try it out. A USB type sounds like just the job. Your advice on a PM would be useful thanks.

[The Flying Pram]

As regards creating a "Bootable" USB drive, try this little utility:

http://rufus.akeo.ie/No installation needed, just run the .exe file.

That's if you can get into BIOS reliably enough to set the boot sequence

If you can, change it now. Just remember NOT to start the computer with any USB drive plugged in during normal operations...

[Saab Dastard]

Still the best memory testing utility:

MemTest86 - Download now! (http://www.memtest86.com/download.htm)

If there's a memory problem, Memtest will find it.

SD

[PPRuNe Pop]

Indeed, but its no good if you cannot boot. But, yes SD it will be of interest to keep a regular check on memory.

[PPRuNe Pop]

Just a bit of interest on the problem.


I installed both strips of memory only to find that I was back to my original problem. No Boot! I tried various ways using each individually but it was useless. For the money I paid I did not expect a generic pieces but that is what I got.


I am returning them, another pain, and expect some quick results - will I get them? Probably not.

[Loose rivets]

:ok:

When I was an electronics techie in the 50s I carried a LOT of duplicate valves, especially for tuners. Some would work in some sets and not in others. Not assuming new = working is a fundamental part of fault-finding.

Another swap is clearly called for, but what if that doesn't do the trick? What could limit the system to looking at 1 strip?

I suppose there is the remotest chance the computer is zaping the memory . . . sometimes. Maybe this is what your supplier will suggest. 1 gig strips are as cheap as chips (erm, they are chips) because people swap them for 2 or more gig strips. Any forum member got some used 1 gigs to test it with?

[Keef]

What does it do it you put each chip into the different memory slots?

I could envisage a "dead slot", or I could envisage an addressing issue in the memory controller where it can't go above a particular address, regardless of chip position.

I could also envisage the "that one doesn't work in this machine" that LR mentions with valves. I have a perfectly good RF pentode that won't work in my Quad FM tuner.

I haven't changed any memory chips in a long time, so the ones in my "bits" drawer in the workshop are prehistoric/obsolete (like me, I suppose).

[Booglebox]

It could be some FOD stuck in the slot. You could also have a bad slot (a friend has a unibody MBP with such an issue, only 1 memory slot usable).

Many years ago I learnt a valuable lesson through causing a small but intense fire by putting RAM that was too new in a slot that was too old... once the smoke cleared the damage was virtually unnoticable to the untrained eye, but the slot was (literally, to a certain extent) toast. :sad:

[RamonBadger]

I think you've fried the motherboard by letting the CPU get too hot. AMD laptop CPUs are a pain for that