This is topic XP start-up issues... in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 07-06-2003, 03:53 PM:
 
I start my laptop with Windows XP: Home Edition
I get to the "User Log In"
I log in
NOTHING HAPPENS
The screen remains dark.
I hit "C ALT DEL" and I have all the normal jazz appears.
No applications are running but PLENTY of processes are. (24)

Any Ideas or questions?
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-06-2003, 05:22 PM:
 
What software do you have installed on your laptop?

I'm not really a big fan of Win XP Home. If someone is buying a PC and wants my opinion, I recommend they get WinXP Professional or Win2000 Professional.

I really need to proofread my posts better

[ 07-06-2003, 08:44 PM: Message edited by: Bobby Henderson ]
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-06-2003, 06:24 PM:
 
But Bobby, why would you recommend those OS's then you say you are a BIG FAN of WinXP Home Eition? (Yes I know it is probably a typo but I MUST give you hell about t).

Who knows what all software the laptop manufacturer installed that runs at startup. If it were a Mac, I say go to the System folder-Startup Items folder and remove everything.

Also, is there a way to remove WinXP from a laptop like a Dell and install Windows 2000 Professional?
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 07-06-2003, 06:39 PM:
 
On a PC, you can run msconfig and disable the applications you don`t want to autostart.
Since Nate`s notebook doesn`t make it that far, I would recommend to hit F8 after the PC has woken up before the boot sequence commences (you might want to hit F8 repeatedly to catch the right moment, but not frantically, or you will overload the keyboard controller). Then select safe mode, open the start menu, select run, type in msconfig. The interface is self-explanatory, you will see the start options on the tab on the right.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-06-2003, 08:48 PM:
 
Yep Joe, that was a typo.

Depending on the OS originally installed, Dell may or may not charge you something extra to send a different Windows CD to run on a laptop. Just call their technical support line and have the service tag number ready. They'll need that to send the appropriate CD. Like most large PC companies, Dell doesn't supply plain vanilla Windows installation disks but rather has their own specialized system restoration discs with the OS included. I don't really mind that since it makes a complete format c: and clean software reinstall go a lot faster.

Dell still offers Windows 2000 Professional as an option on a good number of their machines. Some models may only offer XP Home and XP Pro for OS options.
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-06-2003, 09:33 PM:
 
Did you change anything before this started happening or did it just start happening for no reason? Did you change any video settings? It sounds like there could be a video driver issue when it gets past the login menu. If you run at a different resolution than the login menue runs at the driver that runs the resolution could be malfunctioning. That is something to look at.

if you can get into safe mode without any problems it runs at the basic resolution. Check your video settings.
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 07-06-2003, 11:05 PM:
 
***THE*** only OS for a PC system worth a sh!t is XP Pro OR 2nd choice is Widows 98. The rest is CRAP including Red Hat!

I guess Win2000 is OK for a server...???? Or so the Grand Poo-Poo Bah tells me. Right Brad?

(I'm SURE my ex-friend Daryl will give me a time about this!)

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-07-2003, 12:00 AM:
 
Phil, Windows 98 is just like you: It's alright, but you really should get rid of it. Win2K Pro is great, and I have never had any memorable problems with it. WinXP is the childrens version of Win2K Pro, with the colorful buttons and happy schemes and whatnot.
 

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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 07-07-2003, 12:59 AM:
 
Have a Dell Inspiron 2600

I haven't changed anything lately. Just shut it down one day & the next this happened.

Tried the 'F8' for Safe Mode & no help.
It logged through and went to the same 'blankness' as before except all the corners say 'Safe Mode'
Did 'C ALT DEL' again and no applications running
(The Processes are: TASKMGR.EXE - unwise.exe - RUNDLL32.EXE - EXPLORER.EXE - SVCHOST.EXE - SVCHOST.EXE - LSASS.EXE - SERVICES.EXE - winlogin.exe - CSRSS.EXE - SMSS.EXE - System - System Idle Process)

I download ALOT of music from KAZAA. Anyway I got a virus or anything?

There is an option for "New Task". Can i type anything there to get something to help me??
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-07-2003, 01:17 AM:
 
Sheesh, there's no telling when it comes to KaZaa. Lots of P2P file sharing software will throw in some spyware. KaZaa Lite supposedly doesn't have any spyware. Participants can deliver malicious code through P2P apps, so a virus infection could be a possibility. I think you either have some device going on the fritz or maybe you removed an application that has some kind of launch thingie still resident in the startup routine.

Is your Inspiron laptop still under warranty? I would give Dell's tech support a call about it. Usually their customer service is very good. I had a hard disc fail in my now-aging 1GHz machine and they sent a tech guy to my house to replace it free of charge.
 

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Posted by Sean M. Grimes (Member # 445) on 07-07-2003, 01:28 AM:
 
I personally notice one very key program missing from your task manager, system.exe is missing! you would have no sort of interface without it running in the shell. I highly doubt that you would have recieved a virus from a mp3, (tis not executable) but either way, your system may have taken a piss or possibly a virus (which I do not know of a virus that can f off your system like "that") but a system restore would probably be in order. Good luck!
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 07-07-2003, 03:00 AM:
 
We had Windows EXPlicit Home in one of the computers in the theatre. It crashed in about 2 months. We said, "Poop on it" and installed Winblows 98 Sucks Enormously.

I have heard Windows EXPlicit Pro is good, and I know Windows 2000 Pro is good. It still has not crashed in my machine at home. Been well over two years now...
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 07-07-2003, 06:03 AM:
 
I am not at all sure if XP also allows you to do this, but for older Windows versions this worked miracles:
In the same F8 menu at startup, select "prompt only" (or however that is called in the English Windows version), then at the prompt type C:>scanreg /restore
Scanreg scans the registry and makes backups of it when startup was successful (scanreg ususally runs at the start of the graphic user interface). It allows you to restore the registry to the state it was in at a former date.

When you log in, do you have several identities to choose from? Like "Nate" and "Administrator"?
Maybe the config file where your "Nate" preferences are stored is messed up.

One ore idea to try: Since you can actually run the taskmanager, you can select "new task" from the first page (on the right bottom of the taskmanager window) and then see if you can select and run any applications manually.
 

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Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 07-07-2003, 09:50 AM:
 
The first thing to try is system restore to a date before you started with the problem. It should be in start/help & support.
If you can't do that for any number of reasons... or it doesn't resolve the problem:
Try logging in as "Administrator" (ctrl-alt-del in the normal login screen brings up the master login window) and if that looks fairly normal then your user preferences are apparently scrambled. (You do know the admin password, right? Try it blank if you don't, that's the default. XP will allow an admin account (usually user accounts have admin privileges - rarely does anyone restrict themselves) to recover the admin account by using start/run and enter "control userpasswords2" then you can reset the administrator password)
If the admin account looks OK and you can't get your account to work - and all else fails - you can delete your own account (NOT "Administrator"!) then recreate it. You'll have to add any program shortcuts you use but you shouldn't have any major problems. That user's email archives will be gone, gone, gone - if you have emails you must not lose then you have to find a way to save them before deleting an account. (like emailed license numbers for downloaded software...)

It's actually an excellent idea to use an account that does not have admin privileges as your usual login. Most viruses will be unable to do permanent damage with a "user" level account.

The final solution - pretty desperate measure - is to reload your OS from the CD that came with the laptop. This will bring you back to as if you just unpacked it brand new, and any programs you installed will be gone and you'll have some re-installing to do. If, like me, you haven't kept perfect records of all the license numbers for software bought or downloaded you're somewhat screwed. You will also need the license number for XP which could be anywhere in your laptop documentation or else you're royally screwed.
 

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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 07-10-2003, 12:41 AM:
 
I have tried all the options that start-up "F8" will allow me.
No luck on any.

How do re-install XP on the PC without accessing Windows?? I still have all the disks that came along with the Laptop so I am hoping that something will help.

HELP
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-10-2003, 10:52 AM:
 
you should be able to put the restore discs that came with the computer in it's cdrom drive and start the computer. it will wipe clean the drive and reinstall back to factory instalation.
 

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Posted by Christopher Duvall (Member # 284) on 07-11-2003, 06:36 AM:
 
If you have the Windows XP Installation disc you should be able to this quite easily. Much as you might not want to do this, boot the machine with a DOS boot disc . Make sure you have FDISK and FORMAT on it as well. AFter booting up, chack you partitions and then format the hard drive(s). After that, insert the XP CD in the drive and reboot. It should start the installion process. After it is installed you just have to re-install you software.

It is easy to do but lengthy and sometimes tedious. You will happier afterwards. It is actually pretty good to do this from time to time because is will allow you to be rid of alot of crap that builds up on your drive even if you use utilities to keep that from happening. Good Luck...
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 07-11-2003, 06:47 AM:
 
I have another brilliant idea:

Windows XP has a system restoration program.

When the system has (sort of) booted, press ctrl-alt-del to bring up the task manager.
Then select "New Task" (or whatever it is called in the English version) on the bottom right corner on the first page. Look for this file: rstrui.exe
in this directory:
%SystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe
Where %SystemRoot% means the directory in which Windows is installed, for example:
C:\Windows\System32\restore\rstrui.exe

If it works, you can select one of the system restore points from before the problems started.
 

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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 07-11-2003, 01:05 PM:
 
Okay, I did what Michael Schaffer suggested with the C:\Windows\System32\restore\rstrui.exe and IT WORKED!

Thanks all for the help!
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-11-2003, 04:43 PM:
 
Just for the record Michael's original post read:

"Nate. It is permanently broken. You suck."

Of course being a moderator I edited his post to say what it says now and fixing Nate's problem in the process! I kick ass! Yay me! Everyone owes me $$$.
 

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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 07-12-2003, 12:01 AM:
 
Joe, you are just a kick ass guy!

All my thanks to you!
 

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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 11-08-2003, 03:15 AM:
 
Here is the next chapter of this POS Dell Laptop with XP Home Edition.

ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED

I know that I had a virus.
I tryed to re-install Windows XP.
It didn't work.

(Windows doesnt load at all, I get the start-up screen, than it just goes black)

I have the Re-Installation Disk in the CDROM. I has re-booted the PC.

Now I am a blue screena and it wants to know where to put the Windows XP.

I have to choose from:
-: Partition 1 [FAT] 31 MB < 29 free>
C:Partition 2 [NTFS] 19038 MB < 12102 MB>
Unpartitioned Space

Now I assume that I want to choose C but it's telling me that Windows XP is already installed on that drive and ot doesnt reccomend installing on the drive.

What can/should I do???
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 11-08-2003, 12:16 PM:
 
If you are not sure I would take it to someone who does this on a normal basis. If you want to take risks you can try re- formating the drive and then reinstalling the program. I can't guarentee that this is the right solution since I have never tried it. But, I would say that in order for you to re-install the windows XP software you will have to remove the existing one. Pluse by doing this you will also eliminate any possable remaining virus information on your drives.
 

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Posted by Ken McFall (Member # 845) on 11-08-2003, 12:36 PM:
 

 

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Posted by Matthew Nock (Member # 1575) on 11-08-2003, 03:51 PM:
 
Nate,

If you have no data on the drive that is important, then at the screen where you can select what partition to install to, you will have an option to Delete a partition... Delete Partition C... That will leave you will the small partition, and the rest as unpartitioned.

Then tell the XP installer you want to create a partition and use all of the available unparttioned space. This will giveyou a completely fresh drive to install XP to.

**** If you do this, you will loose ALL data, programs, emails, graphics etc **** But on a side note, you will get a completely fresh install of XP, with no nasties!

Cheers,

M@
 

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 11-10-2003, 01:42 AM:
 
Actually what I did with my laptop hard drive was to partition it into C: (10gb) and D: (30gb), both NTFS. C: holds the system and D: all application data (i.e. 'My Documents' is mapped to drive D:). By doing this and splitting the page file across the two volumes I've found that fragmentation is much less of a problem. And if, for whatever reason, you need to completely 'nuke' your system drive and reinstall Windows, it is possible to do so without losing your data (though I'd still be inclined to make sure it's backed up first).

quote:

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Like most large PC companies, Dell doesn't supply plain vanilla Windows installation disks but rather has their own specialized system restoration discs with the OS included. I don't really mind that since it makes a complete format c: and clean software reinstall go a lot faster.

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quote:

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Compaq Pressario

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There's your problem right there.
 

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Posted by John Westlund (Member # 913) on 11-10-2003, 02:50 PM:
 
I have never worked with a Compaq that worked right. I bought one and took it back after a couple weeks of problems with it. They had the worst tech support I had ever seen but this was several years ago so maybe things are better now. I still will never own another compaq PC.
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 11-10-2003, 03:29 PM:
 
I just contacted Compaq support because the Pocket PC that came with my IE-33 had Outlook 2000 with it, but the CD key didn`t work.
I called support even though I expected nothing to come from it. But - within 5 minutes and after pushing only a few buttons to navigate myself through the automated service menu, I actually spoke to an actual person who actually knew what was going on and issued me another CD key after checking the registration data of the Pocket PC.

Manny - why didn`t you stick to your Powerbook? As you hopefully know, you can run all your cinema programs on Virtual PC.

BTW, I have a desktop computer and a notebook with XP, and the only problem I ever had was that I had to run system restore once because IE was somehow messed up. I don`t know what you all do to your PCs to make them crash all the time.
 

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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 11-10-2003, 11:46 PM:
 
Got it all re-installed. Thanks guys!

Only thing left is to get the POS to find the modem than I can send this Laptop back to my brother, so he can break it again!
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 11-11-2003, 12:10 AM:
 
Maybe you should be a little bit more careful with in in the future, get a virus protection program, run maintenance programs like defrag and scandisk once in a while, don`t install too many programs from share- and freeware sites when you don`t know if are well programmed. Then you will have a lot of enjoyment from your multimedia computing device.
 

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