Windows XP home, will not boot. Sits at the load screen with the little green bar scrolling for all eternity. I can do a repair from the install CD, but it takes half an hour, and only works for one boot. then I have the same problem again. This should not be. I can't wipe the drive and start over, becuase it has data I need to finish work that's due tomorrow. Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
eR...can you save your work stuff onto CD and use another computer for the night?
Not to say the obvious, but Kinko's is open for just such nightmares (assuming you are using some standard program and not anything company-specific, that is).
If you have a jumpdrive with enough memory, you can run the specific program off it (if it's unique to your work).
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
WEIRD! I've had the EXACT same problem over the last week. Except mine went further - half way during working (It eventually got to windows after a reboot) the computer shut down.
After a strange-looking (different type of text) Blue Screen of Death. It then said it couldn't detect my hard drive. I was freaking out. I left the thing alone for nearly a week. I tried it last night - this time I got throught to the part where I press 'F8' to get into safe mode. Tried the 'debug mode' - just did the same extended windows green bar thing.
Tried 'restore from last working... whatever' - same thing.
Started in safe mode - it started in normal mode - and it was ok - except weird shit has happened like it says it doesn't recognise Windose Media Player or that my 'WINDOWS explorer' is "out of date".
I'm guessing the computer is on it's way out - I have most backed up - maybe not e-mails.
It's time to get a new computer. I still want to keep this one - so after I get a new computer will a complete wipe of the disc fix this problem or was it a hardware problem - like the fan on the heat sink or the CPU or the memory.
If i remember correctly the blue screen of death said that it had some kernal error - and something about virtual memory and it was doing 'dumping' - PAGE dumping? or Kernal dumping or something.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
I need access to THIS windows install, on THIS box. There is no other solution that can be implemented in the time I have.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Things that piss me off today: I finished this slideshow. Barely managed to burn it and turn it in. Got paid. They call and say "change x y and z". MY COMPUTER DOES NOT WORK!!
Laptop, which I'm trying to diagnose with, is randomly dying.
New processor which caused all this will probably have to go back.
I have a senior project group that won't respond to my e-mails telling them that I'm dead in the water and that they'll have to pick up the slack. I've done all the work the last three weeks, and it's damned good work. I don't want it to be for nothing because they won't do anything.
I'm on the edge of having TWO degrees in computing, and I don't know the right buttons to push to make Windows work.
I can't just wipe the system, because I need files on that drive.
And I can't sleep until this is done.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
If your computer only survives one reboot and you need everything on there to last until tomorrow, why don't you just, y'know, not reboot it?
And if you want more help, stop saying "frell". Seriously, it's not impressing anyone.
Andrew: It's going to be pretty hard to determine exactly what's wrong with your Windows installation from that information. It could be one of a hundred things. It's possible that that single crash is what's caused all the other errors. Do a repair installation of Windows (boot from the Windows CD, select the partition or drive where you'd installed Windows and then press "r" when it asks you if you want to repair your current installation). Then get back to me.
Posted by tricky (Member # 1402) on :
What happens in Safe mode boot? I had this, after installing a new driver Assuming you have it enabled, you can rollbcak the system files using System Restore. Rolling back a few days I found helped
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Woa woa waheyoa... you put a new CPU in a laptop?
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Well I did get the whole "insert boot disk" - so I inserted the original windows cd and it copied stuff. Then started windows... It was chugging along for about 10 mins then crashed again - and wouldn't restart - just kept going back to that 'insert boot disk' dos-esque 'setup'.
Thing is, I left the computer - thinking it was stuffed for about 4 days - started it again - and apart from as I said pressing F8 and starting in safemode etc. The computer is working again! ALTHOUGH it say it doesn't recognise windows media player or thinks that for some reason I shouldn't be able to use window explorer as it has 'passed it's trial date' - I mean WHAT trial date - unless that was for some unseen program?
Andrew
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Are you sure it was Windows Explorer saying that message, and not some other piece of software (like a registry cleaner)?
And what do you mean by "you inserted the original Windows CD and it copied stuff"? Did you actually do a repair installation, like this:
Boot the computer using the XP CD. When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer:
To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. Do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you DO NOT want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R". Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations. Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.
You could also do worse than checking the temperature of your machine. Although as Spring will have only just started down there that's unlikely to be a problem.
Once you've done that try using Explorer again. And if the message comes up take a screenshot and post it here.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
I got one last good boot out of it and burned what I needed. All things are backed up, I'm just going to fry the Windows install and start over. Then I'll worry about why my new processor is somehow capable of crashing Memtest86. Temperature is good, so I'm thinking it's the power supply.
Nervous breakdown is thus narrowly averted.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Haven't you got anything more fun to do than try and put new processor's in laptops? Like perform dental surgury on yourself?
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Note the words "all this". Subtle, they are.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Also, a CPU that caused memtest to crash would have to cause other things to crash as well, methinks.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: And if you want more help, stop saying "frell". Seriously, it's not impressing anyone.
Yeah! Curse like a man, ya fuckin' fuck.
Glad you got your stuff from your computer, BTW. fucker! tee hee!
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Oh, everything crashes, even if I do manage to get into Windows, which I no longer can. Given that with the new processor, Memtest finds errors, and with the old processor it doesn't, I'm leaning towards there being something wrong with the processor. But it could still be the power supply. Multimeter, multimeter, who's got the multimeter...
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
A new power supply would be much cheaper than a new processor. Glad you got your data out. I don't know shit (shazbot) about XP, but for Win2K having a Windows Rescue Disk can make a big difference towards any rescue efforts. For those who might know, baring major system glitches like a faulty processor, would clean-installing XP onto a second drive (or just using a trusted friend's machine running XP allow him access enough to copy the data?
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Provided he hasn't passworded his account, yes. Of course, if there's something wrong with his CPU then sticking in a second drive won't help. Never mind that adding a second hard drive to a laptop is hardly the easiest of procedures.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: Are you sure it was Windows Explorer saying that message, and not some other piece of software (like a registry cleaner)?
And what do you mean by "you inserted the original Windows CD and it copied stuff"? Did you actually do a repair installation, like this:
Boot the computer using the XP CD. When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer:
To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. Do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you DO NOT want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R". Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations. Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.
You could also do worse than checking the temperature of your machine. Although as Spring will have only just started down there that's unlikely to be a problem.
Once you've done that try using Explorer again. And if the message comes up take a screenshot and post it here.
Well yes I inserted the disk. I THINK I pressed 'r'. Nothing happened anyway. As I said after 4 days I came back and the computer is working - not as it DID - there are some glitches here and there.
It's not too hot here at the moment. Just to be safe, I've left the side panel off - where there were two fans (I've taped up the live 'power' for each of the little fans.
Oh when I did get back on the computer - it said "windows has suffered a major error" and it wanted to said info on it. It was like "page dump found in pagedump.exe" something about a kernal too. I think.
Anyway I'm glad it's working again. It is time for a new computer. The only thing I haven't managed to copy off the computer are all my e-mails in Outlook.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Getting a brand new computer just because Windows crashed once is light buying a new car just because you've got a flat tyre.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
*waits*
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
My car is old!
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: Getting a brand new computer just because Windows crashed once is light buying a new car just because you've got a flat tyre.
Oh I have brand new cars littered across the yard with flat tyres, locked seatbelts, airconditioning set too cold and the what-not. I just buy new ones.
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
What? You think just because we're total Mac-enthusiasts that we'd want to share that beauty with you? Well no. It's not like that. It's ours now. You can all go fuck off with your crashy-crashy Windows. We've iPod nanos and such to play with.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I was wondering what Lee was talking about, but now I have to acknowledge him as the powerup winner.
Andrew: Y'see, if Michael had said that I'd probably have believed him.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Speaking of Macs... the Mac in the lab next door just stopped working the otherday. (we use PCs). Funny, it was just after the lab-head next door was telling me how reliable Macs are. Thing just won't start - I'm guessing a power supply problem? Poor Honours student has all his data analysis on there.
Posted by Toadkiller (Member # 425) on :
Their support people are very nice though.
Speaking of waiting - my "vintage" Mac cube is out wandering the scary hurricane riddled streets in a brown van driven by a man in matching brown shorts right now. I'm somewhat concerned. But when it shows up I'll have dual new CPU goodness. Or perhaps my own frelling post.
Posted by Captain Boh (Member # 1282) on :
Also speaking of Macs, does anyone know what it means when my mini's AC adaptor starts buzzing?
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
1/ That question has nothing to do with Macs.
2/ I have no idea. Although the phrase "it can't be good" does come screaming to mind.
Posted by Toadkiller (Member # 425) on :
Mac. ipod or Cooper Mini?
Their support people are nice though.
Actually I have no idea about the Cooper people - maybe they should have stuck making barrels.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
My brother owns a Mini Cooper, and I have to say it really is quite nice. Not at all practical, but certainly very cool. I want one.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
I own a Mini Cooper. I am the king of cool.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
An SUV escape pod. Seeing those on the expressway is.....odd. It's like the scale of the car is wrong somehow. I keep expecting them to be crammed full of clowns or something.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
The scale of many Americans is wrong too, but you don't hear us complain about that.
Posted by Captain Boh (Member # 1282) on :
I was talking about the AC Adaptor for my Mac mini. You know, small computer, made by Apple?
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
I'm not familiar with the Mini's power setup. When you say "power adaptor", I think of a rectifier between the AC and the computer case. Is that true, or are you talking about the power supply in the case? If it's the power supply in the case, it's possible that a fan is out of alignment. I wouldn't think that would cause a huge problem in itself, though that fan might die sooner. Rectifier... no idea.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
If I owned a Mini, I would insist that it look like Mr. Bean's.
Posted by tricky (Member # 1402) on :
I'd buy 3, paint them red, white and blue and drive them around italian cities, avoiding the roads.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Yor OWNLY SARPOSED to BLAOW the BLAHDDY DOORS ORFF!!!
Posted by tricky (Member # 1402) on :
We've come here to pay our respects to Great Aunt Nellie. She brought us up properly and taught us loyalty. Now I want you to remember that during these next few days. I also want you to remember that if you don't come back with the goods, Nellie here will turn in her grave, and, likely as not, jump right out of it and kick your teeth in.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
^^^????!?
My dad has a 1967 Mini Cooper, which are pretty rare here in the US. Unfortunately, it's been disassembled since the early 70s, before I was born. He keeps saying every year about how he's going to start putting it back together again, but at this point, we just smile and nod. I would love to be able to drive that thing.
B.J.
Posted by tricky (Member # 1402) on :
Lee and I and many others are fans of the self preservation society (original Itailain Job)
Posted by Captain Boh (Member # 1282) on :
quote:Originally posted by Omega: I'm not familiar with the Mini's power setup. When you say "power adaptor", I think of a rectifier between the AC and the computer case. Is that true, or are you talking about the power supply in the case? If it's the power supply in the case, it's possible that a fan is out of alignment. I wouldn't think that would cause a huge problem in itself, though that fan might die sooner. Rectifier... no idea.
Little brick outside the case. Doesn't matter though, they're giving me a new one.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
"They"? The Greys? The Rods? Halliburton? The Lizard Men in the earth's hollow core? The Freemasons? The Illumaniti? NASA? The Templars?
Exactly who are your masters anyway?
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
It's a very difficult job and the only way to get through it is we all work together as a team. And that means you do everything I say.
Posted by tricky (Member # 1402) on :
Hang on lads, I've got a great idea.
Coolest film ever
That was the thing about hiest movies in the 60's, the plan works, but they never got away with it.
Getting back to computers, it's strange how most people confuse what the bits are. I always remember at one company, the monitor was called teh computer, and the computer was called the hard disk. The desktop background was called the screen saver, etc. So the Mac Mini has a laptop style AC adaptor rather than an internal one like most Desktops. I can see how that reduces the internals and therfore the size.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Turns out the new processor expects dual channel RAM. Moved one of my modules one slot over, and all is well. Well, once I realized I'd mis-seated my heat sink when putting the new CPU back in. 92C is not a good temperature for electronics. So now I have a nice clean Windows install and a very fast desktop. :-)
Posted by tricky (Member # 1402) on :
Ah, all's well that ends well.
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
Congrats, Omega. Glad to hear you're back in business.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
GIVE HIM A PIE!
I get similar misnamed confusion amoungst the general public at my job. The monitor confusion is the most common.
"Okay, I need you to turn off your computer and then turn it back on." "Done." "That was fast. Are you sure you turned it all the way off?" "Yup. I'll do it again. Done."
Which always leads to me telling them that they're just turning the monitor off and on, that the monitor is just like a TV and they need to turn off the "base-unit". Every day that happens. It's not too bad though. Far more worrying is:
"Okay, can you double-click on "my computer". "Woah! Slow down, I'm not technical".
Then you know you're in for a fun call.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Yeah, I had a customer that got pissed because he could not find his files in "My Computer". As though all computers (particularly the magic ones here at Kinko's) can access his home desktop.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
PEOPLE AND COMPUTERS OH MAN
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Yeah, I know. I never wanted to be an IT helpdesk guy. I wanted to be a lumberjack. Er, or a media journalist. One of them.
NINTEDO REVOLUTION CONTROLLER OH MAN
See? I can do it too.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
My need for tech help has now changed. It is less urgent, but still there. When playing games, the system freezes. Jedi Academy and Rise of Nations both do the same thing, hard freeze, all activity stops, no apparent reason. Temperature is fine. I haven't observed any other situations where it freezes (at least, not since the reinstall). No events show up in the event log. Playing it from the system drive or on the external drive makes no difference. All components of my machine are less than a year old. If I run memtest immediately after a freeze, I get no errors, but memtest freezes after a minute or two. If I let it sit for a bit and then run memtest, it works fine. This implies to me that it's a heat issue, perhaps with the video card. Any ideas as to how I might confirm that?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Are you running anything while gaming? I used to have that problem if I was downloading files and running games (from CD or harddrive- same issue). Check Processes to make sure there is not some nasty exe file gremlin running at the same time.
Or voodoo. That works too (but cleaning chicken guts out of the keyboard is a hassle).
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Shutting down all programs in the systray and turning off the secondary monitor seemed to delay the crash for a bit, but it still occured. I'm running AVG, ad-aware and spybot right now, just in case there's something unpleasant somehow already on my system, but I don't have high hopes for that.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Hmmm...most bad stuff shows as an "exe" file in processes so that's probably not your issue. Unless you've downloaded something recently without scanning it for content. You porn hound, you.
Hate to sentence you to Purgatory, but you might want to check with the manuacturer's tech support department (if this is a new machine, that is).
Also, check the compatibility of the games against your video card. Do the games crash only when things are moving fast/lots going on?
Posted by tricky (Member # 1402) on :
Also when running games stop the AV scanner (make sure you're disconected from the net). Try reinstalling the graphic drivers, and directx whatever. Unfortunatly games typically push all the hardware, so finding the fault could be difficult. It could be audio drivers, heat (install a fan on the grpahics card if you don't have one already, plus rear and front case fans.) or anything between.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
An overheating GPU can be the source of a lot of weird things, but those are often very readily apparent in the form of a corrupted frame buffer and not much else. I've never had a graphics card totally lock up any of my systems, at least. Drivers, on the other hand...
(Information on what's inside your computer would be handy to have at this point.)
(Also, one of the reasons malware is So. Fucking. Hard. to remove is that it usually doesn't show up in Processes.)
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Running every system scan I can, removing all unnecessary hardware, both internal and external, shutting down all processes that would die, disabling the second monitor, reverting to ATi Catalyst 5.8, and running with the case off did nothing to help the problem. At time of crash, though, the GPU heatsink was hot enough to burn me. Gonna buy a slot fan tomorrow, see if that helps.
System specs are as follows: P4 3.0 GHz with hyperthreading, Prescott core; 2x512MB PC3200, Corsair, set up for dual channel; Radeon 9600LE; Soyo SY-P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 v1.0 motherboard; 480W power supply. All parts are less than a year old.
Oh, and games crash regardless of the level of complexity of the render.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
I had that general problem with my ATI 9700 AIW... complete lockup when rendering anything 3D.
Ended up replacing the card with a plain 9800 Pro.
Also, irt the rest of the topic: WTF?
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I'm going to through in one, then.
I currently have a ATI 9600. An XT I think, or whatever the cutdown version is. It's a bit underpowered for reviewing games. I don't mind playing stuff at 800 x 600, but all the screenshots have to be 1024 x 768 minimum. So I was going to upgrade, and probably spend about �150. However, a mate has offered me a 6600gt for under �50. Getting together the �150 for abig upgrade would be quite a bit, but would the 6600gt offer a noticable performance increase on my current card? And is it worth it? It's an AGP one, and it's apparently "heat-pipe cooled". Ooh, exciting.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Huh. I was under the impression that the 9600LE was cheaper than the SE, which was the cheapest version anyone had ever heard of. I can run at 1280x1024 smoothly with anything I've cared to try. About the only thing I'd be worried about would be Homeworld 2. Are you sure it's your video card that's the bottleneck?
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
It's probably the SE version, come to think about it.
Something else could be the bottleneck, I suppose. I've got a 2800+ Athlon XP and 512mb RAM (which will be 768 by this time next week). How new are the games you're running. Because review games tend to be, y'know, brand new. I was playing Sniper Elite yesterday, and while it was okay most of the time, any sort of action knocked the framerate down to about 10-13 fps. What games are you playing? I haven't played Homeworld 2 yet, but it can't be more CPU and GPU intensive than, say, Half-Life 2, can it?
(Plus, I really should be playing everything with the details turned way up, in order to get the prettiest screenshots.)
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