Vista Crashes on install process

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

hello,
I have been using Vista Ultimate Since the Initial launch date and up until recent it has ran perfectly, However over the past few weeks i have been experiencing shut down times of in excess of 10 minutes. The past 24 hour have been catastrophic for me and startup can take anything from 2 minutes to an hour and a half.

I have been unable to access things such as 'my computer' etc and just hangs. when i force a close from the task manager it says Explorer has caused and problem yada yada yada, click to restart program / end program etc. no matter what option i choose it hangs the system.

So...
I thought to hell with it and I would put the Windows Vista DVD in and completely flatten and start again

HOWEVER
i put the disk in and i get the message "press any key to boot from CD / DVD" which i do

it then begins to access the disk and get the.....
Windows is loading files
(Which completes all the way to 100%)
Then the next screen is the little green windows loading bar (the usual one that happens when Vista loads normally)
it goes at this for a few minutes then just hangs and the system goes quite no accessing of the DVD drive or the HDD (ie the HDD light doesn't Flash)
I have left it sitting like this for 2 hours and nothing.

I have Powered off the PC and unplugged it and repeated the process to no avail it still hangs.

All i want to do is format the machine so i can start from fresh

System Specs.....

Intel Core2 Extreme CPU (Q6850) @ 3Ghz (not overclocked in any way shape or form) (tested using Intel Processor diagnostics tool - Test result CPU -OK
8GB of memory (ran diagnostics tools on which is running perfectly)
Nvidia Ge Force GTX285 Graphics card (running smoothly)
Mainboard - ASUS Striker Extreme

richc46 · Feb 17, 2012

Lets start with a clean boot to help diagnose
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html
If that does not help download and make a full scan with malwarebytes the free version, and a full scan with your anti virus
http://www.malwarebytes.org/

If you cannot do these things due to your problem. We will try the restoration partition.
What is make and model of your computer?

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

clean boot?
i presume u mean formatting the hard drive?
if so how do i get to that as booting from the Vista Disk doesn't allow to get that far

richc46 · Feb 17, 2012

I have added to my post, prior to your comments. Read it again, and if you still have questions we will be glad to help.

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

Ok attempting to run the clean boot however the shut down process is still looking like it is gonna take 20 minutes

The PC is a Custom Build that i built a few years back so no actual make and model.
I have a bought and subscribed to McAfee Internet Protection package that constantly does antivirus and malware sweeps. Disk Defrag 'ran' every week last on on the 15th Feb however i have turned off the scheduled defrag to see if that was slowing the system down

richc46 · Feb 17, 2012

OK
If the problem is with some software, clean boot will help us determine. If it does not help:
Follow these instructions carefully (its up to you to decide if you actually want to save your stuff). If you cannot install this, we have a hardware problem; hard drive, memory etc. If you can install it, try to go into safe mode to see if we can get Vista repaired.
Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

i got bored with the 'shutting down' screen after 20minutes as nothing was happening so hit the reset button,
so in Theory it is running with a 'clean boot'
Boot up took under 2 minutes to hit my desktop.
Windows Memory test result pop up came up saying no error's detected with the mem test i ran.
Still can't access 'my computer' just sits there with a blank window
(I can access the contents of my Hard Drive using Firefox by typing c: in the address bar (which i could do before)

Clean boot or not it still seems to operate the same.
I can play games go online (using Firefox) use skype etc etc
it just crashes on things that seem to use 'explorer'
and takes forever to shut down.

TBH i have gone past the point of caring about the info on the machine. i just want to start fresh

richc46 · Feb 17, 2012

An educated guess indicates its one of three things:
Hard Drive
Memory
or Virus/Malware
If you can download Malwarebytes and run a full scan
Run a full scan with your anti virus

Use memtest86 for a memory test. Its the most accurate
Make a hard drive test.

Harddrive scan usings SeaTools - SeaToolsfor Windows | Seagate - Both long and shorttests
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/246994-guide-to-using-memtest86/

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

Memory Test Has come back Clear.

Malwarebytes quick scan came back with 2 results ( one with an explorer file and another with a reference file for explorer) both files removed
Unable to complete full scan as the system hangs after 1 hour 10minutes ish (over 350,000 files checked at that point

On Restart After removal of the 2 Malware items system still takes 20minutes to shut down.

Unable to install the Seatools item as i run the download/install file but nothing happens

richc46 · Feb 17, 2012

Sounds more and more like a virus. See if you can run anti virus and malwarebytes in safe mode. Far from ideal situation, but better than nothing.

wither 3 · Feb 17, 2012

one thing that the guys and gals recommend in here is Soluto. If you install that and reboot, you can see the processes that are loading during the boot and see what is taking the most time to load.

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

My anti virus runs a full scan daily with no results of any virus's. it checks for it's own updates weekly also.

Since the removal of the 2 files using malwarebytes windows will no longer boot at all ( after the scrolly green bar) the screens both go blank (however still recieving signal) and the system hangs

I am currently attempting the safe mode to see if that will run

Scan started in safemode with malwarebytes

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

malwarebytes has finished running and found zero malware
Antivirus (mcAfee) is on with Active Scanning Turned On (last full system scan completed on the 29/01/12,

Going back to the Clean Boot when i go in and check settings as per the link u gave me, everything is as the instructions however Mcafee has 4 or 5 programs that won't allow me to turn off when i unselect them and click apply it reapplies ticks to there boxes. this items are:..
McAfee Personal Firewall
McAfee McShield
Mcafee Firewall Core Service
McAfee Validation Trust Protection

If i try running a full scan in safe mode i get a message saying there is an unexpected problem occured during your scan.
Please Click Ok and go back to the Home Page and then try running your scan again

Obviously this just repeats when i try

Still unable to install the Seatools to check hard drive(it starts and i get the windows message asking me am i sure i want to run it) i Say Yes and the hard drive sounds like it is doing something. but then after a few seconds the hdd stops activity and nothing happens

Still unable to get in to normal mode

wither 3 · Feb 17, 2012

Personally, I would uninstall McAfee.

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

I was beggining to think the same thing so while i was in safe mode i did another system restore back to the turn of the year which enabled me to boot into normal mode. Whole there i hit uninstall mcafee however once it completed it asked me to reboot to allow all changes to take affect and once again system is stuck on "shutting down" and has been for over 10 minutes again with no hdd activity ooh while i am typing this message from my phone a bsod appeared with DRIVER POWER STATE FAILURE.

I seem to be getting away from the fact that the pc won't boot from the vista dvd to allow me to fully flatten and start again

wither 3 · Feb 17, 2012

Take a look at this- The shutdown process does not finish, and you receive an error message on a computer that is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008: "Stop 0x0000009F"

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

following that link says something about USB devices, so i have checked my device manager and wo and behold there is a
Profolic USB to Serial Comm port that has an error (little yellow triangle)
This device to my knowledge has never been there before and i never had little triangles within the device manager so i have no idea where it has come from so i am attempting to uninstall this device from the device manager.

again i don't understand why mcafee or this mystery device etc would prevent me from running the Vista Disk to allow me to format and start fresh?

I can understand that the mystery device could have something to do with the slow start up and shut down process.

wither 3 · Feb 17, 2012

In the anti-virus wars, every vendor (free or paid) has tried to be the best at protecting us. In the process, things like installing software have become a chore. I personally think it is overkill. The free Microsoft Security Essentials is, in my estimation, stellar without complicating things.

BitTorrent, McAfee and Kaspersky are really buggers. When you disable any anti-virus for the purposes of installing something, you also have to disable their security features. In some cases, all you need to do is add a particular software to their list of programs not to be scanned.

I thing you need to resolve that yellow triangle, as you said you are doing.

htp2k · Feb 17, 2012

Right.
I seem to be getting somewhere 'in a fashion'

after uninstalling the profolic USB serial adaptor i got a second device called scc60 or something had a yellow triangle.
thought b****r this and started randomly unplugging SD memory cards from the USB card readers that sit idle in my hubs.
Then i restarted the pc
On shut down it suddenly had 12 updates to install (probably due to the system restore done earlier in the night)
PC restarted after that and once again i can view the tree (with reletive speed within my computer once again) yay me
However the profolic usb serial device has once again reappeared within the device manager with a yellow triangle. SOOO
the only thing i can put the system hanging down to is the explorer trying to access one of the abundent SD cards in a reader somewhere.

Start up was certainly faster even with finishing off the updates.

Next test shut down the PC again and fingers crossed for a speedy response time back to under 60 seconds

Any further thinking on why the PC won't run the VISTA installer on boot up? cos after all this trouble i am still wanting to flatten it to start fresh just to get rid of the clutter?

wither 3 · Feb 17, 2012

You don't have any Samsung cameras attached to your system do you? Need more specifics on the so called scc60. I'm gone for the evening.

Vista Crashes on install process

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