Boot Up Problem!

[gazz496]

ok well thats one thing less to worry about you may have to do a clean install anyway, what mother board are you using does it have dual bios? access the bios and select to return to factory settings or similar option to reset the bios and try again if that works you won't have to do a clean install but if it doesn't you'll need a clean install and when you do that all files are put into a folder called windows old so you won't lose anything apart from apps

 

[Upinflames]

Sorry for being so difficult but nothing I found could disable the auto reboot. But is there any type of installation that will reset or change my HAL and keep all of my programs

 

[gazz496]

Sorry for being so difficult but nothing I found could disable the auto reboot. But is there any type of installation that will reset or change my HAL and keep all of my programs an files.

if you could get a copy of your bios you could flash it but i would not recomend that for a home user.

 

[Upinflames]

I just tried resetting my BIOS and still didn't boot. I am also hesitant because I don't remember all of my apps :/ and I have System Mechanic and I've run out of keys for that. But atleast all of my files would still be there

 

[Fumz]

Hello I've recently had an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ installed on my Dell. Now my computer gets to the progress scroll bar page then it goes black and reboots. I've tried repairing and restoring but both are unsuccessful. I want to avoid a clean install as much as possible. Can someone please help me get my computer working. Any help is appreciated.

Who installed the cpu for you?

While a dual core uses a different version of HAL than a single core, if the motherboard is the same and its bios supports the new dual core cpu, you should have no issues whatsoever. Windows, as long as the previous requirements are met, will recognize the new cpu and use the proper HAL. I've done this more than once, so I know you don't need to reinstall as long as the motherboard is unchanged.

You should find out if your current bios supports dual core cpus? Could you provide us with more info (as much as you've got) on this Dell? We need to see anything and everything you've got on the board.

I suspect it's your bios. If that's the case, you're going to have to bring the machine back to whomever installed the cpu for you, have him put back your old cpu and flash to a later bios.

I would be pissed though... that machine should have never left in the state that it's in.

 

[gazz496]

your files will be safe. last time i did a clean install it copied the entire windows folder all apps and everything from my c drive including programme files but i could not move those apps across as they need to create registry info and so forth which is done during installation but think of this as a fresh start, and it will give you the chance to not install those apps you thought were usfull but never used.

 

[Upinflames]

Hello I've recently had an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ installed on my Dell. Now my computer gets to the progress scroll bar page then it goes black and reboots. I've tried repairing and restoring but both are unsuccessful. I want to avoid a clean install as much as possible. Can someone please help me get my computer working. Any help is appreciated.

Who installed the cpu for you?

While a dual core uses a different version of HAL than a single core, if the motherboard is the same and its bios supports the new dual core cpu, you should have no issues whatsoever. Windows, as long as the previous requirements are met, will recognize the new cpu and use the proper HAL. I've done this more than once, so I know you don't need to reinstall as long as the motherboard is unchanged.

You should find out if your current bios supports dual core cpus? Could you provide us with more info (as much as you've got) on this Dell? We need to see anything and everything you've got on the board.

I have a Dell Dimension C521.
My old processor was an AMD Sempron 3400+(single core)
My chipset is an Nforce 430
My ram is 512(used to be 1.5gb but then my 1 gig stick was defective)
My Graphic Card is a GeForce 6150LE
I don't know myh motherboard.

 

[Upinflames]

your files will be safe. last time i did a clean install it copied the entire windows folder all apps and everything from my c drive including programme files but i could not move those apps across as they need to create registry info and so forth which is done during installation but think of this as a fresh start, and it will give you the chance to not install those apps you thought were usfull but never used.

So every file and program is still there but in a folder called Old Windows? So I would still have them so I could decide which to reinstall?

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello upinflames.

All you have installed is 512MB or RAM, that's barely enough to run Vista.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/get/system-requirements.aspx













Later Ted

 

[Upinflames]

Hello upinflames.

All you have installed is 512MB or RAM, that's not enough to run Vista Home Premium.

Get Windows Vista: System requirements











Later Ted

I have home basic I don't know if that makes the difference. But I should be getting a new one soon. Could this be the problem?

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Yes I noticed you have H. Basic, it could be. I wouldn't do anything until you got more RAM.

You need to have a talk with whoever installed the CPU.















Later Ted

 

[Upinflames]

Yes I noticed you have H. Basic, it could be. I wouldn't do anything until you got more RAM.

You need to have a talk with whoever installed the CPU.















Later Ted

Ok I'll wait for the more RAM and contact my installer for help, otherwise in a few weeks I will bring back this topic. Thanks to everyone who posted.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

I hope you get it sorted, yes please post back and let us know ...

















Later Ted

 

[Fumz]

Ok I'll wait for the more RAM and contact my installer for help, otherwise in a few weeks I will bring back this topic. Thanks to everyone who posted.

If you're planning on taking the machine back to the same guy who let it out of his door in the condition it is... I would consider someone else.

 

[Blaydrnnnr]

The people who installed your CPU should have known and informed you that 512MB of RAM would be a problem, and reputable techs would not have done a CPU swap until your machine was stable as far as hardware is concerned, a question.. maybe i missed it... was the machine running with this new CPU? If so...was it running with only the 512MB of RAM? Or...did the problems start after your RAM went bad? For the forum Techs....could that machine need RAM in pairs?

 

[Dzomlija]

No the motherboard was not changed. I went from an AMD Sempron 3400+ to AMD Athlon 64 x2 5400+. I don't have my old cpu. Doesn't the back up back up my programs too?

Ok, let's try and see what the error is. Turn on the computer, and after the POST, but before windows begins to boot, continually press F8 to get to the boot menu. If there is an option to "Disable automatic restart on system failure" (like on XP), then select it. If the system resets now, the error message should stay on screen. Make a note of what it says (as much detail as possible).

From there, we may be able to give further instruction.

Also, try resetting the BIOS to failsafe defaults.

Ok, and I tryed pressing F8 but nothing came up

If continually pressing F8 before Vista starts doesn't help, then do you get a boot menu that state Vista didn't start properly? This menu usually gives 30 seconds before normal booting resumes. If you press F8 then, what happens?

 

[Dwarf]

Hi upinflames,

I have just had a look at the documentation for your motherboard (links below). In the 'Owners Manual' (2nd link), refer to the section headed 'Advanced Troubleshooting' beginning on page 47. What is the pattern of the 'Diagnostic Lights' as shown in this section? These lights are on the front of your system, numbered 8 in the image below.


Documentation
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dimc521/en/OM_EN/RP333A00.pdf
Documentation
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dimc521/multlang/PM/DAO/PY374A01.pdf

 

[Upinflames]

The people who installed your CPU should have known and informed you that 512MB of RAM would be a problem, and reputable techs would not have done a CPU swap until your machine was stable as far as hardware is concerned, a question.. maybe i missed it... was the machine running with this new CPU? If so...was it running with only the 512MB of RAM? Or...did the problems start after your RAM went bad? For the forum Techs....could that machine need RAM in pairs?

When they installed the cpu they noticed that the RAM was defective and cuasing my computer problems so they removed it.

 

[Upinflames]

Ok, let's try and see what the error is. Turn on the computer, and after the POST, but before windows begins to boot, continually press F8 to get to the boot menu. If there is an option to "Disable automatic restart on system failure" (like on XP), then select it. If the system resets now, the error message should stay on screen. Make a note of what it says (as much detail as possible).

From there, we may be able to give further instruction.

Also, try resetting the BIOS to failsafe defaults.

Ok, and I tryed pressing F8 but nothing came up

If continually pressing F8 before Vista starts doesn't help, then do you get a boot menu that state Vista didn't start properly? This menu usually gives 30 seconds before normal booting resumes. If you press F8 then, what happens?

Nothing.

 

[Fumz]

The people who installed your CPU should have known and informed you that 512MB of RAM would be a problem, and reputable techs would not have done a CPU swap until your machine was stable as far as hardware is concerned, a question.. maybe i missed it... was the machine running with this new CPU? If so...was it running with only the 512MB of RAM? Or...did the problems start after your RAM went bad? For the forum Techs....could that machine need RAM in pairs?

When they installed the cpu they noticed that the RAM was defective and cuasing my computer problems so they removed it.

The more you describe them, the less legit they seem. Just so we're straight: you brought them your working machine so they could replace the cpu. They handed you back an inoperable machine, and told you they had to remove 1GB of your RAM, "because it was bad", and, if that weren't bad enough on it's own, kept your old cpu and this "bad RAM"?

My god... I don't know where to begin? I mean your machine worked before you brought it in, so you know they're full of sh!t and that they just ripped you off 1GB of RAM. They also ripped you off a working, fully functioning, fully sell-able cpu. What right do they think they have to keep your parts? And, lets not forget that (giving them the undeserved benefit of the doubt) they claimed to test, but let you walk out of the door with a machine that will not boot... this isn't pc repair, it's criminality.