Solved Vista won't start - Startup Repair can't.. what next

[stoneys-nutz]

Hmm, never seen that before, have you installed the new drivers, or is everything still big ?.
If you have not yet installed the new drivers, i would install them and see if it returns after a reboot, if it does, press Y. It may be it's confirming the un-install of the drivers.
If you are booting to normal mode, then it seems you are making progress.
Must be on the home straight.

 

[rosered]

Here goes nothing! Glad you think I'm making progress. Cheers and I'll be back to let you know how it goes.

 

[rosered]

Oh bugger. I have just installed the drivers and restarted in normal mode and its back to a blank screen.

One step forwards......

What do I do know, drop kick it out the window perhaps?

RRxx

 

[stoneys-nutz]

Lets recap, (again),
System restore, wont work.
Repair from disc, wont work.
System file repair, wont work.
Checked for malware and registry errors, wont work.
Drivers cleaned and re-installed, wont work.

I think at this point it's worth considering re-installing Vista.
If there are files you want to keep, boot in to safe mode and save them to disc.
If the file system is so damaged and cant be repaired, and it wont boot in to Vista, then i cant see any other option.
This will at least tell you if it's software, or hardware.
I'm so sorry that you cant fix it without having to resort to a re-install, on the plus side though, think of all the things you can now do, that you couldn't do last week.
Let me know how the re-install works for you.
Good luck and if there is anything else you need help with you just need to ask.

 

[rosered]

Hi again,

Ok thank you for the recap. The only thing on your list I hadn't done was the malware because I couldn't get online in safe mode at the point you posted it.

So today I did the driver uninstall and it let me on in normal mode (altho big sized icons etc) to download Guru and new drivers, so I have once again rebooted in safe, uninstalled the drivers, rebooted in normal and downloaded the malware thing.

I am now running this and have 179 infections which sounds really scary too. It is still plodding through so presumably I just have to fix/delete them when its finished?

I will then try all the other steps and if all else fails do the revert to factory settings thing. The only thing I will lose is some video files cos they won't copy across to our external hard drive but its not the end of the world... I have a back up of all our photos and documents. I will just have to re-do and burn them again, unless you know of an easy and fool proof way to move them over.

Thank you soooooo much for all your help. I'm sorry if I have been a bit dense.

Cheers

RRxx

 

[stoneys-nutz]

Hello rosered,
You have not been dense at all, done really well actually.
Sorry, i thought you had done the Malwarebytes scan, it's safe to delete anything it finds.

Just a thought, go here and try their drivers, i have heard that HP Machines are fussy when it comes to drivers.

Select software and drivers*

If you look down the list you will see a Vista hotfix, not too sure why they feel the need for a hotfix, but at this stage i cant see you have anything to lose by downloading and installing it too.
Let me know how it goes. Good luck.

 

[aerofanadam]

My old rig had a similar problem with a brand new GPU turned out bad and had to RMA but from the sound of things I'd definitely try any software fixes first then try vista reinstall. all old files will still be in windows.old so you shouldn't lose much but if even after that it still won't boot after newest driver then I'm afraid you may have to go GPU shopping.

 

[rosered]

Thanks Stoney for all the help and advice, downloaded the fixes from Compaq and still no joy. The thing works perfectly with the Nvidia card disabled (only downside everything is huge!!!) so I am kind of thinking now that its the card thats had it not the rest of the PC. We've been on internet... all fine, downloaded some stuff from Itunes and synced Ipod etc... all fine.

Thanks Aero for the reply. I have tried all the software type stuff now. Is it a hard job to change that? We have an old XP PC here that we never got rid of (it just slowed to the point of being steam powered) could we use the graphics card from that to see whether that is the problem before having to go and buy a new one? Also if it is, can we upgrade the graphics capability at the same time as my son does like his call of duty online game?

Would it be worth doing a Vista reinstall before going ahead with the graphics thing or does it sound like that is defo it? Also where would I find the windows.old thing if we do re-install Vista? See told you I was a bit dense!?!

Cheers guys for your answers.

RRxx

 

[stoneys-nutz]

I would do the re-install first, it's cheaper and eliminates the hardware one way or the other.
As for the card in the other machine, do you know what make and model it is, if it's PCI then it should fit, if it's AGP, then it wont.
If you try to install it you will see straight away if it will fit or not, they have different slots and pins. They are easy to fit so have a go and let us know how it goes.
I would remove the card from the XP machine first and take a look at how it's secured, better to break the old one than the new one, but I'm sure you will be able to handle it OK.
You will be building your own machine in no time

 

[rosered]

Stoney my man you have far too much faith in my ability altho the prospect of taking old machine apart is intriguing and a little exciting. Oh lordy I am turning into a computer geek!!

Ok I will have a go at the re-install tomorrow when I have a clear head and loads of time. Think I may have to have a stiff drink tonight just to fortify myself, thats my excues anyway!. I will no doubt be on here tomorrow seeking advice when I've buggered it up entirely.

Cheers matey!

RR xx

 

[Techymike]

Just wanted to say hello and see how you are doing Stoneys-nutz

 

[stoneys-nutz]

Just wanted to say hello and see how you are doing Stoneys-nutz

Hello Techymike,
I'm fine, just cleaned out all the dust from my machine, cant believe how much gets in there, lol, it was going to be a quick clean out, but ended up stripping it down completely and doing a rebuild. Running sweet and cool again.

 

[Techymike]

Glad to hear you had some fun dusting the bunnies out of the PC.

 

[aerofanadam]

GPUs are the simplest to install but like Stone said if the old one is pci you should be fine putting it in the new rig. Depending on the mobo it may still have an AGP slot but it's no likely as that's old tech. New mobo's are all PCIe 2.0x16. The only thing I would advise with buying a new card is to make sure your current power supply can handle it. Pay close attention to the +12V Amps required by new card as well as watts. You should find a sticker on the power supply telling you the watts and amps.

 

[metalriff]

Good thread, I'm having the same trouble as the original poster. This is a work computer so I'm desperate to get it to boot soon. Im going through the list right now and will let you know, thanks Todd

 

[metalriff]

In going through all these tests, a new error just popped up on the blue screen of death, Driver_Power_State_Failure. I see the fan on the vid card is not spinning and its very hot. Thanks
Also a error that says page fault in a nonpaged area.And the small fan on the Radeaon 2400 vid card is very very hot. Thanks

 

[metalriff]

Well sorry to reply to myself again, lol. I had identical problems to the first poster, all kinds of boot errors etc. I took the vid card out threw it in the freezer for 5 min, plugged it in and the computer booted right up faster than ever.! So just a heat issue in the card, really screws everything else up i guess. Looks like about $20 for fan kit on ebay for my type of card, cool. Thanks

 

[rosered]

Hi Stoney/Aero

So I did the restore to factory settings and it all sort of locked up when it first came on.... said please wait a moment while Windows prepares to start for the first time..........

And there it sat for ages and ages and ages, doing nothing. So I turned it off and it rebooted and got stuck at exactly the same place. I have re-run the factory restore and it is sitting hanging again.

Do I turn it off and on again in safe mode, disable the graphics card and go card shopping? Old Pc was a bust, couldn't even find the card in it... plus had a brown slot which I found was the out of date style anyway. (The upside was my teen son had a great time examining the insides of a PC - he was quiet for hours!)

Any advice gratefully received!

RRxx

 

[rosered]

Ok so I gave up and turned it off, took all the leads out and took the side off and de-dusted it. OMG who knew that that lot could get in there. Yuck! So thanks to stoney and techymike for suggesting that to me albeit in a round about way.

Anyway switched it back on and hit F8 to open in safe mode to see what happens. The initial Compaq screen which is black background with red Compaq on had been having odd fine black lines through it but didn't when I switched it back on. It then hung on the Vista loading screen for ages... then black screen with white cursor arrow and has now just restarted.... but guess what I do believe its working.

So is my problem a bit of fluff and an over hot GPU (see I'm getting the lingo!) And if it is how do I stop it getting over hot again?

Am I doing your heads in entirely now?! You have my thanks... I just await your next tug down the path of being a computer nerd. (I'm loving it really!)

RRxx

 

[rosered]

WHOOP WHOOP!!!!

Ok so I am typing this on my PC not my net book! Guess what - it works. Yay me.... and all those who posted and guided me on my path. HUGE thanks to all of you.

I am still concerned about how to keep my GPU cool, Metalriff said about putting a fan on it/in there somewhere. So any guidance on that would be hugely appreciated.

Just got to copy over old files and restore the back up of the video files that I did and hopefully it will all be tickedy boo!

Loving your work guys.

RRxx