crashing during bootup

[wasted]

Hi

I suspect this will be hardware related rather than windows, but comments
welcome!

My main computer, using Win 7 keeps crashing during bootup - I get to see
the "Starting Windows" message and then the coloured bits of the Windows
logo appear and start to move in towards each other, but never quite get to
form the logo because then the screen goes blank, followed by a bright blue
screen with text for just an instant (too fast to read), then it starts to
reboot.

Now, my computer has two hard disks, D: being a cloned copy of C: (last
cloned about a week ago, well before this problem started) But the same
happens whichever of these two disks I try to boot from. It crashes at
exactly the same point.

I also have a smaller spare hard disk that was in this same computer as a
fully working C: drive up to a few months ago, when I replaced it with the
current larger one. So this spare disk is fully functioning. But when I put
this one in and try to boot from it, the computer still crashes at exactly
the same point.

If I try to boot into safe mode, again it goes so far along and then crashes
and reboots.

So to me the fact that 3 different disks crash at exactly the same point,
says its not a Windows fault.

Do you agree?

Does anyone know what is going on behind the scenes of the boot up process
when those colours are circling to form the Windows logo - I'm wondering if
that will give clues as to any particular part of the hardware that is being
accessed.

By the way the cooling fans are all clean and operational.

Many thanks

JIP




__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6758 (20120101) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

 

[Allen Drake]

Hi

I suspect this will be hardware related rather than windows, but comments
welcome!

My main computer, using Win 7 keeps crashing during bootup - I get to see
the "Starting Windows" message and then the coloured bits of the Windows
logo appear and start to move in towards each other, but never quite get to
form the logo because then the screen goes blank, followed by a bright blue
screen with text for just an instant (too fast to read), then it starts to
reboot.

Now, my computer has two hard disks, D: being a cloned copy of C: (last
cloned about a week ago, well before this problem started) But the same
happens whichever of these two disks I try to boot from. It crashes at
exactly the same point.

I also have a smaller spare hard disk that was in this same computer as a
fully working C: drive up to a few months ago, when I replaced it with the
current larger one. So this spare disk is fully functioning. But when I put
this one in and try to boot from it, the computer still crashes at exactly
the same point.

If I try to boot into safe mode, again it goes so far along and then crashes
and reboots.

So to me the fact that 3 different disks crash at exactly the same point,
says its not a Windows fault.

Do you agree?

Does anyone know what is going on behind the scenes of the boot up process
when those colours are circling to form the Windows logo - I'm wondering if
that will give clues as to any particular part of the hardware that is being
accessed.

By the way the cooling fans are all clean and operational.

Many thanks

JIP




__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6758 (20120101) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

If you are using an add on video card try removing it and reseating.
Try using onboard video also. You need to supply more information on
system specs for any more suggestions and what have you added lately
for software or hardware. Look in Event log to see what might be
there.

Al.

 

[Dave-UK]

Hi

I suspect this will be hardware related rather than windows, but comments
welcome!

My main computer, using Win 7 keeps crashing during bootup - I get to see
the "Starting Windows" message and then the coloured bits of the Windows
logo appear and start to move in towards each other, but never quite get to
form the logo because then the screen goes blank, followed by a bright blue
screen with text for just an instant (too fast to read), then it starts to
reboot.

Now, my computer has two hard disks, D: being a cloned copy of C: (last
cloned about a week ago, well before this problem started) But the same
happens whichever of these two disks I try to boot from. It crashes at
exactly the same point.

I also have a smaller spare hard disk that was in this same computer as a
fully working C: drive up to a few months ago, when I replaced it with the
current larger one. So this spare disk is fully functioning. But when I put
this one in and try to boot from it, the computer still crashes at exactly
the same point.

If I try to boot into safe mode, again it goes so far along and then crashes
and reboots.

So to me the fact that 3 different disks crash at exactly the same point,
says its not a Windows fault.

Do you agree?

Does anyone know what is going on behind the scenes of the boot up process
when those colours are circling to form the Windows logo - I'm wondering if
that will give clues as to any particular part of the hardware that is being
accessed.

By the way the cooling fans are all clean and operational.

Many thanks

Go back and enter the safe mode selection screen.
One of the choices offered should be to ' Disable automatic restart on system failure'.
Choose that, then you should be able to read any blue screen error messages .

 

[wasted]

If you are using an add on video card try removing it and reseating.
Try using onboard video also. You need to supply more information on
system specs for any more suggestions and what have you added lately
for software or hardware. Look in Event log to see what might be
there.

Al.

Hi Al

The system is based on an ASRock motherboard, Intel Core 2 Quad processor,
NVIDIA 8600GT GFX graphics card. Runs Win 7 64 bit, has 8GB RAM.

Tried reseating the graphics card - no change. I don't think there is an
onboard graphics chip.

I've just booted from Paragon's rescue disk, and have that GUI visible, and
am currently copying off the data from the past week.

I can't access the event log because can't boot even into safe mode.

I just recalled that the first time things went wrong, the first message I
saw was that the CMOS settings were faulty, and I was asked if I wanted to
load the default settings, which I did. I'll have a look in the CMOS
settings to see if anything screams out - and look to see if a graphics chip
is mentioned.

JIP


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The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

 

[wasted]

Go back and enter the safe mode selection screen.
One of the choices offered should be to ' Disable automatic restart on
system failure'.
Choose that, then you should be able to read any blue screen error
messages .

Would love to, but as I said, I can't boot even into safe mode

JIP


__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6758 (20120101) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

 

[Allen Drake]

Would love to, but as I said, I can't boot even into safe mode

JIP

I think that is a BIOS setting.

 

[Dave-UK]

Would love to, but as I said, I can't boot even into safe mode

You don't need to boot into safe mode.
Press F8 while booting to get to the Advanced Boot Options screen.
The choice of booting into safe mode is there at the top of the list.
Don't select that option , choose the one further down the screen.
See here:
http://www.admin1.myzen.co.uk/P7010005.JPG

 

[Jolly polly]

You don't need to boot into safe mode.
Press F8 while booting to get to the Advanced Boot Options screen.
The choice of booting into safe mode is there at the top of the list.
Don't select that option , choose the one further down the screen.
See here:
http://www.admin1.myzen.co.uk/P7010005.JPG

Do as Dave-UK suggests and choose Disable automatic restart on system
failure, this will halt the reboot circle

then post back here with the error code on the blue screen

 

[wasted]

You don't need to boot into safe mode.
Press F8 while booting to get to the Advanced Boot Options screen.
The choice of booting into safe mode is there at the top of the list.
Don't select that option , choose the one further down the screen.
See here:
http://www.admin1.myzen.co.uk/P7010005.JPG

Aahh! Never noticed that before - will try later - copying the data off as a
precaution is taking a long time! Will report back

JIP


__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6758 (20120101) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

 

[Stan Brown]

Go back and enter the safe mode selection screen.
One of the choices offered should be to ' Disable automatic restart on system failure'.
Choose that, then you should be able to read any blue screen error messages .

And to the OP: once you do get your system working, make the
appropriate Registry setting so that the system won't restart after
blue-screening. In Win 7 you don't even need to edit the Registry
directly:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/automatic-restart-windows-
7.htm

Why "restart on system failure" is the default option I have never
understood. At the least it should be be to restart after pausing
long enough to let a human read the screen, grope for a pen, and copy
down the stop code..

 

[DanS]

Hi Al

The system is based on an ASRock motherboard, Intel Core 2
Quad processor, NVIDIA 8600GT GFX graphics card. Runs Win 7
64 bit, has 8GB RAM.

Tried reseating the graphics card - no change. I don't
think there is an onboard graphics chip.

I've just booted from Paragon's rescue disk, and have that
GUI visible, and am currently copying off the data from the
past week.

I can't access the event log because can't boot even into
safe mode.

I just recalled that the first time things went wrong, the
first message I saw was that the CMOS settings were faulty,
and I was asked if I wanted to load the default settings,
which I did. I'll have a look in the CMOS settings to see
if anything screams out - and look to see if a graphics
chip is mentioned.

One of the most common hardware issues I've seen is bad RAM.

The 8GB your PC has, is that (2) 4GB sticks....(4) 2GB
sticks....?

Even before running a memory diagnostic tool, I'd boot up with
each individual RAM stick in the first slot, one at a time,to
see if the problem happens with one particular stick in place.

 

[Char Jackson]

And to the OP: once you do get your system working, make the
appropriate Registry setting so that the system won't restart after
blue-screening. In Win 7 you don't even need to edit the Registry
directly:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/automatic-restart-windows-
7.htm

The same exact steps work for Vista and XP. I'm not sure about earlier
versions of Windows. AFAIK, there's never been a need to edit the
Registry to prevent auto restart.

Why "restart on system failure" is the default option I have never
understood. At the least it should be be to restart after pausing
long enough to let a human read the screen, grope for a pen, and copy
down the stop code..

It's one of those things, along with the default "Hide known
extensions", that boggles the mind.

 

[wasted]

OK the error message says "A problem has been detected.......... check for
viruses, remove any newly installed hard drives or drive controllers. Check
hard drive to make sure it is properly configured. Run checkdsk /F

The code is

0x0000007B (0xFFFFF8809A9928, 0xFFFFFFFFC0000034, 0x0000000000000000,
0x0000000000000000

Now, as I said this same problem is occurring with 3 different hard disks as
the boot disk, including one that hasn't been in the computer for several
months, so I don't think it can be a virus or a faulty drive. I don't know
what a drive controller is or how I would be able to test it or replace it.
More ideas welcome.

JIP


__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6758 (20120101) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

 

[wasted]

One of the most common hardware issues I've seen is bad RAM.

The 8GB your PC has, is that (2) 4GB sticks....(4) 2GB
sticks....?

Even before running a memory diagnostic tool, I'd boot up with
each individual RAM stick in the first slot, one at a time,to
see if the problem happens with one particular stick in place.

It's 4 2GB sticks - will try that as well, but also see my reply to Dave-UK
about the actual error message now that I can see it.


__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6758 (20120101) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

 

[Jolly polly]

OK the error message says "A problem has been detected.......... check for
viruses, remove any newly installed hard drives or drive controllers.
Check hard drive to make sure it is properly configured. Run checkdsk /F

The code is

0x0000007B (0xFFFFF8809A9928, 0xFFFFFFFFC0000034, 0x0000000000000000,
0x0000000000000000

Now, as I said this same problem is occurring with 3 different hard disks
as the boot disk, including one that hasn't been in the computer for
several months, so I don't think it can be a virus or a faulty drive. I
don't know what a drive controller is or how I would be able to test it or
replace it. More ideas welcome.

does it also say INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE ?

 

[Char Jackson]

I suspect this will be hardware related rather than windows, but comments
welcome!

You mentioned later in the thread that your computer runs fine when
booted from your backup (Paragon?) CD, so it seems like the hardware
is probably fine. This looks like a Windows issue.

My main computer, using Win 7 keeps crashing during bootup - I get to see
the "Starting Windows" message and then the coloured bits of the Windows
logo appear and start to move in towards each other, but never quite get to
form the logo because then the screen goes blank, followed by a bright blue
screen with text for just an instant (too fast to read), then it starts to
reboot.

Now, my computer has two hard disks, D: being a cloned copy of C: (last
cloned about a week ago, well before this problem started) But the same
happens whichever of these two disks I try to boot from. It crashes at
exactly the same point.

Hopefully, those two cloned drives aren't connected at the same time.
A second test of the hardware, in addition to booting from your backup
program, might be to boot a Linux live CD. I'm guessing whatever
problem you're having, you transferred it to the second drive when you
cloned it.

 

[wasted]

does it also say INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE ?

No


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The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

 

[Paul]

does it also say INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE ?

http://aumha.org/a/stop.htm

Check the BIOS, and make sure the IDE/AHCI/RAID setting matches the setting
when Win 7 was installed.

Win 7 does have the ability to support multiple interface settings at the
same time. It has IDE, AHCI, and certain RAID drivers installed by default.
But once the OS boots the first time, it disables driver detection for
the other standards on subsequent boots, apparently to save time. There
is a re-arming procedure for enabling the drivers (if you know you're changing
standards, in a controlled way, and have access to the registry).

But other than that, try to put the BIOS disk interface setting, back
the way it was.

It could even be, that the motherboard has six SATA ports and two of six
don't support the same standard as the other four. Grabbing the wrong SATA
port and using it, might account for it.

You'd think the boot repair could fix that, but I don't know if re-arming
drivers is part of that option.

Paul

 

[wasted]

You mentioned later in the thread that your computer runs fine when
booted from your backup (Paragon?) CD, so it seems like the hardware
is probably fine. This looks like a Windows issue.


Hopefully, those two cloned drives aren't connected at the same time.
A second test of the hardware, in addition to booting from your backup
program, might be to boot a Linux live CD. I'm guessing whatever
problem you're having, you transferred it to the second drive when you
cloned it.

But it's also happening on the spare hard disk that hasn't been connected to
the computer for months, and happening at the exact same moment in the boot
sequence


__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6758 (20120101) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

 

[Dave-UK]

The same exact steps work for Vista and XP. I'm not sure about earlier
versions of Windows. AFAIK, there's never been a need to edit the
Registry to prevent auto restart.

The option to disable the automatic rebooting on system failure has not always been available
on that Advanced boot screen. Before that the only way to stop the loop was to boot from a rescue
disk and edit the registry ( or slave the disk in another PC and edit the registry.)
It must have been added in one of the Windows updates.