Major Start Up Problem

Z

Zman4700

New Member
Hello,
I've had my homebuilt pc for about a year and a half now and everything has been running very smoothly with it until yesterday. Basically I was just sitting at my computer when suddenly it freezes with a stuttering on the audio, and then goes to this blue screen saying something about a dump. When I tried to start up my computer it would get past the vista loading screen and then come to a black screen with the cursor (the cursor won't move) then after about a minute will restart. This made me think it was a problem with the OS, so i put in my repair disk, and it tells me that this can not be done automatically and asks me to send this problem to Microsoft. Now still, every time i startup my computer it will come to that black screen with the cursor and restart again. What do i do?
Help is much appreciated,
Zach
 
Well as you can tell, Vista crashed. Vista is known for crashes. There really isn't anything that you can do unless you created a backup, or resort to your restore point (if it asks you if you want to go to the last restore point, do it).
Have you tried to start it in safe mode?
If that doesn't work, see if you can download Windows 7 RC and then upgrade (Note, upgrade, NOT do a full format/install). An upgrade will let you keep all your stuff on your desktop. A full format/install will wipe your HDD.
 
Could be any number of things, overheating, hard drive, corrupted install/virus. Best course of action would be to check for these. I would start by downloading seatools for dos and running a long generic and long drive self test, and see if any errors are generated. If not, you might want to reinstall windows..
 
It's the Release Canidate for Windows 7 (release date oct 22.) And if you do an upgrade with Windows 7, you can keep all your info.
Or you probably might want to try downloading seatools for dos and running a long generic and long drive self test, like Bomberboysk said. If that doesn't work then do a reinstall, or upgrade to Windows 7.
 
Just a quickie here, your MBR could have been infected with some kind of malicious code. Check that while your in the mood to do something.


In case you need help, MBR is an acronym for Master Boot Record.
 
ok so seatools didn't work because 11% into the long test it said there was an error because i didn't have a segate drive or something like that.
 
aviation_man said:
Well as you can tell, Vista crashed. Vista is known for crashes.
Click to expand...

That's pretty weak trying to blame the OS for a possible hardware failure.

He's had no issues until now, in case you didn't read correctly.

How much RAM do you have? Have you tried removing all but
one stick and trying to boot again?

Here's a link to Memtest86. You'd have to burn it to a disc and
run it at startup to test your RAM, but it may be worth a shot.
 
Last edited:
i tried switching out each piece of RAM at a time, btw i have 2GB of Corsair Dominators, but the only difference I've noticed is no matter which stick is switched out, as long a i only have one in, the cursor on that black screen can now move right away. does that mean anything?
 
everytime i put the iso on a cd using the apllication "Burn" for the mac, it just doesn't recognize the cd on startup. I'm selecting to boot from the cd drive too, what could i be doing wrong?
 
Zman4700 said:
alright i got memtest running on version 3.4, how do i know when i have an error or something wrong with my memory?
Click to expand...

You will see RED everywhere.

No RED means good. Most likely you would see it right away, but I would
let it run for 10 or 15 minutes anyway.
 
Zman4700 said:
ok its been 20 minutes in and still no red, do u think its not a memory problem?
Click to expand...

I would think at this point that it is not a memory problem.

What happens when you try to boot from your Windows disc?

Do you have one? Are there any options on the BIOS Splash Screen
to "Enter Recovery" or such?

Also, what motherboard do you have? Does it have onboard video?

Do you have a video card?

Please post all your specs, like CPU, GPU, PSU, RAM
 
This sounds to me somewhat like a harddrive issue, what kind of harddrive do you have? Could find the drive testing utility from its manufacturer and you could try that...

Also, 20minutes isnt really enough to know if your memory is bad, you really should run a test for a few hours if not overnight...
 
Alright I passed the 86Memtest so its not a RAM problem.

I'm trying to figure out if there is a hard drive utility or a way to check if my hard drive is bad. I have a "Samsung 500GB HD501LJ"

Specs:
My Graphics Card Is A 9800GX2
Processor is a Q9450 overclocked to 3 GHz
4GB of Corsair Dominator RAM
P5Q Deluxe Mobo
1000W Modular Corsair PSU
 
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