Serious Trouble wit Bootup

imported_Slip

Member
Nov 29, 2004
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ok this might be along stroy but i need help BAD. The computer wont boot up. XP home has its load up screen and the bar moves across and then freezes, so i put in the disk and do a repair, it gets past the load up screen but then when it goes to log in it is very very very slow. I look at the device manager and it shows that the video card (Palit FX5700LE 256mb) and the sound card (audigy 2 ZS) are not installed properly, so i got to install the latest nvidia drivers, it says reboo6t which i do and this time it gets past the windows xp home login but once it gets past that i get a black screen, and as for safe mode, well all i get is the four safe mode signs, a coursor to play with and a black screen.
Please help me!!!!!!
Thanks heaps
Slip
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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It can take a long time for Safe Mode to get around to actually hitting the desktop. Try again and have a sandwich while you let it contemplate its crimes :D

Bigger picture: do you have any hunches what might've caused this? And can you tell more about the computer (brand+model if it's a pre-built Gateway/Dell/Compaq, or some spec info if it's your own build)? Welcome to the Forums :)
 

imported_Slip

Member
Nov 29, 2004
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waited 2hrs for safe mode to get in, need alot of sandwiches. Comp is a custom one with the vid card and sound card i said before cpu is a P4 3.2, 1g pmi ram ddr400, solteck board. this is really annoying, thnals for helping me thou

Slip
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
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Is this a new install, or has the computer worked properly before?
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Whoa, ok, 2 hours is plenty :Q

  1. Do you have another computer that you could put that hard drive into as a second drive, so you could run an antivirus scan on it using the healthy computer as the host?
  2. Got any ideas what could've brought this on? For example, if I just installed a new piece of software and then this happened, or I opened a suspicious email and something odd occurred...

     :light:
    :Q ~ ahhh.
  3. Do you have a high-speed internet connection such as Cable or DSL?
  4. Do you have a hardware firewall (a router)?
  5. Did the computer have a software firewall (Sygate, ZoneAlarm, Windows Firewall, or another one)?
  6. What antivirus software did the computer have, and be as specific as you can about what year it was. Was it up-to-date on its virus definitions?
  7. What brand and model is the power supply?
  8. What brand and model is the memory?
  9. What model is the Soltek mobo (yes I really want all this stuff :D)
  10. The computer you're on now, does it have a CD burner so that you could download stuff and burn it to CD in case it's necessary?
I'll probably think of some more stuff after a while but if you can give those, that'll help with the big picture.
 

imported_Slip

Member
Nov 29, 2004
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ltc8k6 it is has worked before
im goin out tonight mechbgon so i will try ure ideas 2morrow and let u know

thanks all

slip
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Those were mostly requests for info so I can think up a plan of attack. I'll pop in tomorrow and see what you can tell us. One more item: are there other computers on your home network, or is it the only one there, or are you in a dorm, or what's the situation.
 

imported_Slip

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Nov 29, 2004
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ok i put the harddrive in anouther computer updated nortons, installed spybot/updated, installed adaware/updated and installed/updated tds3 ran all of those and only spybot and adaware came up with things, BUT!!!! the interesting this is that i put the HD back into the comp booted up and went to safe mode, now it runs through those lines of files but stops on windows/system32/drivers/agp440.sys. does that help at all mechBgon ot LTX8K6
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Could you answer those nice, numbered, double-spaced questions up above :D
 

imported_Slip

Member
Nov 29, 2004
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i have (Westnet) 1.5 ADSL,

where i am now i have a server that is a firewall but where the comp normally is i dont think it has.

It might have norton firewall but i dont think so, it only has service pack 1 im pretty sure so i doubt it has software firewall

Power supply is Xsonic 400w

Memory is Pmi

i cant see the model of the board but it was put in about 2 months ago and was one of the top of the line ones for p4

and yes the comp that i am on now has a burner
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Ok, I'm trying to discern the underlying cause of the problem so it can be fixed. It looks like your Windows installation got messed up, and there are hardware issues that can cause that, and there are software/security issues that can cause that. It looks like you probably have some of each type of factor going on.

To try to cure the problem in the short term, you could try reinstalling your motherboard's chipset drivers and then your video drivers, and see if that helped. Once you tell me what model of Soltek you have, I can provide links, so pop the cover and look for a model number on the motherboard, or look at your invoice.

If that doesn't help, the next thing would be a Repair-style reinstall of WindowsXP, which I can give a routine for doing that if the previous attempt doesn't work.

In terms of really fixing the likely causes for Windows getting messed up, I'd start by replacing that Xsonic 400W power supply with a known high-quality brand of power supply like Enermax, Fortron, or Antec, in the 400W+ range. PSU quality is important, just like the octane of gasoline is important to some cars. Also, chances are your memory could use a little more voltage than it's getting from the motherboard, simple to fix once I know what motherboard it is.

The security stuff could easily have something to do with it. Whether it does or not, it would be a good idea to correct the lack of firewall, lack of Windows patching, and (?) lack of antivirus software. You can fix all that in twenty minutes by installing WinXP Service Pack 2, and Grisoft AVG Free Edition antivirus or another antivirus of your choice. Wormholes gone, Windows Firewall up, antivirus installed, Data Execution Prevention added. :cool: More info here, make yourself spend 5 minutes reading it :) If it saves your credit-card number getting picked off by a keystroke logger, it'll be worth it.

So I'll wait for info on what motherboard and what PQI RAM you've got. Both of them should say right on them, or look at your invoice.
 

imported_Slip

Member
Nov 29, 2004
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ok i have gotten into windows since doin a security scan on my other computer but it still loads really slow, and the errors of the installed sound and vid card where there so i have unistalled the drivers for them and that has made it a little quicker and it is a garuented start up every time, but still slow, i completed a defrag and am now doing a scan disk, I am now about to find out the board model now so will let you know in a sec
 

imported_Slip

Member
Nov 29, 2004
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SL-87CW-F/SL-87CW-FL that is the board, i dont have the invoice and i have looked all over the board to find the model and i swear it says nothing (nothing i can see anyway) so i looked on the soltek website and there is only one that looks like the board and that is the one i have written.

Thanks for your time mechBgon i do appreciate it
 

imported_Slip

Member
Nov 29, 2004
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ive had enough with it, i am going to format the drive and do a whole new reinstall, but i wilol still run CPU-Z throu and let you know what the board is.
Thanks for everything
Slip
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Ok cool. Remember the fundamental principle here: firewall must be up before the computer ever gets connected to the modem. The firewall can be a router, or Windows Firewall, or ZoneAlarm. I would get that full Service Pack 2 installer and use it, since it gets you Windows Firewall, plugs the wormholes and adds DEP (among other things).

Good luck, and if you can tell me the mobo, I can go find the drivers so you can have them pre-downloaded also.
 

imported_Slip

Member
Nov 29, 2004
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ok mechBgon, this is really making my mind go weird, it worked fine after the format and new install, i put all the drivers in and it was going fine. I then installed AVG 7 and spybot and adaware and updated them all, Then i started to go to the windows updates, got through two of them good but on the third one when it said to restart. So i did but it didnt start up properly and i did a few reboots and then i got a blue screen of death with the error code of c0000415, so i googled that and it told me it was a vid card driver, i took my vid card out and put in a gigabyte 9800xt and still it frooze on boot up, so i did a windows repair but that did nothing. I took the 9800xt out and put the old vid in and nowit works
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Ok, answer this: did you have your firewall up before plugging the computer into the modem like I tried to emphasize?

examples of a firewall:
  • ZoneAlarm
  • Windows Internet Connection Firewall, aka Windows Firewall
  • a router such as a Linksys BEFSR41, Netgear RP614 or similar
 

imported_Slip

Member
Nov 29, 2004
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Nope comp back again, mate said that he burned a couple of dvds and played a game and it went fine buit when he boot up again it wouldnt start. ARGHHHHHHH