Windows xp reluctant to boot up. - Help

Gnorm47 · 16-07-2008, 05:03 PM

Starting up the PC in the morning is becoming a challenge. The start page comes up and then goes into looking for the boot files. Sometimes it finds them sometimes it does not. This is a problem when the pc has been turned off or hibernated overnight or longer. Resuming or restarting the PC after short periods is not a problem!
I generally pull the plug and restart it, if it does not boot after two or three times I go into BIOS settings and reload boot default settings (this does not change any of the settings on the screen) and the machine will then generally start.
The only other problems seems to be it takes ages to load programs, I.E , Outlook express, MS Office etc.
Has anybody any ideas. - PLEASE

Ghostman 1 · 16-07-2008, 07:30 PM

Change your bio's battery, Or you can remove the battery for 2 minutes and replace and see if does anything.. Plus do not use the hibernate... It will always cause problems.

Gnorm47 · 16-07-2008, 08:39 PM

I have changed the batteries recently. I will try taking them out for a couple of minutes and see.
Norm

Ghostman 1 · 16-07-2008, 09:25 PM

How long has it been doing this ? If it is just a couple of days , then your could do a system restore ..

Gnorm47 · 16-07-2008, 09:48 PM

It has been doing it for some months now. I have been through the recovery procedure -which restores machine back to the state when the pc was new but it did no solve the problem

Ghostman 1 · 16-07-2008, 10:25 PM

Have you checked for a Virus ? It is sounding more and more like a hardware problem.
Something is clashing or missing.. Do you have a XP setup disk ? i would try a fresh install, then if that doesn't work then it will be either RAM/ hard drive or motherboard..

Fred · 17-07-2008, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghostman 1

Have you checked for a Virus ? It is sounding more and more like a hardware problem.
Something is clashing or missing.. Do you have a XP setup disk ? i would try a fresh install, then if that doesn't work then it will be either RAM/ hard drive or motherboard..

I would personally rather test the hardware first using memtest or dft to see if it is alright before doing a full restore. Also, when your computer is having trouble booting, will it boot to safe mode?

Gnorm47 · 17-07-2008, 07:53 PM

I have just done mem test and it showed no errors.
The Hd is a seagate, somewhile ago I used the seagate disc checker and it said that the disc was on the brink of failing, I have checked it on the same site several times since and it has not come up with any faults.
I have used chkdsk, and defrag. I have just done a check with "Drive Speed Checker" from Exhibition software and it has presented the following results:-
Drive overall write speed 7.731 kb/sec
Drive Overall read speed 22.476 kb/sec
File copy speed for 10mb 1.501 sec
Directory look up speed for 10000files 25.485secs
File delete speed for 20mb 1.032
The speed checker rates these as slow.
I have AVG virus software and it has taken 3.5 hours to scan the pc.
Is there any connection with the boot problem - is the HD dying?

Gnorm47 · 17-07-2008, 07:55 PM

The machine came with XP preloaded so no set up discs, so I am unable to do a clean Install

16-07-2008, 05:03 PM	#1 (permalink) Top
Gnorm47 Geek Trainee Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Status: Offline	Windows xp reluctant to boot up. - Help Starting up the PC in the morning is becoming a challenge. The start page comes up and then goes into looking for the boot files. Sometimes it finds them sometimes it does not. This is a problem when the pc has been turned off or hibernated overnight or longer. Resuming or restarting the PC after short periods is not a problem! I generally pull the plug and restart it, if it does not boot after two or three times I go into BIOS settings and reload boot default settings (this does not change any of the settings on the screen) and the machine will then generally start. The only other problems seems to be it takes ages to load programs, I.E , Outlook express, MS Office etc. Has anybody any ideas. - PLEASE

17-07-2008, 07:53 PM	#8 (permalink) Top
Gnorm47 Geek Trainee Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Status: Offline	I have just done mem test and it showed no errors. The Hd is a seagate, somewhile ago I used the seagate disc checker and it said that the disc was on the brink of failing, I have checked it on the same site several times since and it has not come up with any faults. I have used chkdsk, and defrag. I have just done a check with "Drive Speed Checker" from Exhibition software and it has presented the following results:- Drive overall write speed 7.731 kb/sec Drive Overall read speed 22.476 kb/sec File copy speed for 10mb 1.501 sec Directory look up speed for 10000files 25.485secs File delete speed for 20mb 1.032 The speed checker rates these as slow. I have AVG virus software and it has taken 3.5 hours to scan the pc. Is there any connection with the boot problem - is the HD dying? Last edited by Gnorm47; 17-07-2008 at 07:54 PM. Reason: forgot to mention

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16-07-2008, 07:30 PM	#2 (permalink) Top
Ghostman 1 Ultra Geek Join Date: May 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 730 Times Helpful: 34 My Mood: Mellow Status: Offline	Change your bio's battery, Or you can remove the battery for 2 minutes and replace and see if does anything.. Plus do not use the hibernate... It will always cause problems.

16-07-2008, 08:39 PM	#3 (permalink) Top
Gnorm47 Geek Trainee Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Status: Offline	I have changed the batteries recently. I will try taking them out for a couple of minutes and see. Norm

16-07-2008, 09:25 PM	#4 (permalink) Top
Ghostman 1 Ultra Geek Join Date: May 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 730 Times Helpful: 34 My Mood: Mellow Status: Offline	How long has it been doing this ? If it is just a couple of days , then your could do a system restore ..

16-07-2008, 09:48 PM	#5 (permalink) Top
Gnorm47 Geek Trainee Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Status: Offline	It has been doing it for some months now. I have been through the recovery procedure -which restores machine back to the state when the pc was new but it did no solve the problem

16-07-2008, 10:25 PM	#6 (permalink) Top
Ghostman 1 Ultra Geek Join Date: May 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 730 Times Helpful: 34 My Mood: Mellow Status: Offline	Have you checked for a Virus ? It is sounding more and more like a hardware problem. Something is clashing or missing.. Do you have a XP setup disk ? i would try a fresh install, then if that doesn't work then it will be either RAM/ hard drive or motherboard..

17-07-2008, 07:55 PM	#9 (permalink) Top
Gnorm47 Geek Trainee Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Status: Offline	The machine came with XP preloaded so no set up discs, so I am unable to do a clean Install

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