Vista-32 bit OS load problem

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

I'm having boot problems with Vista 32-bit after doing two
system-recoveries. They were done after a MS update really screwed up my PC
and a system-restore didn't help. It takes 2 to 3 tries before the OS
loads. I get a blue screen with choices such as to select F11 but when this
blue screen appears the mouse and keyboard do not work so I cannot select
anything. I have to keep shutting the PC off and turning it back on. After
several turn-offs and turn-ons the OS finally loads. I no longer hear what
was explained to me as the POST. Once the OS loads, the PC runs fine.
Nothing new was added to this PC before the problematic MS updates.

This is the error I'm getting now, after the system-recovery and if the Blue
screen doesn't appear:

MediaSheild Rom Bios9.83 N Vidia Corp
Detecting arrays

That screen will sit there forever as does the Blue screen until I reboot
the PC.

If I need new N Vidia drivers, how do I know which ones are needed? I now
have version 187.80 but have no idea what to replace it with if that's the
problem.


http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=105976 is what I found by
Googling but it goes so far over my head as to be useless. None of my
friends can help as none ever had this issue with V Vidia or the Blue Screen
as start-up.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

 

[webster72n]

I'm having boot problems with Vista 32-bit after doing two
system-recoveries. They were done after a MS update really screwed up my
PC and a system-restore didn't help. It takes 2 to 3 tries before the OS
loads. I get a blue screen with choices such as to select F11 but when
this blue screen appears the mouse and keyboard do not work so I cannot
select anything. I have to keep shutting the PC off and turning it back
on. After several turn-offs and turn-ons the OS finally loads. I no
longer hear what was explained to me as the POST. Once the OS loads, the
PC runs fine. Nothing new was added to this PC before the problematic MS
updates.

This is the error I'm getting now, after the system-recovery and if the
Blue screen doesn't appear:

MediaSheild Rom Bios9.83 N Vidia Corp
Detecting arrays

That screen will sit there forever as does the Blue screen until I
reboot the PC.

If I need new N Vidia drivers, how do I know which ones are needed? I
now have version 187.80 but have no idea what to replace it with if
that's the problem.


http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=105976 is what I found by
Googling but it goes so far over my head as to be useless. None of my
friends can help as none ever had this issue with V Vidia or the Blue
Screen as start-up.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

The Update never screwed up your PC, you did, by shutting off your PC
prematurely, when it told you not to.
Sadly I cannot help you with this dilemma of yours either.
The only thing I know of is to use your diagnostics disk.

Harry.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

"webster72n" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

He's power cycling at the blue screen when trying to boot after doing a
system recovery after the problems started after the update. Not during
the updates.

- Bill

Exactly! I keep getting the blue screen at start-up. I used the HP boot
disk to trouble shoot and it found nothing. There are no hardware problems.
I ran check-disk. Nothing makes a difference. After about 5 tries tonight,
the OS finally loaded. No POST. There has to be some cause for this but I
am unable to find a solution Googling.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

The Update never screwed up your PC, you did, by shutting off your PC
prematurely, when it told you not to.
Sadly I cannot help you with this dilemma of yours either.
The only thing I know of is to use your diagnostics disk.

Harry.

Shut the PC off prematurely? You told me not to? When? I have no idea
what
you're talking about.

The diagnostic disk/boot disk found nothing.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

"R. H. Breener Jr." wrote in message


What do you mean by "really screwed up" and "system recovery" ?

After those updates the PC was very slow. MozillaFireFox constantly froze
between tabs. Then the OS stopped loading and I'd get the blue screen which
couldn't be used as the keyboard and mouse wouldn't work. I would have to
shut the PC down and restart it several times before the OS would load. So
I did a system-restore twice, going back before the updates. That did
nothing so I did a system-recovery, which did nothing and so did a second
system-recovery. The other problems were cured but the OS still will not
load unless the PC is turned on and off several times. I get the Bluescreen
and the the HD light doesn't stay on after it checks the DVD and CD drives.
There are no POST sounds anymore.

And what, exactly, does the blue screen say? Not all the hex numbers, but
somewhere in there there is often a line or two of text which says
something about the failure.

I'm afraid to turn it off to get that information as it may not load again.
There are 3 choices on the Blue window such as F11 system-Restore, F
something else etc. Once a screen came up for a N Vidia error before the
Bluescreen. Rolling the updated v Vidia driver back to the earlier driver
got rid of that error.

Do you actually have a disk array? Or arrays? If so, how are they setup
(which RAID level) and how big?

I have no idea what a "disk array" is. This started after the MS update -
see above.

Why do you think this applies to your machine? This applies to machines
with two terabyte or larger disk arrays.

Just as well as I didn't understand most of it.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

"R. H. Breener Jr." wrote in message


Sounds like it's somehow been switched into fast boot mode and perhaps
optimized performance mode as well. This might explain the required
multiple starts. If things don't happen to time out just right, it gets
stuck. But in normal boot and performance mode the timing is more
generous.

How do I change it back to "normal mode?" Where would I find that choice?
No one but myself uses this PC so I know no one messed that up.

One assumes you'll have to turn it off sometime. When you do, please note
the blue screen particulars. Or, if you can take clear picture of it, do
so and send it to me. The address here is my actual email address.

OK. I'll shut it down tonight and see if I can take a pic of the blue
screen. I have to be out of town for almost a week but will have the laptop
with me. Better yet, I'll shut this one down after I send this post and see
if that Blue screen comes up. Sometimes it's just a black window with a
blinking - at the upper left hand corner. No text, nothing else.

Then unless someone else set up the machine for you, you probably don't
have one. Click the start button, open "Computer" and tell me what you
see.

I see the usual tree on the left side and on the right is listed the three
things: HP (C and under that Factory_Image (D and under that FreeAgent
(K all say "local disk. Under those are listed the different devices and
removable storage including the DVD drive (E and four others.

Also, just what is this machine? Manufacturer, model number, and so
forth. Best to get it off the data plate on the back. Might be in other
places. I've seen it on the side, near the back, on some Gateway's for
example.

- Bill

It's a Hewlet Packard Vista 32-bit, Pavilion Home Premium, a6333w. Graphics
by N Vidia. Do you need any other information? That's all I found on the
case.

I already ran the boot disk and did all the tests it showed, but nothing was
found. Check Disk didn't find anything and nothing was wrong with the
hardware. Could the copy of the OS on the D partition be somehow corrupt?
I'm at a real loss here.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Leary" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2012 11:27 AM
Subject: Re: Vista-32 bit OS load problem

One assumes you'll have to turn it off sometime. When you do, please note
the blue screen particulars. Or, if you can take clear picture of it, do
so and send it to me. The address here is my actual email address.

The blue screen says, at the top, Hewlett Packard Invent. Under that are
several choices:

F11 = System Recovery.
F10 = Setup
Esc = Boot Menu

That's it, but no choices can be made. That window will sit there forever
or until I shut the PC off and try again.

After I shut it off just now to get the information you wanted, the blue
screen came up, then changed to the black screen that says "Windows Didn't
Load". Then the usual "startup repair" window opened saying it will fix
problems automatically that it finds. It does a system-recovery. This
happens every few times but it never fixes the problem.

Usually the blue screen will just hang there or the black screen with the
blinking - until I shut the PC off and try again. This is very frustrating.

I found the original Recovery disks made when I bought this PC but have
never used them. Recoveries were made from the OS on the D: drive
partition.

 

[webster72n]

----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Leary" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2012 11:27 AM
Subject: Re: Vista-32 bit OS load problem



The blue screen says, at the top, Hewlett Packard Invent. Under that are
several choices:

F11 = System Recovery.
F10 = Setup
Esc = Boot Menu

You mean to say that when you press Esc the boot menu doesn't come up?

 

[webster72n]

in message news:[email protected]...

You probably missed it in the earlier messages, but his keyboard doesn't
work at this point. I looked up the machine. It has PS/w keyboard and
mouse connectors. He hasn't replied to my query yet, but I suspect he's
using a USB keyboard and the BIOS isn't set to do PS/2 emulation with a
USB keyboard.

- Bill

Sure did, Bill, thanks, that explains the situation.

Harry.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

You mean to say that when you press Esc the boot menu doesn't come up?

No. Nothing happens.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

"webster72n" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

You probably missed it in the earlier messages, but his keyboard doesn't
work at this point. I looked up the machine. It has PS/w keyboard and
mouse connectors. He hasn't replied to my query yet, but I suspect he's
using a USB keyboard and the BIOS isn't set to do PS/2 emulation with a
USB keyboard.

- Bill

The original KB is no longer with this Vista PC. I now have a MS KB and a
cheap mouse from Walmart.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

Sure did, Bill, thanks, that explains the situation.

Harry.

It still takes 2 or 3 tries before the PC will boot. Googling online I
found this is a common problem but found no solution. What can I try next?

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

"R. H. Breener Jr." wrote in message

---FROM YOUR 10:28 MESSAGE---


We'll get into that after I have a chance to look up your machine (which I
see you provided).


That's interesting.


Try unplugging the FreeAgent drive and see if that changes any of the
behavior.

I tried that already and it made no difference.

Let me look this up first.
OK.


Could be, but it's not all that likely. Besides, though HP machines
validated the partition before using it to recover.

----FROM YOUR 11:13 MESSAGE---


That's a sign of something pretty messed up.

I agree. Sometimes a window comes up telling me the PC didn't boot, then
does a Startup-Repair, and it suggests a system-restore. The KB and mouse
work with that window. It does a system-restore and the PC loads the OS,
but the next time I turn it on, it's the same old problem.

Are you using a USB keyboard? Does the machine have a plug for a PS/2
keyboard? If so, perhaps it doesn't support USB until Windows is up. Try
plugging in a PS/2 keyboard and see if you can get control. You'll need
to get control to attempt to reset BIOS to it's default settings.

What's the capacity of the disk drives, but the way.

The C: drive is 456 GBs. And D: drive is 9.57 GBs.

In my experience, this rarely works.

I can see that. It happens almost all the time and the problem remains.

The recovery partition brought the machine back to factory level? That
is, formatted the C: partition, you lost all your applications and data
from C: and all that?

I lose everything in the System-"Recovery". So yes, I assume it
reformatted the HD and reinstalled the OS. The startup problem remained.

If so, you've got little to loose by using the disks instead. But I'd put
that off until you're sure the BIOS settings aren't fouled up.

By the way, there's no need to clutter up a news group with this. We
could take this to direct email.

OK... I would like to know how to find out if the BIOS is fouled up. I
have CCed this to you and you can reply using my email address.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

"R. H. Breener Jr." wrote in message


I want to see if we can get you into the setup screens and tell the
machine to restore BIOS settings. But without a working keyboard, this is
difficult. The way to do it without a keyboard isn't that complicated,
but depending on how the machine has been customized, it could totally
disable it. And comparing what you've said about the machine and what
I've found out about it's factory setup, it's definitely been customized.
So, let's not go there just yet.

Note that this is not Windows restore we're talking about. You've done
that already. This is much lower level than that.

Open the following page, which has the technical data for your computer.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...foCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=3715498


Then scroll down until you get to the section titled "I/O PORTS" and the
subsection "BACK I/O PORTS". The port marked 1 is the PS/2 mouse
connector and the one marked 14 is PS/2 keyboard connector. From the data
a but further on it appears the machine came with a PS/2 keyboard and
mouse. Please verify, did your original keyboard and mouse plug into these
connectors?

I honestly can't remember since the original KB and mouse are along since
worn out and gone. The mouse and KB being use now have USB cables on them
and have for over a year, maybe longer.

The four connectors marked with 12 are USB ports. There are also two more
of these on the front of the machine. Do you new mouse and keyboard plug
into any of these connectors?

The mouse is connected to the port on the monitor. The monitor came with 2
USB ports. IT's been connected there for a long time.

And while we're collecting information, is there anything else plugged
into any of those USB ports? Front or rear?

The Seagate backup external drive in also plugged into the monitor's 2nd USB
port and has been.

Is there anything plugged into the IEEE 1394a connector, marked 4?

I don't see anything back there that looks like #4.

Also observe the VGA connector, marked 3 on the picture. From what you've
said about video related errors, I’m pretty sure your monitor is not
plugged in here, but please just let us know for sure.

Yes - that is where it is plugged in. Since getting an update for the N
Vidia, I'm not getting that error anymore.

Again, from what you've said, I expect you monitor is plugged into a card
in a PCI slot, immediately to the right of the connectors marked 8, 9 and
10 on the picture.

Nope. The end of the monitor cord would not fit there. It will only fit
where it's plugged in now.

So, the questions are:
1. Did your original keyboard and mouse plug into the PS/2 connectors 1 &
14 ?

I can't remember since they've been gone for a long time.

2. Do your current keyboard and mouse plug into the USB connectors marked
12 (or the similar ports on the front) ?

The mouse is plugged into the USB on the side of the monitor. The KB in
plugged into a USB port on the back. The back of my PC doesn't look like
that photograph. It's been this way for a long time.

3. Is there anything else plugged into any of the USB connectors marked 12
(or the similar ports on the front) ?
No.

4. Is anything plugged into the IEEE 1394a connector marked 4 ?

There is nothing I can see that resembles that.

5. Is your monitor plugged into the VGA connector marked 3 ?
Yes.

6. Is your monitor plugged into the PCI x16 slot, immediately to the right
of the audio (8, 9 & 10) connectors ?

It's in the one marked #3. It wouldn't fit anywhere else.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Oh, you say that you found that this is a common problem. Please give me
the URL of one or two of those pages you found.

- Bill

That was last week so I can't recall the exact websites. I Googled "Vista
can't load OS" and went from there. Just trying to find the exact same
problem was a b*tch. I never did in fact. One problem I've run into is
most advice is either too technical, not my exact problem or for a version I
don't have, nor do I have the MS disk for this PC. All I have is the set of
three made when I bought the PC. They no longer supply the MS OS disk as in
the past.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I honestly can't remember since the original KB and mouse are along since
worn out and gone. The mouse and KB being use now have USB cables on them
and have for over a year, maybe longer.


The mouse is connected to the port on the monitor. The monitor came with 2
USB ports. IT's been connected there for a long time.


The Seagate backup external drive in also plugged into the monitor's 2nd USB
port and has been.


I don't see anything back there that looks like #4.


Yes - that is where it is plugged in. Since getting an update for the N
Vidia, I'm not getting that error anymore.


Nope. The end of the monitor cord would not fit there. It will only fit
where it's plugged in now.


I can't remember since they've been gone for a long time.


The mouse is plugged into the USB on the side of the monitor. The KB in
plugged into a USB port on the back. The back of my PC doesn't look like
that photograph. It's been this way for a long time.


There is nothing I can see that resembles that.


It's in the one marked #3. It wouldn't fit anywhere else.


That was last week so I can't recall the exact websites. I Googled "Vista
can't load OS" and went from there. Just trying to find the exact same
problem was a b*tch. I never did in fact. One problem I've run into is
most advice is either too technical, not my exact problem or for a version I
don't have, nor do I have the MS disk for this PC. All I have is the set of
three made when I bought the PC. They no longer supply the MS OS disk as in
the past.

The mouse and drive plugged into the monitor's USB plugs rings a loud
alarm bell for me.

USB hubs (that's what you're using) are notorious for trouble.

OK, not notorious, but problems are not infrequent, so doing that is not
recommended in many situations.

Try plugging the mouse and drive directly into USB ports on the computer
and see how it goes.

No guarantees, but it's absolutely what I would do in your situation.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

"Gene E. Bloch" wrote in message


I've encountered this enough times that I always plug at least the keyboard
directly into the computer.

But, in this case I'm pretty sure his problem is that the machine came from
the factory with PS/2 keyboard and mouse. So the BIOS is most likely not
set up to do USB to PS/2 emulation. Therefore, the keyboard won't work in
BIOS.

Your point is valid, but he said his mouse is connected to the monitor, his
keyboard is connected to the back of the machine. So, as far as BIOS is
concerned, if it was doing USB to PS/2 emulation, it would be OK. I think
since it's normal configuration was PS/2 it probably just isn't emulating.

- Bill

Your criticism (constructive!) is valid, of course.

I wonder if there are adapters that would allow a USB KB to plug into
the PS/2 connector. Or maybe at a rummage sale, he could find an old
PS/2 KB.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

"R. H. Breener Jr." wrote in message


OK. All good news. The machine appears to be pretty much stock. Now go
here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01324212&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3715498

Scroll down until you find MOTHERBOARD LAYOUT. Observe the location of
the jumpers in the upper right corner. These are the CLEAR CMOS (upper)
and CLEAR PWD (password, lower) jumpers.

These are the jumpers you have to work with in the immediately following
section CLEARING THE BIOS SETTINGS. If everything exactly matches your
motherboard, go ahead and follow the instructions. Follow them exactly.
Do not do the CLEARING THE BIOS PASSWORD SETTINGS section.

I want to thank you for your time, but this is way beyond my expertise, not
for the average Joe or Jane to attempt. The most I've ever done was remove
the case and blow out the dust. I'll see if I can find someone with more
experience with computers to do this. I seriously doubt any of our friends
or family would attempt it in case something goes wrong and it wont boot at
all.

It would be a good idea to get a cheap PS/2 keyboard incase you get any
"press this or that to continue" messages.

You should also unplug the external hard drive before doing this. Once
the BIOS has been cleared, it might try to boot from the external drive.
And that would be another reasons to get a PS/2 keyboard. You may find
that you need to set boot order in the BIOS.

I have no idea how to set the BIOS. I don't think I've ever even seen it. I
was afraid this problem would be a serious one, not something easy to fix.

Do you have another computer that you'll be able to talk with if this
hangs up the machine?

- Bill

Doing something like this by email/text is difficult. I'll have to call
around and see if any of my friends or neighbors can recommend someone with
experience in fixing or working on PCs. I don't mind paying someone if they
know what they're doing. I'll let you know if I can find someone.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

"Gene E. Bloch" wrote in message


I've encountered this enough times that I always plug at least the
keyboard directly into the computer.

But, in this case I'm pretty sure his problem is that the machine came
from the factory with PS/2 keyboard and mouse. So the BIOS is most likely
not set up to do USB to PS/2 emulation. Therefore, the keyboard won't
work in BIOS.

Your point is valid, but he said his mouse is connected to the monitor,
his keyboard is connected to the back of the machine. So, as far as BIOS
is concerned, if it was doing USB to PS/2 emulation, it would be OK. I
think since it's normal configuration was PS/2 it probably just isn't
emulating.

- Bill

Once the cheap flimsy ones give me trouble I toss them and purchase a new,
better KB. The original is gone for a long time. I just want you to know
that nothing changed in the set-up with this PC for several years. Then,
after that last MS update (could be a coincidence) the problems started.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

"R. H. Breener Jr." wrote in message


Best not to try it if you're not comfortable with it. I wish I could
suggest some business I'd trust to take it to, but I've got little faith
in any of the big-box places. But for what it's worth, I agree its best
to find someone you have some faith in who knows what a BIOS settings
reset is. If your day-job has an IT department, I've often found that
they'll help out with employee personal machines. Though they'll usually
want to to promise that, if they break it worse, you'll accept "sorry" and
not give them a hard time about it.

I can't get any help there. That's out. The last thing I can try, in case
the D: drive copy is corrupt, is to try and use the set of thee disks made
when the PC was brand new. That copy shouldn't be corrupt.

If I could find a website that takes me step by step through the process, I
can use the kid's laptop here on the end of the desk and try it. But we
really don't know what's causing this boot problem for sure.

I don't think it's serious in the nature of something physically broken.
I think it's serious in that it's fouled up something that the average
user can't fix. The last thing you might try is a recovery from the
installation DVD. This might work if the recovery partition, which you've
used already, is corrupted in some way.

Yes.... see above. Several people suggested I do that and just take the
time to set the PC up all over again from scratch. As a last resort that is
probably what I'll do.

The only other failure I've seen that plays out like this is a pending
hard drive failure. But given your description of the proximate cause, I
don't think that's it. I suspect that something went weird during the
updates and it's fouled your BIOS settings. Microsoft update shouldn't do
that, but as I recall they've started to also deliver vendor specific
updates as well. Without seeing what it tried to do to your machine, I'm
thinking a vendor specific update changed something in the CMOS or Flash
equivalent of it and did it wrong.

That is quite possible. And that is making me leery of allowing this PC to
update as it did the last two times I did the system-recovery. This PC ran
like a charm for months on end without a hitch, until those updates. I
can't help feeling that update was somehow the cause, since nothing else was
changed, added, or removed from the computer.

Please do. I always like to know what the problem was when I hear of
something like this.

- Bill

I'll let you know what the outcome is. I'm waiting to hear back from one
more person. Then, if they can't help, I'll use the original disks made
the day this PC was bought some years back. If that creates a problem or
doesn't work, I may go ahead and call HP for help and advice. This has been
such a good PC I'd hate to junk it and buy another. Once it loads, after a
few tries, it runs just fine, like the day I got it.

Thanks so much for your time and effort in trying to help.

 

[R. H. Breener Jr.]

I have too much quoted text for the free NSP so have to cut some text -
sorry!

On Mon, 28 May 2012 00:10:18 -0500, R. H. Breener Jr. wrote:

Try plugging the mouse and drive directly into USB ports on the computer
and see how it goes.

No guarantees, but it's absolutely what I would do in your situation.

I had no idea they could affect how a computer boots
up, but it made no difference.