incomplete startup

[ujoni08]

I have an intermittent startup problem. Sometimes the system tray doesn't fill up during startup, and the PC runs sluggishly, or doesn't open Internet Explorer, and other programs. If I try 'start, shut down' it hangs, and I have to cold reboot it. This usually solves the problem, but sometimes I have to reboot twice. I have Windows Defender and AVG Free, both up to date and I've scanned for viruses and spyware. I also have Registry Mechanic. It's a 2004 Holly PC with Chaintech Zenith 9CJS motherboard, Pentium 4 2.6GHz processor, Gainward nVidia 5600 Ultra 256MB graphics card and 512MB DRR400 RAM running XP Home. Any suggestions?

 

[franklin97355]

Since this is a hardware forum I'd start by testing the memory with memtest86 the hard drive with the diagnostics from it manufacturer and the power supply with something that will let you know if there are problems. I use CheckIt for general hardware testing and Spinrite for hard drive test/repair. I also have a plugin device to check the power supply for over/under voltage problems.

The answer is "42"

 

[Nelviticus]

Here's one thing you can try - open 'Control Panel' and double-click 'Administrative Tools' then 'Services'. have a look through the service list - if any have a 'status' of 'starting', or a 'startup type' of 'automatic' but are not shown as 'started', that could give you an indication of where the problem might lie.

Alternatively, have you had a look at the event logs? They're also in 'Administrative Tools', under 'Event Viewer'. Check the 'System Log' and the 'Application Log'. Any errors in there might also help you pinpoint the issue.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[ujoni08]

Thanks for the replies. I've started with Nelviticus' tip one. There are 3 services that show 'automatic', but are not shown as 'started'. They are Automatic LiveUpdate Scheduler, Bonjour Service, and Computer Browser. The first and third show start error 3: system cannot find the path specified. The second starts and stops again. Tip two: Event viewer (application) shows one error: nview info (1) and a warning for EvntAgnt (1003, 1015) that I then clicked on and was told by MS online help that no user action was required. Event viewer (system) shows an error in service control manager (7000), about which MS help online says the following:
-----------------------------------------------------
Explanation
Service Control Manager (SCM) could not start the specified service, probably because the service is not configured correctly.

User Action
Do one or all of the following:

Review the error information displayed in the message.
Verify that the service password has not expired.
Verify that the service is in the correct location.
Verify that the service is not infected with a virus.
To display the WIN32_EXIT_CODE error that SCM encountered when trying to start the program, at the command prompt, type
sc query service name
The information displayed can help you troubleshoot possible causes for the error.

If the WIN32_EXIT_CODE is zero, then SCM did not attempt to start the service because the error was detected first.
---------------------------------------------------------

I don't really know how to do that (I'm not really a technical user). There is a knowledge base article, that says:

-------------------------------------------------------
Method 3: Configure the Service to Use the Built-in System Account
If the service still does not work with the specified user account, configure the service to log on to the built-in system account. To do this, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Administrative Tools.
2. Double-click Services.
3. In the right pane, right-click the appropriate service, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Log On tab, click Local System account, and then click OK.

NOTE: In most situations, it is not necessary to configure a service to interact with the desktop. You do not need to select the Allow service to interact with desktop check box.
5. Right-click the service, and then click Restart.
6. Quit the Services tool.
-------------------------------------------------------
When I checked, the tab 'local system account' was already checked.

If anyone has any suggestions about what to do next, I'd really appreciate it. I guess the problem identified under tip one above 'system cannot find the path specified' is a starting point?

 

[Nelviticus]

I've just done a bit of Googling about the Bonjour Service and it looks as though some people do have problems with it. As far as I can tell it's a communication service developed by Apple which is used in iTunes and some internet telephony applications.

Try disabling it (right-click, 'properties', set 'startup type' to 'disabled') then re-boot and have a look at the other two services you mentioned. If they're OK, Bonjour Service is the problem. The Computer Browser is one of Windows' own services so it's worrying that it's not starting properly. Automatic LiveUpdate Scheduler is a Symantec service and probably part of your anti-virus software.

One other thing - if you look in Device Manager (control panel, system, 'hardware' tab, 'device manager') are there any 'alert' signs showing?

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[satrow]

I'd suspect the bonjour service, if it's part of iTunes, it must be very recent.

Unless you are connected and sharing files on a network, you won't need the Computer Browser service (mine is disabled).

There's some good info on XP services on the Majorgeeks site

http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=12

There are also 'hidden' hardware devices to check in Device Manager to check.



I'm not convincved this is services issue yet - if it's not hardware, maybe it's a couple of startup apps that are clashing? What do you have starting with Windows?

 

[ujoni08]

OK I disabled the services Bonjour and Computer Browser, as well as Automatic LiveUpdate Scheduler (I don't use Norton anymore). The problem persisted, so I visited MajorGeeks, and set many services to manual or disabled as recommended. That seems to have cured the problem, though it was always intermittent, so we'll see. In the meantime, I'd like to follow up satrow's query about startup apps. How do I find out what's running at Startup? I clicked 'start', 'startup', which showed Intervideo Wincinema Manager, Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader Speed Launch and BT Broadband Desktop Help. Is that the right way to find out? It seems to agree with what I see in the system tray (I have Google Talk and AVG Free there as well). Does that seem OK?

 

[ujoni08]

Nelviticus: there are no alerts showing in device manager, thanks.

 

[Nelviticus]

I use 'Startup Control Panel' to manage what starts when my machine boots. It's small and freeware and you can get it here:

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[ujoni08]

Nice application. I ran it, and it shows quite a few apps running that I don't know about (although I am new to all this, so they may be quite normal). Under HKLM Run, there are 26 apps running. Most of them I recognize, but not:

btbb_wcm_McciTrayApp
LVCOMSX
Motive Smartbridge
NvCplDaemon
NvMediaCenter
nwiz
P17Helper
TkBellExe

Any ideas?

 

[Nelviticus]

I know that NvCplDaemon, NvMediaCenter and nwiz (although I'm not 100% sure about that last one) are something to do with your nVidia drivers so they're fine. TkBellExe is the automatic updater for either QuickTime or RealPlayer (can't remember which) and can be safely removed or left as it is, although I find it rather annoying.

Google for the others though.

For the future, that same site has an application called Startup Monitor that notifies you when something tries to add an app to your startup items and gives you an allow/deny option. Quite handy.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[ujoni08]

Thanks for all the help, Nelveticus. Problem seems to be solved. Franklin97355, I was also interested in trying a memory test, so I downloaded memtest86-3.2iso and burnt it to a CD, using Nero, and choosing CD, ISO. I then left it in the drive and rebooted, but nothing happened. I've probably done something wrong.... can you help?

 

[Nelviticus]

You need to choose 'burn image' from the 'recorder' menu in Nero, otherwise you'll just end up with a data disc with an ISO file on it.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[ujoni08]

Oh dear, I've done that and left it in the drive during a reboot, but nothing happens. Am I missing something? I think memtest86 works differently from normal programs I've downloaded, which I've simply saved and then run. Am I right that memtest86 needs to have a single file (memtest86-3.2.iso) unzipped and copied to a CD as an image (what does that mean?) and then left in the drive during bootup, when it will perform a memory test?

 

[Nelviticus]

Not quite - an iso file is an 'image' of a CD and you don't burn it to a CD in a normal way. Use the method I described then use Windows Explorer to check what the disc contains. Instead of containing the single file memtest86-3.2.iso it should be full of other files - the ones that were on the original CD that was 'imaged'.

Your PC should be able to boot from this. If it can't, check your BIOS settings and make sure that the PC is set to boot from CD first, hard drive second. That way if it finds a bootable CD it'll boot from that, but if not it'll boot from the hard drive.

If you can't get this to work I think you can download a file that will create a bootable floppy disk version of MemTest.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[ujoni08]

OK thanks. I've checked the CD, and it contains a folder called 'boot', which contains only two files: one called boot.cat (2KB) and one called memtest.img (1440 KB). I'll check the BIOS settings later. I don't have a floppy drive, so I'll have to go the CD route. I'm not too bothered with this test any more, as the PC is now working fine again, after all the system tweaks above. Besides, Windows does a (probably less detailed) memory check at boot up.
Thanks for all the help,
Jon.