New to Win 7 - 3mins to Desktop

[guiado]

A friend has asked me to look at his win 7 laptop that will not boot - although my limited knowledge is on winXP, not 7. I have discovered that the machine does boot but very slowly. I have updated all the drivers on the machine, completed all the ms updates and checked spyware/virus with up to date spybot and avg apps. Googling I have discovered the term Black Screen of Death but not sure if I have this. I have booted to Safe Mode and now boot/run in low graphics mode - these are consistent/average timings I get: Power up and bios boot I get a Win 7 logo in middle of screen for @ 20secs. Logo disappears, I get blank screen with just mouse cursor showing for @ 2min 45 secs. A log on screen appears asking me for the password. I enter the password and hit Return and it takes about 30 secs to get to the Desktop. My friend is not computer literate and has just left the PC as it came out the box and just leaves ms updates auto running. I am hoping for a steer what to look for - the 2.5 mins with a blank screen before the log on screen is not right. Is this a nasty in the machine somewhere or some legit config setting/apps that are not set up correctly? Any help appreciated.

 

[linney]

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking. Try it first by not checking either box (this will run it in a Read-only mode) to see if it flags any hard drive or file problems. If it does, restart it by ticking both boxes, and rerun it to allow it to attempt to fix any found problems.


The hard drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic software that is bootable, or that may even run from within Windows, that will thoroughly check the condition of your hard drive.


How to Generate a System Health Report in Vista and Windows 7

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/82728-system-health-report.html

Create another user and see if they have the same problem as your current user.

See what appears in the Event Viewer logs.

Working with Vista’s new Event Viewer

http://www.petri.co.il/vista-event-viewer.htm

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-information-appears-in-event-logs-Event-Viewer

Are there any loading Services that are "hanging" in the Services and causing a time out delay?

See if the System File Checker can pick up any problems for you.

How to repair the operating system and how to restore the operating system configuration to an earlier point in time in Windows Vista (or 7)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936212/#appliesto

How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228#appliesto

Startup Repair.

Startup Repair is a Windows recovery tool that can fix certain problems, such as missing or damaged system files, that might prevent Windows from starting.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...809f-ed90-415f-a83f-89b42108b3551033.mspx#EFF

Startup Repair: frequently asked questions

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Startup-Repair-frequently-asked-questions

See if updating the Bios, or running it in Safe Defaults, makes any difference.

There is always a reinstall of Windows to consider after saving all your valuable data.

 

[Sympology]

How much memory?

You really need at least 2gb...

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk

 

[guiado]

Thanks - I have 3gb memory installed. I have tried all the things in Linney's post but still no joy. I have spoken to my friend who has given me the OK to do a rebuild. I have spend quite a few hours already on this and the more I google the more 'avenues' I go down - been here before with BSOD in XP. I think at this stage the best thing is a re-build ad hope it(what ever it is) does not happen again.

 

[linney]

During the reinstallation of Windows the machine may automatically reboot as a matter of course. It would be an interesting observation to know what those automatic reboots time at, and any subsequent reboots after the install before you start loading updates and other third party programs.

 

[bluenoser337]

You don't have pctools spyware doctor or spybot "tea timer" running by any chance?

 

[guiado]

It's strange - the whole 'thing' got worst and then sort of packed up. The factory restore disks would not play and when I tried to install my win7 dis it paced up after loading files into RAM -told me something was wrong with the HD. I booted to a Linux OS to do some digging to be told of a HD failure. I ran a smart test which informed me of imminent failure due to 2047 reallocated sectors. Further test showed a bad HD - on a laptop less than a year old. Fortunately it is still in warranty so it is back with the retailer for replacement. Thank you for your help - now some of the things that have happened make sense.