Vista Boots up to Black Screen

[johntx2001]

I've installed Windows Vista on a brand new hard drive and sometimes it boots to a black screen and just hangs there. It will go through the "Knight Rider" initial screen and then I get the black screen which should then give the round blue Vista logo, but instead it just stops at that screen. Oddly enough, if I turn the computer off and unplug something and then plug it back in, it usually boots up just fine and is stable. Anyone else having this problem? I put in a brand new hard drive in case my other one was bad, but it's doing the same thing. Hopefully someone has some thoughts on this? Thanks!

 

[schtek]

boot into safe mode..
ditch video drivers reboot reinstall try that??

"Practice makes Perfect"
CPO rt'd RN

http://www.schtek.co.uk

 

[johntx2001]

Oh I've tried that many times. Right now I have the nvidia video and motherboard drivers for Vista so that's all good to go. I found some posts on the web where people had the same problem and ran the memory test from the Vista DVD and that fixed the problem for whatever reason so I guess that will be my next course of action. It's crazy though because with the computer off I can unplug something and plug it right back in and the system will boot up just fine. Wierd ...

 

[linney]

Only a guess, but it sounds more like faulty hardware than a problem with Vista, thus the intermittent fault. I wonder if it is in the Power Supply Unit?

Is your Bios set to the Safe Default settings, fully updated? Is there any Bios scanning you could try disabling?

Vista has its own Startup repair that is accessible via the DVD.

Startup Repair: frequently asked questions

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/5c59f8c1-b0d1-4f1a-af55-74f3922f3f351033.mspx#EI

What, if anything, were you running on that machine before you put Vista on it, and were there any problem with that?

 

[johntx2001]

I was thinking it was faulty hardware as well, but I put in a brand new SATA hard drive, removed all the others, new video card, updated the BIOS and motherboard drivers with the new Vista drivers, and still have the problem. Vista startup repair said I had a faulty driver for something that was connected, so I removed all USB devices except for the mouse. With the new hard drive and new Vista install, I thought this would be resolved and I'm still having the same problems. I even tried new power supplies to no avail.

 

[xgaf33v]

Did you ever get resolution to this? I have been having this problem every three boots for a few months. Have to turn off power to PC, then it works again. Leaving computer on for a few hours (not hibernating, just idle) I also get the black screen of death.

This is a brand new DELL XPS and DELL support has suggested multiple solutions that have not worked.

Thank you.

 

[linney]

xgaf33v.

Perhaps it is time for Dell to replace (or repair) the machine under any Warranty agreement? Are you speaking to a high enough authority support official at Dell?

If you leave it on in Safe Mode does it still black screen after a few hours? Is it an overheating problem?

 

[johntx2001]

I ultimately replaced the motherboard and that resolved my problem. I sent the old m/b back to the manufacturer for warranty repair/replacement and am still waiting to hear the resolution.