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Vista OK in Safe Mode but won't start normally

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merlynsdad

merlynsdad

Programmer
Nov 18, 2010
175
US
I have Vista Home Premium on a 5 year old Dell Dimension E521. Over the weekend I was downloading a program to print business cards. I got an error message saying it couldn't download to Vista, but after I clicked OK it apparently kept trying, and the download shut the machine off. On reboot, it will only come up in Safe Mode (with networking), not normal mode. I've scanned it for viruses, cleaned the registry, and tried various techniques for Vista to repair itself, but the problem hasn't been solved. Last night I spent 90 minutes on the horn with with Dell Support. He scanned with another anti-virus program, and looked at some files, but his recommendation is to reinstall Vista. Problem is, I have a lot of legacy programs on this machine, some of which can't be replaced. The data is backed up, but some of the programs themselves are not because they were already installed when I got the machine. Losing the programs themselves would be a major problem.

Any ideas on a next step, or if Vista itself is corrupted, how to repair it without losing the programs? Thanks in advance for any help.

If the square peg won't fit in the round hole, sand off the corners.
 
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Test the hard dive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tool FIRST to verify if it's going bad or not. If it's going bad, there's no point in doing anything other than getting your data off - period. I'd do it quickly and not leave the machine running until you're going to test it. It might jump off the cliff at any moment IF there is a hard drive problem.

Check the BIOS to identify hard drive brand. Go here to get your utility or to manufacturer site:

Once you get results and there is no hard drive problem, we can proceed with Vista.
 
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The HD is a Sony, which isn't listed. However, I transferred a lot of files over to a thumb last night, so it looks like the HD is working. Actually, since running Registry Mechanic, the machine is running faster than normal. Overnight I tried to set it to a prior reset point, and this time I got a confirmation that it took. However that wiped out the registry cleaning, so I re-did it. However, I still have the same problem, although ONCE it booted all the way to the Vista splash screen but then hung.

If the square peg won't fit in the round hole, sand off the corners.
 
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Sony doesn't make hard drives, Sony is most likely your optical drive. Download the Drive fitness tools, it will work for all brands, and it will tell you what the make and model of the hard drive is.
 
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Yeah - Sony, no hard drive. Look for something like WD (Western Digital) or ST (Seagate) or do what rclarke250 said. You may even built-in diagnostics if you get a BOOT OPTIONS menu by pressing a certain Function key.
 
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Sorry if I misread the setup info. CNET says it should be a Western Digital, but I'll take the side off the machine and look this time to confirm. But since it worked perfectly when I was offloading a few gig of files onto a thumb drive, when we're talking about it going bad, are we talking about the drive not working mechanically, or are we talking about a bad sector?

If the square peg won't fit in the round hole, sand off the corners.
 
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I had another idea as well. I understand if the machine will run Vista it should run Win 7 as well. Assuming the drive is ok, would you think upgrading to Win 7 Home Premium would work? In theory it should uninstall Vista and install 7 without losing any programs or files.

If the square peg won't fit in the round hole, sand off the corners.
 
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are we talking about the drive not working mechanically, or are we talking about a bad sector?
Click to expand...
Either/any failure mode that they can have. They're all bad. A test should give you a green light or red light.

Look at the chart on this page for In-Place Upgrade and see if it matches your product (current/proposed). I generally don't recommend the In-Place Upgrades just because you have an opportunity to clean everything out from scratch and start over.
 
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OK, I ran the Quick Test and the drive is fine. Now what would you recommend?

If the square peg won't fit in the round hole, sand off the corners.
 
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So, as you said, you have the Windows 7 upgrade path. I forgot to post the path last time.

Or you can reinstall Vista. There's no repair install as in the XP sense, but here's an article I saved from the Windows Secrets Newsletter which claims that there is a Windows 7 no-reformat, nondestructive reinstall that will work with Vista as well if you want to scope it out. I haven't done it with Vista PERSONALLY.

 
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I tried to reinstall Vista from the reinstall DVD that came with the system. All it did was show a DOS window of rapidly scrolling items, close the window, and that's it. When safe mode w/ networking comes up, the last file shown is crcdisk.sys. I ran CHKDSK. It found a corrupt attribute record, 1 unindexed file and no bad sectors, so I'm pretty sure the drive is OK.

I'm running as administrator, but when I select Repair Computer it comes up to an "other user" and is looking for a name and password. In Manage Accounts, the guest account is off, and there is no other user account.

I ran Malwarebytes which found two Trojans, which I disposed of.

Next thing I did was go to the boot log, which gives the following Event ID errors: 10005, 7026, 7003, 7003, 7001, 7032, 7022, 19, 7000, 7009. The sources are either DCOM or Service Control. I started googling them but couldn't figure out what they meant, or how to get rid of them.

Since Vista won't reload, I'm hesitant to buy Win 7 and try to upgrade to it. If I have to replace the machine Win 7 will come on it anyway.

What would you guys do next? I've run out of ideas.

If the square peg won't fit in the round hole, sand off the corners.
 
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Well since the machine is almost 6 years old, if I'm doing that I may as well replace the PC. And I need to hurry, because I want Win 7, not Win 8. Thanks to everybody who tried to help.

If the square peg won't fit in the round hole, sand off the corners.
 
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Well, not necessarily, but whatever you want to do. You could use it as a home file server or a location to store backups or give it to someone after reload (relative or charity).
 
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>> You could use it as a home file server
Doorstop too... ;)

just kidding, Gooms suggestions are all good ideas, as to what to do with older hardware. I have an 10 year old PC that I use as a data (pictures) store, and for running older (well ancient) games... ;)

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"
 
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Yeah - it depends on your attitude toward older PCs (how fast you think they must run for you to be happy) and what you have running on it. Most people have too many add-on programs that start when Windows starts resulting in about 30% reduced performance from a "pure" machine.

The PC I'm typing this on (and all posts) is 10 years old. I built it in Feb. 2002. I'm WAITING for it to die.......
 
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I'm taking suggestions or I'll start a new post on how to kill it off in a fun way.
 
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Years ago (mid 1980s) we had an original IBM PC at work, that was so old it had a 5 digit serial number. This was one of the original machines with 2 5 1/2 inch floppy drives! When we replaced it, we cut a hole in the top, sealed the rest of the case except for the holes in the bottom, filled it full of dirt and and used it for a planter. When I left the firm in the early 90s, it was still there, with a couple of snake plants and a philodendron in it. I've always thought that was a dignified way to treat old equipment.

If the square peg won't fit in the round hole, sand off the corners.
 
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@Goom,

if you decide to do target practice, let me know, I might just take a flight to see that... ;)

@merlynsdad,

yes, that is a nice one...

PS: I still have a few, working, old computers still sitting here and running nicely... the oldest is now 25 yrs. old SX-64 (floppy controller is the only thing that does not work), two 22 yrs. old (A600 and A1200) and one 24 yr. old Amiga 500 (all working)...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"
 
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