Windows load screen at boot, looong black screen, then normal startup

[needhelp51]

Hello,

I have been having this problem since a week or so. Broni has helped me in malware forum to rule out malware as responsible. My machine is clean and I was refered here for further help.

Here is my problem:

At boot-time, I see windows XP load screen with the progress bar, the progress bar advances to the end and then, the screen turns pitch black and all is see is an arrow cursor I can move around. I thought until yesterday that this was a permanent freeze-up, but if I wait, say, 6 minutes, the black screen disappears and windows then starts normally.

Last week, problem was intermittent, it now happens all the time.

Windows boot-up was fine before.

Please help me.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I had this tons of times with my old XP PC. It is normal if you have a lot of files on the HDD and you have little RAM. How much RAM do you have? What is the capacity of the HDD? And do you have the Windows XP disc? Would you be willing to upgrade the RAM and/or the OS if we must resort to that? Or would you rather just buy a new PC?

 

[needhelp51]

Hello, thanks for your answer.

I have 4 GB RAM installed. I have 2.2 GB available over 3.14 GB total right now according to window's system performance thingy. Capacity of HD is 81 GB, I have 30 GB free. Yes I have win XP disc. Upgrade the ram? I think I maxed out capacity for this toshiba already two years ago with those 4GB. And XP seems to use an absolute maximum of 3GB no matter what you install...

 

[Jad Chaar]

Yeah, 64bit Windows XP is a fail. I am pretty sure clean installing Windows will fix this issue. If you want to clean install, you will need to back up your files since it will delete all your info on the HDD.

 

[needhelp51]

Ok, then, I'll give this a try. Thanks for your help.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I just helped someone with a similar issue. I recommended running this software: https://www.techspot.com/downloads/5103-soluto.html and it helped him tremendously. He also had an XP loading issue.

 

[needhelp51]

Ok, thanks . Any particular instructions about using it for my case? Or I just install and run it?

 

[needhelp51]

I was able to remove a few junk apps loaded during boot-time, however, the long black pause is still there and is not detected as a 'frustration' (that's the word the software uses) by Soluto.

 

[Pishaw]

Is it possible that you're using Avast? I've seen several machines do exactly what you describe, and in every case it was Avast. If you're using Avast, disable it and try a restart. If the computer starts normally, uninstall Avast and find something else.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Try running CCleander to remove any junk files and clean the registry with it. Then defragment the disk.

 

[needhelp51]

Yes I am using Avast.

CCleaner files + registry done.

Started Defraggler to defragment. It seems its gonna take several hours. I'll keep you informed with results tomorrow.

 

[needhelp51]

Defrag over, ended up 0% fragmented. Still same black sequence however during boot-up. No improvement in boot-time.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Can you tell me what your display adapter is? Updating the driver for it may help, but most likely not. I think the only solution after that is reinstalling Windows.

 

[hood6558]

I think it's Avast causing the problem. As I recall, I had the same problem with it back when I was using xp, that's why I switched to AVG. It's scanning files at boot time, causing long boots (but 6 minutes may be a new record). It's worth a try to uninstall it and see what happens. Also, that 80 GB hard drive must be fairly old, and may be running slow. Try running scandisk, or better yet, HDDHealth. One of them will usually reveal a problem if there is one.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I think it's Avast causing the problem. As I recall, I had the same problem with it back when I was using xp, that's why I switched to AVG. It's scanning files at boot time, causing long boots (but 6 minutes may be a new record). It's worth a try to uninstall it and see what happens. Also, that 80 GB hard drive must be fairly old, and may be running slow. Try running scandisk, or better yet, HDDHealth. One of them will usually reveal a problem if there is one.

Maybe running a disk check may help also, even if it passes the HDDs health tests.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Are you running any other anti-virus programs other than Avast? Use this tool to uninstall Avast: http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility. After you uninstall all other Antivirus programs, I would install MS Security Essentials: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5201. It is very minimalistic in terms of looks and doesnt take up a lot of resources.

 

[needhelp51]

My display adapter is NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300. On manufacturer's site, they recommend an update after automtically scanning my machine, however, GeForce Go 7300 does not appears in the supported products for that update in the spec sheet. So is recommended but not supported? I am a bit confused. Shall I install it or not?

I have tried disabling avast and rebooting. I even tried uninstalling earlier. It did not remove the black screen. I have also tried disabling Avast 'permanently' and reboot, no change.

 

[needhelp51]

Oh sorry, I just saw the message you added, I will try using the tools you are reffering to uninstall avast.

 

[Jad Chaar]

You can try installing the most up to date driver: http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/8969. I doubt that will help though.

 

[needhelp51]

I have removed avast using recommended tool.

I have installed MSE.

For some reason HDDHealth crashes on startup on my computer. So I did not really use it.

Chkdsk came out alright.

I have installed the driver for my video card, however, on reboot, windows assistant is asking for a CD to complete installation (I.e. to "install software") of that 'new material'. Of course I don't have a CD. And for some reason, the new driver shows as 'unknown peripheral' instead of the graphical card driver which seems to show the version I had before... What shall I do? Keep that or System restore?

 

[Jad Chaar]

System restore. I dont think the driver has anything to do with the issue though. Can you get hold of a XP disc to reinstall? I cant think of any other solutions. Maybe you can try other HDD diagnostic tools like Seatools.

 

[needhelp51]

Ok, I will proceed with system restore for the driver issue.

I have a XP CD and will use it if we are at that last resort.

However, do you think it might be advisable to try a fixmbr or windows repair first?

 

[needhelp51]

System restore did not work 100%. The new "Unknown peripheral" is still there even though I created that restore point right before proceeding with driver update, it's strange.

Ok, I will try Seatools.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Try running this tool to fix the driver issue: http://support.microsoft.com/mats/hardware_device_problems

 

[needhelp51]

Sadly, a notice says something like "Microsoft fixit not supported by your OS at this time".