Windows loading gremlins?

[vale46]

Hi all, hope someone can shed a bit of light on this issue i have.

I rencently formated my PC because a windows update decided to cause me an issue with a host process rundll32 to stop working, anyway after no one could help i decided to format, dust the cobwebs off anyway lol

After i reinstalled all my programs i noticed 2 different things happening that have NEVER happend before.

At switch on...

1, After the bios screen goes off i get 2 messages, the second one says "Verifing DMI Pool data....Update success ...boot from CD

Now i have always watched the pc boot up ever since i had it and this time after formatting the "update success" maybe happens once out of 5 boots !!

Not a big problem, it just ALWAYS said update success, were as now it is intermitant.

2. After the microsoft corporation loading screen dissappears (with the little bar showing its loading) it takes exactly 20 seconds for the desktop to appear where as before the format it was instant !!!

Hope you can understand what im on about lol, thanks for reading and i appreciate any ideas.

After these two "different" issues have gone and windows has loaded and is running, all is well with the PC !

Its probably nothing but i dont like change lol

Regards,

Vale.

 

[Rick]

Now i have always watched the pc boot up ever since i had it and this time after formatting the "update success" maybe happens once out of 5 boots !!

Well, the only reason your computer will hang on *while* loading ESCD (Verifying DMI pool) is a hardware problem... So assuming this is the root of your issue, this probably isn't Windows related.

• Enter your BIOS setup and reset configuration data / force ESCD update (if the options exists, you'll probably see it under "PnP PCI Devices" or similar hardware option). If that doesn't fix it...
• Scan your hard drive with a diagnostic utility. A hard drive that is hanging up the system because it has developed bad sectors etc.. Can certainly cause this. If that doesn't fail...
• Test your memory (RAM) with memtest for a few hours. If that doesn't fail...
• Remove your PCI cards and check to see if the problem goes away (Sound card, modem etc..). If it does, put them back in one by one and see where it starts happening again so we can isolate the card or PCI slot that is causing it. If that doesn't fix it...
• ... many other things could be indirectly or directly responsible, such as a problems with your power supply, DVD ROM, system board, bad data cables ( IDE, for example).

 

[vale46]

WOW...thanks Rick,

I will start testing right now and do all you suggest, i will report back asap...

Thanks so much for some pointers

 

[vale46]

Ok, looked in the bios and the only option to reset any thing is to "Load default values" is this any use ?

Also i ran scandisk and i dont have any bad sectors or clusters.

I will now unplug everything in the tower and plug it back in to see if anything is lose.

One thing i noticed, if i restart my PC i dont get the update sucess comment at all, if i shut down and wait 30seconds and then reboot i get it ? most of the time ;p

Any other ideas welcome while i try the next thing.

Regards.

 

[Rick]

Also i ran scandisk and i dont have any bad sectors or clusters.

I assume you mean chkdsk. It isn't a very good test because it doesn't scan for drive statistics like SMART, but that should be good enough.

One thing i noticed, if i restart my PC i dont get the update sucess comment at all, if i shut down and wait 30seconds and then reboot i get it ?

That would bump up the likelihood of a failing power supply. It might be that your PSU is getting temperamental or there is too much power draw on a particular rail.

Try disconnecting any unnecessary powered devices (DVD drives, case fans, extra hard drives, unnecessary USB devices) and try to reproduce the problem. If 'verifying ESCD" works consistently, then you know it is power related. You may be able to shuffle your power cables around to better evenly distribute power across the 'rails' on your PSU by paying attention to the number of devices you have plugged to a single bundle of cables. If you have a decent PSU, you'll have a few different bundles of power cables coming from your PSU.

 

[vale46]

Thanks again Rick, i will pop the side off and take a look.
I know i have a TV tuner and some remote thing i can unplug as i ahve uninstalled the programs for them anyhow.
I will check back soon.

P.S. My PC seems to work fine (All progams run 100%) even though i dont get the "update success"....... is it a problem or a problem waiting to happen ?

 

[Rick]

P.S. My PC seems to work fine (All progams run 100%) even though i dont get the "update success"....... is it a problem or a problem waiting to happen ?

Is that a result of something you've changed? Or has it just started working again on its own?

I'm unsure what not seeing 'update success' means -- especially since it seems to work just fine afterward. I guess if it works though, it works.

 

[vale46]

Hi Rick,

The PC never stopped working, it just stopped telling me the DMI pool data had updated successfully.
It seems i never get the "update success" comment at all now !!! yet the pc still works 100% fine.

Windows still loads slow but once loaded, there are no problems.

I know something isnt right but its not making the PC fail "YET"

I will still try unplugging any surplus cards etc and report back.