Vista hanging at startup

keith1

Well-known member
Hello Group,

This topic may be stretching the boundaries of a pre-press group and I know there's a zillion Google topics with the same subject line - that's precisely why I thought I'd try here.
While there are tons of home remedies via Google (I've tried several) I haven't been able to find a definitive solution. It also appears many of those people posting via Google have about reached their breaking point as well, so at least I have company.

I've reinstalled Vista Home Premium for a friend on her computer and more often than not it will freeze before Windows actually gets to start. It freezes at various stages of the start up.
Windows will eventually open after manually shutting down & restarting and once open will run what I presume is normally for this OS.

Does anyone have any tricks or solutions to share?
I've reached the point where I think wiping the drive again and installing my own version of XP Pro would be the best solution. I really didn't want to start all over again though, seeing as I've already reinstalled all her software etc.

In closing . . . I would die rather than use Vista all the time. I have never experience anything like it in all the time I've been computing.

Thanks for listening :)
Keith
 
Keith hi. There is only one way not to have problems with Vista - run.
Go back to XP or get Windows 7 :)
I had to re-install all of my Vista stations with something else....
 
Hmmm. I do believe you're right about that. That would be the sane thing to do. Even negotiating folders & files with Explorer is a nightmare. But surely it must be working for some people.
Or maybe not.
I know the friend I did the reinstall for has been having trouble for ages and it finally reached the point where something had to be remedied. So I took it on rather than see her spend money to have it done.
Granted much of the trouble may be her own doing. She's not computer savvy, but still . . .
 
I've reinstalled Vista Home Premium for a friend on her computer and more often than not it will freeze before Windows actually gets to start. It freezes at various stages of the start up.

Hi Keith,

As an aging Mac user (I used Macs when using Mac wasn't cool ... now I mostly use Windows ... or more correctly whatever the need requires), I'll chime in in defense of Microsoft. Windows Vista was a bold step forward into a future than has since stabilized (and stabilized quite some time ago) with the release of Windows 7. It was a necessary step. I like to think of Vista as a v1.0 version of the future of Windows.

Many will remember that OS X (v10.0) was enlightened and yet horrible until various polish was applied. I personally marked stability there with Panther (10.3.9). The Lion release of late has had teething problems too. But I'm off topic...

Windows Vista was a leap forward. Windows 7 is a v2. I look forward to Windows 8 ...especially to the changes that I've seen them making with the user mode driver stack and many, many core multi-tasking. MANY (I'll argue most) Windows developers prior to Windows Vista played fast and loose with many facets of the Windows API. Vista started the process of clamping down on that wild wild west. It (Vista) has garnered a bad reputation when 90% of the time the finger should more correctly be pointed at the various third party software that resides atop Windows (Vista).

From what you've described I'd look at three areas for relief...

0) Install Windows 7 (not Vista) if you can. Most hardware support was improved by the time Windows 7 hit the streets. It's faster, uses less memory and exhibits more polish;

1) Make sure the machine has a full complement of Vista compatible drivers for all of the various hardware components. Many drivers updated during the Windows 7 time frame are improvements that I'd recommend migrating to (many manufacturers didn't update or poorly updated drivers during the Windows Vista time frame);

2) Verify that the networking related configuration / environment is well formed wrt this machine. Especially if Vista is stalling during startup but eventually "comes back to life". Invariably it was waiting for either a network (or driver ... or both) related action and is not actually an indication of an issue (per se) with Windows itself;

3) Check that the hard disk (if it's not an SSD) is in good condition by using a tool like spinrite;
 
Appreciate your reply but all it does is confirm that Vista sucks.
I wonder how many out there would have bought the operating system had they known that it's just a practice module for the real deal which is Windows 7. As I recall, Vista was the only Windows option when people bought computers within the time frame of its release.

This is a retail version HP computer that came with Vista pre-installed, so presumably all the drivers are compatible. I wiped the drive and reinstalled Vista. It never booted consistently from the start (after re-installation), so what software I've installed in the meantime is of no consequence. It isn't any worse after installing software though.
If it were only me I would say I've screwed up somewhere, but the internet is littered with similar tales of woe.

On a positive note, it has booted properly 2 times in a row!
As for me, I'll stick with my XP.
And yes I recall earlier days of Mac, when I had to yank the plug several times a day and reboot.
 
It never booted consistently from the start (after re-installation), so what software I've installed in the meantime is of no consequence.

If you did a restore and the machine won't reliably boot (regardless of the network configuration) the machine likely has disk problems (that will only get worse, if ignored). They routinely manifest themselves as performance problems (at first) and grow to various symptoms of read or write failures ultimately ending in a fatal failure of one form or another.

If it's an HP of the era you elude to (I had one) it should have come with a "restore" disk that will completely whack the disk and perform a (byte for byte) "factory fresh" restoration. ...any user data or subsequent software installation would be lost if one blindly runs this class of restoration (don't ask me how I know ;) ).

I'll wager that it's a Core Duo or Core2 Duo (powered machine) of some form with early Sata (1 or 2) support. I recently retired a "Best Buy" branded Asus (laptop) of that vintage (mostly because its battery was lacking and I grew tired of its heft). If it turns out your friend's machine is suffering from early signs of H/D failure you should consider locating one of the slower variety of SSD mechanisms. Aside from addressing (presumed) H/D issues, it will impart a night and day impact (no joke) on performance (not to mention lack of noise, toss-ability and battery life).

A drive like this:

Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT128M4SSD2 (less than $200 US)

...would arguably be overkill for an aging machine (like you mention ... the Sata bus itself would become the limiting factor in throughput) but it's fully compatible (with any generation of Sata interface) and represents something one could migrate forward to a new laptop (when the time came) with no regrets.

You *really* should consider locating / running a live cd with spinrite (google it) to see if it has any recommendations regarding the state of the disk in your friend's machine. Your commentary screams H/D issues, btw. That can be done for $0-90. I know the author would like to be paid IF it finds/fixes anything and has made it clear he's open to letting things slide if it turns out there's nothing wrong with the hard disk under inspection (unlikely).
 
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"I'll wager that it's a Core Duo or Core2 Duo (powered machine) of some form with early Sata (1 or 2) support."

Yep; that's what it is.
I found a couple fix's on the HP web site that could be relevant. I'll try those. If (when) that doesn't work I'll wipe the drive and install XP. If that doesn't work; at least I tried :)

The disk and other hardware checks come up problem free, but who knows. Similar problems appear to have been solved by going back to XP or forward to 7, and since I have XP handy I'll see what that does.

Moral: Never be a nice guy and offer to fix someone's computer

Keith
 
update

update

Finally got XP Pro reinstalled on the Vista computer. What a hassle!!! Turns out that Vista installs can be very proprietary. Had a hell of a time locating certain drivers that were XP compatible.
Anyway, it's done and running well.

Keith
 
In my point of view Vista is not a proper windows operating system this is only a theme for windows XP you can modify your windows XP to install Vista theme so that's the reason to Hanging up your PC on startup
 

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