If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
Every few months, on boot up - at about the point where the desktop should
appear - the screen goes blank, neither pure white or black and occasionally refreshes its blankness. To reboot I have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice and the desktop appears for a fraction of a second before the reboot. I have tried using GoBack to an earlier time and surprisingly that doesn't help. I have tried updating graphics drivers etc. I really should have tried to see what happens in Safe Mode (next time I will) , but to solve the problem, I boot up using the Windows Startup Disk and typing sys c: at the prompt. That solves the problem (for a good few months anyway). Any ideas what might conceivably cause this? Thanks. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
snip. I have tried using GoBack to an earlier time and surprisingly that doesn't help. I have tried updating graphics drivers etc. I really should have tried to see what happens in Safe Mode (next time I will) , but to solve the problem, I boot up using the Windows Startup Disk and typing sys c: at the prompt. That solves the problem (for a good few months anyway). Any ideas what might conceivably cause this? Boot sector failing??? Run a complete diagnostic on the harddrive... Usually a free download from the website of the harddrive's mfg |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
"Martin" wrote in message ...
Every few months, on boot up - at about the point where the desktop should appear - the screen goes blank, neither pure white or black and occasionally refreshes its blankness. To reboot I have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice and the desktop appears for a fraction of a second before the reboot. I have tried using GoBack to an earlier time and surprisingly that doesn't help. I have tried updating graphics drivers etc. I really should have tried to see what happens in Safe Mode (next time I will) , but to solve the problem, I boot up using the Windows Startup Disk and typing sys c: at the prompt. That solves the problem (for a good few months anyway). Any ideas what might conceivably cause this? Bad or intermittent RAM failure. Test with freeware Memtest86 and/or DocMemory, HDD failure. Download and run the HDD OEM diags from their web-site. Goback. Uninstall. Other flaky hardware. Swap test video card, monitor, PSU, etc... |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
Typing SYS C: at a normal DOS floppy boot will disable/break GoBack, IIRC -
so it's possible that it's GoBack that's causing your problems. -- Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows) Nil Carborundum Illegitemi http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm http://tinyurl.com/6oztj Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's "Martin" wrote in message ... Every few months, on boot up - at about the point where the desktop should appear - the screen goes blank, neither pure white or black and occasionally refreshes its blankness. To reboot I have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice and the desktop appears for a fraction of a second before the reboot. I have tried using GoBack to an earlier time and surprisingly that doesn't help. I have tried updating graphics drivers etc. I really should have tried to see what happens in Safe Mode (next time I will) , but to solve the problem, I boot up using the Windows Startup Disk and typing sys c: at the prompt. That solves the problem (for a good few months anyway). Any ideas what might conceivably cause this? Thanks. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
I looked at its history and GoBack was still offering the options of
reversion to a time long before the blank screen, so it still seemed to be o.k. after the sys c: business, but I'll remember to check next time it happens and disable GoBack and see if that helps. It has been a real godsend on several occasions and if it came to a choice between the odd blank screen and GoBack, I'd accept the blank screen - provided of course that sys c: still gets me out of the fix. Many thanks for your kind help. "Noel Paton" wrote in message ... Typing SYS C: at a normal DOS floppy boot will disable/break GoBack, IIRC - so it's possible that it's GoBack that's causing your problems. -- Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows) Nil Carborundum Illegitemi http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm http://tinyurl.com/6oztj Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's "Martin" wrote in message ... Every few months, on boot up - at about the point where the desktop should appear - the screen goes blank, neither pure white or black and occasionally refreshes its blankness. To reboot I have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice and the desktop appears for a fraction of a second before the reboot. I have tried using GoBack to an earlier time and surprisingly that doesn't help. I have tried updating graphics drivers etc. I really should have tried to see what happens in Safe Mode (next time I will) , but to solve the problem, I boot up using the Windows Startup Disk and typing sys c: at the prompt. That solves the problem (for a good few months anyway). Any ideas what might conceivably cause this? Thanks. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
Thanks. Interestingly, the laptop consistently shuts down at a certain
point in Memtest (5% of the way through the random number sequence). (Docmemory and MS Windows Memory Diagnostic showed nothing abnormal, which vindicates your advice to use more than one tester.) Many thanks for your generous help. "Bill Blanton" wrote in message ... "Martin" wrote in message ... Every few months, on boot up - at about the point where the desktop should appear - the screen goes blank, neither pure white or black and occasionally refreshes its blankness. To reboot I have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice and the desktop appears for a fraction of a second before the reboot. I have tried using GoBack to an earlier time and surprisingly that doesn't help. I have tried updating graphics drivers etc. I really should have tried to see what happens in Safe Mode (next time I will) , but to solve the problem, I boot up using the Windows Startup Disk and typing sys c: at the prompt. That solves the problem (for a good few months anyway). Any ideas what might conceivably cause this? Bad or intermittent RAM failure. Test with freeware Memtest86 and/or DocMemory, HDD failure. Download and run the HDD OEM diags from their web-site. Goback. Uninstall. Other flaky hardware. Swap test video card, monitor, PSU, etc... |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
Yes, there does appear to be some sort of hard drive snag - I tried to run
the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test and some sort of error came up which I have forwarded to Hitachi to try and make sense of. I have a spare hard drive which did run the test, which indicates somethings amiss. I had forgotten completely about such diagnostics, so I appreciate your input. Many thanks for taking the time to pass on your helpful advice. "philo" wrote in message ... snip. I have tried using GoBack to an earlier time and surprisingly that doesn't help. I have tried updating graphics drivers etc. I really should have tried to see what happens in Safe Mode (next time I will) , but to solve the problem, I boot up using the Windows Startup Disk and typing sys c: at the prompt. That solves the problem (for a good few months anyway). Any ideas what might conceivably cause this? Boot sector failing??? Run a complete diagnostic on the harddrive... Usually a free download from the website of the harddrive's mfg |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
Correction: further investigation shows this is temp related. The random
number test must be demanding; improvement to the cooling made sure it passed all the Memtest86 tests as it did the other utilities. "Martin" wrote in message ... Thanks. Interestingly, the laptop consistently shuts down at a certain point in Memtest (5% of the way through the random number sequence). (Docmemory and MS Windows Memory Diagnostic showed nothing abnormal, which vindicates your advice to use more than one tester.) Many thanks for your generous help. "Bill Blanton" wrote in message ... "Martin" wrote in message ... Every few months, on boot up - at about the point where the desktop should appear - the screen goes blank, neither pure white or black and occasionally refreshes its blankness. To reboot I have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice and the desktop appears for a fraction of a second before the reboot. I have tried using GoBack to an earlier time and surprisingly that doesn't help. I have tried updating graphics drivers etc. I really should have tried to see what happens in Safe Mode (next time I will) , but to solve the problem, I boot up using the Windows Startup Disk and typing sys c: at the prompt. That solves the problem (for a good few months anyway). Any ideas what might conceivably cause this? Bad or intermittent RAM failure. Test with freeware Memtest86 and/or DocMemory, HDD failure. Download and run the HDD OEM diags from their web-site. Goback. Uninstall. Other flaky hardware. Swap test video card, monitor, PSU, etc... |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
"Martin" wrote in message ... Yes, there does appear to be some sort of hard drive snag - I tried to run the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test and some sort of error came up which I have forwarded to Hitachi to try and make sense of. I have a spare hard drive which did run the test, which indicates somethings amiss. I had forgotten completely about such diagnostics, so I appreciate your input. Many thanks for taking the time to pass on your helpful advice. Hope you get it sorted out... |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Blank screen on boot up every so often
In theory GoBack is a pretty good idea, but is fairly complex and uses
tons of resources. For every disk write that the monitored OS does, Goback must do another in a distant part of the disk. Not to mention the overhead of the program itself, and the logic of saving "multiple points". You might want to consider using imaging software instead as a backup option. You won't miss Goback. "Martin" wrote in message ... I looked at its history and GoBack was still offering the options of reversion to a time long before the blank screen, so it still seemed to be o.k. after the sys c: business, but I'll remember to check next time it happens and disable GoBack and see if that helps. It has been a real godsend on several occasions and if it came to a choice between the odd blank screen and GoBack, I'd accept the blank screen - provided of course that sys c: still gets me out of the fix. Many thanks for your kind help. "Noel Paton" wrote in message ... Typing SYS C: at a normal DOS floppy boot will disable/break GoBack, IIRC - so it's possible that it's GoBack that's causing your problems. -- Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows) Nil Carborundum Illegitemi http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm http://tinyurl.com/6oztj Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's "Martin" wrote in message ... Every few months, on boot up - at about the point where the desktop should appear - the screen goes blank, neither pure white or black and occasionally refreshes its blankness. To reboot I have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del twice and the desktop appears for a fraction of a second before the reboot. I have tried using GoBack to an earlier time and surprisingly that doesn't help. I have tried updating graphics drivers etc. I really should have tried to see what happens in Safe Mode (next time I will) , but to solve the problem, I boot up using the Windows Startup Disk and typing sys c: at the prompt. That solves the problem (for a good few months anyway). Any ideas what might conceivably cause this? Thanks. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Dual Boot Win 98 system with xp | Gavin | General | 6 | December 2nd 05 10:20 PM |
Screen goes blank! | b11_ | General | 3 | November 14th 05 04:19 PM |
No boot after Windows 98 Splash Screen | Akshay | Setup & Installation | 0 | September 12th 04 03:01 PM |
error message | bill | General | 7 | August 10th 04 02:09 AM |
boot screen | Robert | Improving Performance | 1 | August 3rd 04 03:25 AM |