Vista startup/locking issue - on multiple machines

[Guest]

I have about 10 machine that are on RC1 5600 build. They have been working
for over a month now without a problem except for this one. We have had 2
machines stop starting for us. If I rebuild the machine it works fine or if I
load WinPE on it then I can access the drives. The problem is when starting
up it goes through the boot process, shows the progrss bar and then seems to
lock just before displaying the windows icon in the middle. I can see the
build down at the bottom but then it stays as a black screen. Trying to
restart in safe mode does nothing...same issue.

Nothing has changed on these systems as in hardware, etc...

Any ideas on how to recover?

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Have you tried this on a later build such as 5728 or RC2? RC1 is an old
build now.

 

[Chris]

I have had this happen. I found that leaving it for a few minutes it will
finally get started and going. The only thing I can figure out is the
system is going through and reassigning where drivers are being loaded, etc.
before moving on, as it were. I find that this can especially happen if you
recently installed new software and/or hardware. Yes, it's weird.

When this happens and you get it to finally come up, you might try going to
the "Control Panel" and using the "Problem Reports and Solutions" utility to
see if there is a fix (if something is actually wrong). You might also look
at the "Reliability and Performance Monitor" for answers. There are some
really nice features in the Reliability portion that could lead you to the
culprit.

Chris

 

[Richard Urban]

If a new software package has been added, this may happen.

With many packages, the final setup is accomplished during a reboot. I have
seen a machine "stall?" for a minute or two, and then continue to the
desktop. The relative speed of the computer in question, and its installed
hardware, will determine how long the apparent "stall" period lasts.

Let the machine sit as it is. Go get a cup of coffee and see what happens.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Guest]

We have let the computer sit for 1.5 days...no change. 2.8ghz 2mb memory on a
32 bit OS. These are new machines from dell (optiplex gx620).

 

[Richard Urban]

Is there any drive activity when the machine goes to a blank screen? If so,
you may have an intermittent video problem. I have seen where just removing
the video connector from the computer and then reinserting and securing it
with the screws has solved this problem.

Also, the video board itself may have to be reseated.

It may come to nothing but it is something to try.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Chris]

I wonder what's in the system logs...system, application, etc. ?