Win2K can't go beyond its logo?

[Beyond X]

Win2K starts normally and I see the progress bar completes, but the
computer crashes showing black screen. Suspecting defects in OS, I tried
to fix it with Win2K CD, but same thing happens after initial loading of
files. I checked the system with two graphic cards and two hard disks
that work in another computers, but the result was same black screen.
It seems strange to me that the motherboard fails after OS is loaded
showing a total black screen.

Can anyone guide me about what I can do to find the cause and how I can
repair?

 

[Beyond X]

Yes. Hitting F8 takes to the Safe Mode operation as if nothing wrong,
but Start/Restart results in exactly the same problem, namely, a total
black screen after Windows logo page appeared. I don't hear noises that
would be caused by the hard drive if it continues loading. What is the
functional difference in OS between Normal and Safe Mode in terms of
screen resolution?
As I stated, replacing the hard drive by W2K-preloaded ones do not make
any difference, indicating that there is no problem in the loaded OS
software. Also replacing the graphic card makes no difference, either.
I even changed the monitor with a similar LCD model to no avail. The
system was working normally until two days ago. So something happened
somewhere in the motherboard?

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Win2K starts normally and I see the progress bar completes, but the
computer crashes showing black screen. Suspecting defects in OS, I tried
to fix it with Win2K CD, but same thing happens after initial loading of
files. I checked the system with two graphic cards and two hard disks that
work in another computers, but the result was same black screen.
It seems strange to me that the motherboard fails after OS is loaded
showing a total black screen.

Can anyone guide me about what I can do to find the cause and how I can
repair?

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode?

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

If Safe Mode works then you have a driver or software problem, not a
hardware issue. Get a copy of msconfig.exe from the link below, then use it
to disable all startup tasks and all non-Microsoft services. If this allows
you to boot successfully into normal mode then your task is to identify the
culprit among the disabled services/tasks.

Remember to physically disconnect the machine from the Internet while its
virus scanner is disabled!

About your test with the preloaded version of Windows: There isn't much I
can say without knowing a lot more about your meaning of "preloaded".

 

[Dave Patrick]

Also check the event log and device management for clues.



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Beyond X]

From Beyond X:
Thanks for suggestions and advices.
My situation is this.
1)My computer gets up normally and Windows starts up to appearance of
Window's logo followed by "Windows starting" with the progress bar. The
next would be the appearance of desk top icons, but it does not happen.
Instead I get a total black screen (not the Blue Srcreen).
If I use Windows installation CD to boot the computer, it starts by
loading initial files. Then message: Windows starting. Then the screen
turns totally black just like before. This means that the problem does
not involve drivers that would be loaded to a hard drive during/after
Windows installation. (Therefore I am unable to make a new Win2K drive
for test.)

2)Thinking that the harddrive got damaged, I replaced it by the one that
was working normally with the same computer, the reult is the same as
above.
3) Also I tested the graphic card (Diamond Stealth X1550 PCI express) by
replacing it by a brand new card (NVIDEA GeForce 9400GT). It did not
change the situation.

4)These observation indicates (to me) that the problem is neither the
software nor graphic card but that it stems from the motherboard (MSI
975X Platinum) or the CPU (Intel Core 2 Duo).

5) The fact that the same harddrive works if booted in Safe Mode may
suggest that the computer system fails in switching to VGA mode although
I know nothing about the mechanism.

6) Following Dave's advice, I checked Event Viewer for the date for
which the problem started. In Application every item is "Error" and so
is every item in System (Service Control Manager, DCOM). I do not know
if these means anything about the cause. As to Device Manager, "Display
Adapters" lists correct adapter but "no drivers are installed", which is
natural because it is now in Safe Mode.

7) The three items are all checked (bad) in Display/Adapter/Properties/
Resources and the conflicting device list shows "PCI Standard PCI-to-PCI
bridge". Is this indicating motherboard defects?

My apologies for lengthy text, but I wanted to give information from
which you might find the cause of my problem. Can you narrow the cause
of the problem?

Thanks for your time.
Beyond X

 

[Dave Patrick]

From Beyond X:
Thanks for suggestions and advices.
My situation is this.
1)My computer gets up normally and Windows starts up to appearance of
Window's logo followed by "Windows starting" with the progress bar. The
next would be the appearance of desk top icons, but it does not happen.
Instead I get a total black screen (not the Blue Srcreen).
If I use Windows installation CD to boot the computer, it starts by
loading initial files. Then message: Windows starting. Then the screen
turns totally black just like before. This means that the problem does not
involve drivers that would be loaded to a hard drive during/after Windows
installation. (Therefore I am unable to make a new Win2K drive for test.)

2)Thinking that the harddrive got damaged, I replaced it by the one that
was working normally with the same computer, the reult is the same as
above.

* Sounds like you're missing the mobo chipset drivers.

3) Also I tested the graphic card (Diamond Stealth X1550 PCI express) by
replacing it by a brand new card (NVIDEA GeForce 9400GT). It did not
change the situation.

4)These observation indicates (to me) that the problem is neither the
software nor graphic card but that it stems from the motherboard (MSI 975X
Platinum) or the CPU (Intel Core 2 Duo).

5) The fact that the same harddrive works if booted in Safe Mode may
suggest that the computer system fails in switching to VGA mode although I
know nothing about the mechanism.

6) Following Dave's advice, I checked Event Viewer for the date for which
the problem started. In Application every item is "Error" and so is every
item in System (Service Control Manager, DCOM). I do not know if these
means anything about the cause. As to Device Manager, "Display Adapters"
lists correct adapter but "no drivers are installed", which is natural
because it is now in Safe Mode.

* You can use the copy-to-clipboad function and paste the system only errors
in a reply.

7) The three items are all checked (bad) in Display/Adapter/Properties/
Resources and the conflicting device list shows "PCI Standard PCI-to-PCI
bridge". Is this indicating motherboard defects?

* Again it sounds like you're missing the chipset drivers.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Beyond X]

Dave,
Thanks for your time.
The problem seems to lie in the motherboard as I have suspected.
One last question: When you say "Sounds like you're missing the mobo
chipset drivers", is this a repairable problem? Can the the mobo chipset
drivers be re-loaded or do I have to discard the motherboard?

 

[Dave Patrick]

There's nothing to repair. Simply download the chipset drivers from the mobo
or pc manufacturer's web site and install.



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Beyond X]

Just reporting the result:
I downloaded the chipset (Intel 975X) driver from Intel and installed.
The situation did not change. That is, for some reason my computer fails
to function as soon as it comes to VGA mode.

 

[Dave Patrick]

It might be hardware failure but before you condemn it I'd try once more as
below.

To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup
disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000
CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute
makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the
prompts.

(Note: If your drive controller is not natively supported then you'll want
to boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom. Then *F6* very early and very
important (at setup is inspecting your system) in the setup to prevent drive
controller detection, and select S to specify additional drivers. Then later
you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer supplied Windows 2000 driver
for your drive controller in drive "A")

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to
install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional
screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional.

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of
the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing
partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard
disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an
existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must
then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System
partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this
step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted
press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with
your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in
setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new
partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use
all available space.


Then install the mobo chipset


Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your new install before
connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx


Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en
and
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS08-067.mspx


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Beyond X]

Patrick,
Hope you wii come back and find such a belated reply.
Problem is that I cannot use the CD because, as I stated before, as soon
as files are loaded the computer crashes just after restarting. I think
the CD wants to continue but now in higher resolution mode and this is
where the computer crashes. I don't know much about how the mobo is
designed for bridging the display adaptor information and the monitor,
but it seems that somewhere in the circuit there is a point at which the
flow of video information changes its route from that for low resolution
to that for high resolution and if a damage exists at this critical
circuit, the computer no longer continues to process data. Namely, I
have realized that I have a purely hardware (mobo) problem.

Just today I deided to send back the MSI mobo for repair and I'm waiting
for RMA even though it will cost me $35 and shipping.
Thank you very much for your time thinking of my problem.

 

[Dave Patrick]

Dave,
Hope you wii come back and find such a belated reply.
Problem is that I cannot use the CD because, as I stated before, as soon
as files are loaded the computer crashes just after restarting. I think
the CD wants to continue but now in higher resolution mode and this is
where the computer crashes. I don't know much about how the mobo is
designed for bridging the display adaptor information and the monitor,
but it seems that somewhere in the circuit there is a point at which the
flow of video information changes its route from that for low resolution
to that for high resolution

*** Probaly when the driver is loaded.


and if a damage exists at this critical

circuit, the computer no longer continues to process data. Namely, I
have realized that I have a purely hardware (mobo) problem.

*** Probably correct.

Just today I deided to send back the MSI mobo for repair and I'm waiting
for RMA even though it will cost me $35 and shipping.
Thank you very much for your time thinking of my problem.

*** You're welcome.


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect