Incomplete Boot Vista SP1

[Lee Lord]

I recently began having a problem when booting up my Gateway Computer running
Vista SP1 which I installed months ago. The OS along with all the loading
programs get to a certain point (but at a different point each time) after
the desktop is loaded. The HDD light stops flickering long before is usually
does and all is frozen. I can't access anything with my mouse or the
touchpad. I have to do a Hard shutdown. Upon rebooting sometimes everything
loads completely and sometimes it does not.

This started slowly a few weeks ago but has gotten progressively worse. I
haven't installed any new programs recenty nor updated drivers. I have a
feeling it may be a virus but no indication other than the freezing. I've
done system restores and replaced the OS with a Norton Save and Restore image
made a few weeks ago but to no avail. Same problem. I'd hate to do a
factory system recovery as you all can imagine. Any suggestions as to what
would cause this problem? Thank you.

 

[Malke]

I recently began having a problem when booting up my Gateway Computer
running
Vista SP1 which I installed months ago. The OS along with all the loading
programs get to a certain point (but at a different point each time) after
the desktop is loaded. The HDD light stops flickering long before is
usually
does and all is frozen. I can't access anything with my mouse or the
touchpad. I have to do a Hard shutdown. Upon rebooting sometimes
everything loads completely and sometimes it does not.

This started slowly a few weeks ago but has gotten progressively worse. I
haven't installed any new programs recenty nor updated drivers. I have a
feeling it may be a virus but no indication other than the freezing. I've
done system restores and replaced the OS with a Norton Save and Restore
image
made a few weeks ago but to no avail. Same problem. I'd hate to do a
factory system recovery as you all can imagine. Any suggestions as to
what
would cause this problem? Thank you.

Since you're still getting the problem with a clean image and since the
problem is random, that's a strong indication of hardware failure. I would
start by testing the hard drive.

Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility downloaded from the drive
mftr.'s website. You will create a bootable CD with the file you download.
You will need third-party burning software to do this such as Roxio, Nero,
or the free CDBurnerXP Pro. Burn as an image, not as data.

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

Boot with the CD you made and do a thorough test of the drive. If it fails
any physical tests, replace it.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Standard disclaimer: I can't see and test your computer myself, so these are
just suggestions based on many years of being a professional computer tech;
suggestions based on what you've written. You should not take my
suggestions as a definitive diagnosis. Testing hardware failures often
involves swapping out suspected parts with known-good parts. If you can't
do the testing yourself and/or are uncomfortable opening your computer,
take the machine to a professional computer repair shop (not your local
equivalent of BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). If possible, have all your data
backed up before you take the machine into a shop.

Malke

 

[Lee Lord]

Thanks so much for the advice. I'll try your solution with the HDD
diagnostic which I've already burned from an ISO from Western Digital. Also
thank you for the second site.. VERY informative! Btw the Norton Imagine may
not have been clean because as I had stated this was happening before the
image was created but only very intermitently. Thanks again. Lee