Lazy boot....:-(.....

[Guest]

My system suddenly started taking a VERY long time to boot up (5-10
minutes!). This began happening immediately after printer problems: paper
stuck, a terrible noise, then very erratic printer behavior---all solved by
unplugging and replugging the printer and rebooting. But now the boot process
'sticks' at the Microsoft color logo page where the blue squares fill up the
line (showing the loading). When the blue gets halfway across, it sits that
way for ages. Eventually it opens and everything works fine, but there is
obviously something that needs tending to. I'm in fear that one day it won't
open.....

Possibly relevant: For a very long time now, when I boot I get a message
"Invalid boot.ini file. Booting from C:WINNT" (white letters on black
background in upper left corner of screen). It just appears for a second or
two and then boots up fine. I posted on this matter a while back, but the
reply posts assumed considerably more knowledge on my part than I have, so I
was not able to try the suggested solutions. I need step by step instructions
which don't assume any prior knowledge (like on the Microsoft Knowledge
Base).

 

[DL]

Try Safe Mode, Boot logging
Usually accessed by keying F8 as the sys starts up and prior to loading win
msg
See win2k Help, 'safe mode options'
Once booted, examine the boot log
Its probably a driver problem, maybe your printer driver.

 

[Guest]

What do I do once I get the boot log...??? Don't know anything about
assessing logs......

J.
--
Thanks for the help!

Try Safe Mode, Boot logging
Usually accessed by keying F8 as the sys starts up and prior to loading win
msg
See win2k Help, 'safe mode options'
Once booted, examine the boot log
Its probably a driver problem, maybe your printer driver.

 

[DL]

You open it, its a text file, then scroll down to check what is taking
either a long time to load or is failing to load.
Take a note of the file name, search your system for the file, select it,
right click and check the properties. Once identified you know which driver
you need to update/replace.

Allthough since you state this occured following a printer problem you could
try uninstalling the printer, and its associated software. Then reinstalling
the printer - ensure you install as per printer instructions. eg with a usb
printer you usually have to install the printer software, PRIOR to
connecting your printer to your sys.
If that works you might then want to check printer manu web site for any
updated drivers.

What do I do once I get the boot log...??? Don't know anything about
assessing logs......

J.

 

[Guest]

I did a printer driver check on the HP website, and it says I need an update.
So maybe i should straightaway do that anyway....However, since it took ages
for HP to give me a functioning driver when I first got the computer and
printer because at the time (2001) the Deskjet 930c was not geared for 2KPro,
I thought I should make sure I know what the present driver is so I could
return to present state if necessary. Under Printer Properties>Adv>Driver it
simply says HP DeskJet 930c Series which is quite general. I only remember
that the driver that worked was ironically not the one normally used for that
printer model. That all may not be relevant anymore, as the new driver I
downloaded today is specifically for 2KPro.

Inshort, where do I look to see details of my priter driver (whatever I
would need to know to return to present state after installing new driver
which may not work)?

Janet

 

[DL]

There will probably be an HP folder in your C drive, with a subfolder
Drivers, when you install new drivers I recollect that a new HP subfolder is
created, relevent to the version.
If the new driver is on the hp site you should'nt have a problem, but as I
said before do check on the installation procedure, specifically whether you
have to disconect the printer prior to installing the driver.

 

[Guest]

The new driver is to be downloaded to c:\dj930. This is the same folder that
the past drivers are in, as they are all considered "The 930 Series". The
problem is that ALL the drivers we tried until getting to the 'right' one are
in that folder (about 10 of them), so how can I know which of the drivers in
the folder is the one which is presently installed? Isn't there some place on
the computer where all in-use (presently-functioning) drivers are listed?
What format are drivers? .DLL?

 

[DL]

Some apps install drivers into an app specific folder you should be able to
rename/alter the default download folder.
Your Add/Remove programs dialogue should have an entry for your printer, the
hp update installation instructions *should be followed to update the
driver*
With updated HP drivers I've used, once downloaded there is an
install/autorun entry in the download folder to install them.

 

[Guest]

First of all I want to thank you for your prompt answers!
I'm afraid I didn't make myself clear---I have no problem downloading an
installing the new driver; I just want to know which of the many drivers in
the HP Drivers folder is the one in use now---in case the new one is not
functoining well and I want to go back to the one I have been using.

 

[DL]

You 'may' be able to determin the driver by reference to your
hp/tools/software
The many drivers in the hp folder may actually be only a single version. My
hp drivers folder lists 23 files allthough I only installed the single
driver package.

 

[Guest]

Actually, I had already downloaded the driver which the HP Driver Checker
said I needed: Ver. 4.3 for Windows 2000. I assume the version I had been
using turned out to be 4.29 (Test Page called it 64.29). I created a new
printer with a new name for the new driver (thereby maintaining the old one
intact should I need to return to it). The new one worked fine, but I still
had the problem I was trying to solve (7-min boot time ever since paper got
stuck in the printer), so I deleted the old printer entry and now all is
fine........Thank you for directing me to the Printer Test Page. It was a
little confusing because I discovered the Test Page lists the driver version
differently from the HP site (64.33 as opposed to HP's 4.3.