Restart vs. Shut-down-and-then-start

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris Swoyer
  • Start date Start date
C

Chris Swoyer

I am using Windows XP-Pro (with the latest updates) on a Dell
Dimension XPS Y550. I am getting the following behavior:

When I restart it (without shutting things completely down) it gets
a few seconds into the startup, then hangs for several minutes (on
a screen that says www.dell.com in big blue letters). But if I shut
the computer down completely and then turn it on, things work fine.


This is a follow-up to an earlier post, where several people
advised me to get rid of the Norton stuff. Doing so has made things
run much faster one the computer is up and going (so many thanks),
but hasn't solved this problem.

Thanks,
CS
 
Dell :( Ok, here is the deal with Dell computers. They often use these
utility partitions (called page to disk file on my Inspiron 7000). This
is something that has to be loaded with the Dell CD's the computer came
with and will cause problems if it is not installed. Well, I have a
license to Windows XP Pro, but Windows ME came on the computer
originally. That means I can't just install the XP Pro. I have to
install ME to get that stupid page to disk file on there and then
upgrade from there. You may be seeing something similar to this.

Nathan McNulty
 
not that you are a newb or anything nathan but....

when using the partitions that the dell came with, you need to leave the partition for the page to file alone.
just format the c: drive and install whatever os you wish and the dell will work fine.


also .....
i have re-done several dell models, some lattitudes and a lot of dimensions from XPS 400 on up to current p4 models. in all cases a re-partitioning with win xp to whatever desired and format will work fine. the utilities on the dell partition are for certain laptop models and most all servers. even with the servers though you can get away with destroying the dell partition it's just that you won't get the extra remote management or pre-os setup enviornment to do the raid setup etc... and on laptops you may be missing the button functions without the dell partition on some laptops.

however the operating system will function normally without the dell partition on most models. (being that this is based on my experiences with a wide sampling of dell models and i do concede that there may be a few that this isn't the case so experiment at your own risk)

however if you want the buttons on your laptop to work or the dell server you purchased to have remote management and the raid done before os install without resorting to using a boot floppy from the raid card manufacturer first and then building the array that way then my suggestion would be use the dell recovery disk then after the partitioning phase of the install destroy the large partition and repartition that to whatever you want and go to town
 
Actually, this is one of those really old Dell's (333 MHz laptop). I've
noticed some of the newer Dell's do actually have a partition (some are
quite large and often contain all of the setup files), though I don't
really deal with OEM computers as I build all of my own. I have built
over a hundred computers for networks, friends, family, etc., and never
had any problems (except this one kid who tried to "tweak" the network
computers which makes for a pretty funny story, but I won't go into that
here).

I guess on my Dell laptop (don't use it very often anyways) this is a
special file, not really a partition, that you just have to copy to the
boot drive. I guess it contains all of the drivers and similar stuff.
Anyways, if I press escape during the POST (with the big Dell logo), it
pulls up the POST info, but hangs for a while while it looks for that
file and finally says it can't find it.

Nathan McNulty
 
I installed XP Pro about two years ago and the problems only began a week
ago, so whatever the source, it's recent.

CS

when using the partitions that the dell came with, you need to leave the
Click to expand...
partition for the page to file alone.
just format the c: drive and install whatever os you wish and the dell will work fine.


also .....
i have re-done several dell models, some lattitudes and a lot of
Click to expand...
dimensions from XPS 400 on up to current p4 models. in all cases a
re-partitioning with win xp to whatever desired and format will work fine.
the utilities on the dell partition are for certain laptop models and most
all servers. even with the servers though you can get away with destroying
the dell partition it's just that you won't get the extra remote management
or pre-os setup enviornment to do the raid setup etc... and on laptops you
may be missing the button functions without the dell partition on some
laptops.
however the operating system will function normally without the dell
Click to expand...
partition on most models. (being that this is based on my experiences with a
wide sampling of dell models and i do concede that there may be a few that
this isn't the case so experiment at your own risk)
however if you want the buttons on your laptop to work or the dell server
Click to expand...
you purchased to have remote management and the raid done before os install
without resorting to using a boot floppy from the raid card manufacturer
first and then building the array that way then my suggestion would be use
the dell recovery disk then after the partitioning phase of the install
destroy the large partition and repartition that to whatever you want and go
to town
 
Have you changed any BIOS settings or flashed to a new BIOS on anything
(Motherboard, Controller cards, ect)? When you are re-booting can you press
F8 and get the boot menu? If you are getting to the point when XP is trying
to load you can open your c:\boot.ini file and add "/sos /noguiboot" to your
entry. This will disable the WinXP progress bar for startup and display the
name of each driver as it loads. If it gets stuck on a particular driver
then you can start looking for update on that driver. If you never get to
the OS loading stage it is probably something at the hardware or BIOS level.
Here is an example of how to change your boot.ini:

[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /sos /noguiboot

Hope that helps.

Joshua Smith
DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
Microsoft
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