Vista Ultimate: blank screen after login and no Aero

[Guest]

I installed Vista Ultimate couple of weeks ago and after a little hiccup
during install (I had to run it twice), everything seemed to be up and
working ok. Earlier today, I got a notification to install critical updates
for Vista, so I did. Also today, I downloaded the latest driver for my video
card (ATI Radeon x800GT w/1278MB), hoping to get Aero to work. I rebooted
between the updates, and things seem to be working fine, although I still
couldn't get Aero to work (it doesn't even show up in the theme list... this
appears to be a Radeon problem and is mentioned on their support site).

Anyway, later on I rebooted (trying to get the Vista Games to work... almost
none of them work for me, which seems to be a common problem judging by the
number of messages on the subject). One suggestion was to disable the Games
in "Control Panel", reboot, then re-enable Games in the "Control Panel" and
reboot again. During those reboots, Vista exhibits the following behavior:

System start (seems OK)
Windows Vista pulsing green bar (seems OK)
Vista login screen (input password, seems OK)
Screen goes blank...

The screen stays blank, the hard drive churns like windows is still running.
If I wait a minute for the drive activity to calm down, I can press the
"Power" button on the PC and the screen will come back to life (of course, it
says "Shutting Down"). If I reboot again after that it comes up fine... this
only seems to happen every other reboot.

I've tried: un-plug/re-plug monitor, on/off monitor, 'torture'
mouse/keyboard, put CD in CD tray (see if causing dialog to pop up changes
anything).

I just changed my power settings to "Never Sleep"... any other thoughts?

Thanks
(Sorry its a long one)

 

[Chad Harris]

Hi Gene--

I assume you mean you have a Vista DVD. If you do you can use it to do a
Startup Repair which should fix this. If it doesn't, you can try Safe
Mode>>>System Restore from the same place, and you always have the F8
options available. We also have people reporting they have successfully
done a "repair install" in Vista which has always been my ace in the hole
for repairing XP when other ways did not work, booting from the DVD. I have
directions for all these below:

I Startup Repair from the Windows Recovery Environment link on the Vista
DVD:

You can run Startup Repair by putting your Vista DVD in after the
language screen in setup. You can also run System Restore from the same
location.

You run the startup repair tool this way (and system restore from here is
also sometimes effective):

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us

How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
http://www.windowsvista.windowsreinstall.com/vistaultimate/repairstartup/index.htm

Note The computer must be configured to start from a CD or from a DVD. For
information about how to configure the computer to start from a CD or from a
DVD, see the information that came with the computer.
2. Restart the computer. To do this, click Start, click the arrow next to
the Lock button, and then click Restart.

This usually means that you enter bios setup by whatever key or keys
(sometimes there is more than one key that will do it for your model--go to
pc manufacturer site) and configure CD to be first in the boot order.

See for ref:
Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

Boot Order in Bios (Set Boot from HD 1st)
http://www.short-media.com/images/mm/Articles/build_computer/bios/bios03.jpg

Note If you cannot restart the computer by using this method, use the power
button to turn off the computer. Then, turn the computer back on.

3. Set your language preference, and then click Next.

Note In most cases, the startup repair process starts automatically, and you
do not have the option to select it in the System Recovery Options menu.

4. Click Repair your computer.

5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click the operating system
that you want to repair, and then click Next.

6. In the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair to start the
repair process.

7. When the repair process is complete, click Finish.

Additional References for Startup Repair With Screenshots:

How to Use Startup Repair:

***Accessing Windows RE (Repair Environment):***

1) Insert Media into PC (the DVD you burned)

2) ***You will see on the Vista logo setup screen after lang. options in the
lower left corner, a link called "System Recovery Options."***

Screenshot: System Recovery Options (Lower Left Link)
http://blogs.itecn.net/photos/liuhui/images/2014/500x375.aspx

Screenshot: (Click first option "Startup Repair"
http://www.leedesmond.com/images/img_vista02ctp-installSysRecOpt2.bmp

How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
http://www.windowsvista.windowsreinstall.com/vistaultimate/repairstartup/index.htm

3) Select your OS for repair.

4) Its been my experience that you can see some causes of the crash from
theWin RE feature:

You'll have a choice there of using:

1) Startup Repair
2) System Restore
3) Complete PC Restore
___________________

II Repair Install in Vista (Just as in XP Booting from the Vista DVD)

Some people have done a successful repair install in Vista which is the most
reliable way to fix XP no boots. Make sure your bios is set to boot from
the DVD:

See for ref:
Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

Boot Order in Bios (Set Boot from HD 1st)
http://www.short-media.com/images/mm/Articles/build_computer/bios/bios03.jpg

Repair Install
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx

Repair Install (Method 2):
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/315341

III Taking Full Advantage of the F8 Options (Windows Advanced Options Menu):

You could also:

Try to F8 to the Windows Adv Options Menu>try 3 safe modes there (I don't
use WGA) and Last Known Good>then I go to Win RE in Vista. That gives you a
choice of Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking,and Safe Mode with Command
Prompt.

These methods are outlined in

A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP/and Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222/

You will need this reference:

How to start the System Restore tool at a command prompt in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449/en-us

The command to use for system restore at the safe mode cmd prompt is:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

The reason for doing this is one of these choices may work, when the other
doesn't. My experience is that people do not fully try F8 when they think
or have said they have. It is that they can almost always reach Windows
Advanced Options though.


Good luck,

CH