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paulysopes
new user
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 24
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Hi - purchased a new Dell Inspiron 530 running Windows Vista Home Premium two months ago, last couple of weeks it intermittently either freezes or won't boot up at all when switched on first thing.
With the latter problem in particular, the PC won't boot up at all even after several attempts and after running Hard Drive Quick Tests from the Boot menu; then it will suddenly boot up with no problems - confused!
Dell support think it's a problem with Vista becoming corruted on the hard drive and want to Collect & Repair it (it's still under a years warranty), however, I'm very reluctant to let the PC out of my hands.
Is there anything I can do to diagnose and fix this problem?
I have Windows Firewall/Windows Defender/AVG Anti-Virus Installed and scans have indicated no problems.
Any ideas gratefully receieved!
Many thanks.
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BurrWalnut
Chippendaler
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 3458
Loc: London, England
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Run the System File Checker (SFC) from an elevated Command Prompt:-
Click the Windows Orb (Start) > All Programs > Accessories and right-click Command Prompt, then ‘Run as Administrator’. Type sfc /scannow (note the space) and press Enter. This may take quite some time to run.
You can analyse the SFC log file, here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228/en-us If you can't understand the CBS log, use Find to check for the words 'cannot repair'. Write down the names of the corrupt files to be copied from the Vista DVD and go here http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/86959-access-vista-install-dvd-files.html which shows how to copy any system files from your Vista DVD that SFC could not repair.
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Fine English furniture is the new rock 'n' roll
The Chippendale Society
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paulysopes
new user
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 24
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Thanks for your reply BurrWalnut.
I've run the SFC and this has listed the following files as 'Cannot repair':
tcpmon.ini of Microsoft-Windows-Printing-StandardPortMonitor-TCPMonINI
settings.ini of Microsoft-Windows-Sidebar
What are these files?
I have no problems printing when the PC is running and the Windows Sidebar is currently closed on my desktop, so I'm confused as to whether or not the problems with these files are responsible for the PC freezing or not booting up?
Any further help gratefully received.
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BurrWalnut
Chippendaler
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 3458
Loc: London, England
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By interrogating the cbs.log you have identified two errors but whether these have anything to do with the PC freezing I don’t know.
A few more questions I’m afraid :-
1. Have a look in Event Viewer for further evidence of errors and whether the dates coincide with the freezing.
2. Also let me know the earliest and latest dates in cbs.log, i.e. Ctrl + Home and Ctrl + End to find the two extremes?
3. Have you mentioned the two corrupt files to Dell?
4. Have you tried my second link to retrieve the two files?
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Fine English furniture is the new rock 'n' roll
The Chippendale Society
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paulysopes
new user
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 24
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Thank you for your continuing help BurrWalnut.
1. I've gone into Event Viewer, but I'm afraid I'm not sure what exactly I should be looking for.
2. I can't seem to access (even under admin) the native cbs.log file. However managed to take a copy, which shows the earlist date and time is 2007-12-21 10:35 (when the previous cbs.log file was archived) , latest date and time is 2007-12-30 09:24
3. No, not yet.
4. No, I wanted to try and find out if these files were the cause of the freezing or not booting up before going down that road.
Many thanks
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BurrWalnut
Chippendaler
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 3458
Loc: London, England
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The Vista Event Viewer is somewhat complicated when compared to the XP one, never mind, I think the next step is to run a Chkdsk if only to eliminate some form of disk error/corruption.
Run it from an elevated Command Prompt, go to the Windows Orb (Start) > All Programs > Accessories and right-click Command Prompt, then ‘Run as Administrator’. Type chkdsk /f /r (note the spaces) and press Enter. You will probably have to reboot for it to run.
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Fine English furniture is the new rock 'n' roll
The Chippendale Society
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paulysopes
new user
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 24
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Continuing thanks for your help.
Results of the chkdsk:
Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Date: 30/12/2007 22:11:40
Event ID: 1001
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Home-PC
Description:
Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.
A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
96576 file records processed.
67 large file records processed.
0 bad file records processed.
0 EA records processed.
108 reparse records processed.
368457 index entries processed.
5 unindexed files processed.
96576 security descriptors processed.
Cleaning up 414 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 414 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 414 unused security descriptors.
12930 data files processed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
37333448 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
96560 files processed.
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
60816626 free clusters processed.
Free space verification is complete.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.
302019583 KB total disk space.
58502056 KB in 83202 files.
42364 KB in 12931 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
208655 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
243266508 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
75504895 total allocation units on disk.
60816627 allocation units available on disk.
There was also a message at the very end of the chkdsk that flashed up briefly saying something like 'Your disk is clean'...
I assume this is good news?
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BurrWalnut
Chippendaler
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 3458
Loc: London, England
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The chkdsk output looks good and there is one message in it that sounds encouraging, ‘Windows has made corrections to the file system.’
Freezing is caused by both hardware and software problems. The usual hardware errors are over-clocking, bad or flaky RAM, HDD errors, dirty power supply and inadequate power supply. Software freezing is not so much of a problem in Vista as ‘File Protection’ is more strenuous but poorly written programs and bad drivers can bring it to a halt.
Let’s just go through what you have tried so far and what else can be tried :-
1. So far you have run the Dell HDD tests, SFC for system file corruption and Chkdsk for file corruption. With the exception of SFC they seem to give a clean bill of health. I have a feeling the SFC errors are caused by a Microsoft fix but don't quote me.
2. So next, I suppose you should test the memory, i.e. Windows Orb (Start) > All Programs > Admin Tools > Memory Diagnostics Tool.
3. Finally, if you have, or can get hold of, a Vista DVD, run a startup repair. This can repair more than just startup problems, look here http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/91467-startup-repair.html
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Fine English furniture is the new rock 'n' roll
The Chippendale Society
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paulysopes
new user
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 24
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Ran the memory diagnostics tool - no problems detected.
Ran the Vista Install DVD Startup Repair - went through in seconds finishing with 'Startup Repair could not detect a problem'
So all looks well, but there is definitely still a problem; the PC has frozen twice today already, once on re-initiating from 'Sleep' and once when trying to check mail on a user account - both times required the PC to be powered off and then on again.
Clutching at straws here,but I don't suppose this could be mouse related? The freezing 'appears' to be happening when moving the mouse? (DELL USB Optical)?
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BurrWalnut
Chippendaler
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 3458
Loc: London, England
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It could be the mouse, try a different one.
You are in the best position to detect the cause, try to monitor what you do.
Event Viewer is perfect for showing errors that are corrected, e.g. retries on read and write operations but immediate stops (freezes), obviously, are not written to the log.
Also, be prudent by making regular, external copies of your personal data.
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Fine English furniture is the new rock 'n' roll
The Chippendale Society
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