I'm having problems

G

Gadget Guy 47

New Member
We've had our new PC for about 3 weeks now and it's been one headache after another. I've gotten the BSOD several times, and now I'm seeing screens where Vista won't boot on the startup screen.

Sometimes the segmented green bar will travel l-r 4-5 times and everything works fine. Sometimes the bar will suddenly freeze and the screen goes dark, giving me a message to the effect that something or other has crashed.

Since the onscreen message only lasts a few seconds (ditto for the BSOD alerts) I can't read that many lines that fast before they disappear. Is there any way I can instruct the PC to slow the script down so I could at least hand-copy the message?

We're running Vista Home Premium on a new HP machine, it came with 2048mb ram and a 500GB drive, if that helps any.

I would greatly appreciate any advice, tips, etc. that you may be able to offer me.

Thank you!

Bob :confused:
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    2048mb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
    Hard Drives
    500GB
Just to clarify is the computer 100% new and if so where was it purchased?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD 64 X2 6000+ @ 3.15Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS CROSSHAIR 570 SLi
    Memory
    8Gb DDR2 G.Skill 6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hanns-G HN199D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 @ 75Hz
    Hard Drives
    1 x SATA WD 300Gb
    1 x SATA Seagate 750Gb
    PSU
    Apevia 680W
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    5 x 120mm; 1 x 200mm; 3 x 80mm
    Keyboard
    HP Wireless
    Mouse
    HP Wireless
    Internet Speed
    9Mb/s Cable Wireless N
    Other Info
    LG Blu Ray/HD DVD drive
  1. Did it come preinstalled with Sp1, or did you install it yourself?
  2. Have you checked for the absolute latest drivers in Vista?
  3. To have the machine not automatically reboot on BSODs, hold the Windows key and press Pause, then click on Advanced system settings, and then under Startup and Recovery click on the Settings button, then under System failure uncheck Automatically restart. Click OK all the way out.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
BigEasy18 said:
Just to clarify is the computer 100% new and if so where was it purchased?
Click to expand...

It is indeed brand-new, we purchased it last month at Wal-Mart on May 22nd. It was the bundle designated A6403-w, which also included a 20" HP LCD widescreen monitor.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    2048mb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
    Hard Drives
    500GB
johngalt said:
  1. Did it come preinstalled with Sp1, or did you install it yourself?
  2. Have you checked for the absolute latest drivers in Vista?
  3. To have the machine not automatically reboot on BSODs, hold the Windows key and press Pause, then click on Advanced system settings, and then under Startup and Recovery click on the Settings button, then under System failure uncheck Automatically restart. Click OK all the way out.
Click to expand...

SP1 came preinstalled. I haven't yet checked for current Vista drivers, not completely sure how to go about that. And many thanks for the info on circumventing the automatic reboot when the BSOD rears its ugly head.

For the time being I'll be leaving this computer in 'Sleep Mode' when I'm done, maybe I can bypass any more buggy starts that way. No longer than we've had it, it's a little discouraging to repeatedly have these problems with our new PC. Our last HP (underpowered as it was) ran XP Home flawlessly, and not once in the past 5 years did we ever experience any trouble with the OS.

Hopefully when Microsoft releases SP2 for Vista these problems will be addressed and fixed, once and for all.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    2048mb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
    Hard Drives
    500GB
Well, go to the HP website and look for drivers for your model computer.

And you need to understand something very basic here - blame HP for problems with your Vista machine, not Vista. And if you continue to have problems you need to be bugging the mess out of HP - before your tech support period is over. Don't let them railroad you about it being Vista, because I have installed it 35+ times and the only times I get problems is when I have a bad driver from a manufacturer. I even have it running as a virtual machine inside Mac OS-X Leopard 10.5.3.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
johngalt said:
Well, go to the HP website and look for drivers for your model computer.

And you need to understand something very basic here - blame HP for problems with your Vista machine, not Vista. And if you continue to have problems you need to be bugging the mess out of HP - before your tech support period is over. Don't let them railroad you about it being Vista, because I have installed it 35+ times and the only times I get problems is when I have a bad driver from a manufacturer. I even have it running as a virtual machine inside Mac OS-X Leopard 10.5.3.
Click to expand...

I will do as you suggest, and my thanks for the tip! :)

To be sure, there are more than a few things that I do like about Vista. Sorry if I came across as ragging on the OS, because all things considered I think Microsoft did an admirable job with the successor to XP.

Having contacted them last Tuesday evening (June 17th) I DL what I presume was a patch from HP, intended to address both the BSOD and Start Screen problems. I've not seen the BSOD since then, and the start-up problem has only occurred once since I installed the DL.

My warranty on this 6403-w is for a full year, and I absolutely intend to hold HP accountable on their end of things. Not being particularly tech-minded, my personal feeling is that the hardware is indeed the likely culprit in this situation. And I expect for HP to make good on this problem, however long it may take.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    2048mb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
    Hard Drives
    500GB
I'm having very similar problems to you. I built my pc myself, and SP1 is installed. I obviously can't get those drivers from HP, but I can get them from component manufacturers. Do you know what type of drivers they are?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-G33-S2L
    Memory
    2 x 2Gb Apacer DDR2 800Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated until my HD4870 arrives
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 22"
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Cavair SATA 500GB
    PSU
    Silverstone Element 500w
    Case
    Silverstone Temjin TJ08
Gadget Guy 47 said:
BigEasy18 said:
Just to clarify is the computer 100% new and if so where was it purchased?
Click to expand...

It is indeed brand-new, we purchased it last month at Wal-Mart on May 22nd. It was the bundle designated A6403-w, which also included a 20" HP LCD widescreen monitor.
Click to expand...

Take it back and let them fix it..... You should not be bothered with things like this until warranty runs out
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q6600
    Motherboard
    MSI P36 NEO2
    Memory
    4GB 5-5-5-12
    Graphics Card(s)
    8800GTS 512Mb Overclocked
    Sound Card
    5.1 surround sound
    Hard Drives
    500Gb Samsung SATAII XP
    500GB Samsung SATAII
    PSU
    1000W CoolerMaster power supply
    Case
    CoolerMaster Cosmos 1000 case
    Cooling
    120mm ThermalTake Big Typhoon CPU cooler, 3 x 120mm exhaust
    Keyboard
    Wireless Keyboard and mouse 3000
    Other Info
    1TB WD My Book Office edition external drive x 2, Dual layer LG DVD-Rom burner,
    15 in 1 card reader
    Triple boot: XP, Vista Ultimate 64 and Windows 7 Ultimate 64
xacimo said:
I'm having very similar problems to you. I built my pc myself, and SP1 is installed. I obviously can't get those drivers from HP, but I can get them from component manufacturers. Do you know what type of drivers they are?
Click to expand...

Congrats on building your own PC, wish I had the expertise to do something like that. :) I wish I could answer your question about the drivers you require, but the truth is I don't know. Sorry.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    2048mb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
    Hard Drives
    500GB
acdcfan said:
Gadget Guy 47 said:
BigEasy18 said:
Just to clarify is the computer 100% new and if so where was it purchased?
Click to expand...

It is indeed brand-new, we purchased it last month at Wal-Mart on May 22nd. It was the bundle designated A6403-w, which also included a 20" HP LCD widescreen monitor.
Click to expand...

Take it back and let them fix it..... You should not be bothered with things like this until warranty runs out
Click to expand...

I agree with you, this should be Wal-Mart's baby to fix by all rights. Their 15-day exchange policy is completely unrealistic for something this complex/expensive, but it's how they've always done business where computers are concerned. It's also something they really need to look at changing, especially in today's business climate.

The Electronics Department manager is a good friend, and if things continue going haywire with our PC then I'm going to lean on him a little, see if maybe he'll intercede with WM on my behalf.

That said, our next purchase is going to be a 40" Flat Panel early next year, and how Wal-Mart handles this situation will dictate whether or not they get that business. Seems only fair to me.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Memory
    2048mb
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA
    Hard Drives
    500GB
xacimo said:
I'm having very similar problems to you. I built my pc myself, and SP1 is installed. I obviously can't get those drivers from HP, but I can get them from component manufacturers. Do you know what type of drivers they are?
Click to expand...
When dealing with a personally built computer it's a little tougher, first step would be to check every component you have in your machine for driver updates.
If you do that and are still having issues then you may have something wrong with the hardware itself. I have always gone about checking this by taking out all non-essential hardware from my computer and turning it on, if it works fine then turn your computer off (I have fried an 8800GTX by spacing off and just plugging my wireless card into my motherboard when my computer was on... thank goodness for a warranty) and unplug it before you add one more device. Do this until you find the faulty hardware.

This is just my idea but I know for a fact there are A LOT of people on this website that know A LOT more then me. You may just want to search in the other forums before taking your computer apart just for fun.

I completely agree with acdcfan, but you need to go to the source. HP loads their computers full of unnecessary and most of the time annoying software and from what I've heard of their tech support it seems hit or miss whether they want to help you or not.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD 64 X2 6000+ @ 3.15Ghz
    Motherboard
    ASUS CROSSHAIR 570 SLi
    Memory
    8Gb DDR2 G.Skill 6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hanns-G HN199D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 @ 75Hz
    Hard Drives
    1 x SATA WD 300Gb
    1 x SATA Seagate 750Gb
    PSU
    Apevia 680W
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    5 x 120mm; 1 x 200mm; 3 x 80mm
    Keyboard
    HP Wireless
    Mouse
    HP Wireless
    Internet Speed
    9Mb/s Cable Wireless N
    Other Info
    LG Blu Ray/HD DVD drive
Any and *all* drivers - and particularly *after* you install Sp1, as it can break poorly written drivers.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
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