Solved Annoying 'Boot Loop' issue - advice needed

[johngalt]

When I said take the machine back I did not mean take it back and return it - I meant take it back and exchange it.

If the tech repeatedly tells you that a chkdsk is *normal* on boot then return it - he's trying to either

• Get out of fixing his mistake, or
• Trying to sell you an illegal copy of Vista.

 

[kruger]

Here are the downlod links for Natural Color Pro and Magic Tune....

Magic Tune SAMSUNG’s Digital World - Monitor / Awards

Natural Color Expert SAMSUNG’s Digital World - Monitor / Support


I also have a Samsung 226BW but I haven't used these utilities on my monitor. I have used them on someone elses Samsung monitor to resolve a color issue.

The color is pretty much perfect as it is. Otherwise I have used, IIRC the name, ntune or some other nVidia utilities. The nVidia utilities were very effective.

 

[johngalt]

You might also see if your video card is going south, or is under powered, or over clocked....

 

[Oskari]

John, I'll see the tech guy next week and have a chat to him. I suspect he'll play innocent, but, reluctantly, ask me to bring back the machine. However, I don't quite understand your suggestion that my video card is going 'south' or under-powered - that would seem pretty corrupt on the computer shop's behalf. Yeah, I can accept that these south-going bits of hardware occur occassionally, but it seems strange that they gave my system a clean bill of health and when I get it home it's not quite right.

Kruger, thanks for the links. I'll file them away for now because I don't want to do more to this system than I have to, especially if I have to get it replaced and/or tuned up.

 

[Oskari]

Hey Kruger, the link to Natural Color Expert takes me to a god-awful list of downloads. Which do I even consider? I mean, what's Huey and Eyeone?

Strange thing happened recently when I took the advice of Vista and went into that 'F8' screen. I tried the option of not booting when 'start-up' discovered an error. Well, when it did its chkdsk routine it just hung there until I did a hard reset and fingered F8 again and started in 'normal mode'. As I've said before, it doesn't loop many times and, this time, as usual, it found the desktop and all was sweet.

 

[Oskari]

Plus, if I try and download Magic Tune for x64 I get a 'Web Page Doesn't Exist' web page. I wonder does this driver/utility actually exist? Like this (sorry for the ugly size of this paste):

The webpage cannot be found

HTTP 404
Most likely causes:

• <LI id=causeErrorInAddress>There might be a typing error in the address.
• If you clicked on a link, it may be out of date.

What you can try:

Retype the address.

Go back to the previous page.

Go to and look for the information you want.

The webpage cannot be found

HTTP 404
Most likely causes:

• <LI id=causeErrorInAddress>There might be a typing error in the address.
• If you clicked on a link, it may be out of date.

What you can try:

Retype the address.

Go back to the previous page.

Go to and look for the information you want.

 

[Fumz]

I tried looking for these apps on Samsung's site too using your monitor's model number as a reference; I could not find it. Then I used mine, 226BW; couldn't find it either. I recall (fuzzy memory) seeing these apps online as at the time it was recommended to me that if I were going to use them to not use the one's off the CD; rather, from Samsung.com.

It's possible the apps just caused so many problems they discontinued them? If you don't have them on your CD, then I would not hunt around looking for some tool that your monitor never supported in the first place. Like I said, while not perfect, Samsungs tend to be generally very good right out of the box (lol, cept for brightness, that's a killer, my eyes are still recovering from that initial shock). With a few simple hue adjustments, you should solve that red text problem in short order.

 

[kruger]

Sorry about that, I also tried to download the NCE Eyeone PRO Vista version(V.1.0.22) and got the same download error. I then tried the NCE Huey Vista version(V.1.0.22) I was able to download it. I installed it but when I try to run it I get a measurement device not found error.

Then I tried to download NCE Eyeone display 2 Vista version(V.1.0.22), got the download error.

Strange.

I'm gonna dig around and see if I can find the original install files that I had a while back that did work. If I can find them, I will find a way to post them up some how.

 

[Oskari]

Sorry for bringing this thread up to the surface again, but the 'boot loop' problem is slightly different now. Most of the time it loops once and, silly me, I can kind of live with that. However, this morning it looped about four times.

The 'blue screen with white text chkdsk' I mentioned earlier doesn't appear, but it's replaced by a very similar looking one that specifically mentions that a fault was suspected with my video card and/or driver. This screen advices that I hit reset and after seeing it for the fourth time I did and the system foudn the desktop. Hmmm...

A couple of days ago I updated my ATI driver to the latest version. I was rewarded with an extra 0.1 on my 'index score' and the card runs all my graphic-intensive games without a hitch. In fact, the speed and quality is astounding.

I don't know if it's related, but I just posted on the 'drivers' thread about an occassional problem with a file called, GSvr.exe. Two or three times now Vista has reported an error with this file.

 

[johngalt]

Honestly - you paid for a working machine - a machine that is looping in boot ***EVEN ONCE A DAY*** is not working.

You seriously need to take it back and get it replaced / fixed before your time to do so runs out.

The reason I am adamant about this as opposed to allowing us to fix it is that these boot loops are not good for your overall system integrity- if Windows is loading and then tries to cut itself off and reboot it can easily corrupt some very important files rendering the computer unable to boot and leaving you with a very big and expensive paperweight. I'd love to tackle this machine as I have not yet encountered a boot loop in Vista myself, but I can only do so much at a distance - and during boot there is no real way to remain connected even via remote login / desktop / pcAnywhere / etc.

By the time we have a chance at figuring out this problem your warranty period will be up - and you will be stuck with a machine that is going to both ruin your experiences in computer and your use of Vista.

Please trust me on this - take the time and take it back even if he does not ask to see it - the last thing he is going to want as a store owner and reseller is to have an angry customer come in while he is trying to make new sales - it is almost guaranteed that he will look at it.

As an aside - your title as techno artist - as in Techno music, as in DJing? or as in visual arts?

 

[Oskari]

Okay, John, I'm hearing you. Computers have been my life since the humble Apple II and I've spent a young man's lifetime on these incredible tools. This week I'll pop into the shop and have a chat with the tech and see what the next step is. It'll be hard being without my computer for how-ever-long-it-takes-for-them-to-sort-this-problem, but maybe it'll give me an excuse to read or, better still, go skiing...

The Techno Artist means a number of things, but mainly concerning the visual arts and creative writing. I'm also a musician, but that's 'limited' to guitar and voice. If you're curious, you can see me singing one of my songs on YouTube: in the search bar, type 'Jack Larm'.

 

[johngalt]

Roger that - good luck with the tech,

 

[Oskari]

My apologise again for harping on about this, but I've never been one to let 'sleeping dogs lie'.

I know it's not a solution, but I can get passed the boot loop by hitting the reset button on my tower when it gets to the problem page, i.e. blue screen with white text telling me there's a problem and doing some sort of % check - don't know if it's quite the chkdsk screen because it looks a bit different).

As I said, and John Galt has advised, this really isn't good enough when you expect an out-of-the-box system to work properly. However, in the trouble-shooting scheme of things (and perhaps useful info for the shop tech when I see him), it might help isolate the problem, which I suspect is the video card (even though it runs like a thoroughbred on speed).

 

[Fumz]

I recently purchased a new machine and it suffers from a slightly annoying problem whenever I start it.

We've been so focused on problem solving we've forgotten the most important point. ^

While I understand not wanting to give up, you really have to. This was never a problem you should have tackled in the first place. You're accepting the unacceptable; don't. I understand and admire your tenacity, but this is a losing battle. It arrived messed up, let it go.

 

[Oskari]

I know, I know. Thanks to all of you for keeping me real. Slowly I'm learning the power of 'No, this is not my problem!'

 

[johngalt]

I recently purchased a new machine and it suffers from a slightly annoying problem whenever I start it.

We've been so focused on problem solving we've forgotten the most important point. ^

While I understand not wanting to give up, you really have to. This was never a problem you should have tackled in the first place. You're accepting the unacceptable; don't. I understand and admire your tenacity, but this is a losing battle. It arrived messed up, let it go.

I know, I know. Thanks to all of you for keeping me real. Slowly I'm learning the power of 'No, this is not my problem!'

Honestly - you paid for a working machine - a machine that is looping in boot ***EVEN ONCE A DAY*** is not working.

You seriously need to take it back and get it replaced / fixed before your time to do so runs out.

The reason I am adamant about this as opposed to allowing us to fix it is that these boot loops are not good for your overall system integrity- if Windows is loading and then tries to cut itself off and reboot it can easily corrupt some very important files rendering the computer unable to boot and leaving you with a very big and expensive paperweight. I'd love to tackle this machine as I have not yet encountered a boot loop in Vista myself, but I can only do so much at a distance - and during boot there is no real way to remain connected even via remote login / desktop / pcAnywhere / etc.

By the time we have a chance at figuring out this problem your warranty period will be up - and you will be stuck with a machine that is going to both ruin your experiences in computer and your use of Vista.

Please trust me on this - take the time and take it back even if he does not ask to see it - the last thing he is going to want as a store owner and reseller is to have an angry customer come in while he is trying to make new sales - it is almost guaranteed that he will look at it.

As an aside - your title as techno artist - as in Techno music, as in DJing? or as in visual arts?

Actually, as I quoted myself above, yeah, I have been trying to get Oskari to just take it back before the tech support period ends.

 

[Oskari]

PROBLEM SOLVED!

I know I said I'd take my machine back to the tech because of an annoying 'boot loop' issue. Well, I've had a bad flu/cold for the last couple of weeks and I couldn't make the hour long trip back to the shop. In fact, my illness has been a blessing in disguise because I've solved my problem.

Probably like a lot of PC users I'm restless when it comes to troubleshooting and working things out for myself. It can be risky, especially when the warranty clock is ticking away, but the reward is greater because if I sort out the problem it'll be less likely to occur and, if it does, I'll be that much wiser. Anyway, I have to report that my system is stable.

During my stay-at-home period, I continued to search the web for clues to my problem and I stumbled across another forum with a thread that described my problem exactly, i.e. same hardware doing the same thing. The key bit of advice on that thread was to update my BIOS. So, I did a conservative update from F4 to F5 via @BIOS and, presto, no more problems.

I really have to thank again all those (especially John) who had my best interests at heart. I agree whole-heartedly that out-of-the-box machines should not be accepted with errors or problems. I was convinced it was a hardware fault even though most of time my machine performed really well (games, high-end apps, etc).

Now, am I convinced that I did the right thing? I'm not completely sure because, in a way, I've let the techs at the shop off the hook. I'm convinced, however, that their solution to my problem would have taken a similar path, i.e. updating the BIOS.

P.S. How do I put a big, green tick on this thread?

 

[johngalt]

Amazingly enough, no one ever suggested checking for a BIOS update. Good call on that Oskari.

I'll put the check mark for you.

 

[Oskari]

I'm so happy...three days running and I really do believe in Vista and this machine! And it all came down to a little BIOS update via @BIOS. Like they say, sometimes the biggest problems can be fixed with the simplest solutions. Hopefully others who have this problem will get the help they need through this thread.

So, I'm guessing that 'check marks' are a moderator-only function?