Re: Boot-up peculiarity

It ain't all that straightforward, JS.....not when you're
working with their techies. Now they referred me to a
piece of 3rd party software, a registry cleaner that I
downloaded and bought and is impossible to activate
because of their security key, and I have to wait for
THAT to be resolved.

This is very frustrating. I narrowed it down and proved that
just checking ONE piece of their on-board software (HPBootOp)
in the StartUp list, causes the malfunction, and they are
unable to solve the problem. Grrrrrrrr.
WBL
JS wrote:
A boot optimizer, hope HP solves the problem.

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:OW%2326D4qHHA.3740@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi, JS.
Several points. Answer to your question is, AIDA reports
video adapter 256MB.

But I've established that booting with ONLY Symantec's ccApp
in the Startup list, the problem behavior does not occur. When
I add HP's HPBootOp.exe to the list, it blanks again. I'm
working back and forth with HP's techies on it. This is an HP
Presario well within warranty.
Last point: Whatever video is allocated, it's been that way for
eight months, so it shouldn't need changing, I figure.
WBL

JS wrote:
Do you have a built-in video chip on the motherboard or a stand alone video card. If your video is built-in then there should be a BIOS setting for the amount of memory allocated to video (typically about 128MB).

Changing monitors was an interesting result, seems to indicate a lose of signal and one monitor recovers faster.

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:euSblY1qHHA.3248@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Not really, JS. But I believe there is a listing of all the
Windows KS updates that have been installed, maybe somehow
I could get Microsoft to indicate which might have video
driver consequences. I'm selective on what WUs I do install,
and I generally avoid those with video consequences.

At HP's request, I tried a different monitor, and got almost
the same results, the difference being that the blanking duration
was only about one secod with my spare monitor, versus about six
with my 'regular' monitor.
WBL

JS wrote:
Any correlation between the time of the last Windows Updates and or other software installs and when the problem started occurring?

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:O77tAjvqHHA.3372@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
AHA! Interesting and logical, JS. So I contacted HP, who control
all my drivers, and they agreed that that could be the problem.
So they gave me two links to download and execute, installing
heaven only knows what. Did it twice. It moved my icons around
and changed my resolution, but didn't solve the problem at all.

I screen all the Windows Update downloads (I don't just let
them install automatically), and I don't think I accepted any video
drivers. But I don't know how I can find out if there were any
that got installed (unless some lurking MVP wants to tell me how
to do that). Presumably HP has gotten me to install good drivers
by now, in any case.

Anything else?
Bill L.

JS wrote:
Not certain why I didn't mention this earlier but....
Sometimes video drivers can create strange results, especially if you updated driver(s) using Microsoft's Windows Update site which has a bad rep when it comes to driver updates. You may want to download and install the latest driver for your video card from the card manufacture's web site.

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%236H6e8rqHHA.3248@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Been there, done that, JS. I'll play there some
more.
Thanks.
WBL

JS wrote:
A simpler tool is 'msconfig'
Start/Run enter msconfig click Run and then select the startup tab.
You can selectively stop any item from starting up.

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:ucpdlYrqHHA.3484@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I made tests with three hard drives and clones of the
basic OS, and I have resolved the Autologon situation.
With Autologon ON, it bypasses the choice of accounts.
With Autologon OFF, on the way to Safe Mode it stops so
that I can select Main User or Administrator.
So I'm past that hurdle, and now I'm at the Autoruns.

I downloaded, installed, and executed it, and it showed
hundreds of files that get run on startup, and I guess
your thought is that I should look at the non-Microsoft
items and uncheck a bunch of them, and see (a) what ones
can I do without on startup, and (b) which ones are associated
with the 5-second blackout. No way could I guess which Microsoft
items I could uncheck. It's beginning to look like one of those
cases where it ain't all that badly broke, so mebbe I shouldn't
try to fix it. In that case.......thanks for trying.
Bill L.



JS wrote:
This first part is a repeat of what I sent you, however at the bottom of the message is a section where you enter 'Control Userpasswords2' without the quotes.
The password for the built in Windows Administrator account is normally blank (none).

In XP Home, boot the computer into Safe Mode. Do this by repeatedly tapping
the F8 key as the computer is starting up. This will get you to the right
menu. Navigate using your Up arrow key; the mouse will not work here. Once
in Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account. The
default password is a blank.

In XP Pro, you do not need to go into Safe Mode. At the Welcome Screen, do/press the
Ctrl-Alt-Del keys twice to get the classic Windows logon box. Type in
"Administrator" (without the quotes) and whatever password you assigned (default is no password)
when you set up Windows.

Once your in then:
Start/Run/type in: Control Userpasswords2 and press OK
You should now be able to manage you accounts including adding/creating a new account which I would do as a safety net.

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:e1WXDroqHHA.3248@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
G'morning, JS..... Help!
Now that I have Tweak-UI, even when booting to Safe Mode, I
never see the choice of accounts. I have Autologon set to OFF.
Now I don't see the choice of accounts, not even Administrator
Account, during start-up, not even using F8>>Safe Mode. Clue
me as to how I can get to the 'normally hidden Administrator
Account'. Incidentally, going to Safe Mode, the 5-seconds of
all-black screen didn't occur.
/Bill L./

JS wrote:
The password for the built in Windows Administrator account is normally blank (none).

In XP Home, boot the computer into Safe Mode. Do this by repeatedly tapping
the F8 key as the computer is starting up. This will get you to the right
menu. Navigate using your Up arrow key; the mouse will not work here. Once
in Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account. The
default password is a blank.

In XP Pro, you do not need to go into Safe Mode.
At the Welcome Screen, do/press the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys twice to get the classic Windows logon box.
Type in "Administrator" (without the quotes) and whatever password you assigned (default is no password)
when you set up Windows.

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:usrSkbjqHHA.4100@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks, JS, I'll look at the Autoruns tool.
I know that there's a way to force the boot procedure to make me
choose between the account with me as the (one and only) user,
and the account with me as the administrative mode.
I don't know where to accomplish that, maybe via Control Panel.
It does give me that option when I go F8>>Safe Mode

JS wrote:
You are correct, my mistake about the pull-down box (it just shows the current user, no option to select another account).
However, you should have at least two account with Admin privileges, the built in Windows 'Administrator' account and the one you created when installing Windows.

My theory was that there is a race condition between the drivers Windows loads when first booting (hardware drivers, Etc.) and the applications that load when a user logs on. You can see what loads during boot and logon using a tool called Autoruns.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx
This will show all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot and logon (they are grouped by category), you can selectively stop any that you don't want.

Note: To get additional details on an item in the list you may need to highlight the item (right click) and use the 'Search Online' option to get the details, especially useful for the more obscure items in the list.

JS


"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:u6ojp0iqHHA.4180@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi, JS. I downloaded and installed Tweak UI. I tried it.....
I see Logon....I expand it to see Autologon.......
The only option I see is to check, or not to check,
'Logon automatically'. The 5 second heart-stopping black screen
effect is the same either way.

And I don't even see any choice of user account/name to select
and I don't see a pulldown box. Remember, I'm a one user
system and the only time I've ever see a choice of user account/
name is with Safe Mode startup. I'm just logged on automatically
and never even asked to logon.

JS wrote:
Download and install Tweak UI from Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Then expand the Logon option and select Autologon and Un-check the Autologon box for the user account/name you select in the pulldown box.

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:uBhWovgqHHA.192@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I can't do that with any ease, JS, because I'm a one-
user system, and it goes automatically thru a sky-blue
"Loading whatever...." screen and then the wallpaper
appears, followed by the icons. Want to clue me as to
how to set it up so that I actually log on?
Bill L.

JS wrote:
Try this and see if the problem still occurs:
Boot to the point to were you reach the logon screen, do not enter your password but wait until all disk activity has stopped and you only see a single small blip for hard disk activity about once every 5 to 10 seconds. Now enter your password and watch to see if things load with out the problem occurring. Let me know what your results are.

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:uLZV94bqHHA.500@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Not what I consider a lot, JS....about 35 icons, and
they refresh quickly. I've had more icons, haven't changed
them at all, and this phenomenon is new and consistent.
WBL

JS wrote:
Do you have a large number of icons on your desktop and if so have you noticed they are slow to display or refresh?

JS

"William B. Lurie" <billurie@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%234$bmCXqHHA.4520@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
My XP system has developed a new quirk during boot-up.
Everything acts normally up to the point where all the
icons appear as underdeveloped and then fill in with
their identities. The next step, always, and I'm used
to it, is that Norton Protection Center goes through its
checking and announced all is well in the toolbar.

Now the screen goes blank, black, for maybe 5 or 6 seconds,
and comes right back, and boot-up is complete. This is new
and I don't like it.

No, I haven't installed anything new lately (except maybe a
few routine Windows Update non-critical updates), and, yes,
I've done complete virus checks and SpyBot and AdAware and
Defrag and ChkDsk/R and everything comes up clean.

Maybe it ain't broke and I don't have to fix it.......but
has anybody a clue as to why this is, and how do I get rid
it?

Thanks................

Bill Lurie


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