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| Thread ID: 112446 | 2010-09-06 13:02:00 | "Windows did not start successfully" (but it does) | george12 (7) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1135171 | 2010-09-06 13:02:00 | Hi everyone, I have a problem I've never seen before. I just installed XP on a computer after replacing its faulty hard drive with a used 80GB IDE. The installation went smoothly. However, on startup I get a blank screen for about 20 seconds (during which there is a small amount of hard disk activity), followed by the "We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully" message. However, if I select to start the computer normally, it works fine. This is repeatable and consistent. But so is the error. Effectively, it seems to be consistently starting every second time. Nothing of interest appears in Event Viewer. I'm running Seatools on the (Seagate) drive right now, but any suggestions are appreciated, I have never seen this problem before. |
george12 (7) | ||
| 1135172 | 2010-09-06 13:27:00 | The old drive may be slow to spin up or is failing/corrupted. | feersumendjinn (64) | ||
| 1135173 | 2010-09-06 13:35:00 | Try running HDAT2, it's much better. I assume you've tested the other hardware? |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1135174 | 2010-09-06 14:52:00 | The old drive may be slow to spin up or is failing/corrupted. I suspected that but it does it on soft restarts too. Both drives have tested good with a thorough test. Memory has been tested good also. While Windows is running it is completely stable and no issues have occurred. Will try HDAT2. There are two drives connected on the single IDE channel; the 80GB as Master and a 40GB as slave. If I remember correctly, the problem occurred before the 40GB was connected, ie during the Windows installation (I was out of the room for enough time that I may not have seen the menu as it starts anyway after 30sec, but I remember wondering why it sat at a blank screen for 20 seconds), but I will try disconnecting it tomorrow just in case. Any other suggestions? |
george12 (7) | ||
| 1135175 | 2010-09-06 20:52:00 | Tested with what? For instance the new Seagate utility doesn't find all problems you know. Can you try another drive? Clone the install onto it? |
pctek (84) | ||
| 1135176 | 2010-09-07 00:49:00 | Some weird BIOS bug? Try removing expansion cards? I had a PC once where a certain NIC in a certain slot would cause the floppy drive to not work. Different slot was fine, different NIC in the same slot was fine. Never figured out why that happened.. |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1135177 | 2010-09-07 03:19:00 | No expansion cards. Will try cloning onto another drive. Will also try updating BIOS. The Seagate drive was tested with Seatools and the WD 40GB drive with WD's WinDLG utility. I normally use Hitachi DFT but it crashes on this system when an IDE drive is connected, strangely. I may also try putting in a SATA drive instead and doing another fresh install if all else fails. Thanks everyone for your help so far, by the way. |
george12 (7) | ||
| 1135178 | 2010-09-07 05:37:00 | Update: When the second drive is not present, rather than the startup failure menu, there is just a 20-second delay with a blank screen, followed by a normal startup. This led me to find this KB article: support.microsoft.com This is exactly the situation as boot.ini uses the signature() notation. I suspect a strange BIOS setting disabling the int 13 extension. Getting somewhere! Edit: Condition appears to be unavoidable on this motherboard with an IDE boot drive, but a 20 second delay is not a major issue, the primary problem is solved. |
george12 (7) | ||
| 1135179 | 2010-09-07 06:20:00 | Is it a Chaintech motherboard? | Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1135180 | 2010-09-07 07:51:00 | Nope, Asus M2N68-AM. I found a few references to the same problem on the same board. No BIOS updates appear to address it. I guess Asus just didn't really care too much as few people boot off an IDE drive these days. |
george12 (7) | ||
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