Having Weird Problem

[Creatre]

All my specs are in my drop down thingy. I've been having the problem for about 4 months, but have been going around it. It's been getting worse though, so now that I have 3 days to work on it, I need to figure it out.

Basically, the problem is I'm getting a black screen on boot up. But, it's not the usual video card black screen. My computer boots fine, shows BIOS, my RAID information, the windows bar. But it never makes it to login screen. It's passed the windows loading and the login screen that it just blacks out and never comes back. Monitor stays on, does not go into standbye, but only shows black.

Here's the weird part. If I restart the computer after it's blacked out a while and it's obviously not going anywhere, I start it up in Safe Mode. When it boots to the login screen, I restart, and it will then boot fine to the login screen. This is the reason I think it's a Windows problem, most likely related to the boot files.

Now, I had originally just planned on doing a clean wipe of Windows 7, thinking this was the cause. Just earlier I thought it could possibly be hardware. I have no idea why I didn't think that earlier. It would make sense for memory or hard drive, if it is hardware.

What do you guys think?

 

[digibucc]

no it would make more sense to be the video card if it is hardware. windows would have issues booting and the pc would likely not post properly were it HDD or RAM.

I would say it is most likely a corrupt installation. it really doesn't take much for the drivers in windows to go screwy. the best bet would be to try a clean install on a separate hdd. if all works fine, reinstall on your main one. if it goes back to problems, you were likely right and it was the hdd...

 

[Creatre]

no it would make more sense to be the video card if it is hardware. windows would have issues booting and the pc would likely not post properly were it HDD or RAM.

I would say it is most likely a corrupt installation. it really doesn't take much for the drivers in windows to go screwy. the best bet would be to try a clean install on a separate hdd. if all works fine, reinstall on your main one. if it goes back to problems, you were likely right and it was the hdd...

Just seems if it was Video card, it's weird that it gets up to the windows loading screen fine. Of course I guess that is sort of the case with the other hardware options as well. I think I'll take your advice on loading on a different hard drive, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks.

 

[the54thvoid]

no it would make more sense to be the video card if it is hardware. windows would have issues booting and the pc would likely not post properly were it HDD or RAM.

I would say it is most likely a corrupt installation. it really doesn't take much for the drivers in windows to go screwy. the best bet would be to try a clean install on a separate hdd. if all works fine, reinstall on your main one. if it goes back to problems, you were likely right and it was the hdd...

+1

use driver cleaner to remove older driver remnants. Re-install

 

[digibucc]

Just seems if it was Video card, it's weird that it gets up to the windows loading screen fine. Of course I guess that is sort of the case with the other hardware options as well. I think I'll take your advice on loading on a different hard drive, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks.

i know - but windows activates a video card in ways that the post/etc doesn't. it is possible for example for the RAM on the card to be faulty, which wouldn't come up until Windows tried to activate it. you could post or even do safe mode all day with no issue , but once the actual driver tries to initialize it you have issues. just an example.

I doubt it is hardware at all though, it is my bet it is corruption of drivers or installation.

 

[Creatre]

Well, the fresh wipe didn't help. Any suggestions on how to test hardware or ideas of where to start? It's annoying that it takes 5 to 10 minutes to start the computer everyday, and sometimes it freezes and have to start over. So need this fixed asap.

 

[Techtu]

Just on the off chance have you tried running at stock clocks?

 

[cadaveca]

Hmm. Sounds to me like your pc isn't shutting down properly. How do you turn it off? perhaps it sleeps and is failing to resume...would lead to similar behavior.

 

[Mussels]

lots of causes for this. bad drivers, software, corrupt OS - i've also seen similar from 99% stable PC's, where the system wasnt stable enough during first boot since the PSU wasnt at its proper voltages yet (cold boot issues)

 

[Creatre]

Just on the off chance have you tried running at stock clocks?

The clocks were reset to stock after the OS wipe, and I didn't notice any issues while the install happened and after the restarts. I'm going to go back and try again to see if that could really be the problem. I've been running this Q6600 overclocked for about 2.5 years now and I leave the computer on for long periods of time, maybe the voltage has gotten to something.

Hmm. Sounds to me like your pc isn't shutting down properly. How do you turn it off? perhaps it sleeps and is failing to resume...would lead to similar behavior.

I've been turning it off by hitting Shut Down or restart from windows. I don't use sleep, because I've always had weird issues with that. Seems to do it no matter what. This morning from a cold start, after I tried to restart it after safe mode, the computer acted like it had a motherboard error. It would boot up for 2 seconds, then cut, then boot up for 2 seconds, and repeat. I had to turn the PSU off because I couldn't get the pattern to stop. That was when I realized I should probably pursue figuring the problem out.

lots of causes for this. bad drivers, software, corrupt OS - i've also seen similar from 99% stable PC's, where the system wasnt stable enough during first boot since the PSU wasnt at its proper voltages yet (cold boot issues)

Clean wipe of drivers and OS should have taken care of that. Could be a PSU issue maybe, it's a fairly low wattage PSU, plus almost 3 years old now.

My hard drive was also squeeling recently, but seemed to go away after the clean wipe. Not sure if it had something to do with having it in the car recently for a trip and something may have been knocked a bit loose.

 

[Creatre]

Just tried stock clocks, didn't work. So the overclocking has nothing to do with it, unless it's from wear and tear over time.

 

[twilyth]

If your card has dual ports and you only have one monitor, it might be switching between the 2. My current G210 does that with 2 monitors attached. Only once W7 is fully up does it recognize my chosen primary and secondary screens.

 

[95Viper]

This morning from a cold start, after I tried to restart it after safe mode, the computer acted like it had a motherboard error. It would boot up for 2 seconds, then cut, then boot up for 2 seconds, and repeat. I had to turn the PSU off because I couldn't get the pattern to stop. That was when I realized I should probably pursue figuring the problem out.

That start-up re-boot scenario is the gigabyte board telling you something ain't kosher and it is trying to correct the problem itself.
Usually, the overclock, memory, or voltages are askew.
Make real sure you have everything set to default (normal) bios settings. Turbo off, too.
Try booting with just one or two sticks of ram. And, check the voltages on them, I had trouble on a Gigabyte board with OCZ ram. For some reason, they seem sorta touchy with that brand.

Check all the power connectors(re-seat them). And, run a memory test.
The latest bios for that board is F13, I believe, flash it if you are not using it already.
If you have another PSU or can get hold of one, I would try a swap out to rule out any problem there.

Also, while you are in there, replace the CMOS battery or at least test the output voltage on it, if it is three years old.

IMO, I don't believe it is windows, it is something in your bios or hardware that maybe causing the problem, but...

You can try this to see if it helps:Windows Recovery Environment and Startup Repair
Startup Repair: frequently asked questions

Goodluck.

 

[Creatre]

That start-up re-boot scenario is the gigabyte board telling you something ain't kosher and it is trying to correct the problem itself.
Usually, the overclock, memory, or voltages are askew.
Make real sure you have everything set to default (normal) bios settings. Turbo off, too.
Try booting with just one or two sticks of ram. And, check the voltages on them, I had trouble on a Gigabyte board with OCZ ram. For some reason, they seem sorta touchy with that brand.

Check all the power connectors(re-seat them). And, run a memory test.
The latest bios for that board is F13, I believe, flash it if you are not using it already.
If you have another PSU or can get hold of one, I would try a swap out to rule out any problem there.

Also, while you are in there, replace the CMOS battery or at least test the output voltage on it, if it is three years old.

IMO, I don't believe it is windows, it is something in your bios or hardware that maybe causing the problem, but...

You can try this to see if it helps:Windows Recovery Environment and Startup Repair
Startup Repair: frequently asked questions

Goodluck.

Thanks. I'll try this stuff after a few meetings I have this afternoon and report back. Gives me a number of options, hopefully it will be one of them.

 

[Creatre]

So, I am back to bump this problem.

**UPDATE**

This problem randomly disappeared roughly a couple days of doing all the things in this thread. One day when I turned on the computer, it just simply did not have this problem anymore and continued on fine for months. The last thing I had done before fixing the problem is taking the plug for the power supply out of my surge protector with 4 other things plugged in, and plugging it in directly to the wall. Not sure if it had anything to do with that or not. Either way, I didn't ask any questions I was just happy it was fixed.

Then, I moved to a new place in January, and ever since I've been at this new place it has been doing it again. Roughly 2 weeks after arriving, my PSU fried for good. I replaced with a black edition XFX 750w PSU. I thought for sure after the PSU fried that had to be the problem, and it had just been on the way out. Lo and behold, plug in the new PSU, and the problem is still there!

So here are the things I have tried: Fresh OS install, driver wipes, stock clocks, booting with one stick of memory, switching monitor to 2nd plug in video card, new power supply.

Looking for more things to try, please help!

Seriously it takes me 5-7 minutes to turn on my computer, and I have to be there the whole time in order to restart, go into safe mode, restart, and login. I'm sick and tired of that, and ready to have my fast boot back!





*****FIXED THIS ISSUE******
Turns out the first time I booted into Windows, I was allowing ATI drivers to install via Windows Update. However, at the same time I was installing the video card drivers directly from ATI. This was the cause of the issue. Took over 2 years to solve. ugh!