bootup problem

[pawz7]

Hi all, an old friend (in both senses) recently built himself a new machine and has put Windows 7 on it. Today I received an e-mail from him saying he has a small niggle in that the machine is very slow to boot, gives him the splash screen, then he gets what seems to be a POST screen with white writing and he says the line 'Intel copyright and usb warranty'.

I can't think what that might be. I have asked him what BIOS but not got an answer yet, and have suggested he ensures the machine is set to fast boot. Any ideas what he is seeing please?

[Makcalable]

Not sure what the "intel copyright and usb warranty" is.

If you are finding you have some issues in Windows like slow startUp / slow shut down/error's/generally running slow/driver's not working correctly/corrupt files/ etc.... then take a look at the brief list of things below to try and resolve any issues;

This is just a brief discription of how to run these tools that are built into the windows system.

Event Viewer = Start >Type in Search Box > eventvwr.msc Hit enter

This will show you the Event Viewer log, you can view the scan results of Check Disk scan and in Windows 7 and Vista and also show applications & services logs too.

Performance Report = Start >Type in Search Box > perfmon /report Hit enter

This report will include a whole load of things about how your system is running and show any issues, here are just a few of them:

Diagnostic Results Warnings, Performance, Software Configuration, OS Checks, Security Center Information, System Services, Startup Programs

Disk, Hot files, Disk breakdown, Physical disk, NTFS Performance, CPU, Process, Service, Services, System, Hardware Configuration, Disk Checks, Systems, Desktop Rating, BIOS, Devices

Memory, Processes, Counters,Network

Device Manager = Start >Type in Search Box > devmgmt.msc Hit enter

If you are experiencing driver issues of some sort and/or not working properly you can go to the Device Manager to look for any discrepancies by looking for Yellow Exclamation marks next to the driver info.

System File Checker = Open Command Prompt As Administrator & Type sfc /scannow Hit enter

The System File Checker will look for any system files/.dll file's that are corrupt and will attempt to fix these normally following a re start of your computer.

This can also be run in safemode too by selecting Safemode with command prompt privilage.

Microsoft System Configuration Utility = Start > Type in Search Box > msconfig Hit enter

msconfig allows you to disable some of the unnecessary programs that automatically load on startup, disabling these programs will help your computer boot faster and crash less and help in identifying any issues.

Windows Memory Diagnostics = Start > Type in Search Box > memory Hit enter

The windows memory diagnostics includes a set of memory tests so if you are experiencing problems while running Windows you can use the diagnostic to determine whether the problems are caused by failing hardware, such as Ram or evn the memory system of your motherboard.

Check Disk = Start > Type in Search Box > chkdsk Hit enter

Chkdsk analyzes the physical structure of a disk to make sure that it is healthy and It can repair problems related to bad sectors, lost clusters, and directory errors.

These types of problems can be caused in many different ways ie. System crashes or freezes, power glitches, incorrectly turning off a computer can also cause corruption in the system files etc..

[pawz7]

thank you makcalable. I will get him to run chkdsk at boot - that might resolve the issue. For the rest - I doubt he would know what to make of the information.

[pawz7]

aha, think it might be resolved - the machine looks set to boot via ethernet (PXE). He has to get into BIOS and set it to boot from HDD.

[Digerati]

PXE? That is pretty strange as that is not the default in any BIOS I've heard of. I think if me, I would just reset the BIOS to make sure all else is fine. If set to PXE, I wonder how he is able to boot then.

I wonder if he installed the proper drivers from the motherboard's utility disk, or if he is just using Windows basic native defaults? A long delay at boot consistently is typically the result of drivers, or drive corruption, or malware. I say consistently because occasional long boot times are often cause by disk cleanup programs, file/program updates, or other scheduled tasks that are set to "run-once" at "next boot".

[pawz7]

not the default, but present. We are wondering if it was set by Novatech. When he assembled the board, processor and graphics card, he was getting a fault and could not tell which component was responsible, so he took the whole rig along to his local Novatech dealers, and they very kindly took it in and tested it and found the problem, returning it for a very modest fee. We are wondering if they set the BIOS to boot from their server, as part of their testing procedure, and then forgot to revert back to the default - but if that is so, I wonder how he got on when he was actually installing W7 from the CD.... mystery. Anyway, we will see.He sent me a jpg (not a screenshot) of the booting screen and it displays PXE, Client MAC and the Realtek controller... what other conclusion can there be?

On the other hand, maybe he has not properly installed the drivers.....

[Digerati]

Hmmm, well keep us posted. But if me, and I paid for something and it did not work when I got it home, I would take it back.

[pawz7]

he has not e-mailed me again so I might give him a ring tomorrow. I will post back when I have something useful to add :)

[pawz7]

have just heard from my friend. He followed my instructions, changed the boot order to the HDD in the BIOS and now everything works fine. Good, another one sorted, only six more to go...