Windows Operating Systems
Vista Start-up Problems Explained...
Created: 18th June 2008
Table Of Contents:
1) Introduction2) Step 1: Base Platform: The Hardware
3) The Advanced Boot Options
4) Safe Mode
5) Advanced Recovery Options
6) Repair Your Computer
7) Final Option: Reinstall
8) Conclusion
Advanced Recovery Options
Enable Boot Logging
Enable boot logging does exactly what it says. It creates the file ‘nbtboot.txt’ in the ‘Windows’ folder, which details the drivers and DLL’s that Windows is attempting to load. If any of them fail, the output will stop at the failed driver, and you have a file name you can Google. Of course this isn’t much good if Windows won’t even let you login.
Enable low-resolution video (640x480)
This option boots Windows using the most basic video resolution you can get. It’s to aid with issues of failed graphics drivers (the most common cause of Windows not booting). Just like safe mode, if this works then you have a video problem, and you should use this opportunity to uninstall any related applications\hardware.
Last Known Good Configuration
Assuming Safe Mode doesn’t even work, you only have the options available to you in the ‘Advanced Boot Options’ menu. The next one to try is ‘Last Known Good Configuration’.
LKG (Last Known Good) was introduced into Windows 2000 with mixed results. It’s got better in Vista but still doesn’t hit the nail on the head 100% of the time. To use it, simply select the option and let Windows try to boot using the settings it remembers that last successfully worked. You really only get one try with LKG, if you get the same issue as before – it’s not going to work.
Should LKG actually boot up OK, then Windows will overwrite all subsequent reboots with the configuration it just used and you should be OK.
The remaining options in the ‘Advanced Boot Options’ menu are for advanced bug tracking and domain controllers only and are beyond the scope of this article.
Repair Your Computer
If Safe Mode, msconfig, or restoring your hardware with either System Restore, Device Manager or by physically removing devices has totally failed to solve your issue – there are two remaining options. The first is to repair the installation using the original Windows CD. You’ll need your Windows Vista disc to perform this.
Note:
If you happen to have a Dell PC or something similar (shop brought computer with Windows pre-installed), then chances are that you never got a Windows CD. Instead, you most likely got a ‘Product Recovery CD’ or something similar. These basically contain images that the manufacturer has issued and rarely contain repair utilities. However they work similarly to Windows repair in the sense you need to boot your computer from the CD\DVD.Weather it’s a Windows CD you have or a manufacturer ‘recovery’ CD, you need to boot from it. Your PC may already be configured to do this, in which case you simply put the CD in and restart the computer. If the computer seems to ignore the CD – you’ll need to enter your computers BIOS (or setup). This process varies from computer to computer – but usually involves pressing one of the ‘F’ keys or ‘Del’ as soon as the computer turns on, you then need to find the option which control what devices start up first – and select the CD\DVD drive.
Assuming you’ve got your PC to boot from a Windows CD, you’ll get presented with the following screen after selecting your language.
Select ‘Repair your Computer’ link to start the repair process.
The ‘Repair your Computer’ link will start the repair process. Select which OS you want to repair (there’s usually only one option). As it states, no changes are made to your personal stuff and the process is automatic, you won’t necessarily be told if a problem was found and repaired.
The Repair tool will also offer to use System Restore if it finds a restore point on the computer – this is a good idea to try since if it fails to correct the problem, you can always try the repair again without System Restore.
If the Repair tool does not detect restore points, or it has already tried System Restore, it will present you with a choice of repair options as shown below:
The repair options Vista has built in.
The first option ‘Startup Repair’ is the most effective – looking for missing\corrupted files and replacing them on the fly from the Vista DVD. System Restore is only good if you have the restore points.
Windows Complete PC Restore uses a previous backup and restores, however the backup must exist for this to work.
The Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool checks the system memory for errors. As stated before this isn’t usually a problem nowadays but generally worth a try as a last resort. Finally, the command prompt allows you to use advanced recovery tools.
The Startup Repair should be used initially as this is likely to repair most OS problems.
Final Option: Reinstall
Remember we said we would fix the problem? At what cost? If Windows is completely screwed because of a software issue, then you can always get things working by binning the lot and starting again. The repairs and upgrades are good, but they can leave the system messy. If you truly want a clean fast working system – you need to format and start again.
To do this, you’ll either need to have a backup of your software, or just plain not care about it. If it’s located on a drive other then your C:\ drive then you’re in luck. As this is the only drive that gets wiped in our Windows install.
Reinstalling Windows from the DVD is straight forward and only takes about half hour on a decent machine. Simply boot of the CD and following the instructions. Formatting the drive (along with all your data and the problem), and enjoy using a new computer.
It’s amazing how many people consider this ‘not an option’. In that case – you shouldn’t be using Windows to store critical data, and if you are – you should have backups which place fewer emphases on the operating systems importance – after all, it’s just an operating system.
Conclusion
Hopefully you found something in this article useful. If you follow it in order, you’ll get a working Windows system, even if you do have to format the entire thing and start again – but unfortunately that is part of the Windows experience, it just cant maintain a system for very long – and eventually it’s best to cut your losses and restart it from scratch, giving you another year at the most of happy, fast computing.
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