[shimakaze]

Hi, first post and not a computer geek so please explain very clearly.

I have a Dell 1525 running Microsoft Vista Home Premium and McAfee security software. Yesterday at around 2000 I received an on-screen notification from McAfee that protection had been upgraded and a restart was required. Given the option of Restart now or Restart later I opted for Restart now. Since then the computer has been stuck with the blue Vista screen with the timer symbol and "Shutting Down".

There was nothing in the McAfee message that made me at all suspicious and such automatic restarts have worked for me in the past.

After about an hour, I concluded that the computer had hung and switched off. When I switch on, I get "Resuming Windows" followed quickly by the screen described above. I have since disconnected absolutely everything from the computer and switched on again: same result as above.

Grateful for advice on where I can go from here. Since I have not backed up the data on it, something short of reformatting the hard drive would be appreciated. If you are unable to help me solve the problem, can I trust any of the on-line diagnosis services eg iyogi? Are there any you would recommend?

Apologies if this is covered in a FAQ somewhere. I am working from a library computer and shall shortly have to go off-line. Hope to return later today to check out your responses.

Thanks in advance.

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Hello,
When you first turn on the computer, repetedly, press the F8 key.
You will get a Boot options menu.
At the top of this menu, select Repair your computer.
You will be given a list of choices, select system restore.
Select a restore point to before the mcafee update.
After you do this please let me know.

[hfcg]

Hello,
When you first turn on the computer, repetedly, press the F8 key.
You will get a Boot options menu.
At the top of this menu, select Repair your computer.
You will be given a list of choices, select system restore.
Select a restore point to before the mcafee update.
After you do this please let me know.

[shimakaze]

Thank you for that very clear answer. I will hot-foot it off home to try it out and report back tomorrow on success or otherwise. But thank you anyway for taking the time to reply.

[shimakaze]

Well, I started following hfcg's instructions. After pressing F8 I got a menu offering a choice of something like(from memory)"delete restore attempts" and "go to Boot Options Menu" with the latter highlighted. I selected the latter, the screen flickered and I was suddenly taken straight to my desktop! All now seems to be right as rain. McAfee protection shows as up to date.

Not sure quite what happened there but the desired outcome of a fully functioning computer has been achieved: thanks to hfcg for providing the crucial lead. Geeks To Go has certainly lived up to its "fast, friendly and free" byline and is an excellent resource.

Homework for tonight: take back-up drive out of box and read instructions!

[hfcg]

May I suggest that you check out http://www.microsoft...oducts/mse.aspx
Microsoft security essentials is a very good anti-virus and it is free.
I do recomend it.
I can not state my opinion of mcafee with out violating the terms of use.