[Somersett]

Running Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 2.

On powering up my computer, the Windows Logo screen appears along with my two Account Icons ( Admin and Standard User which are password protected.) As soon as I select one or the other, the two icons disappear from the screen and the computer hangs on the Logo Page ( i.e. no Password Boxes appear.) The only option is a hard reset after which the Windows Error Recovery page appears informing me that the computer did not shut down properly. Selecting 'Start Windows Normally' brings up the Windows Logo Screen along with my two Account Icons for a second time. From here I can normally log into Windows without any further problems. Once up and running, there are no obvious issues with the computer.

[rshaffer61]

Sounds like a startup repair is needed.

Tutorial on how to do a Startup Repair in Vista located HERE.

[Somersett]

Many thanks. Will give it a go over the weekend and report back in due course.

[Somersett]

Attempted a repair using my Retail Vista Installation DVD a few minutes ago. Received the following messages.

Startup Repair could not detect a problem. If you have recently attached a device to this computer such as a camera or portable music player remove it and restart your computer. If you continue to see this message contact System Administrator or Computer Manufacturer for assistance. There was nothing connected to the computer at the time.

Startup Repair Diagnosis and Repair Log
.......................................

Last successfull Boot Time 6/28/2012 11:15:41 PM
No. of repair attempts 4

Session Details
...............

1 Device/Harddisk0
Windows Directory = C:\Windows1
Auto. Chk Run = 0
No. of Root Causes = 1

I have Service Pack 2 installed. Do I need to replace the recdisc.exe file with a non SP Retail version when using the Retail Vista Installation DVD?

Signing off for the night. I will check back in the morning.

Thank you for your assistance.

[rshaffer61]

Before we go messing with files on startup lets take a look at some other options to see if that may be causing the issue.




Tutorial for running chkdsk in Vista\Win 7 located HERE.






Download Autoruns from the link in my signature below:

1: Extract the Autoruns Zip file contents to a folder.
2: Double-click the "Autoruns.exe".
3: Click on the "Everything" tab
4: Remove any entries that mention "File Not Found" by right-clicking the entry and select Delete.
5: Go to File then to Export As or Save in some versions.
6: Save AutoRuns.txt file to known location like your Desktop.
7: Attach to your next reply.

[Somersett]

I ran chkdsk earlier today but I regret to say that I cannot for the life of me find a log file. Can you assist?

Autoruns.txt file attached as requested.

Attached File(s)

•  AutoRuns.txt (18.1K)
  Number of downloads: 19

[rshaffer61]

Your Autoruns look great so the problem is not related to background running programs.

Lets move to the next step.

Download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop

• Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
  
• It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
  
• Click the Start button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
  
• Once it's finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.

Background info courtesy of DonnaB Thank you

Quote

As for TFC, this is a tidbit of an article I found a while back by a MicroSoft MVP.

TFC (Temp File Cleaner) will clear out all temp folders for all user accounts (temp, IE temp, java, FF, Opera, Chrome, Safari), including Administrator, All Users, LocalService, NetworkService, and any other accounts in the user folder. It also cleans out the %systemroot%\temp folder and checks for .tmp files in the %systemdrive% root folder, %systemroot%, and the system32 folder (both 32bit and 64bit on 64bit OSs). It shows the amount removed for each location found (in bytes) and the total removed (in MB).

Before running, it will stop Explorer and all other running applications. When finished, if a reboot is required the user must reboot to finish clearing any in-use temp files.
-- TFC only cleans temp folders.
-- TFC will not clean URL history, prefetch, or cookies. Depending on how often someone cleans their temp folders, their system hardware, and how many accounts are present, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or more. TFC will completely clear all temp files where other temp file cleaners may fail.

Download Auslogics Defrag from the link in my signature below. Auslogics Defrag in my opinion is better because:

It does a more comprehensive job at Defragging
It will actually show you what it is doing
At the end of working it will show you how much speed you picked up
You can view a online log of the files that Auslogics defragged

Please do not run any other Auslogics programs other then this one as they may cause unwanted results.
http://auslogics.com...defrag/download

[Somersett]

I have attached a second Autoruns.txt file. I ran the first one while my AV Programme ( Eset Smart Security ) was temporarily uninstalled.

Attached File(s)

•  AutoRuns.txt (19.5K)
  Number of downloads: 12

[rshaffer61]

Still looks good now. Let me know how the system is running when you complete the last set of instructions I posted.

[Somersett]

I keep a copy of TFC by Old Timer on my Desktop and run it regularly. I also have a copy of Puran Defrag installed on my computer which I use on a regular basis.

I ran TFC by Old Timer as requested a short time ago. I also downloaded and ran Auslogics Defrag a few minutes ago.

I have a sneaky feeling the problem is being caused by Eset Smart Security but I have no evidence to back that up.

After running chkdsk earlier this afternoon, I had to do two hard resets in a row before I managed to access Windows.

[rshaffer61]

Disable Eset reboot and see if the issue resolves itself. If so then we will have to find you a suitable replacement for it.

[Somersett]

The issue has only arisen in the last few weeks and I have been using Eset Smart Security and Malwarebytes Pro for a couple of years without any problems. I uninstalled Malwarebytes a few days ago and the problem persisted so I plan on trying out a few things with Eset over the next few days ( Protection and Firewall ) which will hopefully confirm one way or the other if it is the problem. I will let you know how I get on. Thank you for all your help.

[rshaffer61]

Don't go online with Eset disabled as all we are trying to do is to determine if it is the cause of the issue. If so then re-enable it and we will see what else we can do.

[Somersett]

Not to worry. There is no way I am going online without an AV Programme. If what I have in mind does not produce a result then I will uninstall Eset and install MSE to see how that goes.

[rshaffer61]

That was going to be my suggestion either MSE or Avast. Either do a great job and are a lot less stressful on the system resources.