Windows Vista Computer repeatedly crashing after starting

Hi, up until a few days ago my computer was perfectly fine then there was a crash here and there and now the computer crashes within ten minutes of loading vista with increasing frequency.

Sometimes it crashes just as vista has started and many times it only gets to the point where the loading bar and words 'microsoft corporation' are and then just remains black, vista never actually loads. One time instead of a black screen I got a black background with blue dots all over the screen instead of windows.

I have tried going into safe mode which does work fine and I have tried to restore the pc but it doesn't seem to change the problem I simply can't load windows in normal mode (or only can for a few minutes).

I haven't installed any new programs lately and this computer that I'm talking about is completely offline so it can't be due to a sudden update or virus or anything like that. I haven't done anything new or different that would do this to my computer.

I have tried cleaning the computer as I've done many times before but I don't think this had anything to do with the problem. Please, any help in at least understanding what has happened would be most appreciated.

My PC is an HP pavillion KE545AA-ABU a6355.uk with a phenom quad core 9500 processor, 3GB RAM, nvidia 8500GT and running direct x 10, I hope that helps I have to go back into the machine to retreive more info. Thank you for any help.

 

Hi kcat, Welcome to Windows BBS.
When you go into Safe Mode, does it work continuously without crashing in Safe Mode?
If it operates OK in Safe Mode it sounds like an overload of Programs. Try stopping Startup to minimum and see if that helps. Neil.

 

I can stay in safe mode all day it seems. Could you tell me how to get start up to a minimum, I've been into help but I can't seem to acess windows defender in safe mode, is this where you suggest I go? I have been to that screen before my computer crashed but virtually every single program that I wanted to disable was greyed out including some antivirus software that I'm not using. Also could start up programs cause crashes five to ten minutes after start up?

I really don't know what to do with this computer please reply soon, thank you.

 

Sort of resolved but how do I do this?

I think I've discovered the problem, after rolling back to the windows basic driver for my graphics card I am able to acess normal mode and confirmed the problem was the driver by reinstalling it and getting a crash on start up.

BUT I still need help as my computer is offline and I can't just connect online to get a new driver for my graphics card. So my question is: is there any way I can get the driver via an online computer and then transfering it to the problem computer and if so how?

 

You can download the driver and either copy it to a CD or a flash drive, then transfer it to your other PC. In device manager find the graphics card, open its properties and select update driver. Follow the prompts to locate the device or disc with the driver on and that should do it.

 

Thanks for the help but it's not working. I can't seem to get the thing to download! I only have a dial up connection and can't get broadband where I live, and every time I've tried I've waited and waited for over an hour before the page finally loads saying that internet explorer couldn't load the web page. Any ideas or am I stuck as long as I have dial up? Please help

I can't even find any contack details to contact nvidia directly. Does anyone know what I can do?

 

Go into Device Manager and uninstall the device. Reboot the PC and let Windows load the default one.

 

If your internet is going that slow I would suspect you may have some Malware or a virus. Even on dial up it should be quicker than that. Perhaps a visit to our Malware and Virus forum would help to make sure your PC is clean.

 

What on earth is wrong with this pc?

Well I installed the new driver (had to turn off add-ons in the browser to make it work) and it did even speed up the start up process of the computer but the minute I tried to use an application that needed the graphics card's power it froze. The picture had a sort of slight ghosting image and it was frozen just like before. After turning pc off and back on again I can't get windows to load in normal mode. But I do sometimes get the blue screen of death that flahses up; so fast it's hard to see what the error is, although at the top of the page it suggests reinstalling graphic drivers.

I tried again and again to uninstall and reinstalll the driver but no luck. Basically when I roll back to a very basic windows driver 'VGA adapter' the computer starts up fine but of course I can't access any graphic applications not even windows screen saver. And when I install any driver that tells the computer I have an nvidia 8500GT card it will freeze and then refuse to load in normal.

So here's my next question: Is there a chance that there's a problem with the hardware itself? Should I just buy a new graphics card, will that solve the problem? Please help me, I really need to access some programs on this computer.

 

As the PC did previously run OK with this graphics card and driver and now it wont, I think I would have to say that the Graphics Card has become faulty. Reading that it is impossible for anything else to have changed on the PC during the period that the fault developed that would have to be my assumption.

The only other check I would be inclined to make is to try and borrow a similar graphics card (if possible) and see if it runs OK just to assure my self that they is no other contributory factor. The final test I would try is to put your graphics card into another PC, load the drivers and see what happens.

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In order to read BSOD messages follow this to stop the auto restart so you can read the error messages.

Click the Start button, right-click Computer, click Properties, click the Advanced System Settings in the left pane, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
Under System Failure, uncheck the "Automatically restart" check box.

You could also look in the event viewer to see what the error reports say.

 

Thanks I managed to get the error code which was 0x0000116 and I did a search and found a few people whose graphics cards had died and the only solution was a new card. I also just found a hardware diagnostic tool I didn't know I had and confirmed it's the card as the video memory test is the only one that failed.

So I'm almost there But could I still get some help with a couple of things, first is there any advice on graphics cards, like should I stick to nvidia or go with ati, I've never had an ati card so don't know if they're any good.

Second I've never changed a psu before but figured that I should as I only have a 300W psu and that's probably low for a gaming pc. Changing the psu scares me a little but I'm more worried about getting the wrong one. I have 15 in 1 card reader and don't know what sort of connector it needs I also have a scsi hard drive and don't know what type of connectors I need for this. Would all PSUs sold have the right connectors? And are there any psu makes I should stay away from?

Thank you again for your help, you've been so helpful, it's a relief to finally know what is wrong with my pc and it's almost fixed

 

The thread in the first link has some good advise in its first post and links for two free PSU calculators and the second link is well worth a read.

http://www.devhardware.com/forums/p...u-need-calculate-your-requirements-55173.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/psu-manufacturer-oem,2729.html

When you are searching for a PSU look at the specifications and check what connectors it has, anything that doesn't match you should be able to get an adaptor for quite easily.

If you get stuck start a new thread in the hardware forum.

Glad this was resolved so quickly

Please mark the thread as resolved from the 'Thread Tools' tab just above the top right hand corner of the first post.