Windows Vista Another Startup problem

Advice or suggestions please.

On booting my daughter's Acer Aspire 5630 the machine stops before the Windows logo is reached and emits a continuous beep. The beeping stops if a key is struck several times, usually Return, Caps Lock or Ctrl and the following message is displayed on a black screen:-

Edit Windows boot options for: MS Windows Vista
Path:\Windows\sys32\winload.exe
Partition:2
Harddisk:c2bb19f7
[/NOEXECUTE=OPTIN
Enter=Submit

If the Return key is hit the machine continues to load Windows as normal.

I have run Disk Cleanup, defraged the C:drive. Removed unwanted programs that were to be loaded at Startup. I have run antivirus (AVG) and Hitman Pro. Registry Wizard and AVG PC Tuneup 2011 to clean the registry and defrag it. But to no avail.

I don't know if it is an associated problem or something completely separate but once Window is loaded and a browser is run; Windows Explorer, IE or Firefox, the browser menu bar flickers very fast. The flicker can be halted if a key is struck but often returns a few seconds later. I think it unlikely that a key is sticking because the keyboard has been replaced but still the flicker occurs.

The machine is running Vista Home Premium Ver 6.0.6000 Build 6000
BIOS is Acer V.3.50
Total physical memory is 2.5GB
Available physical memory is 1.39GB
Total virtual memory is 5.19GB
Available Virtual memory is 3.88GB
Page File Space is 2.78GB

Any advice or suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.
Thank you

 

This was the first thing I came to that might help.

Please report back and if this was no good I'll have more time tomorrow to look deeper into the problem.

 

Thank you,Markmadras. I disabled quiet boot as you suggested, saved and exited. When I booted again CHKDSK ran - I had scheduled it to run the next time I booted. CHKDSK didn't report any errors. When I boot now, the machine doesn't get to the Acer logo before it beeps continuously. As before, if I hit Return or Ctrl the machine continues on to load Windows.

On one booting I hit F8 and ran Fix Start Up problems. The machine reported no Start up problems.

 

OK, do you have a vista OS disc or recovery discs.

If so place the disc in the drive and reboot the PC, if you don't get a screen saying "Boot from CD?" you will have to go into the bios and set the CD drive to 1st in the boot order. Then follow this:

Watch for the results and report back

 

Thanks, Markmadras. I'll check with my daughter if she has Recovery Disks and get back to you.

 

My daughter did not make recovery disks when she bought the machine but I have been in via F8 and the OEM Recovery partition at bootup to System Recovery Options. I ran Startup Repair that quickly came back with a message, "Startup Recovery could not detect a problem. "

Could it be that Acer have released an update for the BIOS? The machine is running V3.50 and according to the Acer site the current version is V3.60. I am reluctant to go down the route of updating BIOS because of the risk of 'bricking' the machine.

 

Have a look at this link and follow the guide through to the list of operating systems and check that Vista is set as the default OS and report back with anything else that is in the list. I am sure that upgrading the bios will not clear this problem.


http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/82664-boot-partition-default.html


Have you noticed if the time and date are correct?

 

Thank you, Markmadras. Just to make sure that Startup Repair had not found any problems, I burned a Recovery Disk as per http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/141820-create-recovery-disc.html and ran it to double check. Received the message - "Startup Recovery could not detect a problem. "

I then looked at the Event Viewer Log - http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/79612-startup-programs-enable-disable.html and noted the following message in Diagnostics-Performance - Boot Performance Monitoring:

"This application took longer than usual to start up, resulting in a performance degradation in system start up process:

File name: services.exe
Friendly name: Services and controller app "

A second warning about an application causing a performance degradation:
"File: explorer.exe
Friendly name: Windows Explorer. "

In case services.exe was a virus I checked its location. There are three copies of services.exe: one in c:Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\. Another in Windows\System32\. And a third in winsxs\x86_Microsoft-Windows-s..s-Servicecontroller\

That seems as it should be unless you advise otherwise.

I have also followed your suggestion above (http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/82664-boot-partition-default.html) to check the default OS. Microsoft Windows Vista is the only, current and default OS.

 

I have noticed that the beeping on boot does not occur when I do a simple Restart, but it does occur when I do a full Shut Down and then boot. Does that suggest any clues as to what is going on?

 

You didn't answer this.

I don't have time to check this but I think services.exe should only be found in the System32 folder you may have an infection, perhaps someone else could confirm this.

 

Yes. Date and time are set correctly.

I'll research out services.exe

 

OK, just asked that incase your mobo battery was going flat.

Had no luck getting any more info about that file, but searced on windows 7 and there is only one, I have no access to a vista PC so can't do much more on that.

 

Many thanks for your help and suggestions, Markmadras. I'll continue researching. I have loaded and run Autoruns: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx It shows tons of stuff running at startup. Not sure what is legit and what is not.

I have also downloaded and run Security Task Manager http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/ but again I'm not sure what is legit and what is not.

 

This is beginning to sound more and more like there is a virus infection. To be sure your PC is clean follow the link below.

 

Many thanks, Markmadras. I will follow those routines and let you know how I get on.

 

The machine has been declared clean in the Malware forum.

I've also looked closer at Windows Updates (not) installed on the machine and for some reason Vista SPs 1 and 2 were not installed. They are now! And all the consequent updates too.

But still the machine stops booting at the Acer logo and emits a continuous beep until a key is struck. Then a black screen message:

"Edit boot options for: Microsoft Windows Vista
Path: \Windows\System32\winload.exe
Partition: 2
Hard Disk: c2bb19f7
[ /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN "

Hitting Return causes the machine to resume booting and Windows Vista loads as normal.

Does anyone have further ideas/suggestions what could be the problem?

 

Try the instructions in this link but substitute the Vista disc for the recovery disc you made.

http://www.lancelhoff.com/how-to-fix-vista-mbr-repair-broken-vista/

If this does not work you will have to try and borrow a Vista disc to do this repair. The disc must be the same version as the installed Vista and be slipstreamed with SP2.

You could try setting the bios to defaults to see if that clears the problem.

The last possible solution is to back up all the important data and then run the recovery console and opt for a full system restore. This will re-install Vista from the recovery partition.

If you go for this final option I would strongly recommend that you make a full set of recovery discs once the re-install is complete.

 

I think it is unlikely to be a MBR problem. I fixed the MBR while in the Malware forum using MBRCheck. See the relevant chunk of the MBRCheck log below:

Size Device Name MBR Status
--------------------------------------------
74 GB \\.\PhysicalDrive0 Windows XP MBR code detected
SHA1: DA38B874B7713D1B51CBC449F4EF809B0DEC644A

What I have done is run DualBoot PRO 1.1 http://www.dualbootpro.org/ to see what was happening at the boot. When I run the Scan option of DualBoot I get the following log:

There is currently 3 OS(s) installed on your system.
The current boot timeout is: 30

Default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista

Entry 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Windows Recovery Environment
BCD ID: {572bcd55-ffa7-11d9-aae0-0007e994107d}
Boot Drive: \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Windows Drive: \Device\HarddiskVolume1
System Bootloader: \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \windows

Entry 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Microsoft Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Boot Drive: C:
Windows Drive: C:
System Bootloader: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows

Entry 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Earlier Version of Windows
BCD ID: {ntldr}
Boot Drive: unknown
System Bootloader: \ntldr

I am wondering if there is a clash between two or more OS at the booting stage? There is an option in DualBoot to delete one or more OS but even though I have backed up the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) I am nervous about making changes until I know what the effect will be. Any suggestions?

 

I have windows 7 and windows xp and use free software called EasyBCD. When I get it to list the OS's it shows a drive letter for both OS's. I can see in your log that it does not show a drive letter for "earlier versions of windows ". This could be an issue but must admit I am not sure, it just seems a bit odd that the boot drive is listed as unknown. You may need to assign a drive letter to correct the problem. You should not need to delete an OS.

When you boot does it get to the point where it gives you the option to select an OS and if so, does it list both the versions of windows and the Recovery Console?

 

I am almost embarrassed to post this but after removing the RAM modules and cleaning the contact points with an eraser before re-seating them, the machine now boots quietly and smoothly. Why didn't I try that first!