Windows Vista Laptop keeps crashing soon after startup

Hi,

I have a HP Pavilion dv2620ea Entertainment Notebook PC with Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit. Last night, everytime I loaded up my laptop, it crashed. I would get as far as logged on and the startup programs loaded. But soon after if I try doing something e.g. load up a web browser, load up anti-virus, load up a game (it happened after I did all three of these on separate occasions), the program will stop responding and subsequently the whole system will crash to the point where Ctrl, Alt, Del doesn't work, the cursor stops moving (basically nothing works) and the laptop has to be shut down by holding the power button. This happened 5 or 6 times last night before I gave up. On one of the occasions the BSOD came up saying that it was dumping physical memory. I disabled certain startup programs (ones I know won't effect the laptop negatively such as Windows Live Messenger etc.) but this had no effect. My next thought is to remove the hard drive and plu up to an external caddy and virus scan it from another computer to see if it a virus doing this, though i have not done this yet. I was just wondering if anybody has any other possible solutions as to why this is happening.

Thanks in advance
Liam

 

Hi and welcome to the BBS,

Disconnect any devices (eg., USB devices) and see if there is a change.

Run Error Checking (CHKDSK) on your Windows (C: ) drive

Set it up to run overnight (do not "crash out" of Error Checking if it seems to stall).

Update your drivers
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=2093&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3629723
Start with the chipset drivers. NB: Do NOT upgrade the BIOS when your system is unstable! There are different types for some of the other drivers, like the choice of Intel or nVidia graphics. They have a System Information tool
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01509566&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=3629723
[Aside: you could add that information to your WindowsBBS user profile, which helps us when answering your questions.]

You should be able to boot into Safe Mode and run your antimalware programs there (antivirus and antispyware). (See Help and Support if you need help to get into Safe Mode.)

Freezes can be caused by overheating. Investigate if the cooling system might be blocked with dust (one check is that there should be a powerful flow of air out of the exhaust vent when you first start the laptop (before windows loads) or you might notice that the fan is running on high, but little air is coming out of the vent and the base of the laptop is quite hot. See if that information tool can provide temperature readouts.

It could be caused by some background program or service, but I would check all those basics first, that will ensure the system is running correctly to begin with, rather than jumping around trying to pinpoint a software problem.

Matt

 

It will be better if u boot into safe mode and then run sfc /scannow
and also check device ,manager and see if there is any kind of yellow exclamation mark or any other sign is there

 

pccarehimanshu, why will it be better? If you implement sfc /scannow, all Windows Updates will be lost. The suggestions I made could not cause considerable disruption to the system, it will check the basic functions and update drivers to levels which may be required for any Windows changes.

Matt

 

Matt, I don't think that is true. (Or is it?)


mickzer.

 

That has been my experience mickzer (although I haven't used SFC in Vista). From what I know, SFC replaces modified system files with originals. It can take the system back to the installation of the last Service Pack, although it might ask to get files from the original Windows installation disk.

SFC may work, but if it is a problem with drivers, after you run SFC, you might follow the same Windows Update path so that it might just happen all over again.

As I said , that has been my experience, I have always found that Windows Updates need to be reinstalled again after running SFC (maybe I shouldn't have said "all ", some don't involve system files and will depend on your settings).

Matt

 

I haven't used sfc /scannow in Vista either but i did several times with XP and I don't remember having to re-install any Windowsupdates after it. But that could just be my bad memory. Thanks for the info, Matt.

mickzer.

 

sfc /scannow does not remove any Windows Security Updates or Service Packs
Windows Repair does

 

Oops, what have I started.
Yes, I remember doing a Repair install on XP and having to re-install Service Packs and any subsequent Updates.(But not with SFC)

mickzer.