System freezes at Welcome splash screen

Earlier today I tried to update my desktop's Norton AV program on-line. I went through the process and did a restart, but nothing at all appeared on the monitor screen. Powered off and restarted, this time getting to the Welcome screen but no further. Restarted in Safe Mode, did a System Restore, then restarted and got on-line and did some work, finally trying the NAV upgrade again. Restarted, got a freeze at the Welcome screen. Another System Restore, then restart in Safe Mode, but now I can't even get past the Welcome screen, having to restart again in Safe Mode, which doesn't allow me to get on-line. I'm posting this using my new laptop.

I don't know if this thread belongs in the Windows 7 forum or the malware removal forum, but I'll start here. The specs for my desktop system are in my signature, below.

 

SM with networking won't allow you to get on line?

 

I hadn't thought of that. Right now I have Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware running a fast scan to see if it finds anything amiss. Results just in: No files infected and no malicious items detected. So now I'll try the networking angle. Thanks for the reply.

LATER: I was able to get on-line in SM with networking, then I ran the Norton Removal Tool, which requires a restart, and I wound up stuck at the Welcome splash screen again. Another restart, in SM with networking this time, ran the installation of NAV 2011. It required a restart, and that got me stuck at the Welcome screen once more. The new version of NAV appears to have been installed OK, but it won't open in SM so I don't know if it's "good" or not.

The main problem remains, why can't I load Windows in Normal Mode? Why does it keep freezing at the Welcome screen?

 

Delete Norton again. Download CCleaner and run it and also the Registry tool. It will save a file for you for anything that you do in the registry in My Docs. I have used it probably a hundred times with no ill effects. That or do the normal scan with MBAM and see if it picks up anything.

http://ccleaner.softwarereviewer.info/?gclid=CMqlo9nGmKcCFYtS2goduTqqfQ

 

I deleted Norton again, then ran MBAM with a full scan this time and once more it found no files infected and no malicious items detected.

I explored a number of things I suspected, some of them requiring a restart, and every time I'd encounter the freeze at the Welcome screen. Twice, without knowing how I did it, I changed the Safe Mode into a regular Windows mode. Taking advantage of that, I installed NAV 2011, entered the product key and updated all the definitions, then restarted. Another freeze at the Welcome screen.

Wondering if my System Restores had somehow corrupted any of several MS updates I'd downloaded the other day, I checked and found one for MS Security Essentials. Downloaded and installed it, restarted. Another freeze at the Welcome screen.

Then I got suspicious of whether the Windows firewall had somehow gotten turned on and was conflicting with my COMODO firewall. It had. So I shut it off and ran another restart. It took a while, but it worked!

Just what made the difference, I'm not sure. I do know that Windows doesn't like two firewalls running at the same time, so maybe that was it.

I'll see how things are for a day or two before I mark this thread as Resolved.

 

Yep, FW and AV are a one only application. Weird how things happen. I have been using the Windows FW for about 3 or 4 years now with no problems what so ever. I used to use ZA but gave up on that.

 

Well, the good news last night turned out to be not so good. Did another restart and got yet another freeze at the Welcome screen.

Just before I quit for the evening I did another restart into Safe Mode with network running and, with the new 2011 NAV installed and fully updated, I started a full scan. This morning I found the results: 259 security risks detected and 259 security risks resolved! That's a lot, and what amazes me is that less than a week ago I ran a full scan with the NAV program I had then, which I thought had all the latest definitions, and it found no problems at all. And why didn't the MBAM scan I ran last night catch a single problem?

I've noticed that before I opt to run a restart into SM, there's a notification saying there is a problem stemming from Windows not shutting down properly. Does that suggest anything useful?

 

Norton and MBAM look for 2 different things.

Try this in the link below. Follow the instructions and let it finish.
http://www.w7forums.com/use-chkdsk-check-disk-t448.html

 

Realizing it was probably conflicting with other programs, I ininstalled MS Security Essentials through Control Panel. I rechecked to make sure the Windows firewall was still off, and it was, not conflicting with COMODO. Then I did a restart and had the usual freeze at the Welcome screen.

Then I ran a CHKDSK scan. It finished while I was away from the computer, but at the 75% progress point it didn't appear to have spotted any problems. Another restart resulted in another freeze at the Welcome screen. Arrggggg!

Is there any way to see what results the CHKDSK scan found, a results log somewhere?

One thing I've noticed a few times is that while a restart in Safe Mode is underway and even after it's completed, there are occasional "dudd" sounds, a Windows error signal, sometimes a single one, sometimes two in a row. When I do manage somehow to get into a normal Windows mode, I'll sometimes hear a "ding" sound, a Windows operation reply signal.

I wish I could find the secret to getting into regular Windows mode at will -- so many things work better in that mode. But the big wish, of course, is for a final solution to this whole predicament.

Any more ideas?

 

Google found this and many more. I googled Checkdisc log.

Maybe this will help.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/2172-63-win7-chkdsk-file-location

 

I used your link and discovered that different versions of Windows have different paths to chkdsk logs, so for my Win7(Home Premium)-64 I used Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Application, then sorted by Source. That's when I found there was no chkdsk log. In C:\ > Windows > System 32 there is a chkdsk.exe file but no chkdsk log or chkdsk.txt file, the closest being a chklogo6.wtl file that won't open. Both of them are dated 2009, so I regard them as not what I want to examine.

It's been so long since I last used it, what's the method of getting at the DOS screen that lists different ways to start up (CD-ROM, Windows, C:\, etc.)? I'm wondering if that setting got changed. What should it be set at for a normal start-up from the HDD?

 

LATER:

I did quite a bit of Googling and checked several things -- msconfig scan, Event Viewer, etc. For some unknown reason, I load regularly all the way to the Desktop now. No more freezing at the Windows Welcome screen. So that problem seems to have been overcome.

Something still isn't right, though. The "dudd" sound I mentioned yesterday still occurs, and a check with Windows Sound options revealed that I'm getting the "Device Failed to Connect" warning. I get that a few times each time I reboot. I don't know what device isn't connecting, though.

In Event Properties, I see a notification of an Event ID 7000 error, which turns out to involve the Service Control Manager, which reports "The SessionLauncher service failed to start due to the following error: The system cannot find the file." So far I haven't learned which file it can't find.

I also notice during each boot-up, just as I get to the Desktop display, a small window saying something like "Schwicon-XP," but it's visible for such a brief time that I don't have time to read it carefully. Of significance?

This last time I restarted, the COMODO firewall opened a box asking for approval for the ATI Catalyst Center to do something. At first I didn't even know what that is, but the receipt for my computer shows ATI to be my Radeon 4350 HD card. Probably not significant.


So apparently my original problem is over with, even though one or more things still aren't right. Does anyone have any ideas about the remaining issues?