Question

Blank screen on restart and shutdown

Asked by: CorrArts

Hi all,

I am having problems on an AJP laptop running windows XP professional. There have been a lot of problems recently with the laptop with slow running speed and freezing in many different situations. Recently the laptop started to hang after restart with a blank screen, the only way to get the laptop out of this state was to hold the power button down till it powered down.
This has since spread to when you try and shut the laptop down as well.
When you start the machine back up windows starts up and can be used normally although the last attempt to use the laptop resulted in it freezing up while trying to use internet explorer.

I have tried to repair Xp by starting with the CD but it never gets to the setup screen with different files being corrupt each time resulting in me having to restart the laptop and the same problem. The last time I tried to start fom CD straight away an error came up saying,  File\i386\biosinfo.inf could not be loaded , the error code is 2.

I can still get onto windows but seems to be getting worse. Do I need to flatten the system or does anyone have any possible remedy, many thanks.  

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Asked On
2005-06-06 at 04:59:27ID21447951
Tags

screen

,

restart

,

blank

Topic

Windows XP Operating System

Participating Experts
3
Points
300
Comments
12

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Answers

 

by: GATOR420Posted on 2005-06-06 at 05:06:59ID: 14152477

What does the event viewer say? Does the system know its locking up?

 

by: RedKelvinPosted on 2005-06-06 at 05:36:38ID: 14152642

this sounds like one of 2 things
1. a virus, do a virus scan
2. BIOS version is out of date, get a bios update from the manufacturer
http://support.ajp.co.uk/index1.htm

also, I would do a scan for adware/malware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

if you can get it stabilized, I would try the windows repair again (sounds like your machine is in trouble). And once that works, install xp sp2 (if you dont already have it), and check for any additional updates.


If this does not work, and no other experts can come up with a solution, I think you are going to need a fresh install of windows

 

by: Huseyin1Posted on 2005-06-06 at 06:54:48ID: 14153203

If you dont mind doing a format and reinstall, then go for it. It can save alot of time and can be a garenteed solution.
But if the format and reinstall does not help, then you'll need to look at your hardware, maybe the memory is bad. but usually bad drivers can cause problems too.

boot upinto safe mode and use the machine, does the problem still exsist. if not then itis software or driver issues.

H

 

by: GATOR420Posted on 2005-06-06 at 07:06:29ID: 14153299

I agree with Huseyin1's comment as a whole, but since the resintall of several applications can be very time consuming, I would always suggest checking all hardware first to verify that its good.

You don't want to fomat and reinstall everything just to find out you have the same problem.

 

by: CorrArtsPosted on 2005-06-06 at 07:33:40ID: 14153517

Thanks all but after visiting a AJP site the bios update looks like it could be risky. Don't want to destroy the laptop completely, is this a possibility? In response to Gator's original comment I don't think the system realises it is freezing up,  the program stops responding but CPU is still realitivelty low.

On last attempt after it stopped responding it came up with a fatal exception then restarted the computer.
After restarting a dialog box came up saying the system has recovered from a serious error. The following files were included in the report:
C:\WINNT\Minidump\Mini060605-01.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER3.tmp.dir00\sysdata.xml

don't know if this is any help! cheers

 

 

by: Huseyin1Posted on 2005-06-06 at 07:38:18ID: 14153558

The minidump will hold information on the error.
So did you try safe mode to see if all is ok?
...and yes BIOS upgrades can mess machines up.
H

 

by: CorrArtsPosted on 2005-06-06 at 07:38:42ID: 14153564

How would I tell if the system knows it's freezing up in the event viewer?

 

by: Huseyin1Posted on 2005-06-06 at 07:49:19ID: 14153671

In event viewer look under application or system the type of error can becopied and pasted here for us to look at. just make a note of the date and time the problem happens and then you can use this to find the right error as the errors are dated and have the time next to them.

H

 

by: CorrArtsPosted on 2005-06-06 at 08:14:32ID: 14153920

Can't copy and paste because I'm on another machine but will try and give all the info necessary.

1.ERROR Source = Eventsystem , Catogary =(50) , Event =4609
2.ERROR Source = VSS , Cat. = None , Event = 4609

after I restrated the system the same thing happened again I think these are the relative error for the second freeze

3. ERROR Source = Perfnet, Cat. =None, Event = 2004
4. as above except Event = 2002
5. ERROR source = WMIAdapter Cat. =None, Event = 4099

Hope this helps.
In safe mode now,What the best way to see if all is ok?

 

by: GATOR420Posted on 2005-06-06 at 09:37:56ID: 14154857

Run it in safe mode for a while and see if the problem still occurs. If so, we are probably looking at a deeper underlying hardware issue. At that point we would need to determine what piece of hardware is failing.

If the problem does not reoccur in safe mode, we are more than likely looking at a software problem/conflict and a reinstall might be the best (read most efficient) way to go.

 

by: RedKelvinPosted on 2005-06-06 at 16:31:10ID: 14158004

Certainly the bios upgrade can screw your computer, but having said that, they would not provide them if they were not necessary.

You can reduce the risk by checking to see if you need the update first by finding your bios version, and checking it against the latest version available. there is obviously no need to upgrade if you have the same version.

BIOS upgrades are risky, and should be taken seriously, if you are not confident or computer savvy, do you have a friend that can help you.

The reason I am suggesting this, is that I have recently had the same problems with a hp notebook, and that was fixed by updating the bios.

Perhaps try the suggestions from the other experts, and leave this as a last resort.

 

by: CorrArtsPosted on 2005-06-07 at 07:32:52ID: 14162237

Hi again,
reflashed the bios with an update and still have same problems so am going to opt for a fresh install. cheers for all the help will split the points.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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