Vista on Dell Laptop
I have a Dell Inspirion 1520. The machine is running MS Vista Home Premium. At first Vista would just boot up to a black screen and a cursor. Though the forum I found if I unplug it and undo the battery, hold the power for 30 secs. It would then boot up. That worked great. I can now boot up to normal mode.
My issue now is that the computer runs extremely slow. I can not get any internet connection box to appear. Opening word takes 10 mins. It just runs slow. So I have run ccleaner, Malwarebytes, chkdsk /r, disk defragment, disk clean up. To no avail.
I tired running sfc /SCANNOW, however it never seems to run. It flashes up the command prompt for a second and disappears. I also tried getting into safe mode, but I can not do it. It boots to a black screen, cursor, and tags in the four corners, but that is as far as it will go.
Any ideas on what I should do next?
My issue now is that the computer runs extremely slow. I can not get any internet connection box to appear. Opening word takes 10 mins. It just runs slow. So I have run ccleaner, Malwarebytes, chkdsk /r, disk defragment, disk clean up. To no avail.
I tired running sfc /SCANNOW, however it never seems to run. It flashes up the command prompt for a second and disappears. I also tried getting into safe mode, but I can not do it. It boots to a black screen, cursor, and tags in the four corners, but that is as far as it will go.
Any ideas on what I should do next?
dmwynne
I would test the hard drive. Dell probably has a hard drive diag either built into the Bios of the laptop or look up your model online and see if they provide some type of diag tool. If not determine the type of drive from Bios and then go to the manufacturer's website and they should have a tool you can download and run.
Have you run sfc /SCANNOW in elevated command prompt.
Details of sfc /scannow is as follows:-
Run the Vista System File Checker Tool:
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2231/vista_run_system_file_checker/
1. Open a Command Window in Administrator mode:
* clickStart
* click All Programs, thenAccessories
* right click on the Command Prompt option,
* on the drop down menu which appears, click on the Run as Administratoroption.
* If you haven’t disabled User Account Control (and you shouldn’t!) you will be asked for authorisation. Click the Continue button if you are the administrator or insert the administrator password.
2. Start the System File Checker
* In the Command Prompt window, type:sfc /scannow,
* press Enter.
* You’ll see “the system scan will begin”.
The scan may take some time and windows will repair/replace any corrupt or missing files. You will be asked to insert your Vista DVD if it’s needed.
Close the Command Prompt Window when the job is finished.
One caveat: you need a Windows DVD to enable SFC to make more than minor repairs.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928228
“How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista”
If sfc /scannow does not work, try to scan for Malware/spyware:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
Malwarebytes is as the name says, a Malware Remover!
Download the Free Version from the link above.
Download, install, update and scan once a fortnight..
How to use Malwarebytes after it is installed and Updated:
1. Open Malwarebytes > Click on the Update Tab across the top> get the latest updates.
2. On the Scanner tab, make sure thePerform full scan option is selected and then click on theScan button to start scanning your computer
3. MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while.
4. When the scan is finished a message box will appear
5. You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with the Malwareremoval process.
6. You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on theShow Results button.
7. A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown
8. You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine. When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
9. When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.
10. You can now exit the MBAM program.
Source: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistahardware/thread/c03dab96-f1df-477a-9451-9d665c36fe23
Details of sfc /scannow is as follows:-
Run the Vista System File Checker Tool:
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2231/vista_run_system_file_checker/
1. Open a Command Window in Administrator mode:
* clickStart
* click All Programs, thenAccessories
* right click on the Command Prompt option,
* on the drop down menu which appears, click on the Run as Administratoroption.
* If you haven’t disabled User Account Control (and you shouldn’t!) you will be asked for authorisation. Click the Continue button if you are the administrator or insert the administrator password.
2. Start the System File Checker
* In the Command Prompt window, type:sfc /scannow,
* press Enter.
* You’ll see “the system scan will begin”.
The scan may take some time and windows will repair/replace any corrupt or missing files. You will be asked to insert your Vista DVD if it’s needed.
Close the Command Prompt Window when the job is finished.
One caveat: you need a Windows DVD to enable SFC to make more than minor repairs.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928228
“How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista”
If sfc /scannow does not work, try to scan for Malware/spyware:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
Malwarebytes is as the name says, a Malware Remover!
Download the Free Version from the link above.
Download, install, update and scan once a fortnight..
How to use Malwarebytes after it is installed and Updated:
1. Open Malwarebytes > Click on the Update Tab across the top> get the latest updates.
2. On the Scanner tab, make sure thePerform full scan option is selected and then click on theScan button to start scanning your computer
3. MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while.
4. When the scan is finished a message box will appear
5. You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with the Malwareremoval process.
6. You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on theShow Results button.
7. A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown
8. You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine. When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
9. When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.
10. You can now exit the MBAM program.
Source: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistahardware/thread/c03dab96-f1df-477a-9451-9d665c36fe23
I would try removing your anti virus software to test.
run a chkdsk/r in an elevated command prompt if this doesn't work then run a full Malwarebytes scan with updated definitions.
ASKER
I ran the chkdsk /r, it runs through the process but no changes. I ran Malwarebytes too, but nothing was found.
I did the diagnostics test. The hardware checked out ok, nothing came back critical or with an error.
Now each time I start it up I can the Vista Black screen and arrow. I am starting to think its time to reload this machine.
I did the diagnostics test. The hardware checked out ok, nothing came back critical or with an error.
Now each time I start it up I can the Vista Black screen and arrow. I am starting to think its time to reload this machine.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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I would at least try removing the anti virus software before resorting to reloading.
ASKER
but i can't get to that point. The screen just goes black with the mouse cursor showing. its the KSOD