SOLVED PC has problems with starting

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Hi all.

My desktop PC has hard time getting started. It makes several booting attempts, speeding up for 15 seconds or so, then pausing for just as long, after which the cycle starts over. It may take up to 5 or even 10 booting attemts for the PC to finally access Windows. Until now, luckily, it has ended up starting at last.

I have tried pressing the Del butting during a boot attempt, but nothing happens. On the monitor it says No signal. The PC is set to Quick boot, which I consider changing, if I can get access to the bios.

Further, the PC has problems shutting down as well. When I choose shut down in Windows, it sometimes restarts just as if I had chosen restart. I may have to press and hold the shut-down button on the PC case to force the PC to shut down.

Hope you can help me. Please, do not hesitate to ask for more info.
 

Regedit32

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It may help to know what apps are booting during startup of your computer.

Go to your settings -- select Apps -- select Startup
 
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Active startup apps:

Logitech Launcher Application
Remind32.exe
Windows Security notification icon
 

Regedit32

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I take it you have some software installed you have not yet registered - hence the presence of the Remind32.exe application loading on startup.

Nothing in your list though ought to generate the issue you are experiencing.

On a hardware front I'd be checking the hard drive does not have damage to it and that it does not have overly fragmented sectors which if bad enough could make loading a program very slow.

I'd also be verifying the power supply is operating efficiently as an unstable power supply - apart from risking damaging other hardware like your motherboard and hard drive - could also affect boot time.

How old is your Desktop? Is it covered by any insurance or support contracts?
 
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Thanks for your reply, Regedit32.
What do you mean by "not yet registered"? Do you mean not yet registered in the Windows registry database? Remind32.exe has the subtext IntelliQuest Communications, Inc.

The Windows system said I did not need to scan my C-drive (system drive). I had it scanned anyway, and I was told: "The drive was repaired. The drive is ready for use." Details attached. Sorry, file wouldn't attach in anything but txt-format.

As to the age etc. of my Desktop, I built it myself in December 2014, and at least I don't consider it very old. I am 69 myself.:) (I am aware that computers may age a bit faster). As you can imagine, there is no insurance coverage or service contract.

Sorry, I'm not able to contribute so much to solving this issue. Could it have something to do with the Start and Restart buttons on the case? When I press the Start button, absolutely nothing shows on the screen (except the monitor's own "No signal" message. Only thing that happens (apparently) is the fan speeding up in cycles (see my original post). I guess some attempts at accessing UEFI and Windows are going on as well, but that's only a guess. Until now, though, the computer has always started after several minutes of trying. When, at last, the turquois Windows logo shows up on the screen, Windows booting is quite fast (15 - 20 seconds or so).
 

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Regedit32

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What do you mean by "not yet registered"?

No I meant in regards to Software you may have installed that requires being registered with the Software maker.

For example, if I installed an older Microsoft Office product I'd be prompted repeatedly to activate it until I got round to doing that. In the end Microsoft did what a lot of Software creators did, and introduced a limit on how many times you can open an application before activating (Registering) it.

I'm assuming your Remind32.exe is something similar and therefor ought not to be relevant to your current boot issue.

A 5 year old Desktop is fine. There may be some bits of hardware in it that Windows struggles with, so eventually you may need to settle on a particular Windows 10 build - but only time will tell. I have a 7 year old Desktop which still ticks along fine, and thus far the only change I've had to make to enjoy Windows 10, was to convert to Microsoft's HD Driver for audio, as Windows no longer can cope with very old IDT drivers.

As you built your own computer I'm assuming you'd be familiar with how to test its cabling, power supply and the hard disk itself for any issues that may result in an unstable start - or lack of start at all.

In terms of running a check disk scan - you could do that once you are at the Desktop by opening File Explorer, then opening This PC, then right-clicking on the partition containing your Windows OS and selecting Properties | Tools tab

The link removed during that scan you posted was located in Windows.old - so that will not be relevant to your current issue. Unless you are planning on Recovering your previous build of Windows 10, you could use Microsoft's Disk Cleanup to remove that Window.old folder and save some space. To access that, just type disk cleanup in the saerchbar.

One random thought! Have you checked whether the computer battery still has enough juice in it? A 5 year old desktop may need a new cmos battery.
 
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I replaced the cmos battery, but unfortunately it did not help. I am aware that I might have to replace some hardware. The problem is, I don't know which?
 

Regedit32

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In terms of hardware, given your particular issue with booting your OS, or shutting the computer down, the hardware items I'd be testing would be:
  1. RAM
  2. Hard drive / SSD
  3. Power Supply

If hard drive has a bunch of bad sectors o is heavily fragmented, that would slow down the read/write of the drive and potentially would cause the symptoms you are mentioning.

If Ram was faulty, then that would force Windows to use Hard drive more to store temp data.

If power supply is faulty, that could cause symptoms you describe, but its more likely going to result in a total failure for computer to start at all. [ Thus its probably not your power supply at fault, but still worth checking ].
 
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first thing i would attempt is boot to bootable media, change dir to C: then remove the Windows.old - you do not need all that junk,
then run chkdsk c: /f then reboot,
 
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first thing i would attempt is boot to bootable media, change dir to C: then remove the Windows.old - you do not need all that junk,
then run chkdsk c: /f then reboot,
Promblem is, I can't make my computer open the bootable Windows 10 disk I made some time ago so as not to be prevented from accessing my system :(. I used the Windows 10 disk not long ago to start my laptop, - so I know it works OK.
 
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OK, if you know the Disk is Ok, make sure it is inserted into the CD/DVD. Turn off the computer, when you turn on the computer,
start with F2 key or Del key, usually within 2 or 3 seconds. that should take you to BIOS, where you can set for DVD/CD as first Start.
and many BIOS allow you to change an BYPASS the boot Manager and boot to USB-HHD, or DVD-CD.
 
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make sure it is inserted into the CD/DVD. Turn off the computer, when you turn on the computer,
start with F2 key or Del key, usually within 2 or 3 seconds. that should take you to BIOS
That's what you would normally expect to work, but somehow I don't think my computer behaves normally at all.:)
I got into the BIOS today and also got access to my computer. However, my problem persists, for when I had shut it down, it would not start up again.
While in BIOS, I set boot time to Normal (not Fast).
Whether or not the computer will boot (into BIOS or into Windows) seems totally random. Would be grateful if you, Snuffy, or someone else could come up with an idea to make booting more stable. Hope I can get an opportunity to log into Windows once more. If I do, I'll backup my desktop, plus a lot of photos, luckily on a different HDD but requiring me to log into Windows in order to access.
 
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ok, let us get very precise.
1. make model of PC
2. version & edition of OS
3. and you can try all this:
a.logo + R --> type msconfig - enter
b. click services --> click Hide all MS Services --> click disable all
c. click back to BOOT--> click safe boot --> apply and reboot
then let us know what - this disable all but what is needed to boot, and you should have no problems with shutdown, restart
try this 2 or 3 times.... OK
 
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ok, let us get very precise.
1. make model of PC
2. version & edition of OS
3. and you can try all this:
a.logo + R --> type msconfig - enter
b. click services --> click Hide all MS Services --> click disable all
c. click back to BOOT--> click safe boot --> apply and reboot
then let us know what - this disable all but what is needed to boot, and you should have no problems with shutdown, restart
try this 2 or 3 times.... OK
Sorry, Snuffy, I can't make any use of this, no matter how precise. Remember my problem is I'm unable to make my computer boot and much less access msconfig!:)

Specs below:
HARDWARE:
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Killer
BIOS: P2.40
Processor: CPU: i7-4790 (Haswell Refresh)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two
PSU: Energon EPS650W
CM Memory: Kingston KVR16N11K2/16 (16 GB)
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4600 (onboard)
Audio: Purity Sound 2 / Realtek ALC1150 (onboard)
Display: ASUS VS247H-P
HDD: Kingston SSDNOW 300, 240 GB (SATA)
ODD: LG BH16NS40 (SATA)
Keyboard: MS "Natural Keyboard"
Pointing device: Logitech M570 wireless trackball.
SOFTWARE:
OS: Windows 10 Professional 64 bit, v. 1903, build 18362.356
 
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Acer if pretty precise. and all the items are done with keyboard and mouse.
I also do Acer forum. so if you can not access msconfig from the keyboard entries. your system is very very corrupt.

maybe you can do this: right click with mouse the small windows logo bottom left of screen
1570735020264.png

settings.png


click Settings --> look for Update and Security - left click - -> see Recovery --> left click -- see Reset this PC click Get Started
 
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No, Snuffy, my system is not very corrupt. But it is difficult to control what your are accessing, if anything at all, when there is no signal to screen (see posts #1 and #5). I'm sure you realize that. The big mystery is, why does my computer not manage to send any signal to the screen most of the time, only once in a while. (And the screen cable is OK).
 
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sounds like corruption to me... and YES, your OS can be corrupt and still (function). seriously plz do a reset and fix, and unless you changed the BIOS setting "All Acers' default to insert any Bootable Media (cd-DVD, USB) turnoff system, then restart and it will auto boot to the Bootable Media.
 
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Hi all

I finally got access to my computer again, and it seems to be stable. The issue got solved while I was in a different forum. What I did was switching to the other Bios by moving the Bios selection jumper on the board. The BIOS is ASRock UEFI, and the version now in use is P1.90; the version in use before was P2.40. Do you think there is any reason to update the Bios?

Thanks for your replies to a difficult question and especially to Regedit 32, who came closest to meeting my needs.

Only problem when I had changed the Bios was that Windows did not recognize my three non-system-partition hard drives right away. Only when I had changed the Bios settings from IDE to ACHI did Windows see the three drives.

Thanks for your efforts. It was such a relief to finally be able to access all my photos and other important stuff on my computer.
 
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I am wondering if you did not flash your bios at some time to the wrong BIOS. I ask since I have ASRock mobos also, and the jump from p2.40 to p1.90 seems like the wrong bios...
for my x570 Pro 4 - 1.0 to 1.72 my 350 Pro 4 - 2.5 to 6.0 and ASRock gives you the reason why to flash or not to flash. Please carefully reread the Site for the Proper BIOS.
 

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