Windows Update borked my Vista laptop
March 6, 2008 12:05 PM Subscribe
Vista hangs while switching to/from Secure Desktop after Windows Update installed a new sound driver. Please help me fix it.
HP Pavillion dv6449 laptop with pre-installed Vista Home Premium.
Recent Windows Update attempted to update Conexant sound driver. Install failed. Upon reboot, no sound. Went into device manager, removed driver, Window reloaded it, sound fixed.
Ever since then, the PC hangs 5-20 seconds coming back from secure desktop. I've disabled UAC eliminate some of the lags. I have the system configured to require a password on wake-up from standby. Laptop wakes up instantly, login screen appears instantly. Type in password, screen goes blank, hear the "da-dink" sound effect, then screen stays blank for 20 seconds or more before desktop appears.
Actions that would invoke the secure desktop (UAC, ctrl-alt-del) act the same way, but delay is only 5 to 10 seconds of blank screen.
This definitely did not do this before the borked driver update. Secure Desktop activations/UAC prompts flickered and appeared instantly. Now these delays are driving my nuts. I hope the pending release of SP1 on Windows Update might fix this, but if there's anything I can do in the meantime to troubleshoot and fix this please let me know.
I'm quite technically experienced on older versions of Windows, but my technical knowledge and troubleshooting skills are limited on Vista.
HP Pavillion dv6449 laptop with pre-installed Vista Home Premium.
Recent Windows Update attempted to update Conexant sound driver. Install failed. Upon reboot, no sound. Went into device manager, removed driver, Window reloaded it, sound fixed.
Ever since then, the PC hangs 5-20 seconds coming back from secure desktop. I've disabled UAC eliminate some of the lags. I have the system configured to require a password on wake-up from standby. Laptop wakes up instantly, login screen appears instantly. Type in password, screen goes blank, hear the "da-dink" sound effect, then screen stays blank for 20 seconds or more before desktop appears.
Actions that would invoke the secure desktop (UAC, ctrl-alt-del) act the same way, but delay is only 5 to 10 seconds of blank screen.
This definitely did not do this before the borked driver update. Secure Desktop activations/UAC prompts flickered and appeared instantly. Now these delays are driving my nuts. I hope the pending release of SP1 on Windows Update might fix this, but if there's anything I can do in the meantime to troubleshoot and fix this please let me know.
I'm quite technically experienced on older versions of Windows, but my technical knowledge and troubleshooting skills are limited on Vista.
I agree with fjom. Since the update and issue were recent, a restore to the day of, or the day prior to the update may resolve your issue. Right-click on Computer, select "Properties" and select "System Protection" from the list on the left.
You can also check recent errors by right-clicking on Computer, select "Manage", and select "Event Viewer." Going through that log may tell you what, exactly, is causing the lag, or may point you in the direction of some more fruitful google searches.
posted by Psionic_Tim at 2:44 PM on March 6, 2008
You can also check recent errors by right-clicking on Computer, select "Manage", and select "Event Viewer." Going through that log may tell you what, exactly, is causing the lag, or may point you in the direction of some more fruitful google searches.
posted by Psionic_Tim at 2:44 PM on March 6, 2008
Response by poster: Ehem, that should say driving me nuts. I wouldn't want Microsoft driving my nuts.
By recent, I mean this was a few weeks ago. Since then several other Windows Update updates have installed. If I remember correctly (not near the laptop now--will check tomorrow) there were only two restore points listed, neither date back to when the driver thing happened. I didn't quite put 2 and 2 together then, since I was able to "fix" the driver issue and get the sound to work right away.
I'll take a closer look at this tomorrow. Thanks for your suggestions. If you have any more, please keep them coming.
posted by AstroGuy at 9:33 PM on March 6, 2008
By recent, I mean this was a few weeks ago. Since then several other Windows Update updates have installed. If I remember correctly (not near the laptop now--will check tomorrow) there were only two restore points listed, neither date back to when the driver thing happened. I didn't quite put 2 and 2 together then, since I was able to "fix" the driver issue and get the sound to work right away.
I'll take a closer look at this tomorrow. Thanks for your suggestions. If you have any more, please keep them coming.
posted by AstroGuy at 9:33 PM on March 6, 2008
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In one of the cases I wasn't even able to logon, so I had to boot from Vista's original disk and access System Repair options, but since you are able to logon to your machine, this should be even easier.
The wizard for the System Restore is quite easy to follow up, but if you need more info here are a ton of results for "system restore vista"
posted by fjom at 2:32 PM on March 6, 2008