Reveal my boot-a nature ... or shake my boot-y?

March 20, 2008 7:02 PM

After receiving mixed advice three months ago, I bought an HP Pavilion Elite m9150f running Vista Home Premium. Except for being a little slow to boot into Windows, I've been happy with Vista ... until last night, when Vista Service Pack 1 installed "successfully". I dutifully rebooted and now it won't boot into Windows at all. I've tried system restore from two restore points. Neither works, although I do get a helpful message stating that "a recent upgrade" may be causing problems. The computer can boot into Fedora 8, so it's not hosed, but I've run through my limited bag of Windows tricks. Any suggestions?
posted by lukemeister to computers & internet (15 comments total)

In case you are not aware of this, this has happened to a bunch of people. If I were you I would I would check tech news sites until a fix is found. On a Gizmodo poll, there are 720 votes (11%) for "still trying to recover from the fallout".
posted by Ctrl_Alt_ep at 7:33 PM on March 20, 2008

Ctrl_Alt_ep,

I was not aware of this. I'll be more careful with disservice packs in the future.
posted by lukemeister at 7:36 PM on March 20, 2008

[Comments removed. ALERT - linking to illegal software on the Pirate Bay STILL NOT COOL. Please don't do that, thank you.]
posted by jessamyn at 7:50 PM on March 20, 2008

If you can boot in safe mode and get into Recovery Manager from the Start Menu you should get some options, including restoring factory settings.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:56 PM on March 20, 2008

When you say that it won't boot at all, what does that mean? When does it hang during the boot process?

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, did that work? The Advanced Boot Options menu has this, plus two other options that might be helpful: last known good configuration which may help or failing that you could use as well as Enable Boot Logging which should list the drivers it is loading as it boots which might be helpful to track down what is hanging during the boot process.

Maybe you can post back with some more details and we might be able to provide more help?

Calling HP is a good idea but my guess is you'll get the run around between HP and Microsoft.
posted by mge at 8:03 PM on March 20, 2008

From > From:

Do I have to update my BIOS?

Yes. Update the BIOS and apply all HP and Microsoft updated drivers and programs before installing SP1. If the BIOS is not updated, the PC may fail to start properly after installing SP1.

I did not update my BIOS and now the PC will not boot. What should I do?

After upgrading to Vista SP1 the system may fail to boot properly. The Microsoft Startup Repair utility may prompt you to use the System Restore option, or the system may intermittently hang for 1 to 2 minutes before displaying the Startup Repair option. During the hangup, the black Vista boot-up screen may display the start-up bar, indicating activity.

To resolve this issue, cancel out of the Microsoft System Restore and allow the repair option to continue. Once the PC is successfully started, go to the HP web site and update the BIOS to avoid this issue in the future.

posted by B(oYo)BIES at 8:14 PM on March 20, 2008

32-bit I am guessing - Here are your downloads
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 8:18 PM on March 20, 2008

The system gets into the black Vista boot-up screen and displays the start-up bar for as long as I care to let it run (1 hour).

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, did that work?

No, it didn't. System repair and last known good configuration didn't either. I haven't tried 'enable boot logging'.

I'm pretty sure all my drivers were to date, since Vista SP1 showed up in Windows Update. I'm fairly compulsive about installing updates (which, of course, got me into this fix).
posted by lukemeister at 8:23 PM on March 20, 2008

B(oYo)BIES,

Thanks, yes, it's 32-bit. I don't think I can install any drivers in my system's current state, though!
posted by lukemeister at 8:25 PM on March 20, 2008

Windows updates and hardware drivers are two separate things. I am almost willing to put money on the fact that your BIOS were not updated before installing SP1. The latest update to your systems BIOS was released only two months ago. You can boot into the BIOS and check the version number, you should be at 5.15 if you are truly all up-to-date.
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 8:27 PM on March 20, 2008

I don't think I can install any drivers in my system's current state, though!

I've tried system restore from two restore points.

...cancel out of the Microsoft System Restore and allow the repair option to continue. Once the PC is successfully started, go to the HP web site and update the BIOS to avoid this issue in the future.
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 8:29 PM on March 20, 2008

When trying to start in safe mode, it hangs when trying to load crcdisk.sys.
posted by lukemeister at 8:49 PM on March 20, 2008

When I updated it totally fubard ZoneAlarm, just in case your running that.
posted by ducktape at 10:20 AM on March 21, 2008

...cancel out of the Microsoft System Restore and allow the repair option to continue. Once the PC is successfully started

If the repair worked, I would do that, but it doesn't.

When I updated it totally fubard ZoneAlarm, just in case you're running that.

I'm not, but thanks. Otherwise, did the service pack install OK?

Does anyone know what should load *after* crcdisk.sys? (I have no idea whether the order in which drivers load is standardized or not.) I don't have a USB drive attached, so perhaps it's actually the next driver that's causing a problem.
posted by lukemeister at 11:09 AM on March 21, 2008

I set the computer back to factory settings, downloaded the new BIOS, and Vista is fine. Thanks for your help.
posted by lukemeister at 3:31 PM on March 22, 2008