Laptop doesn't fully start up with Windows

edited December 2006 in Hardware
Hi,

The basis of my problem is this: when I simply switch on my computer it seems fine, goes through the windows loading screen, and then gets to the Windows "Welcome" screen. Here's where the problem starts.

Almost always, I think, it stops fully loading, and basically freezes once it gets to the desktop. Sometimes the taskbar/start menu comes up, sometimes the desktop items, and sometimes nothing - just the desktop (I can still see my normal background), and then, though the mouse can move, no programs will open, and no buttons will work.

When I run it in safe mode, it does work however. If I do a system restore, it will often (perhaps 70% of the time) work, and then work the next time, but then after that go back to the problem above.

It has been doing this since sometime in October, in fact on the day I got a virus/adware thing. However, I don't think it's linked to the virus, but more what I did to try and get rid of it.

After using some anti-spyware programs to see what exactly was wrong with my computer, spyware doctor showed a list of bad registry entries. So, stupidly I guess, I went to the registry and deleted the keys that it had told me were bad. However, I believe some problems still persisted, and so for some reason (I think it told me that this registry entry was bad), I think I deleted a key called system volume information, or something. I think it was only after this that my computer started the problem.

So, I believe it might be something to do with the registry, but I'm not completely sure. Could anything be done? Can I possibly restore the registry, or will I have to completely reboot the OS? Thanks for any help in advance.

Comments

  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2006
    Are you able to boot in Safe Mode?
  • edited November 2006
    Yup, it works fine in safe mode. Just normal mode that's bad.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2006
    In Safe Mode, click Start>>Run, type in msconfig and click OK. Go to the Startup tab and uncheck everything in the list. Then try to boot normally.

    If it works with your startup programs disabled then you'll know that one of them is causing the problem. Add them back in one at a time (with a reboot each time) until the problem returns. When it does, you'll know that the last one you re-enabled is the culprit.

    If that doesn't work, I would suggest that you post a HijackThis log here. :)
  • edited December 2006
    Well thanks for the help guys. Actually, I managed to solve the problem sort of in the same way as you suggested profdlp. I went to system config and did some stuff, and now it all seems to be fine. The computer works well now, and so I hope it's all good. Thanks for your help.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited December 2006
    Glad you got it. :cheers:
Sign In or Register to comment.