Loading Win7 on two separate HDD drives, same computer.

Greg,

I didn't have time last night to address the HDD will attemp tonight. I did go to the msconfig/start up and unchecked almost everything. If it looked like it pertained to the main operation of the system I left it alone. I don't remember seeing anything for the gadgets however they still work.
The one issue I have is the idle time during the reboot, it seemed like it was taking too long to shut down (is this normal - it didn't take this long on XP) so I held in the start button to shut it down. I mean we are talking 10 minutes it stated it was shutting down, looked like it was hung up. When I restarted the computer it went into safe mode due to unexpected/improper shutdown.
If I'm correct it should have just rebooted yes/no???

Also I contacted the Espon Tech Support - they instructed my to check the fax port and compare it with the printer port, they were different. I checked the same for the fax as it was for the printer and off it went. For some reason when it installed it selected LPT1 instead fo the USB002 port (I have another printer hooled up which is USB001). I tested the fax option and it works great!

I want to make sure all is operating as advertised before installing the other video editting software.

Thanx again for you time!

Glidercj

When exactly did the shutdown hang start? Can you System Restore before that?

Check the Performance log to see what is hanging the shutdown: access Advanced Tools by clicking your WEI score link at Computer>Properties. Look for cued issues at top of Tools page, Generate A System Health Report.

Type "solutions" in Start Search Box to see if any have been sent for problems reported or not.

Trace Windows 7 boot/shutdown/hibernate/standby/resume issues - MSFN

To see what exactly the remaining msconfig>Startup choices are, place your cursor on the File listing and hypertext popup will let you know what it is, or google to find out. If you get no hypertext then stretch the File category margins wider above until the full listing shows. (I just checked mine and RealPlayer which i installed to play one video has snuck back in even though I have turned it off in its Preferences and unchecked repeatedly, confirming it as the all-time most persistent spyware - Binned and Banned!)

Nice cat 1bowtie, after the safe mode operation I rebooted the system again and it tool a few minutes to shut down but did so sucessfully. I then shut down and restarted again and all appeared good.
I'm going to follow through with greg's recommendations tonight when I get home from work. You have meantioned performing a repair install - I take that as meaning a process using the Win7 disc, correct?

All System processes and services are hidden from msconfig>Startup in Win7. I have only found AV and gadgets need protecting. Any sound or video listings are only needed if you use special controls for sound or video.

If you are saying that your shutdown hang happened after unchecking startup items (not processes) in msconfig, then I would definitely system restore to before this was done to see if the hang repeats. If not, google each startup item and uncheck them only after knowing fully what they are and do. If you do a couple at a time this way, you'll find which one is causing the shutdown hang.

If System Restore does not reverse the changes, then do the opposite: google each item to see what it does and add them back if they seem important to see which overcomes the hang.

Was there anything else that was done that might have caused the shutdown hang, as this is the first time such a hang has been reported from disabling startup items in msconfig after our advice.

Greg,
1. Corrected Printer/Fax issue with Epson Artisan 835 Printer - changed out port from LPT1 to USB002. Resolved problem.

2. Used "msconfig" to access "start up" menu -unchecked only items that did not have any referrence to 7 (I think there were three regarding 7). All other appeared to be program start up services.

Then I clicked on save and the restart instruction appeared - I clicked on that and then the system started to log off (which was good) then shut down - there's where it began to hang up.

Note: There was one other time the system appeared to hang up. That was during the reinstall. once I pick the alternate drive the install took off - got all the way to the end where it downloaded the update files. The files up loaded and then download to the system and then Win7 began its shut down to install everything. This is where it hung up the first time. After 20 -25 minutes I hit the start button to shut it down. When the system was rebooted it reloaded the updates finished and rebooted again and ever since the system functioned normal (to my knowledge). Up until last night with the start up change.
That's it, you now have the step by step procedure.

Glidercj

Greetings Gents,

Here's the progress so far and it's not good. First off I followed the instruction - "access Advanced Tools by clicking your WEI score link at Computer>Properties. Look for cued issues at top of Tools page, Generate A System Health Report. "
The report showed a bunch red ball "X's" and warnings. The red x pertained to the shutdown.
Then I Generated a report and the catagories all said good.

I noticed when I booted up (I'll call it the bios screen) it showed the memory timing and then the hard drive and usually it shows both CD/DVD drives, this time it only showed one. The it took forever to search for those items before advancing the boot progress.
Once past that portion the windows screen illiuminated where the mircosoft colored window logo shows up. The four colors usually spin around until they stop and form the four quarters of the windows logo. The colors stop with only two of the four until finally the process continues, then all four appeared and my desktop is displayed.
Also while attemping to work my through the health report area I clicked on a file and it opened IE. Once there IE froze and would not allow me to close it "IE is not responding and will close" but it never did nor could I get it to. I tried "Ctrl, Alt Delete" to no end. Finally I had to reboot to get rid of IE.

At this point I elected to option the "restore point" and did so, even that appeared to take longer to complete. Everything was back to it's original settings even the selection of LPT1 for the Epson printer fax mode, Zone alarm was also there on the desk top. I then went to the msconfig /start up to see what was there and everything was "rechecked".

Now it appears the machine shuts down okay but takes forever to boot up and doesn't see all of the hardware,i.e., dvd drive.

I ran out of time last night (this took forever) but wanted to try the repair install, since 3am comes quick and it was already 10ish I had to quit for the night.

I looked up the procedure for this repair install and it seems to be straight foreward.
I feel it's my only option at this point, between the long start up and IE freezing and who knows what else we will find.
What do you think?

Note: When viewing start up (msconfig) I think I unchecked "eeventviewer log?" Not sure but think I did.

Glidercj

Let us know how it works.

You can also go back further with the restore points to try to get before the hang.

Did you study the Performance log as specified to see what app or driver was hanging the shutdown? Check also the Event Viewer>Custom>Admin to google repeat errors to see if a cause is revealed.

If ZoneAlarm wasn't uninstalled using Revo, it may have left services or reg keys which are hanging.

If the Repair Install doesn't help then you may need a Clean Reinstall after wiping the HD to overwrite any infected or corrupt code. Here are some tips on how to get a perfect reinstall: re-install windows 7