Solved no login screen/prompt - win7 Pro x64

[dgoo]

hi guys,

I've encountered the issue more than once in the forums but did not come accross an other solution then "do a clean install".

I just received my new Sony Vaio (C-series) with Win 7 Pro x 64 yesterday. Everything worked out of the box.
Today, I did the following :
# remove McAffee
# remove MS Office Starter
# remove Win Life (everything but the media player)

# installed Bullguard Internet Security
# installed FireFox (latest)
# installed Winamp
# installed LibreOffice
# installed PDF-creator

Then, the laptop asked for a reboot... Which I did... And since then... Nothing.
I get to the welcome screen with "Windows 7 Professional" written at the bottom but the login screen/prompt with user picture does not appear (I have waited for more than 30 minutes).

Same thing in Safe Mode... And System Recovery did not notice any issues...

So, do you guys have any idea where this might come from ?
I don't mind doing a clean install... But I'd like to understand what went wrong and where so that I can prevent it in the future...

Thanks in advance for your suggestions !
dgoo

 

[Sub Zero55]

Use Waterfox | Home | The fastest 64-Bit variant of Firefox!

 

[Kaktussoft]

Boot into recovery environment from install dvd or system repair disk
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html
now select "system restore"

So go back in time. Problem solved? Tip: do installs/uninstalls one-by-one to see what causes the problem

 

[dgoo]

Use Waterfox | Home | The fastest 64-Bit variant of Firefox!

thanks... but that does not solve my issue

 

[Sub Zero55]

Then start with uninstalling the software that you installed. Either, by System Restore, or one software at a time, reboot to check behavior.

Waterfox may not resolve your issue. I was just making a suggestion. Waterfox, runs much faster than Firefox on a 64 bit system.

This is a good Anti-Virus program.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials

Use Windows Firewall

Adobe Reader is free software that lets you open, view, search, digitally sign, verify, and print PDF files.
http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Here's an alternative to LibreOffice.
http://download.cnet.com/OpenOffice-org/3000-18483_4-10263109.html

Hope this helps!

 

[dgoo]

Then start with uninstalling the software that you installed. That is where your problem started, right?

I'd love to...
But as I stated, I can not log into Windows (normal mode or safe mode)

 

[UsernameIssues]

..........I don't mind doing a clean install... But I'd like to understand what went wrong and where so that I can prevent it in the future...

Thanks in advance for your suggestions !
dgoo

Did you put off restarting the computer after uninstalling McAfee?
If so, that might be your problem.

 

[dgoo]

..........I don't mind doing a clean install... But I'd like to understand what went wrong and where so that I can prevent it in the future...

Thanks in advance for your suggestions !
dgoo

Did you put off restarting the computer after uninstalling McAfee?
If so, that might be your problem.

Hi,
as a matter a fact... I did...
I installed Bullguard right afterwards and rebooted...
and it did reboot normally after that...
Could it still have to do with that ?

 

[UsernameIssues]

It was only a guess based on the summary of the events listed on the OP. If you did not put off restarting when prompted (edit: for that whole series of uninstalls and re-installs)... then that is probably not the issue. I'm not sure what to tell you to avoid this from happening again.

 

[Sub Zero55]

Reboot the computer. Start taping the F8 key. This will take you to Advanced Boot Options window. Use the down arrow key to select, Last Known Good Configuration. Hit Enter.

This will correct the driver conflict.

 

[dgoo]

Then start with uninstalling the software that you installed. Either, by System Restore, or one software at a time, reboot to check behavior.

Waterfox may not resolve your issue. I was just making a suggestion. Waterfox, runs much faster than Firefox on a 64 bit system.

This is a good Anti-Virus program.
Microsoft Security Essentials - Free Antivirus for Windows

Use Windows Firewall

Adobe Reader is free software that lets you open, view, search, digitally sign, verify, and print PDF files.
Adobe - Adobe Reader download - All versions

Here's an alternative to LibreOffice.
OpenOffice.org - Download.com

Hope this helps!

Thanks Sub Zero55,

But, none of these softs can cause this issue.
Next to that, LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice.org... Basically it is the same, but without the Oracle part.

Adobe reader does NOT allow you to print out PDFs.

I did not know waterox... So I will give that a try

 

[dgoo]

Reboot the computer. Start taping the F8 key. This will take you to Advanced Boot Options window. Use the down arrow key to select, Last Known Good Configuration. Hit Enter.

This will correct the driver conflict.

Tried that...
did not change anything...

Also, I doubt this is a driver issue as I did not update them...

 

[UsernameIssues]

Let us know how it goes with the clean install; and just to be safe, restart after every change.

...and I'm pretty sure that Adobe's PDF Reader does allow one to print PDFs by any definition. In fact, the "print current view" function is really nice. You can re-size the Reader's window and magnification level - then only print the area that you can see.

 

[dgoo]

Let us know how it goes with the clean install; and just to be safe, restart after every change.

...and I'm pretty sure that Adobe's PDF Reader does allow one to print PDFs by any definition. In fact, the "print current view" function is really nice. You can re-size the Reader's window and magnification level - then only print the area that you can see.

Hi,

I did do a fresh install...
And as you suggest, I did reboot after every operation and created a restore point once I had removed all the programs I did not want and when Win7 was updated.

This time, everything went fine...
But I did, once more, encounter difficulties when I tried to install PDF-creator. The install failed and the screen froze... I had to shut down the laptop with the power-button.
Booting back into the system, PDF-creator was NOT installed. So I am guessing that the problem initially came from PDF-creator... which is strange because I have installed that tool on many many other PCs and laptops.

I decided to give cutewriter a try (CutePDF - The free PDF Converter, Convert to PDF for free, Free PDF Utilities.). This is another free and open PDF utility based on ghostscript. It runs fine now.

And... I persist...
You can NOT create PDFs with Acrobat Reader !
And I even went to the Adobe website for you guys:

Can I create PDF files with Adobe Reader?
Within Reader X you can access the Adobe CreatePDF service at Acrobat.com, which lets you convert up to five files for free and has monthly and annual plans available for purchase. You can also convert to PDF using Adobe Acrobat X software.
[http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/faq.html]
​

Adobe Acrobat PRO on the other hand is complete PDF creation solution...

Thanks for your suggestions guys.
dgoo

 

[Kaktussoft]

Adobe Reader is free software that lets you open, view, search, digitally sign, verify, and print PDF files.
Adobe - Adobe Reader download - All versions

It's just as he said. He didn't say CREATE

 

[UsernameIssues]

From post #11

...Adobe reader does NOT allow you to print out PDFs....

I see now that we are dealing with semantics here. If you are in Notepad and you want to print out some text to a file - then you are correct: Installing the Adobe Reader will not let you "print out PDFs...". Adobe's Reader does not add a virtual printer to let you create PDFs via the "printing" process.

What the rest of us are saying:
Adobe's Reader will let you print an existing PDF onto paper.

 

[dgoo]

From post #11

...Adobe reader does NOT allow you to print out PDFs....

I see now that we are dealing with semantics here. If you are in Notepad and you want to print out some text to a file - then you are correct: Installing the Adobe Reader will not let you "print out PDFs...". Adobe's Reader does not add a virtual printer to let you create PDFs via the "printing" process.

What the rest of us are saying:
Adobe's Reader will let you print an existing PDF onto paper.

lol
who's playing with semantics here...
I think it's pretty obvious that if I wanted to install PDF-creator... the point was to create PDF files...
# not print a PDF to paper
# not send the file to Adobe to create a PDF...

 

[Sub Zero55]

From post #11

...Adobe reader does NOT allow you to print out PDFs....

I see now that we are dealing with semantics here. If you are in Notepad and you want to print out some text to a file - then you are correct: Installing the Adobe Reader will not let you "print out PDFs...". Adobe's Reader does not add a virtual printer to let you create PDFs via the "printing" process.

What the rest of us are saying:
Adobe's Reader will let you print an existing PDF onto paper.

lol
who's playing with semantics here...
I think it's pretty obvious that if I wanted to install PDF-creator... the point was to create PDF files...
# not print a PDF to paper
# not send the file to Adobe to create a PDF...

You sure have an odd way of thanking the people who are trying to help you with the issue! Please, remember we all donate our time here to provide FREE help to those who need it. This is not a paid tech support site.

 

[dgoo]

From post #11
I see now that we are dealing with semantics here. If you are in Notepad and you want to print out some text to a file - then you are correct: Installing the Adobe Reader will not let you "print out PDFs...". Adobe's Reader does not add a virtual printer to let you create PDFs via the "printing" process.

What the rest of us are saying:
Adobe's Reader will let you print an existing PDF onto paper.

lol
who's playing with semantics here...
I think it's pretty obvious that if I wanted to install PDF-creator... the point was to create PDF files...
# not print a PDF to paper
# not send the file to Adobe to create a PDF...

You sure have an odd way of thanking the people who are trying to help you with the issue! Please, remember we all donate our time here to provide FREE help to those who need it. This is not a paid tech support site.

I am grateful for all of your efforts.
Just thought it would be "helpful" to point out the above is not correct.

 

[Sub Zero55]

lol
who's playing with semantics here...
I think it's pretty obvious that if I wanted to install PDF-creator... the point was to create PDF files...
# not print a PDF to paper
# not send the file to Adobe to create a PDF...

You sure have an odd way of thanking the people who are trying to help you with the issue! Please, remember we all donate our time here to provide FREE help to those who need it. This is not a paid tech support site.

I am grateful for all of your efforts.
Just thought it would be "helpful" to point out the above is not correct.

Thanks, for clearing that up.

Did you attempt to install PDFCreator in Safe Mode with Networking?
http://download.cnet.com/PDFCreator/3000-2064_4-10558866.html