"Restart computer now?" - fails to restart

[pooksahib]

Hi. Whenever I'm asked if I wish to shut down and reboot now (after, say, uninstalling a program), I say 'yes'. More often than not, however, my restart only gets as far as the 'enter BIOS' screen (is that the POST screen?). To proceed, I have to press the reset button next to my main 'On' button.

Can anyone suggest why this is? Mine's is a new self-build which I'm very proud of bar this wee glitch...

My thanks in advance of any guidance offered.

 

[MilesAhead]

This post is about a similar problem:
System hangs on soft start. Cold boot works fine - Prebuilt - Systems

A BIOS update fixed the booting but it was not without hassles. You might check if there's a BIOS update for your motherboard. Also see if there's a way to go back to how it is currently if the update fails. There's always some risk with these firmware updates.

Edit: But I'm a software guy. Hang on and see if you get better answers from some of the hardware gurus here.

Edit2: as a work-around, when you don't need to use the installed program right away, click to decline the reboot. Most of the time it's rebooting to let go of files used during the install and will just delete them prior to log on. Some programs actually need the reboot to work. But if a warm boot consistently works from the Start Menu you may save the risk of a BIOS update. Unless it's another issue. But I suspect it's a BIOS glitch.

 

[Ranger4]

Could you post a screen shot of Disc Manager. Include all the information shown in Disc Manager. You have a few installed discs so it's possible the system is trying to boot from the wrong disc.

Also, have you got the disc with Windows on it, which should be drive C, set as the first boot device showing in your BIOS.

 

[pooksahib]

Hi MilesAhead and thanks for that link. One of the 'related' links suggested increasing the HDD delay time. My BIOS settings had a 'POST delay' time which I presume is the same thing so I've upped that from 2 to 5 seconds. Don't know what effect that's having yet.

I can't imagine I need a BIOS update – the production date of my new Mobo's CD was only 2 months prior to when I built the PC so the BIOS will surely have been current.

Hi Ranger4. My Disc Manager can be found here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/general-...freezes-after-welcome-screen.html#post2795372
My OS is on my Samsung SSD which is indeed showing on the BIOS bootlist.

 

[MilesAhead]

I can't imagine I need a BIOS update – the production date of my new Mobo's CD was only 2 months prior to when I built the PC so the BIOS will surely have been current.

Probably not. But if it did have a glitch effecting boot on some machines it might prompt a bug fix release. Only way to know is on the BIOS maker's site checking the version number for updates/fix releases.

Many times when a new driver or similar applicable to my machine is released I wait a month or so and look for bug reports before installing. Unless it definitely fixes some issue I have with that device. The developers can't test everything or they would never release anything.

 

[Ranger4]

Have you tried disconnecting all your HDD & just running on the SSD, so it's the only drive connected, to see if that changes anything.

 

[Al Fairclough]

Sorry to jump in, but have you set SATA control in the BIOS to AHCI, RAID or IDE? Sometimes a board will cough up a hairball on AHCI.

 

[gregrocker]

In addition, unplug all other drives and peripherals to run http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html?ltr=S.

If no BIOS update to apply, then reset the BIOS to Defaults after taking note of SATA controller setting. How To Clear CMOS (Reset BIOS) [Easy, 10 to 15 Min]

 

[pooksahib]

Hi and thank you all for your suggestions. I never fail to be impressed by the help available on this forum.

I installed the ASUS 'AI Suite' and it assures me there's nothing to be updated. I then fiddled with a variety of BIOS settings but to no effect. (The only thing I didn't change was AHCI – Al Fairclough, post #7, suggests it might be the reason but I read elsewhere that AHCI is needed if you're to get the most out of your SSD. No point having one if it's not giving you 100%...)

On to Startup Repair and I got a message along these lines: 'Windows found a problem with Startup, do you wish to repair?' So I clicked the 'Hell yeah' button but, sadly, the status quo prevailed. So I ran Startup Repair again (this forums' tutorial says it can take 2-3 attempts) but the message this time read 'no startup problems found'. Bugger...

Back to the BIOS and selected 'optimal defaults'. No change.

Ultimately, this is a minor problem – how often are you asked to Restart anyway? - so I'll not spend any more time on it. Thanks again for all your suggestions.

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot of http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...nt-post-screen-capture-image.html#post2261610.

 

[pooksahib]

Hi gregrocker - shot attached.

 

[MilesAhead]

Just out of curiosity, when you get prompted to reboot after an install, click no or I want to wait until later, then immediately reboot from the start menu. If it succeeds every time then it may be a bug in the API programs call to reboot.

 

[gregrocker]

It looks correctly configured, but may I ask why you have the ugly Win2000 graphics instead of Win7's elegant Aero graphics. If you are misled that this saves any resources, it does not.

I would right click the Desktop to Personalize, choose an Aero Theme and some of the spectacular Win7 backgrounds for a slideshow - the most popular feature on all of my thousands of installs.

Then continue to work through the http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/220165-troubleshooting-steps-windows-7-a.html to run SFC, establish a Clean Boot, try the recommended free lightweight AV in place of any bloated AV, utilize System Resources to check for problems and solutions, consider a Repair Instll.

 

[pooksahib]

I like things plain when working on the PC. Fancy graphics serve no purpose and sometimes make the names of tabs tricky to read. Thanks for the additional suggestions, MilesAhead and gregrocker. If I find a fix I'll let you know.