Why would the Login screen hang under this condition?

[tony22]

I've discovered that only when I have an external USB drive turned on (it's fed by its own external PS), Win7 will hang right after the "Starting Windows" screen but before the Login screen appears. Turning off the drive after this happens doesn't help (the Login screen does not evenetually appear), but the moment I turn off the drive and reboot all is well. I can turn on this drive after Win7 is up and running and everything operates as it should. There are no faults with the drive.

What's interesting is that this drive is hooked up directly to one of the MB USB ports, while multiple USB drives which I have hooked up through a USB hub which is itself hooked up to the MB have no ill effects if powered up while Windows is starting.

Any ideas?

 

[Lemur]

• Does it freeze if you bring it up in safe mode?
• What if you have non-critical usb items unplugged?
• What if you plug the usb hard drive into another usb port?
• What if you boot your computer, then plug in the usb drive?

 

[JDobbsy1987]

It may be worth checking the BIOS for the boot order and see if USB\USB HDD is listed, it may be trying to boot into the USB hard drive but there is nothing to boot too (although if this is the case then its a bit strange that you see the windows start up, i would expect it to hang before then).

 

[tony22]

Sorry for not getting back on this yet. I've been running some stress test routines which I will terminate tomorrow. Once done I will be able to reboot and try some of these suggestions.

 

[JDobbsy1987]

OK Tony, Cheers for the update.

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot of your full Disk Management drive map, using Snipping Tool in Start Menu. Keep external HD attached.

This could happen if the external has been bootsected for some reason.

 

[tony22]

A couple of things I can say in the meantime.

My BIOS Boot Priority is not set to use this drive, or any USB based device. I'm pretty sure I have the BIOS managing USB, but in case I have this set to OS (I have this choice in my BIOS) is it possible that could be the issue?

Greg, excellent tip. The scenario I'm running is very controlled so the external drives are not running at the moment. I will restart when this thing is done with and take a screenshot.

 

[Tepid]

I might suspect that there is a Driver problem or something.

You say it does this right after the 7 screen but prior to the login screen.
So, this will not have anything to do with BIOS exactly. It works after booting up.
If this were a BIOS issue, it would be something that would have to be fixed with an Update I think, or a re-flash of the BIOS, of which I am skeptical. Also, if it were directly related to BIOS, you should see the problem prior to the 7 screen not after.

I would start by turning the system on and Hit F8 till you get the Safe Mode menu
Select the Enable Boot Logging, it may boot into OS, or you may have to reboot with the device unplugged, and look for ntbtlog.txt
Try it and see where it stops exactly, tell us which file that is. Or post the log.

Check, just by chance, if there are any entries in Event Viewer, possibly not any there, but you don't know till you look.


Oh yeah, BTW, I just remembered, I have an External Backup Drive (pretty old) that does this also. Actually, Greg may not be far off, The drive in the case now did have windows xp on it at one time. I just formatted it and through in the caddy and started using it. Noticed that problem ever since. I don't use that drive often, which is why I just thought of it. I would consider his suggestion also.

 

[gregrocker]

I believe you enable boot log in Win7 on msconfig>boot tab. That is a good idea, as is checking the PErformance log which will log the actual hangs. Rightclick Computer>Manage>Click WEI score>Advanced Tools.

 

[Tepid]

There should be an entry in the F8 menu to Enable Boot Logging also.
Which I think will only log that one boot. I do not know if enabling boot logging in msconfig will leave it enabled and log every boot or what. I would just not want the log file to get over written before being able to look at the problem log. I would hope this would not be the case, just havn't messed with it much to know if it creates several or just one

Tested......

First ran Boot Logging from F8 menu.
Then ran it from MSconfig
It actually appends the C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt file. And not in a very pretty way either.
I suggest moving the log file to another location and renaming with a date or something.

But, when enabled in MSconfig, it does stay enabled, so you must remember to disable it or no telling how large the Log file will get. I would hope not much, but I can't really find anything on a max log file size for this.

 

[tony22]

Okay. Here's what I have so far.

1) If I plug in the drive after Windows starts (into the USB port) it works fine. Attached is a pic of the Drive Manager info.
2) I am also attaching the boot log data for booting with the drive already on (where it hangs).

I haven't tried Safe Mode yet.

 

[Tepid]

Well the log stops at

Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\usbprint.sys

I am curious if there is something after that that is not loading. If so, that would be the problem.
If this is a complete log, which I am skeptical of, but it could be, then.........

What is the make and model of the external drive? Is this a One Button Backup Drive?
The hard drive that is in there, did it come with it, or is it a different drive than what was originally in there?

 

[tony22]

Well the log stops at

Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\usbprint.sys

I am curious if there is something after that that is not loading. If so, that would be the problem.
If this is a complete log, which I am skeptical of, but it could be, then.........

What is the make and model of the external drive? Is this a One Button Backup Drive?
The hard drive that is in there, did it come with it, or is it a different drive than what was originally in there?

You can be sure that is all there was of the log associated with this boot event. It was, in fact, the end of the file. There was nothing after that.

The drive is a Seagate 300GB IDE which I installed in an external enclosure (which I bought). I have many such drives which I use for various purposes.

 

[Tepid]

My apologies if it sounded as though you did not post the whole log. That was not my intention.
I meant that the log may have not completed due to the lockup. It is possible it may be the whole log, but possibly I think, it would stop at the point of lockup and/or power off and not produce a complete log. Something I did not think of earlier.

Is that external Enclosure a one button touch backup?
What model of enclosuer? Can you give model numbers?

 

[gregrocker]

The driver usbprint.sys which is stalling boot is an HP printer driver. Uninstall this printer software, then try booting.

If you use the printer, go online to get latest Win7 software for it to reinstall.

 

[tony22]

My apologies if it sounded as though you did not post the whole log. That was not my intention.
I meant that the log may have not completed due to the lockup.

Not a problem. I also suspect this is what may have happened.

Is that external Enclosure a one button touch backup?
What model of enclosuer? Can you give model numbers?

The enclosure is not one of the one button jobs. It's a Bytec ME-320. The drive is a Seagate 300GB IDE. I don't remember the exact model number but it's from Seagate's SV Video Surveillance series (higher MTBF, more durable, but otherwise a standard IDE).

 

[Tepid]

I would try what Greg has suggested.

However, I think it may be the driver related issue with that USB Controller in the Caddy itself, or possible something with that drive in that Caddy. As I said before, I have a drive that does this exact same thing. But I think it may be the drive in the caddy that is causing the issue. I do not have the original drive for the one I have or I would swap it and test it.

I am only speculating what it could be. I, unfortunately have no clue why. Especially if Greg's suggestion fails.

I have seen some poorly made External Caddies cause some real problems on a PC.

 

[tony22]

I need usbprint.sys to dive the USB to LPT external adapter to my HP Laserjet. I can try disabling it for a test to see what heppens.

I looked at the driver date; it's part of the original Win7 installation. What do I search for on the Microsoft site to find the latest version?

 

[karlsnooks]

The manufacturer of your usb to lpt adapter is?

 

[gregrocker]

I need usbprint.sys to dive the USB to LPT external adapter to my HP Laserjet. I can try disabling it for a test to see what heppens.

I looked at the driver date; it's part of the original Win7 installation. What do I search for on the Microsoft site to find the latest version?

Exactly what does it say in Device manager for the model and driver versions for that adapter? You may need to unhide all Devices on View tab.

Does the computer start correctly with the adapter unplugged?

Does your mobo model Downloads webpage have a newer Win7 chipset that the one given in Device Manager (check storage controller). You may have USB storage device or driver probs.