Win 7 netbook shuts down to black screen with blinking cursor - help.

[swayzak]

Hi

My Medion Win 7 Starter netbook has started shutting down spontaneously after an hour or two.

When I return to it, the screen is black & there is a single blinking cursor top left.

I have to shutdown manually with power button.

On reboot there is a "windows did not shut down correctly..." black screen & if I select "start normally" it boots into desptop ok.

My power option is set to harddisk always on.

Virus scan is clean.

This is most disconcerting.

Can anyone advise ?


thanks

 

[DustSailor]

swayzak, please answer these questions in your next post:

Is windows activated? Look computer>system properties and at the bottom it should say if it is or not.

Does it have all of its drivers and updates from windows installed?

What antivirus are you running?

When you power back up, is the battery retaining at least some of its charge (should be displayed on the far right of the taskbar)?

Is the battery loose or is your computer over-heating?

 

[swayzak]

Thanks

swayzak, please answer these questions in your next post:

Is windows activated? Look computer>system properties and at the bottom it should say if it is or not.

Yes

Does it have all of its drivers and updates from windows installed?

Yes

What antivirus are you running?

AVG Free 2012

When you power back up, is the battery retaining at least some of its charge (should be displayed on the far right of the taskbar)?

Yes, battery charge is fine

Is the battery loose or is your computer over-heating?

Not that I'm aware of. Unfortunately the BIOS settings are v limited so there is no way to tweak temp thresholds...

 

[DustSailor]

Well, I don't know if it will solve your problem, but I very much recommend the removal of AVG, as it causes its own set of problems. This isn't because I'm a fanboy of another AV, it quite litterally is an atrocious antivirus. You will need to remove it with its removal tool: AVG - Download tools and utilities

I recommend MSE, as it is trusted, clean, and highly recommended here and many other places as well: Anti-Malware, Virus, Spyware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials

Let me know if this fixes anything (at least try it to see any performance gain, etc).

Sway, are you overclocking a windows starter? o.0

 

[swayzak]

Thanks

This morning, after being left on whilst we were eating breakfast, I cam back to black screen with this message:

Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected device

Does this add any further clues ?

I can restore the factory installation from recovery disk, but would rather avoid if possible as many programs have been installed since.

I can try changing AVG, but AVG has worked fine for over a year on this machine. The black screens have only started appearing for the last few weeks.

 

[DustSailor]

all it takes is an update with AVG.
use these tutorials:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

 

[swayzak]

all it takes is an update with AVG.
use these tutorials:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

Thanks

Bit late as I replaced AVG with MSE.

And still got the blinking cursor tonight after leaving netbook for a few hours

Rebooting still gets me into Win 7 OK.

But this is most annoying as clearly this installation has become unstable & appears to attempt a reboot after not being used for a while.

 

[DustSailor]

Did you use those tutorials? Does your computer go into hibernation mode or sleep mode, or is the screen just set to turn off?

Have you changed any services, registry, or BIOS settings? If you are overclocking, stop. You might try resetting the BIOS.

Could always be a hardware issue, so don't rule it out. You can test the RAM and the disk with memory check and check disk.

Don't hold any regrets for removing AVG. It is a bloated AV that often misses the viruses altogether. Though it is sad that it did nothing to fix your current problem.

 

[swayzak]

I ran the system file check - no errors.

 

[DustSailor]

Did you use those tutorials? Does your computer go into hibernation mode or sleep mode, or is the screen just set to turn off?

Have you changed any services, registry, or BIOS settings? If you are overclocking, stop. You might try resetting the BIOS.

Could always be a hardware issue, so don't rule it out. You can test the RAM and the disk with memory check and check disk.

Don't hold any regrets for removing AVG. It is a bloated AV that often misses the viruses altogether. Though it is sad that it did nothing to fix your current problem.

One down, the rest of it to go...

are you overclocking any?

 

[gregrocker]

I'd boot into System Recovery Options to run a few passes of Startup Repair to see if it finds any issues. If you'll post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Mgmt drive map with listings we can see if anything is obvious. Screen Shots

If this behavior started after any particular Update or Install, I'd use System Restore to get back before it.

Then start working through these troubleshooting steps to achieve and keep a clean boot, monitor the logs for repeat errors to resolve, use the System Resources which may yield clues.

I'd also install CoreTemp or Speedfan, google the CPU's maximum temp to monitor it.

Good move on AVG which only presents problems here and is recommended by no one.

 

[swayzak]

Thanks

I don't think I have that option - it's OEM & there is no disk, just a recovery partition.

It got worse this morning after making sure all drivers & Win 7 components were up to date.

After leaving on for a while, I returned to the netbook & tried to launch a few apps e.g Firefox. Nothing happened, then I got a quick BlueSOD (first time I'd seen this) then I had to press power button to reboot.

When it rebooted, the internal harddrive didn't show up at all in BIOS, just the attached Seagate USB drive !

I shutdown & rebooted again and the system booted OK again !

I then tried a system restore (to just prior to the big Win 7 update Dec 15th 2011) - but it failed & send it couldn't open a file on C:

Do I have to resign myself to doing factory Recovery e.g. wiping & reinstalling OS ?

 

[gregrocker]

Test your HD with maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan, followed by Disk Check.

Post up the BSOD report in our Crashes forum for analysis by experts there: Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions - Windows 7 Forums

You can also work through these troubleshooting steps to look for repeat errors in logs, utilize System Resources to find the problem, optimize your System for best performance.

Make your Factory Recovery disks now so you have a backup method besides running the Recovery Partition if it comes to that. You should also make a System Repair Disk in case the system becomes unbootable, and to run Startup Repair as suggested. Try System restore from the disk as well.

If you'd prefer to clean reinstall without the corrupting factory preinstalled bloatware, here are steps to get it perfect so you can save a backup image and never have to reinstall again: Reinstalling Windows 7. Let us know the licensed version listed on COA sticker so we can provide you an installer for this.

 

[swayzak]

Hello again

Black screen / blinking cursor crash has recurred.

I ran win 7 memory check - no problem detected.

Have checked for Event 41 log (Description of Windows Kernel event ID 41 error in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2: "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first") and got this:

<Event xmlns="Error">
- <System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}" />

<EventID>41</EventID>

<Version>2</Version>

<Level>1</Level>

<Task>63</Task>

<Opcode>0</Opcode>

<Keywords>0x8000000000000002</Keywords>

<TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-01-28T21:19:22.360815500Z" />

<EventRecordID>90326</EventRecordID>

<Correlation />

<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8" />

<Channel>System</Channel>

<Computer>MedionNetbook</Computer>

<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />

</System>


- <EventData>
<Data Name="BugcheckCode">0</Data>

<Data Name="BugcheckParameter1">0x0</Data>

<Data Name="BugcheckParameter2">0x0</Data>

<Data Name="BugcheckParameter3">0x0</Data>

<Data Name="BugcheckParameter4">0x0</Data>

<Data Name="SleepInProgress">false</Data>

<Data Name="PowerButtonTimestamp">0</Data>

</EventData>


</Event>

Temp currently running at 47-48 (using CoreTemp).



Have changed setting of Win 7 Startup & Recovery to "not restart".

Any further thoughts ?


thanks

 

[gregrocker]

You never replied to these and other steps which were given for you to work through. s

Test your HD with maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan, followed by Disk Check.

Post up the BSOD report in our Crashes forum for analysis by experts there: Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions - Windows 7 Forums

You can also work through these troubleshooting steps to look for repeat errors in logs, utilize System Resources to find the problem, optimize your System for best performance.

Make your Factory Recovery disks now so you have a backup method besides running the Recovery Partition if it comes to that. You should also make a System Repair Disk in case the system becomes unbootable, and to run Startup Repair as suggested. Try System restore from the disk as well.

If you'd prefer to clean reinstall without the corrupting factory preinstalled bloatware, here are steps to get it perfect so you can save a backup image and never have to reinstall again: Reinstalling Windows 7. Let us know the licensed version listed on COA sticker so we can provide you an installer for this.

This is an interactive forum: We provide steps based on your problems and you either ask back questions to get them done, or report back the results.

Start now at the top of your thread with all of the steps you've missed.

 

[swayzak]

You never replied to these and other steps which were given for you to work through. s

Test your HD with maker's HD Diagnostic extended CD scan, followed by Disk Check.

Detailed disk scan / check shows no errors.

RAM test is also OK.

Post up the BSOD report in our Crashes forum for analysis by experts there: Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions - Windows 7 Forums

I haven't seen a BSOD recently - just returned to netbook to find a black screen with cursor blinking in the left top corner.

When I reboot I get the "windows did not shut down properly..." screen & if I choose "Start Windows Normally" it does.

I've added no hardware to the netbook - it just runs a Seagate external 500GB USB drive.

Is unchecking the "restart" option in Startup & Recovery a reasonable thing to try ?

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Management drive map with listings, using the Snipping Tool in Start Menu: Screen Shots

Then unplug the external to see if the problem occurs. It could have boot code that is blocking OS startup: Partition - Mark as Inactive - Windows 7 Forums

 

[swayzak]

Please post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Management drive map with listings, using the Snipping Tool in Start Menu: Screen Shots

Then unplug the external to see if the problem occurs. It could have boot code that is blocking OS startup: Partition - Mark as Inactive - Windows 7 Forums

I got impatient & wiped the whole drive - reinstalled the factory restore.

There was a lot of stuff on there which I never really use.

Now a nice clean install so will see how this goes.

 

[gregrocker]

Factory recovery is not a clean install. It reimports all of the presintalled sponsor's bloatware and useless factory utilties which have much better versions built into Win7.

This is how a perfect clean reinstall of factory OEM is done: Reinstalling Windows 7

Until then you can Clean up factory bloatware.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[swayzak]

Factory recovery is not a clean install. It reimports all of the presintalled sponsor's bloatware and useless factory utilties which have much better versions built into Win7.

This is how a perfect clean reinstall of factory OEM is done: Reinstalling Windows 7

Until then you can Clean up factory bloatware.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks

I've removed all the preinstalled crap I don't want (MS Works, MS Office demo, antivirus etc.) & replaced them with my own preferred software.

Will also check that Cleanup link.

Even without completely clean install it's still a lot leaner that it was before...