Computer hangs on cold boot.

[ceabehogan]

When I cold boot my 800MHz Win98 system, it hangs at the flashing cursor as shown below with what is shown loaded:

AMIBIOS (C)2000 AMERICAN MEGATRENDS INC.,
RELEASE 01/11/2001 S

AMD DURON(tm) PROCESSOR 800MHz
CHECKING NVRAM..
262144KB OK (16 MB SHARED MEMORY SIZE USED)
TREND CHIPAWAYVIRUS(R) ON GUARD
WAIT...
_ - (Flashing Cursor)

Then I have to hit Ctrl/Alt/Delete or the Reset button to get it to start over and boot just fine then and all reboots work fine!


.......abe.......:confused:

[whocares]

Try turning off the Bios virus check

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by whocares
Try turning off the Bios virus check

I tried not loading my Sygate Personal Firewall at bootup and it still hung just a always! I have no knowledge of what the Bios virus check is as I could not find it on my HD when I ran it in Find!
Sorry to be so much trouble, but I am still a computer dummy on the internal workings of a PC!

.......clarence.......:confused:

[dsredfox]

Look in two places.
1. Start your Virus program (Norton, McAfee, AVG, etc.) and look under settings. Try to find a box or setting for boot scan and disable/uncheck it.
2. Go to: Start button/Run/type msconfig/click ok/click on autoexec.bat tab/look for line that says: "Your virus progam"boot.exe

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by dsredfox
Look in two places.
1. Start your Virus program (Norton, McAfee, AVG, etc.) and look under settings. Try to find a box or setting for boot scan and disable/uncheck it.
2. Go to: Start button/Run/type msconfig/click ok/click on autoexec.bat tab/look for line that says: "Your virus progam"boot.exe

OK, I opened my InoculateIT Personal Edition and found the selection of "Do not run automatically at start up" and it was not ticked! And in my autoexec.bat file was this: PATH C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\MYDOCU~1\RESKIT\H ELP, and I had already tried deleting the whole line and cold booting and it made no difference, so I put it back as it was!

.......clarence.......:(

[dsredfox]

In Autoexec.bat it should have a line that says something like:
C:\Program Files\(Your Virus Scan)\(Virus Program)\bootup.exe
Then you would uncheck the box in front of it.
When looking in your Virus program look for bbotup scan, not "do not start when I start windows" Any Luck?

[Ifish25]

It is a good idea to keep a copy of the Autoexec.bat file on a floppy and also in a folder for reference. On several occasions, I have had that file corrupted for no apparent reason. I cannot imagine how it would allow the computer to boot up one time and then not the next, however. If that is consistent, a reboot is bypassing the cold boot problem. If that was not the whole Autoexec file, copy the file and paste it here on the message board so we can look at it. I really had some screwups when trying to install McAfee without turning everything off first. The Autoexec file looked like the floor of a chicken house. :p

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by dsredfox
In Autoexec.bat it should have a line that says something like:
C:\Program Files\(Your Virus Scan)\(Virus Program)\bootup.exe
Then you would uncheck the box in front of it.
When looking in your Virus program look for bbotup scan, not "do not start when I start windows" Any Luck?

On the "Do not run automatically at startup", I erred as it was ticked (don't know why I typed "not ticked"! And there is nothing else in autoexe.bat but the one line I showed in the last message! And I unticked the "Scan boot sectors" as I went through the Options Wizard this time to see if that will help and if it doesn't I will tick it back after a cold boot!

.......clarence....... :o

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by Ifish25
It is a good idea to keep a copy of the Autoexec.bat file on a floppy and also in a folder for reference. On several occasions, I have had that file corrupted for no apparent reason. I cannot imagine how it would allow the computer to boot up one time and then not the next, however. If that is consistent, a reboot is bypassing the cold boot problem. If that was not the whole Autoexec file, copy the file and paste it here on the message board so we can look at it. I really had some screwups when trying to install McAfee without turning everything off first. The Autoexec file looked like the floor of a chicken house. :p

I did post the "whole" autoexec.bat file in the other message as it is just the "one" line and no more! I got rid of McAfee years ago when it messed with my other computer I had before I got this new 800MHz AMD!

.......clarence.......:D

[Ifish25]

OK. The other possibility is that something has been deleted from the file that was there, but I know I am fishing. I have a much older AMIBIOS on my PBell. I have had mine hang up before just before OS load. I guess I need to try rebooting to see what the last line was before system boot. BRB

[Ifish25]

I checked my AMBIOS and found no surprises. Unfortunately, I have never been able to correct a problem caused by a virus program by uninstalling it. You might try adding a DOS scandisk command after the antivirus load to check for errors, then reboot at hangup.

C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SCANDISK.EXE /AUTOFIX /NOSUMMARY

There is a space after EXE and after AUTOFIX

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by Ifish25
OK. The other possibility is that something has been deleted from the file that was there, but I know I am fishing. I have a much older AMIBIOS on my PBell. I have had mine hang up before just before OS load. I guess I need to try rebooting to see what the last line was before system boot. BRB

All I can say is that if anything has been deleted from it, something did it besides me and there ain't no one else uses this computer but me! I have had to reload Win98 from my CD a few times, but if that wouldn't change it, then I don't know what could have changed it other than installing and uninstalling programs that I have tried in the past as it was booting just fine up to a couple of months ago and it is still less than a year old!
I hope I ain't got no spooks!

.......clarence.......:eek:

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by Ifish25
I checked my AMBIOS and found no surprises. Unfortunately, I have never been able to correct a problem caused by a virus program by uninstalling it. You might try adding a DOS scandisk command after the antivirus load to check for errors, then reboot at hangup.

C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SCANDISK.EXE /AUTOFIX /NOSUMMARY

There is a space after EXE and after AUTOFIX

Being a DOS dummy, do I type this in where the cursor is blinking when it hangs up on the cold boot?

.......clarence.......:confused:

[Ifish25]

I was refering to inserting the line into the Autoexec.bat file. I always use Notepad to open it. The whole line in your Autoexec file seems to be corrupted. There is no command line at all that I can see.

"C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\MYDOCU~1\RESKIT\H
ELP" does not appear to open any executable file. The first two "C:\WINDOWS" references are dead ends, unless Microsoft has invented a new way of opening programs. The last attempts to open some file in your Mydocuments folder on "C" drive named Reskit Help. Unless Help is an executable file for your virus program, this is also a dud.
The problem amy be due to two omissions, an identifier and the program line. Every time I have seen a virus program run in a 98 system in pre-load, it is in the following form:

@C:\PROGRAM FILES\MY VIRUS PROGRAM\preboot.EXE

Mine is
@C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG6\bootup.exe

The "bootup.exe" is the DOS program that is run before OS load.
The "@" seems to be the key to loading the program before opening anything else on "C" drive. Without that insertion, it is likely that the computer does not know what to do and hangs up. I am not proficient in DOS either. I wish! FInd the path to your antivirus program and determine which of the executable files is the bootup virus search. Copy and paste that path at the beginning of the AUTOEXEC file with "@" preceding the command line. Good Luck!

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by Ifish25
I was refering to inserting the line into the Autoexec.bat file. I always use Notepad to open it. The whole line in your Autoexec file seems to be corrupted. There is no command line at all that I can see.

"C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\MYDOCU~1\RESKIT\H
ELP" does not appear to open any executable file. The first two "C:\WINDOWS" references are dead ends, unless Microsoft has invented a new way of opening programs. The last attempts to open some file in your Mydocuments folder on "C" drive named Reskit Help. Unless Help is an executable file for your virus program, this is also a dud.
The problem amy be due to two omissions, an identifier and the program line. Every time I have seen a virus program run in a 98 system in pre-load, it is in the following form:

@C:\PROGRAM FILES\MY VIRUS PROGRAM\preboot.EXE

Mine is
@C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG6\bootup.exe

The "bootup.exe" is the DOS program that is run before OS load.
The "@" seems to be the key to loading the program before opening anything else on "C" drive. Without that insertion, it is likely that the computer does not know what to do and hangs up. I am not proficient in DOS either. I wish! FInd the path to your antivirus program and determine which of the executable files is the bootup virus search. Copy and paste that path at the beginning of the AUTOEXEC file with "@" preceding the command line. Good Luck!

I must get all my ducks in a row in order to try what you suggest, but I did try putting an @ in front of the C:\etc. like this PATH @C:\etc., and then cold booted and got error message that WIN. COMD could not be found and windows could not finish loading, so I held F-8 at boot and selected #3 and when it got to my autoexec.bat, I selected No and then Windows finished loading and I deleted the @ out of the file and it boots again into windows by hitting the reset button or Ctrl/Alt/Delete as usual, so does that tell you anything of importance before I proceed to try the above?

.......clarence.......:confused:

[Ifish25]

Yup. "@" is a flag that system looks for at pre-boot of OS. It appears to be a priority tag that gets computer's attention. The computer attempted to load the bogus command line at that point.

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by Ifish25
Yup. "@" is a flag that system looks for at pre-boot of OS. It appears to be a priority tag that gets computer's attention. The computer attempted to load the bogus command line at that point.

Yes, I think I understand that point, so why would it not boot when I deleted the whole line in the file without still having to hit the reset button or Ctrl/Alt/Delete? Doesn't it look like that it would go ahead and boot without the bogus command line?

.......clarence....... :confused:

[Strawbs]

don't mean to crash a party but, from what i've been reading this machine is halting at the BIOS screen, BEFORE the hard drive is accessed. The "Trend Chip-away" anti-virus program is your first line of defense in the BIOS, you can disable it from there. you don't need to mess with the files on the hard drive because the problem occurs before the computer gets that far. it's probably not caused by a virus or virus scanner, more likely to be hardware related, Switch off and open the case, make sure everything is plugged\seated properly i.e. cards, RAM, cables, etc.
it seems like it's not detecting your drives ( where it says "WAIT") on first boot, so it might pay to change the motherboard battery or just take it out and give both sides a rub on your jeans to clean any dirt from it for better contact.

As I said before, It won't be a program on your hard drive thats causing this problem

P.S. if your system clock is always losing time then this indicates a dead battery.

It's 2:45am in the UK and I'm off to bed, Good Luck.

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by Strawbs
don't mean to crash a party but, from what i've been reading this machine is halting at the BIOS screen, BEFORE the hard drive is accessed. The "Trend Chip-away" anti-virus program is your first line of defense in the BIOS, you can disable it from there. you don't need to mess with the files on the hard drive because the problem occurs before the computer gets that far. it's probably not caused by a virus or virus scanner, more likely to be hardware related, Switch off and open the case, make sure everything is plugged\seated properly i.e. cards, RAM, cables, etc.
it seems like it's not detecting your drives ( where it says "WAIT") on first boot, so it might pay to change the motherboard battery or just take it out and give both sides a rub on your jeans to clean any dirt from it for better contact.

As I said before, It won't be a program on your hard drive thats causing this problem.

That's OK, glad to have you aboard and I will print your post out and show it to my son who knows how to do what needs to be done inside the computer as he has the tools to do it with! Maybe he will be over next week and I will let you know how it comes out and thanks much!

.......clarence.......:cool:

[Ifish25]

"TREND CHIPAWAYVIRUS(R) ON GUARD
WAIT..."

Your virus program is set to load but is waiting for the instruction to do so. The "@" insertion was the missing element. The fact that you got to the bogus command line, "C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND," and the computer balked is very good evidence that the correct path would have been executed if it were present. The Autoexec file has been corrupted. I have seen Windows do this before, and failed program installations sometimes cause it. Determine the correct path to the DOS program in the antivirus folder and insert it in Autoexec with the @ preceding it. That should allow it to cold boot. The computer likely booted on a warm boot because the virus program is not set to function on a warm boot and the instructions are ignored. I keep harping on correcting the antivirus program loading because of the statement I made that I have never had a successful uninstall on a failed virus program. There is just too much garbage left that cannot be found. It always plagues the computer until it is formatted. That is why I always go for plugging the hole in the dam rather than trying to tear it down and rebuild it.
Before this discussion thread gets too confusing, I will back off and see how it develops. :)

[Strawbs]

Trend Chip-Away anti virus program IS NOT located on the hard drive, IT IS loaded from the BIOS (in this case "AMI" BIOS), which is a set of instructions that tells the computer what hardware is connected, it checks the state of and organises that hardware to avoid conflicts and it is loaded from a chip on the motherboard.

when you switch on a computer the first thing you see will be the graphics card identification, then you will see the BIOS screen, then you will see the system information and irq allocation screen and after all of this the contents of the hard drive are accessed.

this computer is not making it to the sys inf and irq alloc' screen before the "WAIT", It stops at the BIOS screen.
TREND CHIPAWAYVIRUS(R) ON GUARD
This means that the anti virus program has already loaded from the "BOOT ROM" and is standing "GUARD" over the BIOS, "ROM" meaning "R" EAD "O" NLY "M" EMORY, Which is a CHIP ON THE MOTHERBOARD.

If you open your case you will see a smallish oblong chip which usually has a label stuck on it, it will probably read either "AMI" which is American Megatrends Incorporated, or "Award" which is Award. these are the 2 main suppliers of BIOS programs, with Award being more popular.

[userserver]

Originally posted by Ifish25 ...The whole line in your Autoexec file seems to be corrupted. There is no command line at all that I can see.

"C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\MYDOCU~1\RESKIT\H
ELP" does not appear to open any executable file. The first two "C:\WINDOWS" references are dead ends, unless Microsoft has invented a new way of opening programs. The last attempts to open some file in your Mydocuments folder on "C" drive named Reskit Help. Unless Help is an executable file for your virus program, this is also a dud.

I believe the command "PATH" has been lost from the beginning of this line. It should read:

PATH C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\MYDOCU~1\RESKIT\H ELP

This tells dos to look in C:\Windows, then look in C:\Windows\Command, and then look in "C:\My Documents\Reskit\Help" for any executables.

Originally posted by Ifish25
... The problem amy be due to two omissions, an identifier and the program line. Every time I have seen a virus program run in a 98 system in pre-load, it is in the following form:

@C:\PROGRAM FILES\MY VIRUS PROGRAM\preboot.EXE

Mine is
@C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG6\bootup.exe

The "bootup.exe" is the DOS program that is run before OS load.
The "@" seems to be the key to loading the program before opening anything else on "C" drive. Without that insertion, it is likely that the computer does not know what to do and hangs up. I am not proficient in DOS either. I wish! FInd the path to your antivirus program and determine which of the executable files is the bootup virus search. Copy and paste that path at the beginning of the AUTOEXEC file with "@" preceding the command line. Good Luck!

Confidently advanced, but the logic is flawed.... :)

"@" is a standard batch file command. When placed at the begin of a line it prevents the line from being displayed on the output device. It doesn't affect execution of the line.

[userserver]

Originally posted by ceabehogan
When I cold boot my 800MHz Win98 system, it hangs at the flashing cursor as shown below with what is shown loaded:

AMIBIOS (C)2000 AMERICAN MEGATRENDS INC.,
RELEASE 01/11/2001 S

AMD DURON(tm) PROCESSOR 800MHz
CHECKING NVRAM..
262144KB OK (16 MB SHARED MEMORY SIZE USED)
TREND CHIPAWAYVIRUS(R) ON GUARD
WAIT...
_ - (Flashing Cursor)

Then I have to hit Ctrl/Alt/Delete or the Reset button to get it to start over and boot just fine then and all reboots work fine!


.......abe.......:confused:

The system is hanging at the point where the hardware antivirus hooks into and calls INT 19h. Do you have any antivirus software? If you don't, you might want to consider going online after you get into windows and take advantage of one of the free online scans. House Call (http://housecall.antivirus.com/) is as good as any and it is operated by the same company responsible for your hardware antivirus. If House Call gives you a clean bill of health, disable the hardware antivirus and see if you can boot OK then.

[userserver]

Originally posted by ceabehogan


That's OK, glad to have you aboard and I will print your post out and show it to my son who knows how to do what needs to be done inside the computer as he has the tools to do it with! Maybe he will be over next week and I will let you know how it comes out and thanks much!

.......clarence.......:cool:

It may be premature to be opening the case. If the system will boot into windows on a warm-reboot, (but not on a cold-boot) the components are likely to be properly seated.

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by userserver


I believe the command "PATH" has been lost from the beginning of this line. It should read:

PATH C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\MYDOCU~1\RESKIT\H ELP

This tells dos to look in C:\Windows, then look in C:\Windows\Command, and then look in "C:\My Documents\Reskit\Help" for any executables.



Confidently advanced, but the logic is flawed.... :)

"@" is a standard batch file command. When placed at the begin of a line it prevents the line from being displayed on the output device. It doesn't affect execution of the line.

Nope, that is exactly it as shown in my original quote of the file and I have never tried removing the "PATH" part, so should I?

.......clarence.......

[userserver]

Originally posted by ceabehogan

Nope, that is exactly it as shown in my original quote of the file and I have never tried removing the "PATH" part, so should I?

.......clarence.......

I'm confused. Was PATH part of your original quote?

I guess I didn't find where you listed the contents of your autoexec.bat. All I found was where IFISH25 referred to the contents as being corrupted....

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by userserver


I'm confused. Was PATH part of your original quote?

Here it is from my 1/18 post:
PATH C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\MYDOCU~1\RESKIT\H ELP

I guess I didn't find where you listed the contents of your autoexec.bat. All I found was where IFISH25 referred to the contents as being corrupted....

It was on the first page of messages and answers!

.......clarence.......

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by userserver


The system is hanging at the point where the hardware antivirus hooks into and calls INT 19h. Do you have any antivirus software? If you don't, you might want to consider going online after you get into windows and take advantage of one of the free online scans. House Call (http://housecall.antivirus.com/) is as good as any and it is operated by the same company responsible for your hardware antivirus. If House Call gives you a clean bill of health, disable the hardware antivirus and see if you can boot OK then.

Yes, I have InoculateIT PE and my system is clean and I make sure it stays that way even against spyware! :)

.......clarence.......

[userserver]

Originally posted by ceabehogan


Yes, I have InoculateIT PE and my system is clean and I make sure it stays that way even against spyware! :)

.......clarence.......

OK! Turn the hardwire virus protection off and see if you still hang on boot.

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by userserver


OK! Turn the hardwire virus protection off and see if you still hang on boot.

OK, I did that and cold booted four times now and it still hangs, so I turned it back on to load at boot and I guess I should just leave it alone before I mess something up and can't boot at all since it only takes a couple of seconds more to boot by hitting the reset button or Ctrl/Alt/Delete anyway, right?

.......clarence.......

[krazefinn]

This could be hardware problem, during cold boot, max power surge occurs. However, hitting reset 2 seconds after power might solve the problem, as the inertia resisting the spinning of drives/saturation of traces/other dynamic initial electrical needs is then spread over a slightly longer interval.

My guess if this is a recent and new proble, either you added power-hungry hardware, loaded very heavy program, or the psu is going south for the winter, slowly...
just me 2 pence...

[ceabehogan]

Originally posted by krazefinn
This could be hardware problem, during cold boot, max power surge occurs. However, hitting reset 2 seconds after power might solve the problem, as the inertia resisting the spinning of drives/saturation of traces/other dynamic initial electrical needs is then spread over a slightly longer interval.

My guess if this is a recent and new proble, either you added power-hungry hardware, loaded very heavy program, or the psu is going south for the winter, slowly...
just me 2 pence...

No hardware at all, but probably power hungry programs as I have 14 programs loading at boot/re-boot, but I have 256MB of memory factory installed and this computer is only a few months old, so I hope itis not anything going south for the winter! I guess I could just load Windows at boot and then start up the other programs that I presently use daily individually manually, but for the difference in time saved, I don't think it would be worth the trouble as it should only amount to a few seconds overall!

.......clarence.......

[pmasley]

I am having the same problem with a cold boot start. Everything has been removed and reseated.

I have discovered one little problem with the CPU fan. I have the temp set at the lowest setting to protect the cpu. I had a major crash where windows blue screened. I immediately opened the case and noticed the cpu fan not running.

My question is: Do you think that the fan may be causing the cold boot problem. Does the board detect a no spin and will not allow boot. It will stop its boot right where it is to start loading Windows. AMD K6/500 - EIC board - Win ME - 3com video/nic - maxtor 11gig hd.