Vista Repair Fails

[allanc]

Can anyone point me in the right direction (a WEB site, etc.) that will help me determine why a Vista repair fails?
Luckily, I have not had to try to resolve this type of problem before.
I have a listing of the 'Problem Signatures', etc.
Thanks in advance.

 

[abe]

can you give us some more info, please

 

[allanc]

can you give us some more info, please

Problem name: Startup Repair V2
Problem Signature 01 Autofallover
Problem Signature 02 6.0.6000.16386.6.0.6000.16386
" " 03 6
" " 04 131074
" " 05 No root cause
" " 06 No root cause
" " 07 0
" " 08 2
" " 09 WrpRepair
" " 10 0
OS Version 6.0.6000.2.0.0.2561
Local ID: 1033
Root cause found: Unspecified changes to system configuration might have caused the problem
repair action: system restore
result failed: error code 0xb7

 

[abe]

ok that helps, but when did the problem start, was it after installing updates, change in hardware or service pack, model of pc...... its very difficult to help youdiag a pc without this info.

can you use safe mode

 

[allanc]

ok that helps, but when did the problem start, was it after installing updates, change in hardware or service pack, model of pc...... its very difficult to help youdiag a pc without this info.

It is a Dell Inspiron 1420 notebook.
According to the client
'the computer screen started to go fuzzy after about one hour of being on. She would shut it down for a half hour then restart and it would be ok for another hour. Now it does not boot up.'
No hardware was added but it is probably setup for autoupdates... I really cannot say for sure.

 

[eggy53]

Have you try doing a repair installation?

Here is how.

 

[abe]

its begging to sound like a hardware issue, and the startup error repair is usually connected to bad RAM, use a live cd to check the ram with memtest86+ and the harddrive.

it may also be a heat issue.

as a side note: its amazing what people will live with untill they bring it in to repair, only using for an hour and having to turn it off for half an hour sounds like a real pain

 

[bitznpcz]

sounds like a heat issue to me also. Can you remove the fan and heatsink? Probably a load of dust and hair etc blocking the exhaust vents. If this also cools the GPU, that could explain the fuzzy screens...

Had a similar problem last week and re-seated the GPU with my hot air rework station and it works fine again now.

 

[allanc]

Can I just ask how you came to the conclusion that something like described above would be solved by a "repair install"?

It's clearly heat / hardware related.

Is that how FireDog trained all of you guys "If you can't sell them a new PC, sell them a Repair Install"?

As Real techs we have to do a diagnostic... NOT EVERYTHING IS FIXED BY A REPAIR INSTALL!


Anyway, OP: I agree with Abe, and bitznpcz. I think it's heat related, that could have caused hardware to fail.

As you face the notebook, the left feels way too hot to me and there is even more heat near the vents (on the left).
I do not do a lot of repairs on notebooks so I cannot say what is within reasonable limits.
I will say however that is way warmer on the left compared to *any* notebook that I have ever seen.

 

[BerthaControl]

I have seen a dell laptop with similar issues. Repairing Vista (which by the way, is about as useful as not doing anything at all) did not work, etc etc..The left side was considerably hot...even after getting out all of the dirt and dust possible without actually taking it apart. Anyway, I ended up talking to the customer and finding out if there was anything important on it. She said no...I reformatted/reinstalled vista, and everything was ok. (the heat was less intense although not perfect)

 

[allanc]

I have seen a dell laptop with similar issues. Repairing Vista (which by the way, is about as useful as not doing anything at all) did not work, etc etc..The left side was considerably hot...even after getting out all of the dirt and dust possible without actually taking it apart. Anyway, I ended up talking to the customer and finding out if there was anything important on it. She said no...I reformatted/reinstalled vista, and everything was ok. (the heat was less intense although not perfect)

I will try cleaning it out (as you suggested - without taking it apart) and see if I can avoid the reformat (which is unlikely).
It belongs to a teenage girl who probably has tons of pictures, music, etc on it.
She won't be happy about a format .

 

[eggy53]

Can I just ask how you came to the conclusion that something like described above would be solved by a "repair install"?

It's clearly heat / hardware related.

Is that how FireDog trained all of you guys "If you can't sell them a new PC, sell them a Repair Install"?

As Real techs we have to do a diagnostic... NOT EVERYTHING IS FIXED BY A REPAIR INSTALL!


Anyway, OP: I agree with Abe, and bitznpcz. I think it's heat related, that could have caused hardware to fail.

that will help me determine why a Vista repair fails?

Because when I posted, I didn't refresh the thread (I open many threads in tabs, and read them, from time to time) to see that he added information about the computer shutting down every hour and waiting 30 minutes. Maybe you should take things a little bit easier and slowly before judging ppl. there is only a perfect one, GOD, we are humans and because of that we aren't perfect. Take it easy buddy!

 

[BerthaControl]

I will try cleaning it out (as you suggested - without taking it apart) and see if I can avoid the reformat (which is unlikely).
It belongs to a teenage girl who probably has tons of pictures, music, etc on it.
She won't be happy about a format .

Those teenage laptops are nasty. Full of Myspace infections, iphone pictures, itunes and Malware...good luck with that one!

 

[eggy53]

Problem name: Startup Repair V2
Problem Signature 01 Autofallover
Problem Signature 02 6.0.6000.16386.6.0.6000.16386
" " 03 6
" " 04 131074
" " 05 No root cause
" " 06 No root cause
" " 07 0
" " 08 2
" " 09 WrpRepair
" " 10 0
OS Version 6.0.6000.2.0.0.2561
Local ID: 1033
Root cause found: Unspecified changes to system configuration might have caused the problem
repair action: system restore
result failed: error code 0xb7

Thats why I suggested the repair install, but now that i got more info i dont doubt that is hardware related

 

[allanc]

Thats why I suggested the repair install, but now that i got more info i dont doubt that is hardware related

I have an interesting conclusion (at least I hope that it is completed) to the saga...
After about 10 unsuccessful reboots, the computer rebooted into Windows Vista.
Go figure!

 

[Doctor Micro]

I agree... check the event logs as there may be a clue there. Check for recent system & driver updates just prior to system failure (sometimes, driver updates downloaded from Microsoft don't always work as advertised). And, as long as it "seems" to be running ok at the moment, I'd recommend you do a manual restore point.

 

[GeeksInKhakis]

Vista and 'repair' install...

Have you try doing a repair installation?

Here is how.

Would people quit referring to this link and doing a 'repair' install in Vista!!! This is NOT a repair install, it REQUIRES THAT VISTA BOOTS, then it is an in-place upgrade (but just upgrading with the same version).

"1. Insert the Vista DVD into the DVD drive while your current Vista is running.
WARNING: Do not boot the computer and run the Vista installation DVD from boot. A upgrade install will not work this way."

The msg being referred to is already a failed Vista 'repair'. While not all problems in XP were fixed with a 'repair' install, many OS registry related issues, failed SP install, etc. could be fixed this way. Microsoft took away a very valuable tool for technicians to use (with discretion when appropriate)! IMHO

 

[GeeksInKhakis]

same things happened to me...

I have an interesting conclusion (at least I hope that it is completed) to the saga...
After about 10 unsuccessful reboots, the computer rebooted into Windows Vista.
Go figure!

I've had this happen and I believe it was a failing hard drive, it came up once, but then wouldn't boot again. I think Vista tries to 'hide' some stuff from the end-user when it's running diagnostics, etc. So, with Vista you can let it sit there for a while (the HD light is on) and then sometimes it will finally boot. I have seen this in practice, but it's still only a theory.

 

[NYJimbo]

I think Vista tries to 'hide' some stuff from the end-user when it's running diagnostics, etc. So, with Vista you can let it sit there for a while (the HD light is on) and then sometimes it will finally boot. I have seen this in practice, but it's still only a theory.

I think you are totally right about this. We have had several Vista (home premium so far) systems that had failing hard drives that will pretty much try to run without making a burp, but they run slow as hell and you can tell they are doing repetitive seeks or retrying an operation by watching drive lights or listening to drive sounds. Each time the drive cannot be sucessfully copied if we try to do it from something like Acronis or will produce hard errors at some point during a normal run, but you just know it is failing quietly as Vista tries to recover from errors.

I suppose this is ok for end-users or noobs, but I would like to know a little earlier that my drive is on its last legs when I can actually do something about it. It doesnt do me any good when Vista decides "A drive error has occured and you need to do a backup" or whatever it produces, but only after the drive is REALLY screwed.