Start-up problems

[jakatak]

After moving my computer from one room to another, I've notice the start-up screen "Hewlitt Packard" and the Win98 screen have shrunk! I'm able to resize the desktop once the computer has completely booted up, but after restarting, I still have the opening screens too small. I've called Samsung, and they blame it on the bios. HP says it isn't in the startup, but prior. Any suggestions?

[Charles Kozierok]

Physically moving a PC should not do anything to it. Most likely culprits to check first:

If you have a monitor with manual size controls, check them, they may have gotten knocked around.
You could have a loose cable, inside or outside the PC. Carefully check. Unplug and replug cables.
If it's not hardware-related, perhaps it isn't due to the move, but something else?

Try a few things and let us know how you fare.

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok ( ixlubb@PCGuide.com )
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...

[jakatak]

I unhooked the monitor cable and checked the connections. Everything seems okay. I know that I had to disconnect alot of cables, but they all seem connected properly. It's the screens that open before the boot-up even begins....very strange.

[Charles Kozierok]

Well, I don't see how BIOS code can change as a result of moving a PC. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif
Did you go into the BIOS setup and see if there's a relevant parm?
Anything else that you can give us to hint at what might be the cause?

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok ( ixlubb@PCGuide.com )
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...

[jakatak]

Okay...I'm beyond neophyte. I don't even like that ugly DOS screen. The thing I hate about pc's.....is the fact that you can't reformat without installing the orignal hardware that came with the pc. I have an upgraded sound card and a video card. If it weren't for that problem, I'd probably reformat just to clean up the mess. That was a nice advantage of a Mac.

[dale]

I am curious, how are you resizing your desktop? Do you mean you are using the video controls on the monitor to resize? Or are you using the Properties settings of the desktop to change the screen resolution and such? Based on your limited information, your monitor might be going bad and moving it may have just made things get worse. More info is needed.

dml

[jakatak]

The monitor is only one year old and worked just fine before I disconnected the cables and moved the computer. I resized the image using the controls on the Samsung monitor after it booted up. I also tried the 640 setting and the 800 setting...it didn't change the startup image.

[dale]

Well, since you are adjusting from the monitor, that would potentially indicate something is wrong with it. You might go to your video settings (right click on desktop and choose properties) and check your Monitor type and see if its set to the type of Samsung montior you have. While there you can uncheck the "Reset monitor upon Reset/Resume" and see if that helps. Its possible the computer is sending a reset command to your intelligent monitor and its off and doing that, losing your original settings. Either way, double check those settings and see if something happens. If those settings don't help, you might have a broke monitor. Don't have a Samsung, so can't really help you much with it.

dale

[jakatak]

Okay...I did the reset thing....didn't work. I guess I just live with a opening screen shrunk!

[dale]

Did you check your "Monitor Type" in the Display Properties?
dale

[DANQU]

Another thought on this is to check the Device Manager for any signs of problems with the driver or a resource conflict.

[jakatak]

device manager says it is fine and the most updated driver....and the "monitor type" is just fine......a problem beyond the realm of the masses......

[DANQU]

Originally posted by jakatak:
device manager says it is fine and the most updated driver....and the "monitor type" is just fine......a problem beyond the realm of the masses......
The "the masses" suggest trying a different monitor to see if the problem is with the monitor or the computer

[dale]

Maybe you need to move it back to where it was http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif Maybe these computers are getting smarter than we think! Seriously, I am definitely out of ideas, you might try a different monitor and just see if it does the same.

dale

[jakatak]

no offense...but...it looks like you are all stumped.

[ReddDogg]

well, I might have an idea on this one. My idea is different track, where I work, there is a day time tech, and then me, the night time tech. The daytime tech that sits here, when he boots compsuter and logs onto his profile, his screen is shifted to the left. When I boot computer after he sits here, my screen is shifted to the right. Why, I don't know. Then, I found the problem this past week. Whe the deleted all profiles on the computer, and I had to resetup my profile, and he did the same, it fixed it. Mysterious... yes. Related to your problem, I haven't a clue. thought I would share what little input I have, other than to suggest you try a different monitor to see what happens, so you can isolate the problem.

------------------
Joe Redd
MCP

[jakatak]

Red Dogg...I don't have a clue as to what you are talking about. If my monitor works just fine when it is up and running, and the only problem is during the boot-up....I don't think it is a monitor thing. I'm just gonna live with it...I guess.

[Zed]

Just a small thing...if you are REALLY tired of it, just go to your msdos.sys file and under [options] add the line Logo=0

What this does is just eliminate the startup screen. i think it shortens startup time, not sure. but it works. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[DANQU]

Originally posted by jakatak:
no offense...but...it looks like you are all stumped.

In the tech world-swapping monitors is a matter of fine detection work, …not trying is being stumped.

[Charles Kozierok]

Well, I'll admit to being a bit stumped. But my problem is that I still don't really understand exactly what is going on here. I don't understand what is "shrunk" and what exactly that means. I apologize if I am appearing a bit dense here, but it's a text medium and it's hard to understand what exactly is going on with a problem like this unless it is spelled out in precise detail.

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok ( ixlubb@PCGuide.com )
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...

[jakatak]

I can't explain it any clearer then....the opening screen is a HP screen. It doesn't fill the screen. The bottom 1/4 of the screen remains blank. After that, the Win 98 screen comes on....it is reduced in size on the top..bottom...and both sides, by about an inch. After that....comes the text junk and then...bingo...my wallpaper and icons come up....fitting the screen just fine.

[Paleo Pete]

I think it's something to do with either the resolution or refresh rate settings. The screen is offsize until the registry is processed, at which point it looks right. This (I think) means the monitor is using a different resolution or refresh rate during boot than it is after Windows starts. I don't have a clue why it started after you moved the computer, or how to fix it, just thought I'd throw out some comments for "the masses".

As a side note, my monitor has always shown the first boot screen, with the video BIOS info, moved off to one side, with the green energy star logo folded across itself. After this first screen, it works perfect, in DOS and Windows. My other monitor doesn't do this, it works right. Therefore I think it's something related to the monitor itself, not Windows.

Try booting to Command Prompt Only using the F8 key, and see if the screen is the wrong size in DOS as well, or go into the BIOS and see what size the screen is. This will confirm a possible hardware issue.

------------------
If you had everything...Where would you put it?

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[jakatak]

How do I get into the bios?

[Charles Kozierok]

The problem, Pete, is that HP hides all the startup text with their stupid banner across the entire screen. My inlaws have a machine like this. He needs to consult his user manual to get the BIOS setup key combo.

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[jakatak]

PETE? I don't know where ya drug that name up from......but I think I'll just wait to turn on the monitor after it has booted up. This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen.

[Paleo Pete]

ixl: I know that...lol

Forgot though, to bypass the splash screen, hit the [Esc] key, and you'll see what's happening behind it. Check the documentation and it should tell you how to get into BIOS. Som euse the [Delete] key, or [F1], [F10], and several other keys or combinations.

The name Paleo Pete...
I got into amateur archaeology a few years ago, and have a couple of friends who nicknamed each other Arrowhead Fred and Clovis Clyde. I bacame Paleo Pete, and kept it as a nick when I needed a pseudonym for an Internet presence. Clovis is a town in New Mexico, and the name given to a paleolithic projectile point (spearhead) first discovered there.
Paleolithic is a term related to the oldest stone tool using culture in the Americas, approx. 10,000-15,000 years ago. Translated literally it means "Old or ancient stone worker". Some think more like 20,000 years...but that's a hot debate...

------------------
If you had everything...Where would you put it?

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[jakatak]

Originally posted by Zed:
Just a small thing...if you are REALLY tired of it, just go to your msdos.sys file and under [options] add the line Logo=0

What this does is just eliminate the startup screen. i think it shortens startup time, not sure. but it works. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

how do I do this?

[Charles Kozierok]

On this page (http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/Forum11/HTML/000001.html) you'll find a posting from me that explains how to edit MSDOS.SYS. Just make the change mentioned above instead of the one I indicated in that thread. Be sure you back up MSDOS.SYS first, and watch those ATTRIB commands.
BTW do you have TweakUI installed? You can do the same thing much more easily using TweakUI. Just go into it, click the "Boot" tab and uncheck "Display splash screen while booting".

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[jakatak]

Okay...I'm not giving up on this thing...and you guys better NOT either. I loaded WIN ME....same startup screen. I thought maybe that might change it. I disconnected my monitor cord and installed my son's (same monitor). No change....I fiddled with the monitor size to the point of pushing the icons right off the screen. At one point...the HP screen did increase in size, but once I put the monitor back to viewing size...on the reboot...it shrunk again. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Charles Kozierok]

The only thing left I can think of is that there really is some sort of issue with the BIOS or motherboard.

------------------
Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[Rossgr]

Part of me says, "What is the problem here?", if it works while you are running windows then why sweat the start up screen? I also have a moniter that displays similar quirks. One thing that you can be sure of, it is NOT a OS issue. Why?, the problem occurs befor the OS loads, so it is not the Operating system.

I could be caused by the external environment. If you have(or had) power lines or a lamp near the monitor it may be reacting to external magnetic fields.

[jakatak]

I know....I'm kinda anal...just want things to be perfect.

[jakatak]

ya know.....the most posts...and the least help....boy...glad I'm not a techie........

[jakatak]

OH MY GOD! The nightmare gets worse. I went to a web site that had a logo of the "Minnesota Wild" hockey team. Guess what? After my shrunk HP screen opens and the Win screen opens....the Wild logo pops up! And when I shut down....it pops up again.....arrrrrgh!