Startup problem

[Nicjr55]

Hey all,
I've been having 2 problems with my computer that have driven me nuts.
First, Windows never starts up on the first attempt. The computer always stops responding and I have to restart. But then when I select the 'normal startup' option from the menu that shows up, it starts up with no problem. But that's very annoying and time consuming.

Second, I cannot hear any sounds when my cd drive is playing a music cd. It plays it but you just can't hear the sound. I can play games just fine and the sound is fine and it's the same for any other kind of sound.
I would very much appreciate any light you can shed on either of those problems.
Thanks in advance.

[mjc]

A few more system specs would be helpful, like which version of Windows are you running?

For the second problem, how CD type drives (CD, CDRW, DVD, etc) do you have in your system? Has it ever worked? Does it have the audio cable connected between it and the sound card?


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mjc
Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[old_kid]

Hi Nic:

Have you always had this issue?? Was it ok at one point and started acting funky after a download or new installation of hardware/software?

How long are you waiting before rebooting PC

2nd reboot coming up in menu would indicate improper windows shutdown and when selecting normal - are you seeing anything like diskscan etc??

How do you normally shutdown computer??

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Good Judgement comes from Experience - Experience comes from Bad Judgement - but bad judgement is more fun!!

[Nicjr55]

Hey MJC & Old_kid,
I am running Windows 98 (Second edition updates). It used to startup just fine but I've recently installed a lot of programs so I can't really point out anything specific. And when it stops responding on the first attempt, I usually wait just a few seconds before starting it up again and it works just fine. It doesn't even go through scandisk...it's just a normal startup. And I usually shutdown the PC from the start menu.

For my second problem, I am currently using a CDRW but I've tried 2 other CD drives and it's the same thing. It used to work just fine. And no, I don't have an audio cable attached to the sound card but like I said before, it used to work without one.

If you guys need more info, be sure to let me know.
Thanks again.

[mjc]

Ok, one of your recent installs is probably causing the hang...or it could be a weak power supply, clogged hard drive (when was the last scandisk and defrag run on it, temp files cleaned out, IE cache cleared, recent files cache cleared, etc) or several other things. Start with the scandisk/defrag route and the cleanup first. Then go grab a program called Boot Log Analyzer (http://www.vision4.dial.pipex.com/), then on your next boot after the clean up hit the <f8> key to bring up the bootmenu ans select the logged option....when windows does boot run BLA and check the option to show failed....it should show which device drivers or programs are failing to load.

Troubleshooting Startup Problems (http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2Farchive%2Fl0611%2F4 1l11%2F41l11%2Easp)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q150516

long list (http://www.aumha.org/kbstrtupz.htm) of links to the MSKB dealing with startup problems......

As for the CD drive, under Multimedia on the control panel, select CD Music and check if the box "Enable digital Audio for this CD-ROM device" is enabled.
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mjc
Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.


[This message has been edited by mjc (edited 06-17-2002).]

[Nicjr55]

Thanks MJC,
I've yet to try your suggestions but I'll let you know how it goes after I try. thanks.