Major startup issue

I have had my vista home premium system for a little over a year with no real
issues. The other day I did a system restart . The manufactures logo which
normally comes up for about 20 seconds before moving on to the microsoft
welcome screen stayed on for at least 5 minutes and then the screen went
black for a couple of minutes. Then a short blinking cursor with a message
that "Bios not installed!", then black for several minutes and then a message
that the pc could not start and I was prompted to select an option for
automatic repair. I did so and after about 10 minutes and an automated
system restore , my system booted up and everything seemed to run ok. This
morning I decided to try a restart again. While I did not get any messages
to run any repairs, the system did stay at the manufactures logo for several
minutes, then a black screen for several more minutes before finally getting
to the microsoft welcome screen. Does anyione have any insight as to what
might be happening and how to fix this?

I have windows vista home premium, service pack 2. Intel Core 2 Quad CPU
Q6600. 4GB Ram, 32 bit operating system.

carl43m <> wrote:

>I have had my vista home premium system for a little over a year with no real
>issues. The other day I did a system restart. The manufactures logo which
>normally comes up for about 20 seconds before moving on to the microsoft
>welcome screen stayed on for at least 5 minutes and then the screen went
>black for a couple of minutes. Then a short blinking cursor with a message
>that "Bios not installed!",

Wow! I never heard of that one before. That would scare the heck out
of me.

>then black for several minutes and then a message
>that the pc could not start and I was prompted to select an option for
>automatic repair. I did so and after about 10 minutes and an automated
>system restore, my system booted up and everything seemed to run ok.

Geez, I wonder what it did. Did it have a safety copy of the BIOS
somewhere that it could flash the chip with? Total speculation, I
can't imagine what was going on.

>This morning I decided to try a restart again. While I did not get any messages
>to run any repairs, the system did stay at the manufactures logo for several
>minutes, then a black screen for several more minutes before finally getting
>to the microsoft welcome screen. Does anyone have any insight as to what
>might be happening and how to fix this?

I think it has to do with your hardware. If it's still under warranty
I'd yell at the manufacturer.

--
Tim Slattery

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

unfortunately it is 18months old and no longer under warranty. At the moment
everything seems to be running fine. I am just worried that next time it does
a restart what might happen. I made a backup of all my personal files onto a
flash drive as a precaution. The only thing that I have run new on the pc
was a utility from the microsoft web page that checks to see if my vista
system was ready to do a potential upgrade to windows 7. It was an .exe
program from microsoft that ran and gave me a report. Then the next morning
allheck broke loose with the startup. It may just be a coincidence. I also
have a 2.0 usb hub with 4 items hooked to it. Recently one of the slots
didn't recognize a device and I had to switch the device to another slot. I
am wondering if there could be anything that may be wrong with the usb hub
that can cause this issue/

"Tim Slattery" wrote:

> carl43m <> wrote:
>
> >I have had my vista home premium system for a little over a year with no real
> >issues. The other day I did a system restart. The manufactures logo which
> >normally comes up for about 20 seconds before moving on to the microsoft
> >welcome screen stayed on for at least 5 minutes and then the screen went
> >black for a couple of minutes. Then a short blinking cursor with a message
> >that "Bios not installed!",
>
> Wow! I never heard of that one before. That would scare the heck out
> of me.
>
> >then black for several minutes and then a message
> >that the pc could not start and I was prompted to select an option for
> >automatic repair. I did so and after about 10 minutes and an automated
> >system restore, my system booted up and everything seemed to run ok.
>
> Geez, I wonder what it did. Did it have a safety copy of the BIOS
> somewhere that it could flash the chip with? Total speculation, I
> can't imagine what was going on.
>
> >This morning I decided to try a restart again. While I did not get any messages
> >to run any repairs, the system did stay at the manufactures logo for several
> >minutes, then a black screen for several more minutes before finally getting
> >to the microsoft welcome screen. Does anyone have any insight as to what
> >might be happening and how to fix this?
>
> I think it has to do with your hardware. If it's still under warranty
> I'd yell at the manufacturer.
>
> --
> Tim Slattery
>
> http://members.cox.net/slatteryt
> .
>

"carl43m" <> wrote in message
news:257BCEAB-DB83-4B7E-8ECB-...
> I have had my vista home premium system for a little over a year with no
> real
> issues. The other day I did a system restart . The manufactures logo
> which
> normally comes up for about 20 seconds before moving on to the microsoft
> welcome screen stayed on for at least 5 minutes and then the screen went
> black for a couple of minutes. Then a short blinking cursor with a
> message
> that "Bios not installed!", then black for several minutes and then a
> message
> that the pc could not start and I was prompted to select an option for
> automatic repair. I did so and after about 10 minutes and an automated
> system restore , my system booted up and everything seemed to run ok.
> This
> morning I decided to try a restart again. While I did not get any
> messages
> to run any repairs, the system did stay at the manufactures logo for
> several
> minutes, then a black screen for several more minutes before finally
> getting
> to the microsoft welcome screen. Does anyione have any insight as to what
> might be happening and how to fix this?
>
> I have windows vista home premium, service pack 2. Intel Core 2 Quad CPU
> Q6600. 4GB Ram, 32 bit operating system.

Sounds like it's time to replace the battery on your motherboard.
--


"Don't pick a fight with an old man.
If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you."

I have had numerous pc's in the last 30 years and have never run into
something like this. I didn't know about batteries on aq motherboard. Is
that something I would have fixed at someplace like a best buy geek squad?

"Michael" wrote:

>
> "carl43m" <> wrote in message
> news:257BCEAB-DB83-4B7E-8ECB-...
> > I have had my vista home premium system for a little over a year with no
> > real
> > issues. The other day I did a system restart . The manufactures logo
> > which
> > normally comes up for about 20 seconds before moving on to the microsoft
> > welcome screen stayed on for at least 5 minutes and then the screen went
> > black for a couple of minutes. Then a short blinking cursor with a
> > message
> > that "Bios not installed!", then black for several minutes and then a
> > message
> > that the pc could not start and I was prompted to select an option for
> > automatic repair. I did so and after about 10 minutes and an automated
> > system restore , my system booted up and everything seemed to run ok.
> > This
> > morning I decided to try a restart again. While I did not get any
> > messages
> > to run any repairs, the system did stay at the manufactures logo for
> > several
> > minutes, then a black screen for several more minutes before finally
> > getting
> > to the microsoft welcome screen. Does anyione have any insight as to what
> > might be happening and how to fix this?
> >
> > I have windows vista home premium, service pack 2. Intel Core 2 Quad CPU
> > Q6600. 4GB Ram, 32 bit operating system.
>
> Sounds like it's time to replace the battery on your motherboard.
> --
>
>
> "Don't pick a fight with an old man.
> If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you."
>
>

Backup your hard drive, at least your important files, before you do
anything else.
Run a software utility to evaluate the hard drive--these are available on
the hard drive manufacturer's web site.
If the hard drive passes the problem is most likely the power supply.
The vast majority of computer hardware problems are hard drive or power
supply related, particularly the power supply as most prebuilt machines are
powered by the cheapest unit the manufacturer can find. Even high-end power
supplies fail, probably on a par with hard drives.
Motherboard components can fail, but that is not very common. Motherboard
batteries are not the problem they were 10 years ago but are easy enough to
replace. In most modern motherboards like yours if the battery has died you
will will usually be forced to boot into the BIOS set-up screen where you
will see an incorrect date and settings have defaulted to basic. That does
not sound like your problem. The battery backs up custom settings, including
the date.
If you do not know how to troubleshoot these problems, for example have a
second power supply you can try to see if it solves the problem, you should
get professional help.

If you decide to get professional help, I suggest you search online to
determine who might be best for you. Especially look for negative
experiences that others may have had prior to selecting anyone particular.

"carl43m" <> wrote in message
news:4197D5A5-8F12-4849-8608-...
> I have had numerous pc's in the last 30 years and have never run into
> something like this. I didn't know about batteries on aq motherboard. Is
> that something I would have fixed at someplace like a best buy geek squad?
>
> "Michael" wrote:
>
>>
>> "carl43m" <> wrote in message
>> news:257BCEAB-DB83-4B7E-8ECB-...
>> > I have had my vista home premium system for a little over a year with
>> > no
>> > real
>> > issues. The other day I did a system restart . The manufactures logo
>> > which
>> > normally comes up for about 20 seconds before moving on to the
>> > microsoft
>> > welcome screen stayed on for at least 5 minutes and then the screen
>> > went
>> > black for a couple of minutes. Then a short blinking cursor with a
>> > message
>> > that "Bios not installed!", then black for several minutes and then a
>> > message
>> > that the pc could not start and I was prompted to select an option for
>> > automatic repair. I did so and after about 10 minutes and an automated
>> > system restore , my system booted up and everything seemed to run ok.
>> > This
>> > morning I decided to try a restart again. While I did not get any
>> > messages
>> > to run any repairs, the system did stay at the manufactures logo for
>> > several
>> > minutes, then a black screen for several more minutes before finally
>> > getting
>> > to the microsoft welcome screen. Does anyione have any insight as to
>> > what
>> > might be happening and how to fix this?
>> >
>> > I have windows vista home premium, service pack 2. Intel Core 2 Quad
>> > CPU
>> > Q6600. 4GB Ram, 32 bit operating system.
>>
>> Sounds like it's time to replace the battery on your motherboard.
>> --
>>
>>
>> "Don't pick a fight with an old man.
>> If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you."
>>
>>

thanks for your recommendations. I don't know what you mean by having a
second power supply to try. The pc is plugged into an electrical outlet that
is my only source of power. Thjis is a desktop not a laptop running off of a
battery.

I ran a diagnostics tool from Dell and it said everything on the pc had
passed.



"igotsaurus" wrote:

> Backup your hard drive, at least your important files, before you do
> anything else.
> Run a software utility to evaluate the hard drive--these are available on
> the hard drive manufacturer's web site.
> If the hard drive passes the problem is most likely the power supply.
> The vast majority of computer hardware problems are hard drive or power
> supply related, particularly the power supply as most prebuilt machines are
> powered by the cheapest unit the manufacturer can find. Even high-end power
> supplies fail, probably on a par with hard drives.
> Motherboard components can fail, but that is not very common. Motherboard
> batteries are not the problem they were 10 years ago but are easy enough to
> replace. In most modern motherboards like yours if the battery has died you
> will will usually be forced to boot into the BIOS set-up screen where you
> will see an incorrect date and settings have defaulted to basic. That does
> not sound like your problem. The battery backs up custom settings, including
> the date.
> If you do not know how to troubleshoot these problems, for example have a
> second power supply you can try to see if it solves the problem, you should
> get professional help.
>

"Michael" <> wrote:

>Sounds like it's time to replace the battery on your motherboard.

I disagree. The battery keeps the clock running, and maintains
settings that you've made via the BIOS update routine. The BIOS code
itself is in ROM someplace, that's non-volatile storage and so does
not need a power source to keep the data intact. But the message said
that there was no BIOS installed. Maybe the BIOS chip is having
troubles. Whatever, it's something I've never encountered.

--
Tim Slattery

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Avoid Geek Slobs at all costs. Most of their "techs" lost their
burger-flippin' jobs at Mickey D's. In spite of the other comments the
first time I encountered "BIOS not installed" I had to replace the battery.
If you're not mechanically inclined, take it to a local computer repair
shop, not one of the big store whores. The battery only costs $3 and is
relatively simple to replace.

--


"Don't pick a fight with an old man.
If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you."


"carl43m" <> wrote in message
news:4197D5A5-8F12-4849-8608-...
> I have had numerous pc's in the last 30 years and have never run into
> something like this. I didn't know about batteries on aq motherboard. Is
> that something I would have fixed at someplace like a best buy geek squad?
>
> "Michael" wrote:
>
>>
>> "carl43m" <> wrote in message
>> news:257BCEAB-DB83-4B7E-8ECB-...
>> > I have had my vista home premium system for a little over a year with
>> > no
>> > real
>> > issues. The other day I did a system restart . The manufactures logo
>> > which
>> > normally comes up for about 20 seconds before moving on to the
>> > microsoft
>> > welcome screen stayed on for at least 5 minutes and then the screen
>> > went
>> > black for a couple of minutes. Then a short blinking cursor with a
>> > message
>> > that "Bios not installed!", then black for several minutes and then a
>> > message
>> > that the pc could not start and I was prompted to select an option for
>> > automatic repair. I did so and after about 10 minutes and an automated
>> > system restore , my system booted up and everything seemed to run ok.
>> > This
>> > morning I decided to try a restart again. While I did not get any
>> > messages
>> > to run any repairs, the system did stay at the manufactures logo for
>> > several
>> > minutes, then a black screen for several more minutes before finally
>> > getting
>> > to the microsoft welcome screen. Does anyione have any insight as to
>> > what
>> > might be happening and how to fix this?
>> >
>> > I have windows vista home premium, service pack 2. Intel Core 2 Quad
>> > CPU
>> > Q6600. 4GB Ram, 32 bit operating system.
>>
>> Sounds like it's time to replace the battery on your motherboard.
>> --
>>
>>
>> "Don't pick a fight with an old man.
>> If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you."
>>
>>