ldysknzfn1 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I searched for the old computer question thread and couldn't find it. I'm having an issue that more than likely is a virus thing...but not sure. I have a Dell Dimension E510 desktop that I'm typing on right now. The issue I'm having is when I reboot the computer won't progress past the "Dell" Logo screen unless I remove all of the USB plug ins (scanner, printer, mouse, and keyboard) and then it goes to the sign on screen. I run Windows XP. There is a sizeable message that appears before the windows sign on screen but it flashes so quickly I can't read it. Any suggestions? Please be specific. I'm not illiterate but I'm no computer guru either obviously.. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I searched for the old computer question thread and couldn't find it.I'm having an issue that more than likely is a virus thing...but not sure. I have a Dell Dimension E510 desktop that I'm typing on right now. The issue I'm having is when I reboot the computer won't progress past the "Dell" Logo screen unless I remove all of the USB plug ins (scanner, printer, mouse, and keyboard) and then it goes to the sign on screen. I run Windows XP. There is a sizeable message that appears before the windows sign on screen but it flashes so quickly I can't read it. Any suggestions? Please be specific. I'm not illiterate but I'm no computer guru either obviously.. Thanks Try this -- start off with only the mouse and keyboard plugged into the computer. See if it reboots. If it doesn't, try to plug them into different USB ports. Repeat the reboot. If it does reboot with these devices, notice which port seems to be causing the problem. Or, if the computer reboots from the first attempt, with the mouse and keyboard plugged into the computer, try each of your other devices until it freezes. That will then determine which device (or USB port) is causing the problem. There are other areas where you can look, but this is probably the easiest from the get-go solution to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMS Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I searched for the old computer question thread and couldn't find it.I'm having an issue that more than likely is a virus thing...but not sure. I have a Dell Dimension E510 desktop that I'm typing on right now. The issue I'm having is when I reboot the computer won't progress past the "Dell" Logo screen unless I remove all of the USB plug ins (scanner, printer, mouse, and keyboard) and then it goes to the sign on screen. I run Windows XP. There is a sizeable message that appears before the windows sign on screen but it flashes so quickly I can't read it. Any suggestions? Please be specific. I'm not illiterate but I'm no computer guru either obviously.. Thanks You can also use the scroll lock button above the number pad to frease the screen, so you read the windows message.. There is also something called safe mode, which boots your OS in a base configuration, no network or specialized devices. You could use this to check and make sure your usb ports were ok and it's not a hardware issue. There is something called tombstones, or milestones in XP which can be used to recover from configuration issues and some types of viruses too. In XP your system takes snap shots of it's system software and you can go back in time to a previous dates configuration to recover from mistakes or milicious programs. If you still have your OS disk, you can boot to the OS disk and it will give you the option to repair the OS. This will re-install the OS without destroying your data. back up your data though because you know... it's Microsoft... Finally, you can re-install your entire OS and formate your HD. This is the ultimate fix for everything. Problem is you defintiely loose your data and programs and have to re-install everything. Be sure to get an anti virus program too cause you could just reinstall the virus if you don't, if it was a virus which hosed you up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldysknzfn1 Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate it. I'll try the easy Baculus option first. I don't have a OS disk. This computer didn't come with one only a piece of cardboard that looks like a disk. It has restore points and I could try that but I'm gonna try the "fix" that Baculus suggested before I restore but I will try the scroll lock deal to read the message that flashes by. And I have an anti virus program. I have AVG (the pay version). It's not picking up anything but sometimes that means squat. Thanks again. I'll let yall know if something you suggested works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aszumilo Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 I would also run a complete virus scan, with the latest virus definitions. The download and run Ad-Aware and Spybot - Search and Destroy. If those don't work, try Hijack This. You can post the results to their message boards and they could possibly help you decipher the results to see what is going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drums and skins Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 1.) Go into Bios (F2) and disable any USB option from the boot device menu. Save and exit I would need a couple more details about the message you're seeing. Are you able to get to the desktop? Is it rebooting or instantly logging off? Is the screen that is "flashing" a message a blue screen or is it a black screen with white text? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenaa Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Are you able to connect the keyboard and mouse after the reboot and get logged in? If so go to start run and type MSCONFIG and press enter. Click on the Services tab and check the box to "Hide all Microsoft services" and then click Disable All. Click on the Startup tab and click Disable all. Click ok and then reboot. Let me know the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldysknzfn1 Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 1.) Go into Bios (F2) and disable any USB option from the boot device menu. Save and exit I would need a couple more details about the message you're seeing. Are you able to get to the desktop? Is it rebooting or instantly logging off? Is the screen that is "flashing" a message a blue screen or is it a black screen with white text? The message was on a black screen w/white text. I was only able to get to the desktop if I unplugged the USB devices. It would "freeze" before it would get to the windows sign in screen. I also couldn't access the bios when this occurred. Are you able to connect the keyboard and mouse after the reboot and get logged in? If so go to start run and type MSCONFIG and press enter. Click on the Services tab and check the box to "Hide all Microsoft services" and then click Disable All. Click on the Startup tab and click Disable all. Click ok and then reboot. Let me know the results. I tried this and it still "froze" when trying to boot. However, I did try Baculus' suggestion. I shut down. Unplugged all the USB devices and proceeded to plug them in 1 at a time and reboot. The computer rebooted with all of them plugged in except one. That particular USB cable belonged to my modem. I have cable. The funny thing is when I left that USB unplugged, booted the computer and got to the desktop then signed on to answer here, I was able to access the net. So apparently, this cable wasn't fulfilling any useful purpose. The modem has always been connected with an Ethernet cable. I don't know what this USB cable is for. So I guess it's no big loss since I can't figure out what it does and I still have access to the web. I will run all the virus stuff and clean things up. It's running a little slow as well. But I have tons of pics and music. I must back up the pics before deleting b/c I don't have hard copies of some anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drums and skins Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 The message was on a black screen w/white text. I was only able to get to the desktop if I unplugged the USB devices. It would "freeze" before it would get to the windows sign in screen. I also couldn't access the bios when this occurred. It could just be an operating system selection screen. 1.) Right click my computer and go to Properties. 2) In XP, select the Advanced Tab. In Vista, select "Advanced System Settings" on the left. If User Account Control is enabled, click allow/continue. 3.) In the 3rd box, "Startup and Recovery", click the Settings button. 4.) One of the first options will be "Time to display list of operating systems". If this number is something like 1 or less, it will flash text faster than you can read it. This isn't really anything to be concerned about. Usually it pops up just because you may have the Windows Recovery Console installed or have an unneeded entry in your boot.ini file. I could tell you how to edit it, but I would prefer not to, because if you do something wrong, it could be very bad. If you'd like, I could remote in and take a look, just send me a PM. However, I did try Baculus' suggestion. I shut down. Unplugged all the USB devices and proceeded to plug them in 1 at a time and reboot. The computer rebooted with all of them plugged in except one. That particular USB cable belonged to my modem. I have cable. The funny thing is when I left that USB unplugged, booted the computer and got to the desktop then signed on to answer here, I was able to access the net. So apparently, this cable wasn't fulfilling any useful purpose. The modem has always been connected with an Ethernet cable. I don't know what this USB cable is for. So I guess it's no big loss since I can't figure out what it does and I still have access to the web. I will run all the virus stuff and clean things up. It's running a little slow as well. But I have tons of pics and music. I must back up the pics before deleting b/c I don't have hard copies of some anymore. Well thats good. The USB connection for modems is almost always unnecessary. Its pretty rare to actually have a need for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aszumilo Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 That USB cable for the modem just gives you another way to connect the modem to the PC. It is not needed if you are using an ethernet cable. Get rid of it, not needed. I would still run a virus scan and Ad-Aware and Spybot, as I suggested earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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