Windows 7 Catastrophe

[lobablob]

I've had windows 7 for over a week and it was great, but today it has been crashing constantly (I have to shut it down at the switch within 5 minutes of turning it on). I've looked around for a solution but I have had no luck, please help?

[Ichneumon]

You could try another OS? I'm sorry, I'm not being very helpful.:smallsigh:

Have you done anything weird? Installed anything, moved the computer or something like that? Could you describe what exactly happens and what you are doing when it happens?

Have you tried turning the computer off and on again?

[SurlySeraph]

Has it been putting any error messages up? If so, write them down and then look them up on another computer.

[lobablob]

I haven't done anything out of the ordinary and there are no error messages, everything just freezes and nothing works, so I have to switch it off.

I have tried reinstalling windows 7, but the installer does not work and I cannot have the computer on for long enough to download it again.

[charl]

I haven't done anything out of the ordinary and there are no error messages, everything just freezes and nothing works, so I have to switch it off.

I have tried reinstalling windows 7, but the installer does not work and I cannot have the computer on for long enough to download it again.

Don't you have a boot disc? Just go into your bios and tell it to boot from CD/DVD instead of harddrive and use that instead of the in-OS installer.

[lobablob]

I run a registry cleaner a while ago, which didn't help, but having run it a few more times seems to have helped, as I haven't crashed at all since running it half an hour ago, so hopefully the problem is solved.

[pendell]

If you ever do figure out what went wrong, I for one would appreciate it if you'd tell us. I suspect it may be something with your specific hardware, if you haven't installed any new software since then. What specific computer are you using?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[lobablob]

I'm using a Dell laptop. I really don't know what the problem could have been, all searching about it on google showed that others had similar problems. I'm guessing it was some kind of registry problem as the registry cleaner fixed it, but I'm not an expert on computers so I can't really offer much more information.

[Escef]

I've heard rumor of Win7 not being fully compatible with some video drivers/hardware. It could cause some kind of system wide failure if the error messages started piling up where they don't belong (or even where they do). This, of course, is conjecture. I'd recommend checking your hardware and driver specs and doing a search to see if everything gets along.

[BRC]

Did you run the Upgrade adviser beforehand?

[GoC]

The solution to your problems is Ubuntu+WINE.:smallwink:

[Mando Knight]

I've heard rumor of Win7 not being fully compatible with some video drivers/hardware. It could cause some kind of system wide failure if the error messages started piling up where they don't belong (or even where they do). This, of course, is conjecture. I'd recommend checking your hardware and driver specs and doing a search to see if everything gets along.

This is the only thing I can offer as well. I'm also running a Dell laptop, and it's been a Windows 7 machine since it came out. I've had no problems except that its ATI graphics driver occasionally crashes as the log-in screen loads, then recovers as soon as it enters my user page (blindly). It only happens on random occasion, and only when it first accesses the log-in screen after booting up. This could be the same problem if the power light remains on but the screen goes black.

[Reinboom]

The solution to your problems is Ubuntu+WINE.:smallwink:

After fighting with Ubuntu for a few months... I do not recommend that.
OpenSuSE + WINE.

Of course, that's.... not Windows 7, and in of itself requires learning how to work with a terminal for basic tasks (Fortunately, OpenSuSE is less so than Ubuntu, where all you need for most tasks is sudo OpenSuSE config to make it autoconfig itself, such as installing fonts into most apps.)

Linux distros are an entirely different monster.

:edit: Ichneumon said it better below. Read that.


OP:
For Windows 7, thank you for posting this. It means, it shares the age-old "wait for the first service pack", so, I should wait before I investigate.
(Note: "wait for the first service pack" applies to all OSes, Ubuntu has hardware driver issues with each major release, mac recently just had a major "can't install programs" problem with one of it's recent major releases...)

On your problem itself,
I'm only finding that the issue somehow relates to Microsoft's attempt at cleaning and reorganizing the registry. Usually, this seems to be most connected to random, older, games.
Did you install anything that was designed specifically for older MS OSes? It might have produced a sleeping problem.
This would explain the registry cleaner cleaning it.

[FinalJustice]

This is the only thing I can offer as well. I'm also running a Dell laptop, and it's been a Windows 7 machine since it came out. I've had no problems except that its ATI graphics driver occasionally crashes as the log-in screen loads, then recovers as soon as it enters my user page (blindly). It only happens on random occasion, and only when it first accesses the log-in screen after booting up. This could be the same problem if the power light remains on but the screen goes black.

How old is your laptop? Does warranty still applies? If so, call Dell so they can fix it.

[Ichneumon]

The solution to your problems is Ubuntu+WINE.:smallwink:

Solving a problem isn't the same as evading it.

[lobablob]

Did you run the Upgrade adviser beforehand?

Yes, it didn't detect any problems.

I mainly use my laptop for playing games in the very small space of time in which I am not working.

[Mando Knight]

How old is your laptop? Does warranty still applies? If so, call Dell so they can fix it.

It's the driver, it's not Dell's fault. I downloaded the darned thing right off of the ATI website after I upgraded to Win7, since I had to uninstall it for the upgrade. I know that it's the driver, since whenever it happens and then recovers, Windows pops up with a helpful message that tells me so.

...If Dell could replace my video card, though, or offer me a deal where I pay a minimal price to replace my laptop with a new one, I wouldn't mind, either...

[FinalJustice]

Unfortunatelly, replacing Laptop video cards are neither easy nor cheap, as far as I'm concerned. Most are actually embedded in the motherboard (can someone more hardware savvy confirm or correct me here, please? :P).

Did you try to download the driver from the Dell site, instead of ATI. I've heard more than one case of notebook GPU being picky about non-OEM-sanctioned drivers. Mine, for instance, gets absurdely hot when I don't use Sony's crappy drivers.

[Reinboom]

Unfortunatelly, replacing Laptop video cards are neither easy nor cheap, as far as I'm concerned. Most are actually embedded in the motherboard (can someone more hardware savvy confirm or correct me here, please? :P).

This assertion is correct, and applies to desktops as well. That's, usually, your standard "Intel Accelerated Graphics".
With laptops this becomes even more common (to be standard, in fact). Laptops tend to also have multiple motherboards, that attach together to form one 'functional' motherboard. Anything that can be integrated will usually be integrated.

[LightWraith]

I think it could also be this:

New Windows Patches Cause Black Screen of Death (http://www.pcworld.com/article/183335/)

Sounds a lot like what you are experiencing.

[Moff Chumley]

WINDOWS GOT PWND.

YET ANOTHER VICTORY FOR MAC. [/fanboy]


:smalltongue:

[Blaine.Bush]

WINDOWS GOT PWND.

YET ANOTHER VICTORY FOR MAC. [/fanboy]


:smalltongue:

DUDE IMA PAY AN EXTRA $500 CUZ THEIR COMPUTERS IS WHITE AND SLEEK AND LIKE YEAH.

:smalltongue:

[Arakune]

Don't worry kid, this isn't 4chan. The advice isn't bad and people isn't going to try to "triforce" your pc. :smalltongue:

[blackfox]

Don't worry kid, this isn't 4chan.

...


DUDE IMA PAY AN EXTRA $500 CUZ THEIR COMPUTERS IS WHITE AND SLEEK AND LIKE YEAH.

:smalltongue:

... It's not? :smalltongue:

[Ilena]

Ill just keep chuggin with my xp machine, works like a charm indeed!

[Pharaoh's Fist]

WINDOWS GOT PWND.

YET ANOTHER VICTORY FOR MAC. [/fanboy]


:smalltongue:

I can't wait to have my Mac lock up on me and delete my personal data!

[Catch]

>taking over a tech support thread with OS rivalry

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1830/trollinu.jpg

[blackfox]

>taking over a tech support thread with OS rivalry

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1830/trollinu.jpg*awards an Internet*

[Rettu Skcollob]

>taking over a tech support thread with OS rivalry

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1830/trollinu.jpg

I'm getting out of here before the >Implications start.

http://i50.tinypic.com/fp55y9.jpg