Windows Freezes when Booting

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flong

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OK I just built my first computer and everything was beautiful until I used the card reader on my printer. This added the USB card reader on the printer to the boot drive sequence and now Windows 7 freezes about every other time when I do a cold start up (it doesn't affect sleep startups).

YES, I did go into the BIOS and disable the printer USB drive in the boot sequence but it did not fix the problem. NO I did not add the Printer card reader to the boot sequence, the motherboard did it automatically for some reason.

Frussstratttttingggggg arrrgggghhhhh!!!!!

Before this bug appeared my system was booting in less than 25 seconds from the time I pressed the start button on the computer - the Corsair GT is a very fast SSD and it makes the OS fly.

Here is my system:

CPU: 2600K
Mother Board: AsRock Z68 Extreme 4 Gen 3
SSD: Corsair GT Force 3
HDD 1: Samsung F3 Spinpoint 1 TB
HDD 2: Hitachi 1.5 TB
Optical 1: Asus DVD drive (the $20 one on Newegg)
Optical 2: Lighton Blu-Ray burner
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Everything on the computer works except for this card reader interference with the booting sequence. It may have corrupted a file, I am not sure - Windows Repair says it cannot fix the issue and that if I "recently plugged in a audio player or USB device, unplug it and restart windows."

I would rather not do a clean install and because I have an SSD I do not have System Restore enabled.

Let me know if there is a simple fix. Thanks to everyone who responds.

 
Solution
Pyree
I know this is a long shot, but may be you should try to disable the reader in device manager or even uninstall the driver (without reinstalling) to see if it gets better.

I think this is my final advice.
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flong

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I was going to do a CMOS reset but your idea intrigues me. Do you think it would help? I would have to check to see if there is an update - my board just came out.

Thanks for taking the time to post a suggestion.
 
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Pyree

Pyree

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Yes, I think if this is a known problem with the mobo, a new bios would be made and released. However, you could be right, the board may not have an updated version of bios yet.

If there is no bios update, then do a CMOS reset.
 
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flong

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OK - did both a BIOS update (supposedly it is a newer version but it is hard to verify by the information on AsRock's website) and I did a CMOS reset (I cleared the CMOS). Unfortunately neither solved the problem.

In order to boot I hit the on button and everything goes well until the last second in Windows and it freezes. The Windows startup logo just freezes. I hit reset, cancel Windows repair and hit finish and then it will boot normally. VERRRRY frustrating.

I am wondering if Windows 7 got corrupted somehow. I REALLY do not want to do a reformat and clean install. Is there another action that I could take that might fix this?
 
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flong

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No I made sure to remove the card. Something happened when I used the card reader that messed up the booting. Nothing is in the card reader.
 
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flong

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Hi - you are going to laugh at this - the picture screens you posted are the exact same screens I am seeing. Maybe that's good news because this must be a common problem and maybe there is an easy fix.

That being said, Start Up Repair has run multiple times and it has not been able to fix the problem. I have ran it from the Windows 7 disk also but the results were the same.

I will try running it 3 times as the tip recommended - maybe three times is the charm ha, ha.

This is a very frustrating problem.
 
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flong

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OK, tried Startup Repair 3 times (not from Windows 7 disk - I doubt if that will make much of a difference). No luck. It is funny because the problem is intermittent. Sometimes the computer will boot on the first try. Anyway - are there any other ideas in lieu of a clean install? No, no, no I do not want to do a clean install ha, ha.

I think that the problem is definitely with Windows 7 - not the BIOS. If it was the BIOS, then clear CMOS should have rectified the problem.

I think that I will create a single system restore point and then turn it off once that I get this resolved. Supposedly running System Restore with an SSD degrades performance very quickly. But, I have heard at least one very knowledgeable computer expert disagree with this. I think that time will tell as SSDs become more common place.

It is funny how very little SSDs are really understood and yet they have been in enterprise solutions for years.
 
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flong

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OK, ran it from DOS command. It said that there are no resource integrity problems - it came up clean.

I can't help but think that this is a common problem as it is all over the internet and even the help screens that you posted. There should be an answer out there.
 
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Pyree

Pyree

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Ok, last hope. Put sd card in card reader and boot.
Also, try to run startup repair with the sd card in reader.


Also try update card reader driver, if there is one, as well as disable legacy usb support on mobo (you need ps/2 keyboard).

I know it is unconventional, but I don't have another trick up my sleeve, so...
 
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flong

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OK - question: if I disable legacy support for USB in the BIOS, will the USB 3.0 support USB 2.0 devices?

Also, I have updated the printer drivers to the most current drivers. I don't know if the card reader drivers are included in that update since the card reader is part of the printer. Are there separate drivers for the card reader?

Why do I need a PS/2 keyboard (mine is USB 2.0)? Will disabling legacy USB support cause my keyboard to not function?

I will try booting with the CF card in the reader since it is the card that caused all of the problems. I think that is a very interesting idea.

Thanks
 
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flong

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I see what you mean - the mouse and keyboard (USB) will not work in the BIOS if legacy support is disabled. They do work in the computer once it is booted.

So you are right that when I disabled legacy support in the BiOS that the USB drive stopped being listed as a possble boot drive. However, that did not solve the problem. Arrrggh! Great idea though.

Also booting and rebooting with the CF card in the card reader did not help. Also ran Startup and Repair with the card in the card reader - still did not fix the problem.

I went back and double checked my printer drivers and they are the most current drivers.

Now I am not sure that this is an issue with the card reader at all. I think that the mobo is just doing what it is supposed to do and listing a USB connection as a possible boot device. The card reader does has a USB connection in it also. I was sure that this caused the problem, but now when legacy USB is disconnected and I still have the problem, I don't know.

I may have to do a clean install and reformat :-(
 
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flong

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Thanks for caring enough to try to help. That means a lot :).
 
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Pyree

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No, this shouldn't be a problem. If you have ACHI mode for sata, then all sata device, regardless of HDD or DVD sata drive will be ACHI. Also you need to run sata in ACHI for your ssd or else trim will not work, so just leave it as it is.
 
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flong

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Thanks again for your help.
 
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flong

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Scan your complete PC for viruses and remove them
Run check disk
Run disk defragmenter
Scan Windows registry using Reginout and apply fixes to corrupt entries
Best of Luck
Click to expand...


Do you run disk fragmenter on an SSD? This is my first SSD. I will try your suggestions tomorrow. I think that I checked the registry for corrupt files and found none, but I will check again.

Thanks very much for taking the time to try to help. I will post the outcome - to tired to try it tonight.
 
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flong

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You might be interested to know that the problem has almost disappeared by itself. It has only occurred once in the last 10 or so times that I have booted. I am still waiting to see how it goes before I resort to a clean install.

I don't have a virus or spyware. I don't own Reginout and I doubt that it would fix the issue. I am not sure if you need to defragment an SSD. I am going to run Check Disk just to see what happens.
 
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flong

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Running Check Disk is a bad idea - I almost could not get the computer to boot again. I had to boot from the Windows 7 Disk.

I am going to do a clean install on Saturday, when I have the time to dedicate to it.
 
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