Computer BSODs on start up after hooking up new moniter

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TidalWaves

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So today I opened a brand new Asus VS247H-P LCD monitor. I hooked everything up and at first the power wouldn't turn on to the screen so turned off the computer and fixed the cord that goes into my power bar. The computer began to boot and I got that dreaded "Windows did not start properly" message and a screen asking me to choose how I wanted to start up. Here are the options and the results

Safe Mode :nothing/ computer rebooted
Safe mode with Networking :nothing/ computer rebooted
Safe mode with command prompt :nothing/ computer rebooted
Last known configuration: BSOD that flashed across the screen followed by a white screen that also flashed then a reboot
Start normally: BSOD that flashed across the screen followed by a white screen that also flashed then a reboot
what happens when I let the timer time out: BSOD that flashed across the screen followed by a white screen that also flashed then a reboot

Deciding that i may have had a bad monitor, I hooked up my old monitor -a 17" HP- and I experienced the same results.

The Asus monitor did not come with an installation CD and I've triple checked all the cables and I have the monitor's settings to VGA. I only unplugged cables -mice, keyboards etc. AFTER trying both screens.

My computer is a HP slimline running windows XP 32 bit Media center edition- it's a retail PC. I'm unable to see what error the BSOD is referring to as it flashes across the screen and is gone in an instant. I've contacted ASUS but their Customer support is not in today -as it is a holiday- and my issue will be resolved by e-mail in about 48 hours.

I'm hoping someone can help me as out in this please.

Edit: I managed to disable the automatic reboot so I can get the BSOD Error code. What does this indicate? A Bad HDD?

Stop: 0x000000ED

(0x8a97e900, 0xc0000006,0x00000000,0x00000000)

Unmountable_boot_volume
 
The problem seems to be that shutting the computer down abruptly may have damaged the boot sector or caused hard drive sector damage. You should have used the Power button holding it on (6-10 seconds) till it turned off. If you shut the computer down interrupting power from the power cord, power bar switch, etc., things can go wrong; the boot sector or Hard disk corruption can be caused so the next time when you have to force-shut the computer down, allways use the power button holding it pressed for 6-10 seconds till it shuts down... you should also use a power regulating device such as No-Breaks or UPS (with battery or not)... even the least expensive power regulator can suppress power spikes and protect your computer or data.

The "Unmountable_boot_volume" error can mean that the boot sector is damaged. Check the thread:

[SOLVED] Stop 0x000000ED - HIR Restore of Windows XP onto a Dell Optiplex 745
http://www.storagecraft.com/support/forum/solved-stop-0x000000ed-hir-restore-windows-xp-dell-optiplex-745

You can check that in the BIOS. Look in the Boot menu to see if the Hard Drive is being recognized, if so the boot sector must be repaired. If the HD isn't being reconized, look for a BIOS setting named something like: IDE legacy, IDE Native, IDE Mode, etc. and enable that setting so the HD can boot as a IDE Hard Drive without the need for a SATA driver. A similar situation usually happens when you first run a new SATA HD when they need SATA drivers that are obviously not already installed. And since the boot sector loads all the installed drivers, if it (the boot sector) is damaged, the HD may not be recognized. But you may be able to run the HD in IDE mode with no need for drivers in Windows XP.
 

TidalWaves

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The Boot menu recognizes the drive. I don't understand Why the boot sector would be damaged. The computer shut down normally and was off for a good 15 mins or so while I unboxed and put the monitor together.

The only thing I can think of is that the hard drive might be slowly dying or that the Boot sector is in fact damaged. Either way I'll have to try to repair it once it comes back from the repair shop. I brought it in to the store where I bought it yesterday and told them to back up all my files -they said that they would try. It may be back next Friday or Saturday.

The thing is I'm wondering if the hard drive was bad to begin with. About 4 years ago -I bought the computer 5 years ago- My computer had it's first issue where it would get to the windows logo screen, the screen would turn black and it would reboot and continue that loop. I ran the Smart test and the Hard Drive failed the smart test while my RAM failed two other tests, but the store found nothing wrong and did a system restore -without my consent- and it seemed to fix it.

Smart test results

Hard drive SMART Test Fail HD521-2W

System memory/ RAM Auxiliary Pattern Test Fail ME516-3W
Advanced Pattern Test ME516-5W

they Always fail which is funny because the Ram is about 2 years old and it says it's bad.
 
A damaged boot sector is a possibility I thought was caused by an impropper shutdown, but now that you've cleared it up, I no longer think that is the problem.

unmountable_boot_volume or boot_drive, etc. all mean the boot drive/partition on the Hard Drive is not available, or that it can't boot... this can make a S.M.A.R.T. test show as failed.. meaning the Hard Drive is in bad condition... and a failed Hard Drive can happen suddenly when a HD is in apparent good working condition.

BTW... I wonder what application you have used that gives you such irregular failed S.M.A.R.T. and RAM tests. The only way to know the real Hard Drive condition is testing it with the right application and there are many out there that don't really give accurate results.... the only ones I trust is Hard Drive Sentinel.. and Memtest for RAM. Try these applications and depending on the Hard Drive results, apply the following suggestions.

Unmountable Boot Volume Error In Windows XP
http://www.1delacruz.com/unmountable-boot-volume-error-in-windows-xp.html
 

TidalWaves

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when the computer boots I can go into the system restore. it's within there that it give you the the option to system restore back to factory settings or to run a hardware diagnostic test. Again because my Desktop is over at Staples right now so I can't pull up the program under the restore options and give you the exact name. I do know that it had several Different tests:

A test that tested the Memory and the Hard drive. I think the name might have been basic or something.
A diagnostic for the Hard drive only.
A diagnostic for the memory/RAM only
A diagnostic for the Optical Drive only -whit it would have failed most likely as the CD bay doesn't read or burn DVDs any more.
And I think there was one other test but i can't remember the name of it.

I'm going to try to restore the computer once i get it back and see if that works. I'm probably going to only use the computer for another month and a half before I build my new one and even after that I'll probably use the Windows XP computer as a back up computer if anything happens to the new one I'm building.

However if that doesn't work, I'll have to chalk up the problem to a bad hard drive as all of my back ups don't include the O/S. To make matters worse the Store I bought the Computer from -Staples- Refuses to give us the copy of the O/S -even though I bought it. The store employees say that it's "Microsoft's policy not to give you the disk" or something along those lines.

One of the tech guys said that if they can't back up my data they'll refund me the cost of the back up (however they said that I can keep the External hard drive I paid for to back every thing up onto because I've wanted an External HD for a while) and if they can't back it up they can try to reinstall the O/S, for almost $148 not including tax. If they try to pull that trick I'll threaten to sue for fraud (since it is. I should know, I've taken a law course and asked someone in the profession).
 
OK, with the last information you gave I’m beggining to suspect the whole problem is the Power Supply. If you can logon in Safe Mode, then it’s not the boot sector, hard drive or RAM... The blue screen can be caused by a weak power supply among many things, but seems to big a coincidence that it sould give symptoms specially at boot time when the computer uses more power.. almost double than at idle, and apparently it’s the Hard Drive which apparently fails because it’s one of the most power consuming devices, according to experts, it’s second only to the processor.. and also bad power supply can cause damaged disk sectors.

When your hard drive had trouble 4 years ago*, it was apparently due to software issues... a system restore doesn’t fix a bad Hard Drive.
*About 4 years ago -I bought the computer 5 years ago- My computer had it's first issue where it would get to the windows logo screen, the screen would turn black and it would reboot and continue that loop. I ran the Smart test and the Hard Drive failed the smart test while my RAM failed two other tests, but the store found nothing wrong and did a system restore -without my consent- and it seemed to fix it.
The Power Supply is a real possibility... I have experienced the blue screen during the boot process on a couple of computers... sometimes (when I had enough interest to read the BSOD) it said unmountable_boot_volume. And on both cases the PSU was the cause.

As you may well know, if the power supply starts to fail, all other components fail with it since all need a steady supply of electricity.

How a PSU would fail after hooking up a new monitor?... it may have been pure coincidence but it's possible the new (larger?) monitor needs more output from the video card.. that would mean an increased demmand on the power supply... why it repeats the bsod with the smaller monitor? PSU damage is progressive so maybe the new monitor's video demmand gave it a push.

How much power does your PC Consume?
http://windows.uwaterloo.ca/hardware/pc_power_consumption.asp

PCs and power
http://www.dansdata.com/power2.htm

Disks, CPUs and power
http://ask-leo.com/does_my_computer_use_more_power_or_generate_more_heat_depending_on_what_its_doing.html
 

TidalWaves

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I can't log onto to safe mode. when i select it, the computer simply reboots and brings me back to the screen of options asking how I want the computer to start.

The port for the monitor actually plugs into the motherboard -I should have mentioned - and even when I plugged in the old monitor, the problem persists.

Thinking back, I'm wondering if it's because of a windows update. That's the only thing I installed before I experienced the issue. Thing is that after I installed the update I didn't reboot the computer until I turned it off to plug in the monitor. I have installed updates before that rendered the computer almost useless until i did a full factory system restore -reset to factory settings.

The other other things I've noticed lately is that when I put it into stand by, it stays on and the light turns orange and occasionally it wakes it self up out of stand by mode. the other issue is when you either you lightly bump it with your elbow or move the tower while it's turned on, the keyboard screws up completely until you reboot it. I know that moving the tower while it's in use is a big no- no -my mom learned her lesson when she did that to my computer a little while back- but right now that'\s all I can think of. I'll keep jogging my memory to figure out what might have happened in the weeks leading up to this problem.
 


You can get at System Restore only if you can logon in Safe Mode.. so, you are already in Safe Mode... instead of clicking on System Restore, click to logon to your user profile.

The only way to know if the Windows Update is what caused the problem is uninstalling it... If you can logon in safe mode, you can uninstall the windows update from the Control Panel.

The Stand by and Hibernation problems can be solved by deleting the C:\Hiberfil. Hiberfil file can easily get corrupted and cause Stand By and Hibernation resuming problems so if you use either on a daily basis, it's a good idea to occasionally (every 7-10 days) shut the computer down to delete the Hiberfil.sys contents.

How to troubleshoot hibernation and standby issues in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907477

Another Live CD; Ultimate Boot CD includes an application called "RegResWiz" that can restore the Windows Registry to a previous date and solve the logon problem.

If you don't want to go through all the hazzle you can wait till you get the new computer, and with the problematic Hard Dirve installed as slave or second hard drive, you can access and restore the Windows Registry to a previous date with the application RegResWiz installed on the new computer. Once this is done, you will be able to logon again to the old Hard Drive.

Registry Restore Wizard 1.0.4 - regreswiz.zip
http://viceroy25.tripod.com/
 

TidalWaves

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My computer's set up is weird. At least with my HP, if I hit F10 i can actually access a system restore setting which will restore it completely to factory settings -like right from the factory settings. As i said, it's probably how HP set up the computer

Once I get my computer back I'll try to fix it and I'll also take videos to further explain my issue.
 
That's not System Restore, it's called Automated System Recovery which does not restore.. it installs the System new... it deletes programs and personal files so backup your files before attempting it.

Read about it here:
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles-tutorials/windows-xp/wxppasr.html
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/818903

When installing Windows XP some computer manufacturers/sellers install Automated System Recovery in a hidden partition that contains the installation files... you may be able to use those files to make an installation CD... I'm not sure how to go about it as I've never used it... but read the article seems rather easy to do.

How to Create a Windows Automated System Recovery CD
http://www.ehow.com/how_7525212_create-automated-system-recovery-cd.html
 

TidalWaves

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I got the computer back last week after staples backed up my files. No one at staples was able to determine what the problem might have been.

However the system restore was able to fix the blue screen.

again not too worried about the problems with my current desktop. It's only going to see another week or two's worth of usage before i work on my new build and get it running.
 
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