Computer does not boot on cold - I think that's the term

Acer desktop AspireX3470

When I press the power button to start up the computer in the morning, it turns on and gets as far as the ACER logo screen and that's it...I've waited up to twenty minutes and nothing ever happens. So I then press the power button again to turn it off, which it does. Then I press the power button again and it boots up without a glitch, in very little time. This has been going on for months now 9 days out of 10. On shutdown, it often gets suck on the screen that says that some programs are still running, though there are no obvious ones, I let it do it's thing and it shuts down...I don't choose the force shutdown. There is no issue starting up or restarting the computer unless it is the first time of the day.

I am running Kaspersky anti virus and do manual backups every week.

I've done the usual disc check and defrag, windows memory check and saw a lot of warnings, critical and errors in the Operational Performance diagnostics events viewer. So yesterday I installed CCleaner and disabled everything in the start up that I could find that was not relevant and did a registry cleanup. I've also checked up to date drivers for the processors AMD A6-3620 APU with Radeon HD graphics, for the Microsoft System Management BIOS and the Microsoft Virtual Drive Enumerator and they are all up to date. Since yesterday's cleanup it now runs faster but unfortunately again it needed the double start to get it going this morning...which I am sure cannot go on forever before it creates fatal damage to the computer.

I'm a newbie at this and since I cannot find anyone that has this particular problem when I Google the issue, which ever way I word it, nor can I afford to get someone to look at it, here I am hoping that these symptoms will attract someone for whom it means something and can help.

Thank you in advance

Accepted answers

All comments

philetus

Are you using Windows 7 still?

Bluelight108

Yes I am using Windows 7pro, which I am also still using on a Sony Vaio laptop with absolutely no issues. I haven't changed over to windows 10 because Ihave a number of programs that might not be compatible with with windows 10. I also have many friends still running windows 7 without computer issues, so I don't think this is the culprit.

I forgot to mention that when on a cold start up as again this morning, the Acer logo screen comes up after the first beep...there are two messages at the bottom of the screen.

DEL: Enter BIOS Setup and F12: Enter Boot Menu

This morning I pressed F12 and after a minute or more, the various options appeared, none of which were available so I pressed ESC, which then produced the Starting Windows screen, which stayed up for 2-3 minutes and then completed in seconds to the desktop.

I then checked the event viewer for the Operational Diagnosis Performance which had a few 100 and 101 error and a 106 critical Background Prefetch Time 49694

Hope that is more important info.

philetus

Did you recently install new memory? What memory are you using? Take out all but 1 and try boot. Test with each dimm. It calls for PC3-10600 DDR3-1333MHz.

Are you at the P01.A4l bios? If not upgrade.

Try reinstalling the chipset driver

Chipset

AMD

Chipset Driver

8.862.3

215.7 MB

2011/09/26

Download

Download and run Malwarebytes free https://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/

and CCleaner free https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

Bluelight108

Thank you for replying Philetus. The computer actually started normally yesterday, but not this morning, so I am sending you feedback on the directives you have offered.

I have not installed any new memory or new hardware components.

The memory is 2 X 2GB DDR3 RAM chips= 4GB total...how do I find out on my computer what exactly is the RAM type as you mention, other than when I take it out to test?

The BIOS is P01-A4, 20/12/2011...is that the same as you mention? or is the "l" after the 4 important or a typo or for Linux (I run Windows 7pro)?

I've installed the chipset driver you suggested and restated computer without an issue (it isn't an issue when warm)

I have been running CCleaner regularly for the past week...I've run it again a few times today.

I have Kaspersky internet security running on this computer since owning it...

I've downloaded and run Malwarebytes...18 potentially unwanted program level threat - mostly ASK toolbar and Internet Exporer items, neither of which I use...I have snagged the image but don't seem to find how to attach it to this post. I've uninstalled the Malwarebytes program.

Since I can't tell, if there is any change untill I start the computer again when it's cold tomorrow morning, I will wait till then before doing the memory removal that you mention...and report back. It certainly doesn't seem any different on the warm restarts after making these changes.

Thank you very much in advance for your attention, it is very appreciated.

philetus

If you've never opened it and got it new, the memory is probably correct.

The P01l-A4 bios IS for Linux.You don't need it.

You don't need to keep running CCleaner. I run it maybe every three or four months.

Malwarebytes is one of the best programs anyone can put in their computer. If you had the Pro version, which runs in the background, it would have caught those malware.

Since you have never opened it, you should take the side panel off, get a can of air and blow it out.

Dust buildup on the inside and on the motherboard can cause it to do strange things.

Unplug the power and on the left side, with the plug at the bottom, remove the two screws on the back and slide the panel back a little and it will come right off. If it's clean, good,but it can't hurt to look.

Also, if you can, reseat the memory dimms.

To reinstall, slide into the slot and be aware of where thie pin is. Gently press the sides until the clips pop back up.

2016-04-19_1122.jpg

Bluelight108

Thanks again Philetus.

The computer was bought new and has the original memory that it was bought with...as you say its most likely correct. Two or three months ago, the first thing we did try when it started to act up on the startup, was to open it up and blow it out...unfortunately it did not remove the issue nor did it make it worse.

This morning that same thing happened on a cold startup...having to power off and power on again. So no improvement.

The diagnostic performance log though has a critical level event:

Critical 20/04/2016 6:19:56 AM Diagnostics-Performance 100 Boot Performance Monitoring.

Windows has started up:
     Boot Duration       :   103986ms
     IsDegradation       :   false
     Incident Time (UTC)   :   ‎2016‎-‎04‎-‎20T10:14:03.702800400Z

Details:

-	EventData

BootTsVersion

2

BootStartTime

2016-04-20T10:14:03.702800400Z

BootEndTime

2016-04-20T10:19:51.712006100Z

SystemBootInstance

2107

UserBootInstance

1734

BootTime

103986

MainPathBootTime

17686

BootKernelInitTime

32

BootDriverInitTime

1340

BootDevicesInitTime

1542

BootPrefetchInitTime

47250

BootPrefetchBytes

542846976

BootAutoChkTime

0

BootSmssInitTime

6481

BootCriticalServicesInitTime

517

BootUserProfileProcessingTime

1140

BootMachineProfileProcessingTime

1

BootExplorerInitTime

2664

BootNumStartupApps

7

BootPostBootTime

86300

BootIsRebootAfterInstall

false

BootRootCauseStepImprovementBits

0

BootRootCauseGradualImprovementBits

0

BootRootCauseStepDegradationBits

0

BootRootCauseGradualDegradationBits

0

BootIsDegradation

false

BootIsStepDegradation

false

BootIsGradualDegradation

false

BootImprovementDelta

0

BootDegradationDelta

0

BootIsRootCauseIdentified

false

OSLoaderDuration

2607

BootPNPInitStartTimeMS

32

BootPNPInitDuration

1682

OtherKernelInitDuration

2872

SystemPNPInitStartTimeMS

4507

SystemPNPInitDuration

1200

SessionInitStartTimeMS

5755

Session0InitDuration

2256

Session1InitDuration

485

SessionInitOtherDuration

3740

WinLogonStartTimeMS

12237

OtherLogonInitActivityDuration

1643

UserLogonWaitDuration

242453

On Monday, when the computer started up in one shot, there was no event log. On Tuesday 3 X 100 Warnings.

If I look back to Sunday there were 4 events in the log:

Critical 17/04/2016 7:39:50 AM Diagnostics-Performance 106 Boot Performance Monitoring

Background optimizations (prefetching) took longer to complete, resulting in a performance degradation in the system start up process:
     Name       :   BackgroundPrefetchTime
     Total Time       :   49694ms
     Degradation Time   :   43776ms
     Incident Time (UTC)   :   ‎2016‎-‎04‎-‎17T11:37:14.780800500Z

Warning 17/04/2016 7:39:50 AM Diagnostics-Performance 100 Boot Performance Monitoring

Warning 17/04/2016 7:39:50 AM Diagnostics-Performance 203 Shutdown Performance Monitoring

This service caused a delay in the system shutdown process:
     File Name       :   PolicyAgent
     Friendly Name       :   Windows IPsec SPD Server DLL
     Version       :   6.1.7601.17514 (win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850)
     Total Time       :   304ms
     Degradation Time   :   878ms
     Incident Time (UTC)   :   ‎2016‎-‎04‎-‎16T19:44:48.281770200Z

Warning 17/04/2016 7:39:50 AM Diagnostics-Performance 200 Shutdown Performance Monitoring

Windows has shutdown:
     Shutdown Duration   :   18011ms
     IsDegradation       :   false
     Incident Time (UTC)   :   ‎2016‎-‎04‎-‎16T19:44:48.281770200Z

I hope this give further clues to what is happening.

Thanks in advance, your attention is very appreciated.

philetus

Open a command prompt as administrator.

Type chkdsk /f this will check the disk for errors. It will ask you to reboot.

After that is finished, open the command prompt again and run,

type sfc /scannow

This will check and repair corrupt files in Windows.

Bluelight108

I've just done both the scan and the check and repair...the resulting message is:

"Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations."

BTW: was this a different way of doing the scan disk and error check from the TOOLS section...I did those checks last week...this certainly seemed faster.

Thanks again Philetus, I still appreciate your continued assistance in solving this mystery.

Bluelight108

Hello again Philetus,

I have been silent for a few days hoping that the issue was solved, as I've watched my computer start up cold 3 mornings in a row, but this morning it did not start and I had to power off and power on again.

The Operational Diagnostic performance event viewer shows a lot less events (there used to be multiples a day). One 100 Boot performance monitoring per day event for the 3 days it started up on the first shot - 2 warning and one critical, which is surprising.

So, if you or anyone who has followed all the different steps that have been taken to try to solve this issue, has any wisdom to share, Please do.

The computer is running well at the moment even with these double start ups but I can`t imagine that holding the power button to shut it down and restarting it most every morning is not doing it harm that is cumulative.

Thank you in advance to any advice put forward.

philetus

I would run a memory test just to rule it out completely.

http://www.memtest86.com/

Since it only does this from the initial cold start, I would suspect the power supply is weak and tired and doesn't quite have enough for that first start attempt.

Bluelight108

Thank you again for responding Philetus. It's a very busy spring season here in the country so I am not indoors much...it is supposed to rain next week so I will be more present on the issue.

The memtest is something I had looked into before posting on this forum...I got the image disk done and had stopped cold in my tracks when I realized that I don't have a clue on which settings to do or how to interpret the results, so I went looking for more info and found this forum/You...the idea that some computers crash doing the memtest was not promising either to this newbie. Putting this on the back burner for a moment, as well as chingin the power supply (last resort), I want to mention that the computer is starting up cold a bit more often and certainly is shutting down better without the force shutdown messages coming up as often.

There have also been no critical event in the diagnostic performance this week, only warnings and only a few, so these are great improvements.

This brings me back to CCleaner, where I have disabled some Windows Startup items, but not knowing if there are more that could be disabled?, and I have not the knowledge to know if any of the Startup schedule or Context menu could also be disabled? Would you be so kind as to look first at the following Windows Startup items that are left running and let me know if any more can be disabled?

Yes HKCU:Run CCleaner Monitoring Piriform Ltd "C:\Program Files\CCleaner\CCleaner64.exe" /MONITOR

Yes HKLM:Run EvtMgr6 Logitech, Inc. C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPointP\SetPoint.exe /launchGaming
Yes HKLM:Run Hotkey Utility Acer Incorporated C:\Program Files (x86)\Acer\Hotkey Utility\HotkeyUtility.exe

Yes HKLM:Run Logitech Download Assistant Microsoft Corporation C:\Windows\system32\rundll32.exe C:\Windows\System32\LogiLDA.dll,LogiFetch
Yes HKLM:Run RTHDVCPL Realtek Semiconductor C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA\RAVCpl64.exe -s

Yes HKLM:Run StartCCC Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. "C:\Program Files (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static\CLIStart.exe" MSRun

Yes Startup Common APC UPS Status.lnk American Power Conversion Corporation C:\Program Files (x86)\APC\APC PowerChute Personal Edition\Display.exe

Thank you in advance Philetus

philetus

Open CCleaner/Options/Monitoring and uncheck the enable monitoring boxes. Just run it when you feel the need.

Type msconfig in Windows search. Startup tab and disable

Logitech Download Assistant it doesn't need to be searching for a driver all the time

StartCCC

and Hotkey Utility if you don't use it Acer Hotkey Utility is a desktop utility to hide programs and windows, instantly shutdown, restart or logoff, open unlimited amounts of websites, programs, games, files, folders, drives and more. Hotkey Utility is instaled by default with all new Acer computers.

Reboot.

Open a command prompt as Administrator and type sfc /scannow

type and run chkdsk /f

Bluelight108

Followed your instructions, all done...no issue restarting, thank you again Philetus We'll see how it starts up tomorrow.

In the mean time I feel I should ask is there any thing I should be disabling from the Startup Scheduled tasks? or Context menu Startup? in CCleaner tomorrow if the issue is still there.

Yes   Task   Adobe ARM   Adobe Systems Incorporated   "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\AdobeARM.exe"
Yes   Task   Adobe Flash Player Updater   Adobe Systems Incorporated   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashPlayerUpdateService.exe
Yes   Task   Adobe Reader Speed Launcher       "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 10.0\Reader\Reader_sl.exe"
Yes   Task   CCleanerSkipUAC   Piriform Ltd   "C:\Program Files\CCleaner\CCleaner.exe" $(Arg0)
Yes   Task   SidebarExecute   Microsoft Corporation   C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe
Yes   Task   UALU notificatin   Acer Incorporated   "C:\Program Files\Acer\Acer Updater\UALU.exe"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Context menu Startup

Yes   Directory   Kaspersky Anti-Virus 16.0.0   Kaspersky Lab ZAO   C:\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky Internet Security 16.0.0\x64\shellex.dll
Yes   Drive   Kaspersky Anti-Virus 16.0.0   Kaspersky Lab ZAO   C:\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky Internet Security 16.0.0\x64\shellex.dll
Yes   File   Adobe.Acrobat.ContextMenu   Adobe Systems Inc.   C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat Elements\ContextMenu.dll
Yes   File   EXIF ContextMenu   ArcSoft Inc.   C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcSoft\RAW Thumbnail Viewer\ShellContextMenu.dll
Yes   File   Kaspersky Anti-Virus 16.0.0   Kaspersky Lab ZAO   C:\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky Internet Security 16.0.0\x64\shellex.dll
Yes   File   MWLIVShellExt   Egis Technology Inc.    C:\Program Files (x86)\EgisTec MyWinLocker\x64\MWLIVShellExt.dll
Yes   File   PhotoStreamsExt   Apple Inc.   C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Internet Services\ShellStreams64.dll
Yes   File   ShredderContextMenu   Egis Technology Inc.   C:\Program Files (x86)\EgisTec Shredder\x64\ShredderContextMenu.dll
Yes   Folder   Adobe.Acrobat.ContextMenu   Adobe Systems Inc.   C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat Elements\ContextMenu.dll
Yes   Folder   Kaspersky Anti-Virus 16.0.0   Kaspersky Lab ZAO   C:\Program Files (x86)\Kaspersky Lab\Kaspersky Internet Security 16.0.0\x64\shellex.dll

philetus

If you don't use a program, uninstall it. I don't use Win locker so I uninstall it and sredder.

Adobe ARM, Adobe Flash Player Updater, Adobe Reader Speed Launcher, CCleanerSkipUAC, UALU notificatin don't need to be running in the background.

Do you use SidebarExecute "Windows Sidebar is a long, vertical bar that is displayed on the side of your desktop. It contains mini-programs called gadgets".