Ok, so the other day my wife wanted me to video our fish (she collects) so she could post the vid on some forum she visits. I have a Sony digital handycam and have used it before with no problems. This time, when I went to d/l the vid to the comp to edit using the software (Finepix) the program crashes on me. No biggie I figure, I'll just reinstall the proggy and it'll work fine. But wait, it doesn't show in add/remove programs and the proggy itself doesn't have an uninstall feature. So I did something I'm now pretty sure I shouldn't have: i just deleted the file the program was in, then I ran regcleaner. Then when I rebooted I noticed it took a good 10 minutes to get from the black Windows Xp screen with the little blue activity bar to the blue logon screen. I had this happen to me once before but can't remember what I did to fix it...i think i did a system restore. Any ideas as to what I should do? I know what not to do next time but what might fix this long boot problem?

btw: the system is fully up to date and has been working flawlessly until I did this.

Quote: Originally Posted by BigJunk93YJ had this happen to me once before but can't remember what I did to fix it...i think i did a system restore.

Try "last known good config" from the boot menu

ok, last good config didn't do the trick. i also tried to do a system restore using 2 different restore points with no luck: after reboot is says it couldn't restore the system.

any other ideas? i really, really don't want to have to reformat.

Could this be a RAM problem?

i don't think so, i play BF2 and i would think (though could be wrong) that i would notice something in game to tell me my ram is bad. and, though i don't know how reliable, when booting all ram checks OK.

edit: i think regleaner is what fixed my problem last time. when running regcleaner it came up with an entry:

Quote: Path HKEY_LOCAL_MACINE\software\windows\currentversion Value %systemroot%\inf;c:\drivers\sonyusb Problem Details Not fully safe to delete The value, "c:\windows\inf" refers to a missing file or folder

the program was for a sony camera and i did install the driver. could this registry entry be my problem?

Quote: Originally Posted by BigJunk93YJ i don't think so, i play BF2 and i would think (though could be wrong) that i would notice something in game to tell me my ram is bad. and, though i don't know how reliable, when booting all ram checks OK. edit: i think regleaner is what fixed my problem last time. when running regcleaner it came up with an entry: the program was for a sony camera and i did install the driver. could this registry entry be my problem?

the driver could be the issue... try removing it...

the memory test at start up... does a very light skim of your memory... many times i have seen bad memory get by that test with no issues... you want a test that truly tests your memory... http://www.memtest.org/

it also may be another issue... when you are rebooting the computer... are there any memory sticks or is the camera hooked up to the computer?

showing my noob...

how do i uninstall the driver?

it created a folder:
c:\drivers\sonyusb\
that is full of dll's and "system files". should i just delete the folder?

go into device manager...

go to view... then display hidden devices...

then go back into view sort by devices...

look for the sony driver...

go into the properties... u can either disable the device... or go to the driver tab... click on driver details... and that should show you where the driver is.... rename the driver to .old... reboot...

another way to rule out the driver is to boot into safemode... if it boots quickly... then it may be a driver issue,

i went through every single item, expanded all, and nothing that says sony, finepix, or pixela. this is getting aggrivating. i'm gonna try rebooting in safemode and see what happens.

god I've had that same problem a few times lately! No software or hardware seems to be the problem, though one time unplugging my speakers fixed it...go figure. And no virus since it's a new clean install but I did run a few scans.
Some times when I do the F10 act to access Windows settings a blue screen comes up saying one of my drives is unstable & needs to be scanned. This hasn't always fixed it but it did this morning!
Safe mode or last good setting has never fixed it.
I really went crazy with this problem especially after Windows finally started up. I can't begin to list the wierd things that would happen!
It took a LOT of trial & error & unbelievable patience to finally get it straghtened out...at least for the moment. Obviously I set a new restore point this morning when everything was working fine.
Sorry I couldn't be more precise and sure wish you luck!

If the only problem is a long boot time if you dont need to completly shut the compy down cant your resort to hibernating it? Takes alot less time to come out of hibernation then it does to completly boot....

Only if your just angry with the boot time.

i decided to reformat. but thanks for the suggestions.

heh, i forgot to mention bootvis

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=664

Quote: Originally Posted by BigJunk93YJ i decided to reformat. but thanks for the suggestions.

I'm 99 percent certain the hang up was caused by the alteration of the registry. Changing the registry affects the computer instantly, and no 'last known good config' will save it. I personally have had nothing but bad luck with these third party registry editors.

Doing a reinstall is the only way to go for me! However, if you do try to edit the registry before resorting to a reinstall, PLEASE do a back-up and save yourself a headache!