11 replies to this topic

[goodnews]

Ok as the title says I put the computer into hibernation and when I tried to return to windows it hangs on resuming windows page .all I get is a long set of vertical lines but nothing else happens. I treid so far using xp cd and ran a chkdsk and repair. but it still hangs. now my pc won't recognise the cd! that came out of the blue. if i go to boot in bios the words press any key to run from cd appears but it doesn't and if i didn't go to boot it won't give me any option at all. a single white dash comes up then goes to the resuming windows again. please say you can help i cannot get into windows at all. i have a second hdd installed but im not sure if i can do anytning with it as the computer won;t recognise the cd anymore.

[appleoddity]

Hi Goodnews. Welcome to WhatTheTech...

Sometimes you can have problems with getting out of hibernation mode. It shouldn't happen often, but it does happen.

In order to reset the hibernation mode and "reboot" your computer fresh you need to keep tapping F8 right after your computer is powered on and you see your BIOS screen. You are trying to get a startup menu to appear. When the computer tries to resume from hibernation mode, if you press F8 right before it does it, you will get a menu giving you the option to delete the restoration data and boot normally. Something like that. There are two options. One tries to boot the hibernation you saved, and the other just erases it and "reboots" fresh. Erasing the hibernation data and starting over will cause you to "lose" whatever you were working on when you hibernated if it wasn't saved. It will be similar to just pulling the power cord on a computer.

Now, you should run some diagnostics on your computer to make sure it is functioning OK.

The number one thing you want to do after getting back into windows (if erasing the hibernation mode data works) is to do a surface scan on your hard drive to make sure bad sectors isn't the cause of these problems. Its probably a laptop right? Which raises your chances of a hard drive problem.

Here's what you do. When Windows starts up, click start -> run -> type cmd and press ENTER. At the command prompt, type chkdsk /r and press ENTER. When asked about scheduling a scan during the next reboot, answer 'Y'es and then reboot your computer. Be patient while checkdisk scans your file system and hard drive for bad sectors. Pay attention for messages about "Windows replacing bad clusters..." which means bad sectors were found and could be a sign of a failing hard drive.


EDIT: It sounds like you need to start tapping F8 right around the time that "white dash" appears. In case you are having problems timing it right.

Edited by appleoddity, 22 June 2009 - 10:25 AM.

[goodnews]

Thank you for the welcome and your reply appleoddity. The thng is I already tried F8, (as soon as the computer comes on), and just tried again but the only thing that happens is it goes back to the resuming windows and hangs. It doesn't even get to the menu. When the xp cd worked I managed to run chkdsk and repair and although chkdsk found bad sectors it fixed them, (I assume), as I used the /r command however resuming windows came back up again. I am at a loss as to what to do next.

[Ztruker]

goodnews, some computers take over F8, so give F5 a try. Start tapping and continue to do so every second until you get the screen appleoddity mentioned.

Also, see thsi article, see if it works: http://www.onlinecom...oting/tq48.html

[appleoddity]

Thanks Rich.. I would just add that this menu should appear and it is most likely a "timing" issue where you are not pressing the key at the right time. It involves pressing it multiple times throughout the initial power on stage. If you press it too early, a keyboard error will result and the keyboard will not work. If you press it too late, windows will begin trying to resume from hibernation. There's a trick to it and my best suggestion is to keep trying.

To help as much as I can, the usual time to start pressing the F8 key (multiple times, over and over until the menu shows up) is right after you power your computer on and see the BIOS (manufacturer logo screen usually) screen.

Lastly, you should run the chkdsk /r again. If you find any more "bad clusters," your drive is failing. Get your data off it ASAP, and replace the drive.

[goodnews]

Hi appleoddity/Ztruker(Rich), thanks. My desktop computer uses F8 but I tried F5, also putting in boot floppy disks and cds but they all return to that annoying window. I've run F8 before and I usaully don;t have to dance around to get to the menu but I tried every which way today and yes you guessed it they all took me back to the resuming windows hell. any more ideas nice people?

[Ztruker]

Hi goodnews. Did you try powering off by holding the power button in until the computer completely turns off?

[goodnews]

ztruker yes. update: I took out the cables from the first hdd and I discovered I've got windows on the second hdd. so what I'm going to try now is powering off, reconnect the first hdd, then log into the second one to see if I can troubleshoot the first drive. Problem is 1) I don't know exactly what I should do if I can log in and get to the first hdd and 2) second hdd keeps saying ntldr is missing. I've got it on a floppy but it i have to load it up everytime I log in otherwise it (windows) won't load. Any help appreciated.

[Ztruker]

If you can boot the 2nd HD, then you can copy the file from that HD to the other HD. This would also be a good time to run chkdsk /r against the first HD a few times to see if failures continue to be reported. If yes, then as appleoddity said, the drive is dying, so get your data off it and replace it immediately.

[goodnews]

Thanks Ztruker. I've backed up and ran chkdsk and defrag on all drives. The thing is they're both virtually new! I had them about a month. I think I'm going to have to resort to wiping them clean and reinstalling the OSs as I'm still having problems. Windows on the second drive for example won't open certain files including outlook express and I've no idea why.

[appleoddity]

Goodnews.. We need to determine if we are on the same page with these "bad sectors." You said chkdsk found "bad sectors" and repaired them. How do you know it found bad sectors? Did you specifically see the message, "Windows is replacing bad clusters...?" If a 1 month old drive has bad sectors, its bad. Take it back to the store and get a new one. Reload your operating system and you'll be back in business.

[goodnews]

Hi appleoddity. To be honest with you I never thought about sending them back I just assumed it was something I did or just what happens to drives. I can't say exactly what it said. That time I ran chkdsk through the cd for the first drive. I remember it saying something about bad sectors. Sometimes (quite a lot actually especially after crashes and I have to switch off manually); with the second drive, when it rebooted the last time chkdsk ran and it said '352 KB in bad sectors' and a bunch of other stuff. I have no idea what that means. For the other drives I ran chkdsk from 'my computer' where it just gives the options to check 'fix files system errors' and 'recovery of bad sectors'. I click them and let it run but it doesn't give out a report.