Bootup Takes Two Tries

Slartybart said:

You're welcome Wynona,

Memory errors: On Win8 and Win10 - correct?

Dunno about Win 8 because I installed on a brand new SSD drive. Strangely, I have seen the memory error on shutdown of Windows 10 a couple of times, but not every time I shut down.

Slartybart said:

You might try re-seating the memory. If the memory error persists, try to determine if one of the modules is bad.
See: RAM - Test with Memtest86+ - Windows 7 Help Forums
:Note: This is a long test - let it run the suggested number of passes.

I did the RAM test and HDD test a couple or three times and everything came out OK. However, I'll try what you've linked tomorrow after we get back from doc's office. Routine health stuff.

Slartybart said:

Ouch! The tutorial does say hide MS services. A reset will always get you back.
--> Moot point now, but a good warning for anyone following this thread.

Absotively, posolutely! Ain't goin' back thar agin!

Slartybart said:

How is the machine behaving after the reset? Still requiring two startups?

Still the same . . . requires two attempts to boot. Another thing to note is that on the first attempt to boot, "Press Esc, etc." flashes; you gotta be quick as the 'quick brown fox' to press Esc. On the second attempt, "Press Esc, etc." sticks around long enough to be read and to press Esc.

I was out of town when I installed the SSD and Windows 10 on the laptop, so I'll have to wait until things are unpacked later tomorrow afternoon.

To sum up:

Windows 8.1 on the original laptop hard drive requires two boots.

Windows 10 on a brand new SSD drive (original drive totally removed) requires two boots.

Although I have an external Toshiba hard drive, it's not normally plugged into the laptop unless I'm travelling.

My Brother MFC J825 DW network printer was installed on Windows 8.1.

My Brother MFC J825 DW network printer was not installed on Windows 10 because I was not at home where the printer is.

Oh, and I even changed out the mouse because Fry's had a Microsoft Mobile Mouse on sale for $10!

This laptop came with Vista 64 bit preinstalled several years ago. I immediately removed Vista and installed Windows 7. Windows 7 never required two boots, nor did Windows 8. When Windows 8 came out, I clean installed it and upgraded to Windows 8.1 and then Windows 8.1.1. Somewhere between Windows 8.1 and 8.1.1, things went awry, but I can't pinpoint when.

Thanks for the details, it does help.

When I read your post, it occurred to me that the memory error is a Win10 bug - I reported it to MS feedback and a few other people have posted it here (Noelbeth55 pointed me to the thread)
https://www.tenforums.com/general-dis...-shutdown.html

The clean boot tutorial is fine - just don't remove MS services, they're kind of needed to run MS Windows

The machine is a bit old (Vista original OS) and it might not be up to the task of Win10.

neowin said:

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-10-hardware-requirements-to-be-the-same-as-windows-8

As a quick refresher, Windows 8.1 specs are listed below:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

The specs are quite low, but that's not a surprise really. Microsoft has generally done a good job of letting low-end hardware run its latest bits and it's not like the company would make the HP Stream laptop, obsolete, before it even goes on-sale. More so, Microsoft knows the enterprise will likely not want to upgrade hardware to run Windows 10 and by making it the same as Windows 7, it's a much easier transition.

If you are thinking this is the exact same for Windows 7, the specs are nearly identical but there are a few small differences. Notably, a Windows 7 machines CPU does not need to support PAE, NX, and SSE2 for the OS to operate whereas on Windows 8 and above, it needs these features.

Microsoft Preview said:

Tech Preview FAQ tab1

System requirements

• Basically, if your PC can run Windows 8.1, you’re good to go. If you're not sure, don't worry—Windows will check your system to make sure it can install the preview.
• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Free hard disk space: 16 GB
• Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver
• A Microsoft account and Internet access

Important notes

1. Some PC processors and hardware configurations aren’t supported by Technical Preview.
2. To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an Internet connection, a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768, and a Microsoft account.
3. After you install the preview, you won't be able to play DVDs using Windows Media Player.
4. If you have Windows 8 Pro with Media Center and you install the preview, Windows Media Center will be removed.
5. The preview won’t work on Windows RT 8.1 and Windows N editions.
6. The preview is not available for Windows Phone.
7. A small number of older, 64-bit CPUs might be blocked from installing the preview.
8. If you're running Windows 7 without SP1, you can only upgrade to the preview by downloading an ISO file. If you install Windows 7 SP1, you can upgrade to the preview by using Windows Update or by downloading an ISO file.

If your machine meets or exceeds the required specs - then it will take some more digging.
Please post the URL to a PUBLISHED Speccy report per this tutorial:
Speccy - Publish Snapshot of your System Specs - Windows 7 Help Forums

You said it began around the time you installed 8.1 update 1 - Win10 is really 8.2. There is a difference between Win8 and 8.1 (which now includes update 1) - making the point because you said the machine ran on Vista, Win7 and Win8.

The thing that caught my attention was the having to press the ESC key at boot - that's not normal. What is the screen telling you? Post a screen shot if you can take a picture with a camera, or jot it down - thanks.

Also check if there is a BIOS update available.

We'll take it from there after you get a chance to post the information requested.

Since Win10 is a preview release - consider running it in a Hyper-V virtual machine. It's really easy and Kari did a great job making it nearly foolproof:
Hyper-V virtualization - Setup and Use in Windows 10

That won't solve the double boot, but it will save you from having to reinstall your main OS

Bill
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Slartybart said:

If your machine meets or exceeds the required specs - then it will take some more digging.

Exceeds the requirements big time: AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core 2.10 Ghz; 4 GB RAM; x64 Processor; 320 GB HDD

Slartybart said:

You said it began around the time you installed 8.1 update 1 - Win10 is really 8.2. There is a difference between Win8 and 8.1 (which now includes update 1) - making the point because you said the machine ran on Vista, Win7 and Win8.

When I first got the machine, it had Vista preinstalled, which I took off and installed Windows 7. When Windows 8 came out, I formatted the hard drive and installed Windows 8; updated through the Microsoft Store to Windows 8.1 and then to Windows 8.1.1. I have never made it a dual boot system.

Slartybart said:

The thing that caught my attention was the having to press the ESC key at boot - that's not normal. What is the screen telling you? Post a screen shot if you can take a picture with a camera, or jot it down - thanks.

Whoops! No, no, no, I don't have to press Esc to boot . . . In order to boot from DVD or Jump Drive, I have to press Esc. I just thought it strange that the boot failure barely showed the "Press Esc, etc. . . . message, but the successful boot showed the message long enough to be understood and acted upon. Sorry I misled you.

Slartybart said:

Also check if there is a BIOS update available.

Will do, but it's gonna be a day or so. Hubby's anemic and needs some blood, which will be an all day affair tomorrow.

It'll take a couple days to get the homework done. :) BTW, I also have an HP Pavilion g Series laptop that came with Windows 7 which was uninstalled and replaced with Windows 10. That one hasn't given me a minute's trouble.

Thanks for the help.

topgundcp said:

Also check for the SSD firmware update.

Urk! What's that!? And how do I do it?

This is my first experience with SSD. Also, this problem happened with the old hard drive too.

Wynona said:

Exceeds the requirements big time: AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core 2.10 Ghz; 4 GB RAM; x64 Processor; 320 GB HDD
.....
Whoops! No, no, no, I don't have to press Esc to boot . . . In order to boot from DVD or Jump Drive, I have to press Esc. I just thought it strange that the boot failure barely showed the "Press Esc, etc. . . . message, but the successful boot showed the message long enough to be understood and acted upon. Sorry I misled you.
.....

Ok, no sweat - take care of your husband first.

I'm still a bit confused. The esc is only required when booting from a DVD (jump drive should boot with only a Boot order menu change - without a timer to select).

As I now understand it: You don't ever have to hit esc, you were just describing that the first boot flashes by too quickly, but on the 2nd boot you can read the msg. The question is: Why are you seeing the esc msg at all.

topgundcp said:

Also check for the SSD firmware update.

The issue existed on the spinner with 8.1 update 1 before the SSD was installed and Win10 put on it.

Wynona said:

I tried to run the command, but it just went back to the regular command line and nothing happened.

Is there a bcdtext.txt file on your desktop?
Yes? Please attach that file to your next post.

The other requests for information, Disk management screen shot and is the system booted UEFI or legacy, would also be helpful.

Thanks,

Bill
.

gregrocker said:

Can we also see a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums - same tutorial for 10, except rightclick Start Button to access Disk Mgmt.

Did you unplug the other HD when you installed Win10?

Oops, thought I had posted this:



The other hard drive was completely removed from the laptop. I do wish they'd make laptops with room for more than one hard drive!

Thanks!

Wynona said:

.....
The other hard drive was completely removed from the laptop. I do wish they'd make laptops with room for more than one hard drive!...

Thanks, the disk mgmnt looks fine. I'm not sure why the System Reserved is 350 MB though-more research for me, but I'm pretty sure it's not contributing to the issue.

Unfrotunately, the system is from HP - you won't have many options in BIOS. Look though the settings and see if there is any UEFI boot or Secure boot option - don't change anything, just post the setting. A camera shot is fine if you want to do that.

There are laptops with two drives (I forget the mfgr). I think Lenovo makes a laptop that you can swap out the optical drive and put a 2nd HD drive in it's place.

Bill
.