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    Alienware M18x w/Windows 7 hangs on Starting Windows screen

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by debrent, Sep 18, 2012.

  1. debrent

    debrent Notebook Enthusiast

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    My new M18x is running Windows 7 64bit on an Intel SSD. What I'm seeing is that it will frequently (but not always) hang on the "Starting Windows" screen on power up. After holding down the power button to force a shutdown, I power it on again and it usually boots fine on the second try. Once in a rare while it will take 2 forced shutdowns before it finally boots.

    Since it will almost always boot on the second attempt, this is more of a nuisance than a show stopper but it does seem to indicate something isn't exactly right.
     
    debrent, Sep 18, 2012
    #1
  2. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    There is definitely something that is causing the hang, have you tried booting in safe mode to see if if the problem is still there?
     
    tijo, Sep 18, 2012
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  3. MrDJ

    MrDJ Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    i would get onto support as tijo mentioned thats not right and the more hard turn offs you do it could damage it more in the long run.
     
    MrDJ, Sep 18, 2012
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  4. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

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    On the next start try running chkdsk utility and see if it helps

    cheers ...
     
    qhn, Sep 20, 2012
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  5. debrent

    debrent Notebook Enthusiast

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    Just to bring closure to this issue in case anyone else ever has similar issues...

    It turned out to be a faulty 2nd disk drive. I tracked down my boot issues to Outlook. My .pst file was on of only a few files on my D: drive. Turns out it was the drive, not Outlook.
     
    debrent, Oct 14, 2012
    #5