since new i have had startup problems with this laptop.it gets stuck on microsoft loading screen and i have to manually turn off with power button.

usually it then goes to startup repair then does system restore and it boots ok next time.

this time though system restore didnt word and it took six attempts to startup.

one option it gave me was to look at system recovery which i tried to do.it asked me for the admin password so i entered my login password which is the only one ever used on the only account ever used on this pc.

it said admin rights disabled contact your administrator.contact myself?

any ideas on how to access admin rights please

Hey mowman, welcome to the forum...


Sorry to hear about your computer problems, but let's try to get you up and running. I'm going to assume this is a Vista computer since the administrator account seems to be disabled. Please follow these instructions to enable the administrator account.

Note: Typically, the administrator password is <empty> or administrator

hi swagger thanks for the extremely quick reply

i tried to follow the instructions but when i typed in net user administrator / active:yes it said / is unknown

i probably did something wrong but i'm not sure what

No space after the / and before active Let me know how it goes.

Everything seemed to go well that time.I now have 2 accounts on this pc.My original one and now an account called administrator.

So hopefully now if i ever do need system recovery or something similar i will be ok with the new password.

Thanks swagger for your excellent and speedy help

No problem... Is your system still not booting up properly or is that fixed now?

The problem with booting up has been present since the day i bought it.When i first set it up and installed the windows updates and selected restart as it told me to it got stuck.

It has continued to do this off and on for 9 months since.I got onto hp about this and they told me to take it back to pc world for repair.

However as i had waited for about 3 months to do this pc world said it was a software problem and this was not covered by warranty after 30 days.

Now i have figured out that it fails to start shortly after windows updates so i have set it to never check for updates and hope this will prevent further startup problems

That's no way to live your life... Have you tried the simple things like from a cmd prompt window (Start Menu -> Run) or in your case with Vista (Start Orbit, type in cmd in the search bar), chkdsk /F & sfcscan /scannow ??? NOTE: You must reboot after typing in chkdsk /F in order for it to run. Not sure if either of these will fix your problem but they may if your installation was slightly corrupted. There are some others things we can try as well if those two don't work.

ok so i ran sfscan /scannow and all was fine-no integrity violations.

But then i ran chkdsk /f.it said cannot run until reboot y/n so i typed y and it said it will start at next bootup.

So i exited and restarted but it started up as normal-no chkdsk.

I am guessing i did something wrong again but i really cant work out what.

Sounds like you did everything right... Not sure why it didn't run though. If the sfc /scannow did not find any integrity issues, then my next step would be to boot to the Recovery Console from your Vista CD (retail not recovery) and execute the command chkdsk /r. Do you have your Vista CD still?

Note: You'll need to print these instructions or write them down

To use SFC in offline mode for Vista or Server 2008 do the following:

1. Boot from your Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 DVD Note: Needs to be a full Vista disc, not an OEM recovery disc
2. On the first screen of Setup choose Next
3. In the lower left of the screen choose Repair your computer
4. On the System Recovery Options screen choose your installation of Windows and then click Next
5. Click Command prompt
6. Type in the following command:
   CODE
   SFC.EXE /scannow /offbootdir:c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows
7. When complete type in
   CODE
   exit
   and reboot to see if Windows starts up now.

Info taken from here

Also, if worse comes to worse it could be worth backing up all your needed files and running a full Sytem Recovery using the factory discs or recovery partition (usually accessible on HP's by pressing F11 at boot). If that doesn't fix the problem then your issue isn't software and would certainly be covered under your 1 year warranty .

Thanks for this information exile. Did not know about this.

This laptop came with vista pre-installed so have never had a disc.

Something new is happening now.Although it is booting ok at the moment,when the login screen appears the bottom third of the page is black for a second or so with a bit of distortion at the top of the black bit.The other day i got some weird pixelation instead of this.This has only happened since i set up tha admin account although i cant see what difference that would make.Maybe it is something to do with the 6 manual shutdowns i had to do when it wouldnt boot the other day.

Video corruption would indicate that your graphics processor is having issues. You should check the manufacturer's website for driver updates and install them to see if that fixes it, although I must admit this does not sound like a driver issue, it sounds like disc corruption or a bad hard drive. You should be able to take it to the place you bought it and at least get them to do a free diagnostic (if it's an HP then it's covered by your warranty).

I got chkdsk to run today through windows explorer.I dont think it found anything but it did not really give me time to read everything at the end before it restarted.

Strangely today i have had no black section at log in screen on both boot ups

Weird, maybe it was hard drive corruption as exile eluded to. You might be best off taking it to the shop like he also suggested just to be on the safe side.

I will try and get it repaired but i wont hold my breath as last time they refused to do anything.

Thanks for your help guys.

You're welcome .

Please keep us posted. Also, remember if the computer is under warranty and the shop does warranty work then they are required to do a diagnostic free of charge, then they can tell you what the problem is. If it's software you can either pay them to fix it or just reinstall Windows (after doing a backup of any important data of course). If it's a hardware issue (which the diagnostic would check for) then it is covered by your warranty and they should repair it free of charge. Either way, the diagnostic costs you nothing as long as they are certified by the company that makes your laptop for warranty repairs, which these shops usually are.

Also, if it's an HP computer you can take it to any Best Buy store (if in the US) and have the free diagnostic performed as they are HP certified.

Hi guys a bit of an update and another question.

I decided against taking it back straight away as they were useless last time so i contacted hp support by email.Told them the problems and demanded they do something about it as it is still under warranty.Also threatened to refer them to the office of fair trading here in uk.

I just got a reply telling me to do a restore back to factory settings using recovery manager.Do you think this will be worth it as it was rubbish the day i bought it and will i not be restoring it back to a time when it didnt work properly.

PS.I wanted to get a weather report for the Brazillian Grand Prix in Sao Paolo earlier so i went to a seemingly safe website for the report and got attacked by the rogue av Total Security.Luckily i shut it down quickly enough and all scans were clean.This is my first pc and with the luck i am having it may well be ny last LOL.

If you experience anything strange? Get back to us. Will give you instructions & put you in the HiJacKThis Forum here!

from bleepingcomputer

Total Security is a rogue anti-spyware program that is a clone of Antivirus 360. This program is installed via Trojans that display fake security alerts about threats to your computer and then installs Total Security without your permission on to your computer. Once installed, Total Security will scan your computer and display a variety of infections that cannot be removed until you purchase the program. These infections, though, do not really exist and are being shown to scare you into purchasing the program. While running, Total Security will constantly barrage you with nag screens and fake security warnings about problems on your computer. Just like the fake infection results, these alerts are just a tactic being used to scare you into purchasing the program. Last, but not least, you will see a window labeled Total Security Protection Center that impersonates the legitimate Windows Security Center. This protection center states that your computer has no protection and recommends that you purchase Total Security. It goes without saying that you should not purchase anything from this company.

There is no issue with the Total Security rogue.I have read enough about it to know what to do when one of them tries it on.Thanks for the reply though

Your Welcome! Please let us know if we can do anything else for you... regards...

It's worth doing the restore to give it a shot, one never knows, it may fix it. If it doesn't, get back with them because sometimes even something so simple as a faulty factory image on the hard drive which does happen and would also be covered by your warranty .

I sent a reply to HP asking this and will see what they come back with.If they still suggest it i will give it a go.

It seems quite easy to do even for me.I dont really need to back up any files as i mainly use it for playing poker and just general surfing.

Is there anything else i would need to know before proceeding?

Nope, not really. Just reboot the PC and start pressing F11. It will present you with the option to do a recovery. Make sure you do a Destructive Restore though, not a repair .

Also make sure you save any data you want, (ie. Pictures, music, and the like)

I was actually thinking of a DESTRUCTIVE RESTORE though you probably didnt mean a sledgehammer like i planned to use.

Ah well here goes nothing

Well its been 4 days since i did the system recovery and so far so good.No startup problems.

I still dont understand why restoring it back to a time when it didnt work properly would fix it but hey who cares as long as is working who cares.

I hope it stays like this because i really dont want to go through all these reinstalls and updates again.

It was probably some corruption in the registry which the restore fixed. I'm glad you got it working and I hope it stays working well for you .