(cross-post added to Vista Perf & Maint)
"Ginty" wrote in message
...
Hi All,
I have windows Vista Home Basic and last night I initiated a few updates
that had been prompting me for a few weeks.
Unfortunately I didn't pay too much attention to what these were, however I
think they included an office 2007 service pack, the new microsoft download
manager, an NVIDIA driver update and something else which escapes me.


Say no more. eg

BTW posting in WU with symptoms like this is similar to running down the
street chasing the truck driver who just delivered a new appliance, trying
to get some support for it... eg (Cross-posting for convenience.)

FWIW NT users have an option of booting in standard video mode
Does Vista have a similar option?

Apparently the old /basevideo option is now replaced by /vga in Vista.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms791516.aspx

I'd try using /SOS too.. ; ).


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---


Anyway so I started the update process and the went to bed, this morning
though I found the monitor off, the computer on but not doing much, and
didn't respond to mouse or keyboard input.
I subsequently re-booted it and now when it comes on I get a re-assuring
'beep', but it then goes into some harddrive chatter for a while, maybe 10
mins or so, and then just stops.
Throughout this whole time the monitor does not come on at all.
So sorry I don't have much info here but I really am at a loss as to what
has happened or what I can do here.
I've tried to get into bios or something but that doesn't work either, or if
it does I don't know about it as my monitor is never triggered to wake-up.
Hopefully someone reading this has some clue, and please let me know if I
can provide any more info for you.
I really am at a loss here.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Best regards, Stephen

Some more info...

I had a quick look into this problem over lunch and the motherboard is
reporting everything is fine - the beep feedback is that it is booting as
normal.

If I unplug my harddrive, the monitor still does not come on, therefore I am
wondering if the harddrive noise in the background is actually windows
starting up properly and the problem is simply that my graphics card does not
work.

My graphics card is an NVIDIA 9500, and one of the vista updates was a new
NVIDIA driver.
Could this update have written to some non-volatile space on the graphics
card which has done this?
Or could it have messed up my BIOS?

Thanks for any advice, in either case any advice on how to fix without being
able to 'see' anything.
Note that my motherboard does not have on-board graphics.

"Robert Aldwinckle" wrote:

(cross-post added to Vista Perf & Maint)
"Ginty" wrote in message
...
Hi All,
I have windows Vista Home Basic and last night I initiated a few updates
that had been prompting me for a few weeks.
Unfortunately I didn't pay too much attention to what these were, however I
think they included an office 2007 service pack, the new microsoft download
manager, an NVIDIA driver update and something else which escapes me.


Say no more. eg

BTW posting in WU with symptoms like this is similar to running down the
street chasing the truck driver who just delivered a new appliance, trying
to get some support for it... eg (Cross-posting for convenience.)

FWIW NT users have an option of booting in standard video mode
Does Vista have a similar option?

Apparently the old /basevideo option is now replaced by /vga in Vista.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms791516.aspx

I'd try using /SOS too.. ; ).


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---


Anyway so I started the update process and the went to bed, this morning
though I found the monitor off, the computer on but not doing much, and
didn't respond to mouse or keyboard input.
I subsequently re-booted it and now when it comes on I get a re-assuring
'beep', but it then goes into some harddrive chatter for a while, maybe 10
mins or so, and then just stops.
Throughout this whole time the monitor does not come on at all.
So sorry I don't have much info here but I really am at a loss as to what
has happened or what I can do here.
I've tried to get into bios or something but that doesn't work either, or if
it does I don't know about it as my monitor is never triggered to wake-up.
Hopefully someone reading this has some clue, and please let me know if I
can provide any more info for you.
I really am at a loss here.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Best regards, Stephen

"Ginty" wrote in message
...
Some more info...

I had a quick look into this problem over lunch and the motherboard is
reporting everything is fine - the beep feedback is that it is booting as
normal.

If I unplug my harddrive, the monitor still does not come on, therefore I am
wondering if the harddrive noise in the background is actually windows
starting up properly and the problem is simply that my graphics card does not
work.


Correct.



My graphics card is an NVIDIA 9500, and one of the vista updates was a new
NVIDIA driver.
Could this update have written to some non-volatile space on the graphics
card which has done this?
Or could it have messed up my BIOS?


Hopefully neither, just not using the device correctly in that mode.



Thanks for any advice, in either case any advice on how to fix without being
able to 'see' anything.


Did you look at that article I cited? There is a link for Vista users on each page
to instructions on how to use BCEDIT /SET Then there is link at the bottom
of that page to a FAQ about BCEDIT. Unfortunately there is no hint about
whether that tool can be accessed from your recovery console, which I suspect
may be one of your few options, if you don't already have a boot option set up
to do this. BTW are you sure that there is no way to switch your boot to use
base video? That seems like a pretty essential feature to have...

Ok. Here's a hint about that

http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/pages/447166.aspx

(TechNet search for
("recovery environment" OR "Windows RE") Vista bcedit
)

quote
Q: Are ther repair tools that can be deployed on the fly to fix set up--I've seen Ko Ze
refer to doing things with BCEDIT or other tools?
A: If I got it right. You could pop in a Windows RE media in to get to the recovery environment
and use cmp prompt from there. You would have bcedit available to repair/change your boot options
/quote

So all you need then is to know whether you have "a Windows RE media" to use... ; )


Note that my motherboard does not have on-board graphics.


All that should matter is whether your video card has a VGA mode.


Hopefully, the cross-post will let somebody who is actually using Vista
see this thread and then try to help you.


Good luck

Robert
---



"Robert Aldwinckle" wrote:

(cross-post added to Vista Perf & Maint)
"Ginty" wrote in message
...
Hi All,
I have windows Vista Home Basic and last night I initiated a few updates
that had been prompting me for a few weeks.
Unfortunately I didn't pay too much attention to what these were, however I
think they included an office 2007 service pack, the new microsoft download
manager, an NVIDIA driver update and something else which escapes me.


Say no more. eg

BTW posting in WU with symptoms like this is similar to running down the
street chasing the truck driver who just delivered a new appliance, trying
to get some support for it... eg (Cross-posting for convenience.)

FWIW NT users have an option of booting in standard video mode
Does Vista have a similar option?

Apparently the old /basevideo option is now replaced by /vga in Vista.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms791516.aspx

I'd try using /SOS too.. ; ).


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---


Anyway so I started the update process and the went to bed, this morning
though I found the monitor off, the computer on but not doing much, and
didn't respond to mouse or keyboard input.
I subsequently re-booted it and now when it comes on I get a re-assuring
'beep', but it then goes into some harddrive chatter for a while, maybe 10
mins or so, and then just stops.
Throughout this whole time the monitor does not come on at all.
So sorry I don't have much info here but I really am at a loss as to what
has happened or what I can do here.
I've tried to get into bios or something but that doesn't work either, or if
it does I don't know about it as my monitor is never triggered to wake-up.
Hopefully someone reading this has some clue, and please let me know if I
can provide any more info for you.
I really am at a loss here.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Best regards, Stephen

Hi there,

Hopefully you did not take that driver from windows update?

Never take drivers from windows update unless they are intended for
Microsoft hardware.

If an updated driver is needed because the hardware does not work proper go
to the manufacturers website to look for an updatede driver.

If it ain't broke: do not try to"FIX" it.

If you did take the optional drivers from windows update try booting last
known good configuration, rolling back on the driver or system restore or
restore from the fullsystem backup you hopefully made.

here you can see how to roll back on a device driver:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...rrollback.mspx


You can disable the update appearing when automatic updates is set by going
to the windows update website and unmark (hide) driver in question.

Best regards,
Michel Denie

"Ginty" wrote in message
...
Some more info...

I had a quick look into this problem over lunch and the motherboard is
reporting everything is fine - the beep feedback is that it is booting as
normal.

If I unplug my harddrive, the monitor still does not come on, therefore I
am
wondering if the harddrive noise in the background is actually windows
starting up properly and the problem is simply that my graphics card does
not
work.

My graphics card is an NVIDIA 9500, and one of the vista updates was a new
NVIDIA driver.
Could this update have written to some non-volatile space on the graphics
card which has done this?
Or could it have messed up my BIOS?

Thanks for any advice, in either case any advice on how to fix without
being
able to 'see' anything.
Note that my motherboard does not have on-board graphics.

"Robert Aldwinckle" wrote:

(cross-post added to Vista Perf & Maint)
"Ginty" wrote in message
...
Hi All,
I have windows Vista Home Basic and last night I initiated a few
updates
that had been prompting me for a few weeks.
Unfortunately I didn't pay too much attention to what these were,
however I
think they included an office 2007 service pack, the new microsoft
download
manager, an NVIDIA driver update and something else which escapes me.


Say no more. eg

BTW posting in WU with symptoms like this is similar to running down the
street chasing the truck driver who just delivered a new appliance,
trying
to get some support for it... eg (Cross-posting for convenience.)

FWIW NT users have an option of booting in standard video mode
Does Vista have a similar option?

Apparently the old /basevideo option is now replaced by /vga in
Vista.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms791516.aspx

I'd try using /SOS too.. ; ).


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---


Anyway so I started the update process and the went to bed, this
morning
though I found the monitor off, the computer on but not doing much, and
didn't respond to mouse or keyboard input.
I subsequently re-booted it and now when it comes on I get a
re-assuring
'beep', but it then goes into some harddrive chatter for a while, maybe
10
mins or so, and then just stops.
Throughout this whole time the monitor does not come on at all.
So sorry I don't have much info here but I really am at a loss as to
what
has happened or what I can do here.
I've tried to get into bios or something but that doesn't work either,
or if
it does I don't know about it as my monitor is never triggered to
wake-up.
Hopefully someone reading this has some clue, and please let me know if
I
can provide any more info for you.
I really am at a loss here.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Best regards, Stephen

Suspect the video driver is your culprit. The MS driver might safely update
a pre-existing version of the MS driver but OEM and hardware vendors'
drivers tend to be more complex and may include utilities or features that
the MS drivers lack... hence creating a conflict when only a part of the
installed driver software package is updated by MS update.

You can try booting into Safe Mode and run a system restore to before you
did the updates. If system restore gives an error when run from the safe
mode GUI, or if the computer cannot boot into safe mode either, you can try
running system restore from a safe mode command prompt instead. If system
restore doesn't fix the problem you can try the "Last known good" option
(also found in the safe mode boot menu) as already suggested.



"Ginty" wrote in message
...
Some more info...

I had a quick look into this problem over lunch and the motherboard is
reporting everything is fine - the beep feedback is that it is booting as
normal.

If I unplug my harddrive, the monitor still does not come on, therefore I
am
wondering if the harddrive noise in the background is actually windows
starting up properly and the problem is simply that my graphics card does
not
work.

My graphics card is an NVIDIA 9500, and one of the vista updates was a new
NVIDIA driver.
Could this update have written to some non-volatile space on the graphics
card which has done this?
Or could it have messed up my BIOS?

Thanks for any advice, in either case any advice on how to fix without
being
able to 'see' anything.
Note that my motherboard does not have on-board graphics.

"Robert Aldwinckle" wrote:

(cross-post added to Vista Perf & Maint)
"Ginty" wrote in message
...
Hi All,
I have windows Vista Home Basic and last night I initiated a few
updates
that had been prompting me for a few weeks.
Unfortunately I didn't pay too much attention to what these were,
however I
think they included an office 2007 service pack, the new microsoft
download
manager, an NVIDIA driver update and something else which escapes me.


Say no more. eg

BTW posting in WU with symptoms like this is similar to running down the
street chasing the truck driver who just delivered a new appliance,
trying
to get some support for it... eg (Cross-posting for convenience.)

FWIW NT users have an option of booting in standard video mode
Does Vista have a similar option?

Apparently the old /basevideo option is now replaced by /vga in
Vista.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms791516.aspx

I'd try using /SOS too.. ; ).


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---


Anyway so I started the update process and the went to bed, this
morning
though I found the monitor off, the computer on but not doing much, and
didn't respond to mouse or keyboard input.
I subsequently re-booted it and now when it comes on I get a
re-assuring
'beep', but it then goes into some harddrive chatter for a while, maybe
10
mins or so, and then just stops.
Throughout this whole time the monitor does not come on at all.
So sorry I don't have much info here but I really am at a loss as to
what
has happened or what I can do here.
I've tried to get into bios or something but that doesn't work either,
or if
it does I don't know about it as my monitor is never triggered to
wake-up.
Hopefully someone reading this has some clue, and please let me know if
I
can provide any more info for you.
I really am at a loss here.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Best regards, Stephen