hi guys im having trouble getting vista to boot past the black loading screen with the progress bar on . I can start it fine in safe mode but not in normal mode , i have scanned and removed a couple of viruses but when i try to do a system restore it just hangs the same also happpens if i try to restore it back to the factory settings . I did get it started earlier after disabling the video card but since then it wont start again any help would be greatly appreciated
Try using the windows repair option on your vista disc http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial148.html
Try going into boot options...have to google it, I can't remember the button to hit, and it will give you a list such as "start without enforcing driver signature" and so on. There should be an option to use a low resolution. Try that and see if you get any further. What type of graphics card do you have? Is it an add-on or the integrated video card? If its the add on, take it out and use the integrated card. Also, while in safe mode, try rolling back the drivers for the video card if you have updated them recently, if not, uninstall them. This is true especially if you are using a nVidia card. I've had a lot of problems with newer drivers for my nVidia card that gives me the same problem, I can see the loading bar, then a black screen. Its because the card isn't putting out a signal the monitor can use, which these new drivers are causing a lot of problems with. If that works to no avail, you can go into the registry and check settings against what you know your monitor can support, something might have gotten changed accidentally. After opening regedit go to: HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\System\CurrentControlSet\VIDEO\ check the settings there(look at the names to figure out what you are looking at, you will need to check "DefaultSettings:VRefresh" "DefaultSettings:XResolution" and "DefaultSettings:YResolution" and make sure they are all three what your monitor can support. I'd recommend backing up your registry before changing anything as well. Those are a few things I had to do(keep in mind it is trial and error) when my monitor was giving me the same problems.
