Dell E6230 Laptop hangs/freezes after booting issue

[charles2000]

Was not sure which category to choose for this one.

This laptop (from the day I purchased it), always hangs/freezes after boot up. I have to power it off and power it back on. On that second attempt, everything works fine.

It came with Windows 7 Pro and the issue started several days after I purchases it. The retailer has twice wiped the drive and reinstalled Windows 7, to no avail.

I went to Win 10 thinking that might clear it up. But the problem persisted. I went back to 7 and then now I am back to Win 10 Anniversary.

I have run all the diags that Dell suggested and that I could get to run. I have ran the diags available when you boot with F12 held down. Never is any issue found.

Does anyone have any ideas. I don't believe an app is causing the issue because it started hanging up immediately after purchase with nothing but VLC, Chrome, and Firefox installed from the dealer.

Thanks

Charles

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hi Charles, and welcome to Tom's Hardware!

The fact that it freezes with two different Operating Systems, with their own drivers, make me think it is a hardware issue or possibly a BIOS issue. Might consider downloading and flashing the BIOS to the latest version for Windows 10, or having the retailer do that for you. Also consider downloading and running a memory test application. Can use Memtest86 ISO downloaded to a CD, or USB, or use the Win-10 built in memory testing app Mdsched.exe. For both make sure nothing is running, and turn off, then reboot your computer. Follow the instructions. Run the memtest for several hours.

Also please let us know exactly where in the boot process your system freezes, before the startup screen, before windows is loading, before the welcome screen, after user signin or is it after you reach the desktop.

Finally, once booted up successfully, go to the control panel, Administrative tools, Event Viewer, and in the upper left corner, click on Event Viewer, Custom Views, Administrative Events. See if there are any Red Errors or Red Critical events that correspond to the time the freeze occurred.

That info can help determine what is causing the freezes.

 

[charles2000]

Hi Charles, and welcome to Tom's Hardware!

The fact that it freezes with two different Operating Systems, with their own drivers, make me think it is a hardware issue or possibly a BIOS issue. Might consider downloading and flashing the BIOS to the latest version for Windows 10, or having the retailer do that for you. Also consider downloading and running a memory test application. Can use Memtest86 ISO downloaded to a CD, or USB, or use the Win-10 built in memory testing app Mdsched.exe. For both make sure nothing is running, and turn off, then reboot your computer. Follow the instructions. Run the memtest for several hours.

Also please let us know exactly where in the boot process your system freezes, before the startup screen, before windows is loading, before the welcome screen, after user signin or is it after you reach the desktop.

Finally, once booted up successfully, go to the control panel, Administrative tools, Event Viewer, and in the upper left corner, click on Event Viewer, Custom Views, Administrative Events. See if there are any Red Errors or Red Critical events that correspond to the time the freeze occurred.

That info can help determine what is causing the freezes.

John:

I did flash the bios and ran the MSFT mem test. I have not been able to run the other one you mentioned. I did check the event list and I am getting a lot of errors when the laptop hangs after booting. I made screenshots and I am going to try to see if there are solutions to any of them. The weird thing is that the computer will boot, then hang. I power it off, and when I restart it always boots fine without any hanging issue.

Thanks

 

[charles2000]

The solution to my problem was to turn off Fast Startup. I found several web pages explaining how it works and issues it can cause. In addition, I consulted with a friend to encourage me to turn it off because it could be the culprit.

Here is how to turn if off: (I was also told that Windows update can turn it back on but I have not verified that.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/windows/how-turn-on-or-off-fast-startup-in-windows-10-3633021/

And here is a link to a discussion about the handing issue with Fast Startup enabled.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_repair/if-your-windows-10-hangs-on-boot-but-not-reboot/d3562259-7975-49d3-961b-58a98ca85c52?auth=1