Vista boot problems
Thursday, February 12, 2009 by Snowman | Discussion: Windows Vista
Hey gang, I need some help here....
I have Windows autoupdate turned off, cause I hate the frickin thing... BUT.... last night as Windows was shutting down I got the "Configuring updates blah blah" message. It quickly went away and the PC powered down, so I though no more of it.
Then when I started Vista to day I got the same message "Configuring updates: update 3 of 3 etc etc" but now it just keeps rebooting a couple seconds after this message appears.
Does anyone know of a way to 'bypass' this?
I have tried just about anything possible. Booting into 'Safe mode' gives the same result - infinite reboots, just without the configuring message.
I'd hate having to reinstall Vista, so I be damn happy if anyone knows a fix for this.
Reply #2 Thursday, February 12, 2009 5:18 PM
Try
Interupt the boot by pressing F8 before the windows logo appears
on the advanced boot screen select last known good configuration using arrow keys then press Enter
(If you have multiple OS's you have to select Vista before above step and press F8 again)
OR
Boot from the Vista disc, select repair.
Reply #3 Thursday, February 12, 2009 5:40 PM
Just a thought, were you watching Bill Murray's 'Groundhog Day' just prior to shutdown? 
Seriously, if you have auto-update switched off, then you should not be getting any "configuring updates "messages. At a guess, I'd say you've picked up a nasty from somewhere and it has your PC stuck in a loop. I can't recall the name off-hand, but I do recall reading a while ago about a virus/trojan that does this to peoples PC's... may have been on C-net, PC User or some such site.
Do you dual boot with XP, Win7, perhaps? If so, you could perform viral and malware scans from there to see if Vista has indeed become infected. Also, have you tried booting from the installation disc and running Vista/performing a repair install from there, just in case it's something as simple as a missing or corrupt dll - registry setting? Other than this I'm not too sure what else you can do, given you are unable to access Vista in either normal or safe modes.
Hopefully somebody more knowledgable than I will come along and offer assistance to this issue. Anyhow, best of luck with it and I hope you're up and running again soon.
Reply #4 Thursday, February 12, 2009 5:57 PM
found that one, Snow....looks like you're not alone.
Reply #5 Thursday, February 12, 2009 5:59 PM
Interestingly, most of the hits are for Linux...gosh and I thought that was the savior of the world's computers......
Reply #6 Friday, February 13, 2009 6:22 AM
Thanks for the tips guys, but nothing helped 
No matter what I did, the bloody thing kept rebooting at some point by itself. Something must have gone seriously 'cockup'.
I had no other choice but to reinstall Vista.... which means I'll be spending the next many days getting my system 'restored' again. Oh the joy....
Reply #7 Friday, February 13, 2009 6:42 AM
Reply #8 Friday, February 13, 2009 7:55 AM
Well.... as I mentioned in my last post:
I don't mind (re)installing Vista. It's all the damn work that comes afterwards that bugs me
Reply #9 Friday, February 13, 2009 8:19 AM
I have run into problems that i created in the past, playing with settings i never should have, and i always say to myself, should i try to fix the problem or just reinstall vista, fix the problem takes ???? but i do know in less than an hour i can have vista running, moral of the story is i should leave well enough alone, but for some unknown reason, i just cant, i read something on the net, figure i will try it, and screw everything up
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Reply #1 Thursday, February 12, 2009 4:32 PM
Doesn't sound like Windows update should be causing that problem. I run XP but have autoupdate turned off and have not seen that. If you can't even use 'Safe mode' to get in and use the restore function not sure how you get out of this mess.
Did you happen to go to some strange sites or download anything recently that could have added a virus or malware?
Does it give you enough time in 'safe mode' to start a security scan?