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Does my Dell Inspiron 3847 do a boot time check.
Perhaps once a month I have noticed that my Dell performs rather oddly at bootup.
The Dell Logo appears, then I hear the disc drive make some unusual noises followed by a period of a minute or so whilst the disc drive light remains on. It looks like it is actually doing something rather than stuck on.
The finally Windows starts up.
What is it, does anyone know, its being doing it ever since I have had the computer.
Is it performing a preboot system or hardware or maintaince checkup on a monthly basis, if so can I program it for when it starts.
Thanks .. Bill
gregory.jones
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June 20th, 2016 11:00
Hey Bill,
Try pressing F12 at boot up to get to the boot menu, then choose the option for "Diagnostics" to see if that produces any errors. Make sure you use the "Thorough" option. Based on what you've said here I'm not convinced it will, but I want to rule a hardware fault out as possibility.
You can also try, once loaded into Windows, running CHKDSK on your system. A detailed explanation on that here:
technet.microsoft.com/.../ee872425.aspx
Basically, open command prompt as an administrator (right-click cmd.exe and choose "Run as Admin") then type in (without quotes) "CHKDSK /R C:" then press enter.
You'll be asked if you want to run a disk check on next reboot, type "y" for Yes and then restart your computer. If bad sectors are found the process may take quite a long time to complete - that's ok. Let it run. Once finished, continue to use your computer & let us know how it behaves.
Hope this helps!
RoHe
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June 20th, 2016 11:00
Do you possibly have an antiviral / antimalware scan set up to run at boot on some schedule?
kingsmiller
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June 20th, 2016 12:00
Thanks for your help.
I have just done a full “Dell System Scan” and not found any problems. The System Scan is actually programmed to perform every 3 months on the 9 day, so it was not that which triggered this morning’s odd behaviour at boot up.
I have been checking a few error reporting files and found this –
On Dell “SupportAssist” under Checkup and then under System History there is a mention of todays date 20 June.
It’s under the System Changes line, there is a blue circle with the letter “i” in it. If I click on the circle it tells me about Software added and deleted. But what I don’t understand is that the Software mentioned was installed on the 15 June and this information point is today, the 20 June.
Also looked at “Task Manager” and I cannot see anything programmed for today, not even my virus checker.
RoHe
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June 20th, 2016 18:00
Does System Scan scan for malware? Maybe you need to run a complete scan with whatever anti-viral software you use, just in case.
Did you look at the Task Scheduler Library in Windows Task Scheduler? Just because software was installed on 15-June, doesn't mean something didn't check again today for another update.
I see Task Scheduler sneaked in an Adobe Reader update check this morning (6-20-16) on my Win 7 PC. I disabled that one a while back, but I guess the last Reader update must have turned it back on... :emotion-12:
kingsmiller
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June 21st, 2016 01:00
Thank you Ron for your support.
As this problem occurs around once per month then I can rule out Virus Checker because there is a daily quick scan and then a full scan only when I call it.
Had a good look at Task Scheduler as you suggest and found a weekly check which occured at around the time and date I had the problem. It is called PCDDataUploadTask. I cannot see why it would do it because my problem occurs monthly and not weekly. As a test I have reset this task for another day and time, so if it occurs again then I can rule out this task.
When this problem occurs, the Disk Drive is doing a continous task (for some unknown reason) but my Internet light is not flickering, so its not uploading or downloading anything.
Regards
RoHe
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June 23rd, 2016 12:00
Any other maintenance apps running in the background on those dates, like a hard drive defrag, a file backup...?
RoHe
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June 23rd, 2016 12:00
kingsmiller
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June 23rd, 2016 14:00
No - I have checked that. Nothing appears to be a "Task Performing".
What is odd is that all this activity is when the Dell Logo is on display and before Windows loads. So is it something Dell is performing about one every month or could it be my Anti-Virus Avast. Is it doing a pre-boot checkup. If so I wish it would say.
Regards..
RoHe
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June 23rd, 2016 17:00
Avast can run a pre-boot scan, but it's scheduled to run when needed, not on a regular basis.
Keep in mind that not everything is scheduled by Windows Task Schedule Library so it's possible there is something scheduled to run on its own and independently.
Dell's diagnostics can run a pre-boot assessment so it's possible that's what's going on...
Maybe somebody else will have better ideas...