# Weird case where Win 8.1 isn't starting up properly only some of the time



## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

Normally, when I start up my Win8.1 computer, it starts up, in the system tray, I can see the Windows sound and network indicators, then the Realtek sound, avast!, and Steam icons show up, and the computer runs fine.

I've noticed a small fraction of the time, this doesn't happen as it should. The sound and network icons show up, but avast! and everything else never start up. Normally, I restart (or shutdown and then turn back on), and everything gets back to normal. (One time the problem re-emerged after the restart, but then a few minutes ago when it happened, the problem did not re-emerge after a restart). I do not remember what manually starting avast! resulted in, but there was no systray icon.

Does anyone know what is going.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

Also, it seems from an avast bootscan that prncacla.inf and amd64_prncacla.inf are corrupted.


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## Deejay100six (Nov 24, 2007)

Hi,

I think you may find this interesting.

GUIDE: CNBJ2530.DPB and prncacla.inf Corruptions - Windows 8/8.1 - Sysnative Forums

Let us know how it goes.


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

did you try to uninstall and reinstall avast! use their uninstall utility

avast! Uninstall Utility | Download aswClear for avast! Removal


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

Deejay100six said:


> Hi,
> 
> I think you may find this interesting.
> 
> ...


Thanks!. SFC /scannow validated avast!, now I will try repair 1



sobeit said:


> did you try to uninstall and reinstall avast! use their uninstall utility
> 
> avast! Uninstall Utility | Download aswClear for avast! Removal


Except more than just avast! isn't working when my computer does these things.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

I ran the DISM thing, then sfc /scannow again, and the cmd prompt said there were no problems.

I am hoping the startup problem is linked to the prncacla stuff.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

This had a repeat. I started up my computer and only the sound and network icons (and the hidden GeForce icon) appeared. No Steam, no avast!, no Realtek audio manager. I restarted and then and now everything works as it should. I was able to load Firefox, but I shutdown right away.

One unifying thing I have noticed each time it happens is that Windows says it is waiting on the Task host something-or-other.

Anyone have any clue what is going?


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## roodap (Mar 2, 2012)

i would try disabling the avast from startup ad enable the windows defender and see if it makes a change in the process of starting the windows.
avast may trying to scan each program before starting
it s just a wild guess.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

roodap said:


> i would try disabling the avast from startup ad enable the windows defender and see if it makes a change in the process of starting the windows.
> avast may trying to scan each program before starting
> it s just a wild guess.


That would be a really bad idea, because avast! is not the only program malfunctioning, and then I would be running my computer without a virus scanner. This problem only occurs about one in a fifty startups.


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## roodap (Mar 2, 2012)

windows defender takes good care of the system. i use that only.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

roodap said:


> windows defender takes good care of the system. i use that only.


I fail to see the relevance of changing antivirus to this problem. As I have said multiple times, avast is not the only problem being screwy. Also, avast does a lot of great things Defender does not.

Remember, this is only happening during a small number of startups.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

Does anyone here, have any idea why this is happening and has any suggestions (other than reason-lessly throwing avast under the bus)?


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## Deejay100six (Nov 24, 2007)

I'm sure I really don't understand your reluctance to follow the advice given. Avast is free, how long would it take you to prove us all wrong?

These kind of issues are sometimes difficult to pinpoint but most of the analysts here will usually try any 'standard' fixes that may be available and then go on to suspect third party apps, especially Av's.



> As I have said multiple times, avast is not the only problem being screwy.


Perhaps not but its not uncommon for any one piece of software to have a detrimental effect on several other applications.



> Also, avast does a lot of great things Defender does not.


Personally, I doubt that but I'm not familiar with Avast other than knowing that it is pretty close to the top of the list of good free Antivirus apps.

As far as I'm aware, Windows Defender in Windows 8/8.1 simply had its name changed fron Windows 7's Microsoft Security Essentials which is top of my list and the only one that I would usually recommend.



> any suggestions (other than reason-lessly throwing avast under the bus)?


These forums are very well moderated and if anyone was seen to be giving "reason-less" advice, the mods/managers would have a quiet word with them.
Who needs a technial support site with a reputation for giving bad advice, right?

Can you give us some more details about what happened when/if you followed the advice in the link I posted in post #3? Sysnative has a close relationship with TSF and many of our best techs work there as well as here.



> SFC /scannow validated avast!, now I will try repair 1


Not sure what you mean by validated Avast.  It doesn't do that, it checks your Windows system files and replaces any that it finds missing or corrupted.
What happened when you tried Repair 1?


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

Deejay100six said:


> I'm sure I really don't understand your reluctance to follow the advice given. Avast is free, how long would it take you to prove us all wrong?
> 
> These kind of issues are sometimes difficult to pinpoint but most of the analysts here will usually try any 'standard' fixes that may be available and then go on to suspect third party apps, especially Av's.
> 
> ...


I have the paid version avast!, but the problem is reinstalling avast! really isn't going to do anything definitive, since the times I get the startup problem is random and fairly rare, and I don't see why I can't implicate Steam or Realtek or Office 2013 or anything else the exact same way. I can try to reinstall avast today or tomorrow (whenever I get a chance), but I don't understand why I shouldn't then uninstall/reinstall all the other problematic programs as well.

One thing I have noticed, on a normal start-up if I shutdown right away, Windows does it without issue
On a problem start-up, if I try to shutdown it makes me force close the Task Scheduler or Task Host or something like that. (I am blanking on the word after Task...)



Deejay100six said:


> These forums are very well moderated and if anyone was seen to be giving "reason-less" advice, the mods/managers would have a quiet word with them.
> Who needs a technial support site with a reputation for giving bad advice, right?
> 
> Can you give us some more details about what happened when/if you followed the advice in the link I posted in post #3? Sysnative has a close relationship with TSF and many of our best techs work there as well as here.
> ...


So basically a little bit after the problem was re-noticed back on April 1st, I decided to do an avast! boot scan to eliminate the possibility of a virus. The boot scan found some corrupted files but no viruses. Thus, I did the steps in that link and they validated the problem avast first detected and then fixed them. However, now it seems that problem was totally unrelated to the boot problem since I had a boot problem yesterday.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Have you tried a clean boot to troubleshoot the issue How to perform a clean boot in Windows


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Rerun SFC /scannow lets see if the corruption is continuing.

We singled out Avast simply because it can effect all the other programs and stop them from loading, or tie up CPU clock cycles, where as Steam or Office will not have the same effect.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

Wrench97 said:


> Rerun SFC /scannow lets see if the corruption is continuing.
> 
> We singled out Avast simply because it can effect all the other programs and stop them from loading, or tie up CPU clock cycles, where as Steam or Office will not have the same effect.


I ran one yesterday and found no problem. I am kind of blanking if I had done that before or after the problem re-emerged. I am thinking I did it after the problem, but I am not 100% sure. I will redo it when I get home in a couple hours.

I will try reinstalling avast when I get a chance today/tomorrow, though I won't really have any positive test to see if doing so changes anything, since most of the time the computer works as it should.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Are you using any 3rd party programs to bypass the metro interface like StarDock?


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

Wrench97 said:


> Are you using any 3rd party programs to bypass the metro interface like StarDock?


Nope. I built the computer in the very beginning of March. Haven't got very much installed on it. I was wondering, if it could have anything to do with my ASUS mobo's fast boot settings?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

It should not, fast boot just bypasses counting up the ram on every boot and discovering hardware like add in cards.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

I just re-did sfc /scannow no problem found. I will clean re-install avast later today or tomorrow.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

I reinstalled avast! from scratch. I won't really know whether that is the fix until it happens again or not.


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## Deejay100six (Nov 24, 2007)

Sorry if you misunderstood but, in order for the point to be proven or not, you would have to use the previously mentioned removal tool to make sure Avast is completely gone. (Not forgetting that you can reinstall after we're done.)

MSE was suggested for a backup until we pinpoint the problem.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

I used the removal tool before reinstalling. I am extremely hesitant to go without avast!. I sincerely doubt that avast is causing this. I have never seen avast users report this problem, and my other computers have been on avast for nearly two years with no problems.

If I uninstall avast and never see a problem boot again that does not actually prove that avast was the problem.


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## LeftIsTrembling (Jul 1, 2007)

Just as an update to this issue. It has *never * re-occurred since posting this thread (and I always had avast! installed). I did change my Windows Update settings from automatic to remind-me-to-download soon after posting this thread. Maybe that was the cause, maybe it wasn't. Anyways the problem is gone.


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