I saw this in one of my technology news e-magazines, and want to post it here for anyone else having this problem. There seems to be an issue with Windows Vista machines “hanging” (freezing, or, the screen stays black and the Windows logo never appears) after you hit the power button to the computer, or restart the computer. I had this happen the other day with my new computer, and it freaked me out. I’m not 100% sure that this issue is related to my problem, but I’m keeping my eyes on the situation and applying this fix if it becomes necessary. Here’s the scoop:
When you press the power button or click Restart on the Start menu to start a computer that is running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows Server 2008, the system startup may fail. The system stops responding (hangs) and shows a black screen where the Windows logo typically appears. Additionally, the mouse pointer does not appear, and the hard disk drive (HDD) light does not flash. When the HDD light does not flash, it means that the HDD is not being accessed at that time.
When this problem occurs, you have to force the power off. Then, you must press the power button to start the computer again.
This problem occurs because of a deadlock in the remote procedure call (RPC) component.
Go to the Microsoft hotfix page to download the hotfix. A “hotfix” is the name given to fix a fix. Microsoft Updates routinely “fix” bugs and other problems, but sometimes the fixes create problems. Thus, the hotfix was born. Be sure to read the entire page of instructions, to make sure that this issue applies to your situation.
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