Windows hanging on startup / restart

[jmt356]

Windows has been hanging on startup / restart since I installed StrongVPN.

I ran an anti-virus and a Check Disk of the C drive and nothing came up. The Check Disk reported "Your drive was successfully scanned. Windows successfully scanned the drive. No errors were found."

[HansV]

Have you tried uninstalling StrongVPN?

You might try disabling Fast Startup - see Fast Startup - Turn On or Off in Windows 8.

[jmt356]

Actually, the issue appears to be with StrongVPN. The issue began when I first installed StrongVPN and after I uninstalled it today, I was able to restart without any hangs or other problems.

Can anyone recommend a good, reliable VPN service that does not cause restart issues or similar problems?

[BobArch2]

Actually, the issue appears to be with StrongVPN. The issue began when I first installed StrongVPN and after I uninstalled it today, I was able to restart without any hangs or other problems.

Can anyone recommend a good, reliable VPN service that does not cause restart issues or similar problems?

I use, PrivateInternetAccess. Not a freebie, an annual cost of US$40.

[jmt356]

Does PrivateInternetAccess hang / drop / spontaneously log you off / crash?

[BobArch2]

Does PrivateInternetAccess hang / drop / spontaneously log you off / crash?

None of those events have occurred in my environment and I have been running it for a year now. You could always sign up for a single month at US$6.95 and then if it works for you, then contact them to go on an annual basis.

One thing I have found is that the download/upload speeds are slightly slower when VPN is running. But only very slightly, perhaps 5%. There are several servers throughout the world that can be linked to and I have not tried to experiment with servers outside of my geographical area. 5% did not really concern me with my 50/10Mbps DL/UL bandwidth.

Shout, if you have any other questions.

[jmt356]

Actually, the problem recurred for me a couple of days ago, even after I uninstalled StrongVPN. So there seems to be a separate cause.

[HansV]

Have you tried disabling Fast Startup, as suggested in my first reply?

[jmt356]

I just disabled Fast Startup and restarted my laptop without it hanging. However, my touchpad stopped working upon restarting, but it started working again after the second restart.

It seems that launching all of my programs now takes a great deal of time. I am not sure if this is related to Fast Startup. Also, I might just be imagining things.

[jmt356]

I just tried Restoring my computer to a previous state using an Acronis True Image incremental backup dated 13 Aug. 2014. Acronis indicated that I had to restart, so I did. I then came to a page with the HP logo and a spinning circle, the same one that I have been seeing over the past few weeks when Windows would hang. Was Windows hanging or was Acronis restoring the file? Is that what the screen looks like when Acronis restores a file?

I forced shut down and then restarted again.

[viking33]

I just tried Restoring my computer to a previous state using an Acronis True Image incremental backup dated 13 Aug. 2014. Acronis indicated that I had to restart, so I did. I then came to a page with the HP logo and a spinning circle, the same one that I have been seeing over the past few weeks when Windows would hang. Was Windows hanging or was Acronis restoring the file? Is that what the screen looks like when Acronis restores a file?

I forced shut down and then restarted again.

Acronis doesn't show a HP logo or a spinning circle during a restore.
Why the logo, I'm not sure, since I don't use Win 8.

[jmt356]

The logo is supposed to show up transiently during restart. However, my computer is hanging and it remains on the screen without progressing to restart.

[viking33]

The logo is supposed to show up transiently during restart. However, my computer is hanging and it remains on the screen without progressing to restart.

Whatever. It sounds like a HP problem to me. What HP device does this logo belong to? I've a couple of HPs connected to my Win 7 machine and I don't ever see any logo on start up. Of course, HP throws a lot of extra junk in with their device programs and can be quite invasive with these "add ons" if you don't catch them when first installed.