Very Slow Missing Screen at Startup

[Hippo08]

Hey everyone,

I am not really sure where this post should go, but it has to do with the way Windows 7 is acting. The OS is Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. The computer is a Dell OptiPlex and only about 4 months old.

I have not actually gotten to look at the computer yet because it is very far away, but I do have some information.

The computer acts incredibly slow, sometimes not wanting to start or close programs. When it first starts up, it is just a blue screen with a mouse pointer. If I have them hit ctrl+alt+del it will bring up their login screen(although it is not actually supposed to have that type of login function). It will log-in but it says that there is no internet access, however, its previous TCP/IP settings are all still in tact. It is plugged in and link-lights are on. Other than that, it is just incredibly slow. It won't do a proper shut-down even if left on overnight. Just stuck at "Shutting Down...".

Any inital thoughts on this? Is this Windows or a virus? Either way it seems like a reformat might help this a lot. And, is it just me or do Dell's and Acer's seem to screw up a lot? Maybe its because I am still new to the game that I am just now finding this out or maybe it is just the users!

Thank you for continued support and help,

Hippo

[glc]

First step is to run hardware diagnostics, including the hard drive. Press F12 on startup to access Dell Diagnostics.

If they pass, then I'd boot it with the standalone Microsoft System Sweeper to check it for malware.

If the diagnostics fail, write down the exact errors you get because Dell will need them before giving you warranty replacements.

[Hippo08]

Thank you so much, I will update this post to tell you what I find. I won't actually get to the computer until next week.