My PC tilted a few days ago and I reinstalled XP Home. I reactivated the
software and everything was fine until this afternoon. Now, when the PC boots
and XP begins, it starts to login, but before any of the icons appear, it
kicks me back to the login screen. I have been through the trouble shooting
guide without success. I even disabled all my devices and tried that - all I
got was that Microsoft wants me to reactivate the software.

I am currently doing a full system scan with Norton Antivirus. If that finds
nothing, my remaining steps appear to be 1. Try a repair install of XP, 2.
System restore to the very first restore point on the PC (before I installed
anything but XP SP1), then 3. hard drive reformat and reinstall. With
installing all my software and files, that really sucks and I'd like to avoid
the latter two.

HELP

"Glenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:8F989747-3862-4D1E-B6C3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> My PC tilted a few days ago and I reinstalled XP Home. I reactivated the
> software and everything was fine until this afternoon. Now, when the PC
boots
> and XP begins, it starts to login, but before any of the icons appear, it
> kicks me back to the login screen. I have been through the trouble
shooting
> guide without success. I even disabled all my devices and tried that - all
I
> got was that Microsoft wants me to reactivate the software.
>
> I am currently doing a full system scan with Norton Antivirus. If that
finds
> nothing, my remaining steps appear to be 1. Try a repair install of XP, 2.
> System restore to the very first restore point on the PC (before I
installed
> anything but XP SP1), then 3. hard drive reformat and reinstall. With
> installing all my software and files, that really sucks and I'd like to
avoid
> the latter two.
>
> HELP

I am a little confused. You write "it starts to login, but before
any of the icons appear, it kicks me back to the login screen."
You then write "I even disabled all my devices". How can you
disable any devices if you cannot log on?

Along similar lines: You write "Microsoft wants me to reactivate
the software." I thought it kicked you back to the login screen?
Does it return you to the login screen or does it prompt you to
reactivate the software?

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Glenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:8F989747-3862-4D1E-B6C3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > My PC tilted a few days ago and I reinstalled XP Home. I reactivated the
> > software and everything was fine until this afternoon. Now, when the PC
> boots
> > and XP begins, it starts to login, but before any of the icons appear, it
> > kicks me back to the login screen. I have been through the trouble
> shooting
> > guide without success. I even disabled all my devices and tried that - all
> I
> > got was that Microsoft wants me to reactivate the software.
> >
> > I am currently doing a full system scan with Norton Antivirus. If that
> finds
> > nothing, my remaining steps appear to be 1. Try a repair install of XP, 2.
> > System restore to the very first restore point on the PC (before I
> installed
> > anything but XP SP1), then 3. hard drive reformat and reinstall. With
> > installing all my software and files, that really sucks and I'd like to
> avoid
> > the latter two.
> >
> > HELP
>
> I am a little confused. You write "it starts to login, but before
> any of the icons appear, it kicks me back to the login screen."
> You then write "I even disabled all my devices". How can you
> disable any devices if you cannot log on?
>
> Along similar lines: You write "Microsoft wants me to reactivate
> the software." I thought it kicked you back to the login screen?
> Does it return you to the login screen or does it prompt you to
> reactivate the software?
>
The only way I could get in was through safe mode. I opened the
troubleshooter in safe mode and, through multiple restarts, followed all
their instructions, without success.

Now that it wants me to reactivate the software, it asks me to do that every
time I come back to the login screen, and I have to tell it "later" to get
past it. To the inferred point, the problem existed before XP started asking
me for reactivation. Once I resolve the problem, through one of the tasks
listed above, I'll reactivate.
>

"Glenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:5BBEE71B-5037-4D40-8575-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
>
> >
> > "Glenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:8F989747-3862-4D1E-B6C3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > My PC tilted a few days ago and I reinstalled XP Home. I reactivated
the
> > > software and everything was fine until this afternoon. Now, when the
PC
> > boots
> > > and XP begins, it starts to login, but before any of the icons appear,
it
> > > kicks me back to the login screen. I have been through the trouble
> > shooting
> > > guide without success. I even disabled all my devices and tried that -
all
> > I
> > > got was that Microsoft wants me to reactivate the software.
> > >
> > > I am currently doing a full system scan with Norton Antivirus. If that
> > finds
> > > nothing, my remaining steps appear to be 1. Try a repair install of
XP, 2.
> > > System restore to the very first restore point on the PC (before I
> > installed
> > > anything but XP SP1), then 3. hard drive reformat and reinstall. With
> > > installing all my software and files, that really sucks and I'd like
to
> > avoid
> > > the latter two.
> > >
> > > HELP
> >
> > I am a little confused. You write "it starts to login, but before
> > any of the icons appear, it kicks me back to the login screen."
> > You then write "I even disabled all my devices". How can you
> > disable any devices if you cannot log on?
> >
> > Along similar lines: You write "Microsoft wants me to reactivate
> > the software." I thought it kicked you back to the login screen?
> > Does it return you to the login screen or does it prompt you to
> > reactivate the software?
> >
> The only way I could get in was through safe mode. I opened the
> troubleshooter in safe mode and, through multiple restarts, followed all
> their instructions, without success.
>
> Now that it wants me to reactivate the software, it asks me to do that
every
> time I come back to the login screen, and I have to tell it "later" to get
> past it. To the inferred point, the problem existed before XP started
asking
> me for reactivation. Once I resolve the problem, through one of the tasks
> listed above, I'll reactivate.
> >

Previously I wrote that I was confused. Now I'm uneasy. Somehow
I feel that there is more to this problem than you have reported so
far. The fact that you could get into Safe Mode is absolutely crucial -
yet you omitted it from your first post until I pointed out some
discrepancies.

The problem of the logon process returning you to the logon screen
is well know, as is its solution. However, it is independent of Normal
Mode / Safe Mode. In other words, I have never heard of a machine
that would cycle in Normal Mode but that would log on normally
in Safe Mode.

Perhaps some other respondent can shed some light on this puzzle.
This would be a good time for you to lay ALL facts on the table,
not just a selection.

If you find out why, let me know...my computer freezes, and doesn't do
anything. Kind of sounds like pushing a car from drive into nutral and
nothing! After a while, it finally gets into gear and runs fine.

"Glenn" wrote:

> My PC tilted a few days ago and I reinstalled XP Home. I reactivated the
> software and everything was fine until this afternoon. Now, when the PC boots
> and XP begins, it starts to login, but before any of the icons appear, it
> kicks me back to the login screen. I have been through the trouble shooting
> guide without success. I even disabled all my devices and tried that - all I
> got was that Microsoft wants me to reactivate the software.
>
> I am currently doing a full system scan with Norton Antivirus. If that finds
> nothing, my remaining steps appear to be 1. Try a repair install of XP, 2.
> System restore to the very first restore point on the PC (before I installed
> anything but XP SP1), then 3. hard drive reformat and reinstall. With
> installing all my software and files, that really sucks and I'd like to avoid
> the latter two.
>
> HELP

"running in nutral" <running in (E-Mail Removed)> wrote
> If you find out why, let me know...my computer freezes, and doesn't do
> anything. Kind of sounds like pushing a car from drive into nutral and
> nothing! After a while, it finally gets into gear and runs fine.

<snip>

Your problem description is completely different from that of the OP's.
Make a new post with your issue and give relevant details, not analogies.

Making Good Newsgroup Posts

http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Glenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:5BBEE71B-5037-4D40-8575-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> >
> > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > "Glenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > > news:8F989747-3862-4D1E-B6C3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > > My PC tilted a few days ago and I reinstalled XP Home. I reactivated
> the
> > > > software and everything was fine until this afternoon. Now, when the
> PC
> > > boots
> > > > and XP begins, it starts to login, but before any of the icons appear,
> it
> > > > kicks me back to the login screen. I have been through the trouble
> > > shooting
> > > > guide without success. I even disabled all my devices and tried that -
> all
> > > I
> > > > got was that Microsoft wants me to reactivate the software.
> > > >
> > > > I am currently doing a full system scan with Norton Antivirus. If that
> > > finds
> > > > nothing, my remaining steps appear to be 1. Try a repair install of
> XP, 2.
> > > > System restore to the very first restore point on the PC (before I
> > > installed
> > > > anything but XP SP1), then 3. hard drive reformat and reinstall. With
> > > > installing all my software and files, that really sucks and I'd like
> to
> > > avoid
> > > > the latter two.
> > > >
> > > > HELP
> > >
> > > I am a little confused. You write "it starts to login, but before
> > > any of the icons appear, it kicks me back to the login screen."
> > > You then write "I even disabled all my devices". How can you
> > > disable any devices if you cannot log on?
> > >
> > > Along similar lines: You write "Microsoft wants me to reactivate
> > > the software." I thought it kicked you back to the login screen?
> > > Does it return you to the login screen or does it prompt you to
> > > reactivate the software?
> > >
> > The only way I could get in was through safe mode. I opened the
> > troubleshooter in safe mode and, through multiple restarts, followed all
> > their instructions, without success.
> >
> > Now that it wants me to reactivate the software, it asks me to do that
> every
> > time I come back to the login screen, and I have to tell it "later" to get
> > past it. To the inferred point, the problem existed before XP started
> asking
> > me for reactivation. Once I resolve the problem, through one of the tasks
> > listed above, I'll reactivate.
> > >
>
> Previously I wrote that I was confused. Now I'm uneasy. Somehow
> I feel that there is more to this problem than you have reported so
> far. The fact that you could get into Safe Mode is absolutely crucial -
> yet you omitted it from your first post until I pointed out some
> discrepancies.
>
> The problem of the logon process returning you to the logon screen
> is well know, as is its solution. However, it is independent of Normal
> Mode / Safe Mode. In other words, I have never heard of a machine
> that would cycle in Normal Mode but that would log on normally
> in Safe Mode.
>
> Perhaps some other respondent can shed some light on this puzzle.
> This would be a good time for you to lay ALL facts on the table,
> not just a selection.
>
Your implication is that I'm somehow doing something illegal and that, for
that reason, I'm not being forthcoming. I can assure you that is not the
case. I have a legally purchased copy of XP Home, purchased in 2003 from
NewEgg, which I used for the initial install on the PC I built from scratch.
The disk includes SP1, but all the other upgrades had been made along the way.

I am a homebuilder and user and nowhere close to an expert on Windows XP. If
I omitted something in my original description, it was inadvertant.

I have no idea why things start going strange last week, but the first
problems were that I could not open Word or Excel, though Access and
PowerPoint continued to function well. When I couldn't get past the problems
last week, I wiped the hard drive, reinstalled everything from the original
disks, reactivated XP, downloaded updates, and everything ran fine for 3 days.

I was attempting to trouble shoot a connecting problem with one of my
laptops when my problems hit. First, XP informed me that it couldn't
recognize one of my USB drives, but that didn't concern me. I disconnected my
ethernet cable and plugged it into my laptop for troubleshooting. I
reconnected it, but didn't notice that I'd accidentally unplugged my keyboard
(wireless). When I couldn't get the keyboard to function, I tried restarting
the PC. At that point, the PC went into a loop - it would play the music,
open my start picture in the background, but before any icons came up, it
would bounce back to logging on. Since it was set to automatically logon,
this kept repeating, and repeating, and repeating.

I've had great success with system restore in the past, running it from Safe
Mode. I started the PC in safe mode and restored to the point at the
beginning of the day. That didn't solve my problems so i looked for an
earlier restore point, but XP said there were no other points.

That is where I went into the troubleshooter. I assumed all the hardware was
good, so I skipped by the part with turning the devices on and off. After
nothing else worked I went back to it. XP saw this as a major hardware change
since activation which caused me to reactivate my copy. Since I'd just done
that 3 days ago, I ended up with a live person explaining why I was doing it
so soon and verifying that this was the only PC this copy of XP is installed
on.

I tried the repair install (point 1, above) which didn't solve the problem.
I looked for an earlier restore point, but that didn't exist (guess the
repair install would wipe out the earlier restore points). Come to think of
it, it was probably here that I first looked for an earlier restore point.
Since nothing else was working, I went with option 3 - i went for a complete
reinstall.

I was unable to reformat my HDD from safe mode, so I restarted from the disk
and told it to do a complete reformat (not a quick reformat), then went
through all the tasks to restore the PC - XP install from disks and
registration/activation, software from disks, updates from the 'net, transfer
files back from the external HDD, etc. The one thing I did different this
time is that I installed Norton Anti-Virus before I installed anything
(except XP).

So, my need is overtaken by events, but I am curious what was going on and
if there might have been an easier way.

See below.

"Glenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:0C57B96B-1D62-4F04-9150-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
>
> >
> > "Glenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:5BBEE71B-5037-4D40-8575-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > >
> > >
> > > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > "Glenn" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > > > news:8F989747-3862-4D1E-B6C3-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > > > My PC tilted a few days ago and I reinstalled XP Home. I
reactivated
> > the
> > > > > software and everything was fine until this afternoon. Now, when
the
> > PC
> > > > boots
> > > > > and XP begins, it starts to login, but before any of the icons
appear,
> > it
> > > > > kicks me back to the login screen. I have been through the trouble
> > > > shooting
> > > > > guide without success. I even disabled all my devices and tried
that -
> > all
> > > > I
> > > > > got was that Microsoft wants me to reactivate the software.
> > > > >
> > > > > I am currently doing a full system scan with Norton Antivirus. If
that
> > > > finds
> > > > > nothing, my remaining steps appear to be 1. Try a repair install
of
> > XP, 2.
> > > > > System restore to the very first restore point on the PC (before I
> > > > installed
> > > > > anything but XP SP1), then 3. hard drive reformat and reinstall.
With
> > > > > installing all my software and files, that really sucks and I'd
like
> > to
> > > > avoid
> > > > > the latter two.
> > > > >
> > > > > HELP
> > > >
> > > > I am a little confused. You write "it starts to login, but before
> > > > any of the icons appear, it kicks me back to the login screen."
> > > > You then write "I even disabled all my devices". How can you
> > > > disable any devices if you cannot log on?
> > > >
> > > > Along similar lines: You write "Microsoft wants me to reactivate
> > > > the software." I thought it kicked you back to the login screen?
> > > > Does it return you to the login screen or does it prompt you to
> > > > reactivate the software?
> > > >
> > > The only way I could get in was through safe mode. I opened the
> > > troubleshooter in safe mode and, through multiple restarts, followed
all
> > > their instructions, without success.
> > >
> > > Now that it wants me to reactivate the software, it asks me to do that
> > every
> > > time I come back to the login screen, and I have to tell it "later" to
get
> > > past it. To the inferred point, the problem existed before XP started
> > asking
> > > me for reactivation. Once I resolve the problem, through one of the
tasks
> > > listed above, I'll reactivate.
> > > >
> >
> > Previously I wrote that I was confused. Now I'm uneasy. Somehow
> > I feel that there is more to this problem than you have reported so
> > far. The fact that you could get into Safe Mode is absolutely crucial -
> > yet you omitted it from your first post until I pointed out some
> > discrepancies.
> >
> > The problem of the logon process returning you to the logon screen
> > is well know, as is its solution. However, it is independent of Normal
> > Mode / Safe Mode. In other words, I have never heard of a machine
> > that would cycle in Normal Mode but that would log on normally
> > in Safe Mode.
> >
> > Perhaps some other respondent can shed some light on this puzzle.
> > This would be a good time for you to lay ALL facts on the table,
> > not just a selection.
> >
> Your implication is that I'm somehow doing something illegal and that, for
> that reason, I'm not being forthcoming.

*** No, not at all. I became uneasy because you withheld
*** vital information in your first post, which made me wonder
*** what else might be lurking in the shadows.

> I can assure you that is not the
> case. I have a legally purchased copy of XP Home, purchased in 2003 from
> NewEgg, which I used for the initial install on the PC I built from
scratch.
> The disk includes SP1, but all the other upgrades had been made along the
way.
>
> I am a homebuilder and user and nowhere close to an expert on Windows XP.
If
> I omitted something in my original description, it was inadvertant.
>
> I have no idea why things start going strange last week, but the first
> problems were that I could not open Word or Excel, though Access and
> PowerPoint continued to function well. When I couldn't get past the
problems
> last week, I wiped the hard drive, reinstalled everything from the
original
> disks, reactivated XP, downloaded updates, and everything ran fine for 3
days.
>
> I was attempting to trouble shoot a connecting problem with one of my
> laptops when my problems hit. First, XP informed me that it couldn't
> recognize one of my USB drives, but that didn't concern me. I disconnected
my
> ethernet cable and plugged it into my laptop for troubleshooting. I
> reconnected it, but didn't notice that I'd accidentally unplugged my
keyboard
> (wireless). When I couldn't get the keyboard to function, I tried
restarting
> the PC. At that point, the PC went into a loop - it would play the music,
> open my start picture in the background, but before any icons came up, it
> would bounce back to logging on. Since it was set to automatically logon,
> this kept repeating, and repeating, and repeating.
>
> I've had great success with system restore in the past, running it from
Safe
> Mode. I started the PC in safe mode and restored to the point at the
> beginning of the day. That didn't solve my problems so i looked for an
> earlier restore point, but XP said there were no other points.
>
> That is where I went into the troubleshooter. I assumed all the hardware
was
> good, so I skipped by the part with turning the devices on and off. After
> nothing else worked I went back to it. XP saw this as a major hardware
change
> since activation which caused me to reactivate my copy. Since I'd just
done
> that 3 days ago, I ended up with a live person explaining why I was doing
it
> so soon and verifying that this was the only PC this copy of XP is
installed
> on.
>
> I tried the repair install (point 1, above) which didn't solve the
problem.
> I looked for an earlier restore point, but that didn't exist (guess the
> repair install would wipe out the earlier restore points). Come to think
of
> it, it was probably here that I first looked for an earlier restore point.
> Since nothing else was working, I went with option 3 - i went for a
complete
> reinstall.
>
> I was unable to reformat my HDD from safe mode, so I restarted from the
disk
> and told it to do a complete reformat (not a quick reformat), then went
> through all the tasks to restore the PC - XP install from disks and
> registration/activation, software from disks, updates from the 'net,
transfer
> files back from the external HDD, etc. The one thing I did different this
> time is that I installed Norton Anti-Virus before I installed anything
> (except XP).
>
> So, my need is overtaken by events, but I am curious what was going on and
> if there might have been an easier way.

*** I assume that you have resolved your problem by performing
*** a complete installation. In view of the problems you described,
*** I would have recommended the same course of action.
***
*** As to the reason - who knows? I have never seen such a problem
*** and I probably never will. I can think of two possible reasons:

*** a) Something went haywire during the installation process.
*** b) You downloaded some malware or virus.

*** Suffice it to say that Windows will run in a stable manner for
*** a long time when left alone. I have some 200 client machines
*** to confirm it. It's all this stuff that comes down from the
*** Internet that does the damage. Some of my clients have home
*** PCs used by their teenage children. Their MTBR (Mean Time
*** Before Reload) is about 6 months, in spite of virus scanners.

*** Use an imaging product to protect yourself against such
*** mishaps. Acronis Drive Image 7 is now freely downloadable
*** from here: http://www.acronis.com/mag/DVhbcjdI