Windows XP Home Hangs During Startup

[Guest]

All of a sudden my Windows XP machine started having a problem during startup. It boots to the point of displaying the wall paper but no task bar or icons. I can enable the task manager using cntl/alt/del and it boots fine in "safe" mode. During the normal bootup process the machine takes 9 minutes to get to the Logon screen. After the second Windows XP logo screen I see a black screen for 8 minutes before receiving the logon screen

I have tried the following with no success: system restore (twice -- using a date up to 2 weeks before the start of the problem), virus & Spybot scan, hard disk scan, reinstalled XP using the Dell-supplied CD-ROM using the repair option

Dell recommends a "clean" XP OS install as the next step. This is a lot of work

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[neil]

Sounds like something is trying to load and can't. When you boot into
safemode can you use system restore to go back to a point before the problem
started.

Neil

All of a sudden my Windows XP machine started having a problem during

startup. It boots to the point of displaying the wall paper but no task bar
or icons. I can enable the task manager using cntl/alt/del and it boots
fine in "safe" mode. During the normal bootup process the machine takes 9
minutes to get to the Logon screen. After the second Windows XP logo screen
I see a black screen for 8 minutes before receiving the logon screen.

I have tried the following with no success: system restore (twice --

using a date up to 2 weeks before the start of the problem), virus & Spybot
scan, hard disk scan, reinstalled XP using the Dell-supplied CD-ROM using
the repair option.

 

[Guest]

I've had a similar problem. Only if I shut my computer down all the way and do a cold boot...it doesn't even get as far as the windows screen...just black. So, I kill it and restart again...to last known working settings and "normal" modes work just the same. Needless to say, I make it a point to leave it up and running at all times. I also hear a little noise coming from one of my hard drives...so I wonder if one of them is hanging up on a boot-up. I too, have done a complete re-format and re-install.

Any help would be great

----- Rainer wrote: ----


I have tried "system restore" twice: once a few days before the start of the problem and the second time 2 weeks prior to the start of the problem. The result was the same: same startup problem.

Any other thoughts

----- neil wrote: ----

Sounds like something is trying to load and can't. When you boot int
safemode can you use system restore to go back to a point before the proble
started

Nei

All of a sudden my Windows XP machine started having a problem durin

startup. It boots to the point of displaying the wall paper but no task ba
or icons. I can enable the task manager using cntl/alt/del and it boot
fine in "safe" mode. During the normal bootup process the machine takes
minutes to get to the Logon screen. After the second Windows XP logo scree
I see a black screen for 8 minutes before receiving the logon screenusing a date up to 2 weeks before the start of the problem), virus & Spybo
scan, hard disk scan, reinstalled XP using the Dell-supplied CD-ROM usin
the repair option

 

[neil]

Sorry I didn't read all your original post (twat that I am). Have you tried
Adaware from www.lavasoftusa.com although I'm not sure if it will be
successful if you can only run it from Safemode.
Look in the registry for the "run" command, at
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
Check if there is anything that looks unusual or you can type msconfig in
the start>run command and looking under the startup tab selectively turn off
items to see if your PC will start normally.
I assume you haven't added any hardware yourself that may be responsible,
you could also try taking out memory and putting it back to see if there are
any bad contacts. Check device manager and ensure there are no warnings
against any devices. (disconnecting peripherals is also a good idea)
Do things one at a time and you may come across the culprit, unfortunately
you may still end up re-formatting and installing again.

Neil

I have tried "system restore" twice: once a few days before the start

of the problem and the second time 2 weeks prior to the start of the
problem. The result was the same: same startup problem.