XP SP2 sometimes hangs on login

[Johnno]

I've recently installed SP2 and now experience the following:

I can successfully boot the computer and it always comes up to the login
screen where it displays the list of user accounts. Every 2nd or 3rd
boot, after clicking on a user to login to, Windows XP appears to
freeze. Sometimes it freezes while displaying the blue welcome screen,
and sometimes after the desk top is displayed while the icon's are
loaded into the system tray. After the freeze, only the mouse continues
to operate and the only way I can get out of it is to hold the power
switch in until the system power's off. When it freezes during login, I
cannot get it to start up properley, unless I boot with the last known
good configuration.

I have attempted the following to resolve the problem:

.. upgraded the BIOS
.. upgraded the firmware in my CD drive, (the only thing left on my
system with firmware that I havn't checked is the hard drives)
.. downloaded the latest drivers for my motherboard, sound card, video
card, monitor

I have also downloaded Ad-Aware SE (I ran Ad-aware6 prior to upgrading
to SP2, and noticed after I upgraded to SP2 that lavasoft had stopped
releasing updates for that version) and run the complete scan. I also
ran a complete virus scan before and after the upgrade to SP2.

After reading this forum, I have tried running sfc /scannow, but that
has not had any effect

I have a hardware RAID controller which I split the mirror prior to
upgrading to SP2 so I can go back to the pre-SP2 config if I can't
resolve this issue. (The RAID controller already has the latest
firmware)

The only other problem I have had was that the Intel Active Monitor
stopped working, but I downloaded the latest version, and that fixed
that up.

What else can I try before I fall back to my last resort of rebuilding
from scratch with a slipstreamed XP cd? (of course I won't be
disturbing the second mirrored copy until after I resolve this problem)

 

[Hula Baloo]

Do you by chance have Norton AntiVirus installed? If so and you have
MS critical update KB834707 (a post SP2 cumulative update for IE), try
uninstalling KB834707. That worked for me (I'm running Norton
SystemWorks 2004). Symantec refused to believe it was their problem
when I reported it, and I haven't seen any fixes from MS either, so I'm
just living without KB834707. The problem occurs when there's a pending
LiveUpdate for Norton AntiVirus on my system. I have another PC with
SP2 that runs McAfee VirusScan and it has no problems with KB834707.
Good luck - your mileage may vary.

 

[Jonno]

Do you by chance have Norton AntiVirus installed? If so and you
have
MS critical update KB834707 (a post SP2 cumulative update for IE), try
uninstalling KB834707. That worked for me (I'm running Norton
SystemWorks 2004). Symantec refused to believe it was their problem
when I reported it, and I haven't seen any fixes from MS either, so
I'm just living without KB834707. The problem occurs when there's a
pending LiveUpdate for Norton AntiVirus on my system. I have another
PC with SP2 that runs McAfee VirusScan and it has no problems with
KB834707. Good luck - your mileage may vary.

No I don't have Norton AntiVirus installed. I used to use Norton
Internet Security 2003, but I uninstalled that, and I now use Zone Alarm
and Avast. I do have KB834707 though.

 

[Hula Baloo]

Jonno,
I'd think it'd be worth uninstalling KB834707 just to see what
happens. It could be doing the same thing to your antivirus softwe that
it's done to mine.

 

[Johnno]

Hmmmm....

On Friday, I did three things, I ran "sfc /purgecache", I deleted the
contents of "c:\windows\prefetch", and I booted off the CD, and started
up the recovery console, and I refreshed the boot block.

Now I have booted my computer about a dozen times, and I have not had
one single hung login. The problem seems to have been fixed. Although
I'm not quite sure which of the three things I did fixed the problem,
because I did them all at the same time.

I'll just wait and see if the hanging on login problem comes back again.
Meanwhile, I'll keep the mirror split

 

[Johnno]

Well,

My problem seems to have been solved. Since I sent this last message, I
have not had one single hung login.

So I have reattached my mirror, and am now running SP2 without problems.

Cheers,
Johnno.