Diagnosing Windows XP bootup problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeff
  • Start date Start date
J

Jeff

I am running XP - SP2 and have recently noticed that sometimes on rebooting
or returning from hibernation, the bootup process seems to stop sometime
before the login screen, the hard drive light is not on, and things just
stop. Repeated pressing of the touchpad or mouse keys, Esc key, etc.
suddenly gets things going again and all is well.

Is there a way to find out at what point the problem is occurring or what
might be causing it?

There is nothing untoward in the Event Viewer. The HD is well defragmented,
virus check, Spyware checks are all clear.

Thanks
 
Jeff said:
I am running XP - SP2 and have recently noticed that sometimes on
rebooting or returning from hibernation, the bootup process seems to
stop sometime before the login screen, the hard drive light is not on,
and things just
stop. Repeated pressing of the touchpad or mouse keys, Esc key, etc.
suddenly gets things going again and all is well.

Is there a way to find out at what point the problem is occurring or
what might be causing it?

There is nothing untoward in the Event Viewer. The HD is well
defragmented, virus check, Spyware checks are all clear.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Since your computer is stopping before the operating system is fully
loaded, it is most probably that you have hardware failure. It sounds
like your power supply is dying, although there could be other factors.
Here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke
 
Since your computer is stopping before the operating system is fully
loaded, it is most probably that you have hardware failure. It sounds
like your power supply is dying, although there could be other factors.
Here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:
Click to expand...

How on Earth did you diagnose that as a power supply problem?
 
Z said:
How on Earth did you diagnose that as a power supply problem?
Click to expand...

I didn't "diagnose" it - that would require actually seeing the machine
and doing hands-on testing. The power supply being at fault suggests
itself to me because of this sentence from the OP's post:

"the bootup process seems to stop sometime before the login screen, the
hard drive light is not on, and things just stop."

Also, it is not uncommon for power supplies to fail.

As I said in my answer, this could be caused by a lot of different
things which is why I gave the OP *general* hardware troubleshooting
steps. We don't know anything about the OP's computer, what Jeff has
already done, or what skill level he has. Hopefully, the general
t-shooting steps will give him a place to start.

Malke
 
Malke said:
I didn't "diagnose" it - that would require actually seeing the machine
and doing hands-on testing. The power supply being at fault suggests
itself to me because of this sentence from the OP's post:
Click to expand...

I guess I'd like to know why you concluded "it sounds like your power
supply is dying." IMO, the symptoms (hang during boot until a key is
pressed) don't point to the power supply at all.

Also, it is not uncommon for power supplies to fail.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but pressing keys doesn't make them suddenly provide more power.

Disconnecting non-essential hardware or powering down the system and
letting it cool and then having it boot normally would point me to the PS.
 
I am running XP - SP2 and have recently noticed that sometimes on
rebooting or returning from hibernation, the bootup process seems to
stop sometime before the login screen, the hard drive light is not on,
and things just
stop. Repeated pressing of the touchpad or mouse keys, Esc key, etc.
suddenly gets things going again and all is well.

There is nothing untoward in the Event Viewer. The HD is well
defragmented, virus check, Spyware checks are all clear.
Click to expand...
Since your computer is stopping before the operating system is fully
loaded, it is most probably that you have hardware failure.[/QUOTE]

Is this necessarily indicative of a problem? My computer has done
this occasionally since the first week I had it. I remember the first
time it happened I panicked, powered down, and rebooted. The next
time I tried pressing a key, and the login screen came right up
instantly.

I always figured it was just a matter of the computer coming back
from hibernation into some sort of screen saver or sleep state rather
then fully active. Annoying, granted, but is it _really_ a problem?

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Fortunately, I live in the United States of America, where we are
gradually coming to understand that nothing we do is ever our
fault, especially if it is really stupid. --Dave Barry
 
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