Freeze up at startup

[David]

I have Xp pro which has run like a charm for a long while till lately when
my machine locks up during startup. This usually occurrs either during POST
or shortly after it. I usually get the 2 "DOS" screens, ie del, info etc
then dos info, then the WinXP Logo, then "Welcome" screen, then the desktop.
Usually about now all locks up and will not hot reboot, only cold reboot
works, then pot luck again as to what happens. Usually "lockup" occurrs
before the desktop but not always, sometimes it is 2/3 minutes later, but if
I get past this startup prob all runs like a charm for long hours.
The M/B is running rather COOL at about 68 c, the fan of course likewise is
going OK, the system voltages are all well within spec. beside all the above
only happens during startup not in the long hours running afterwards, there
are no probs was up and running.
Also I have checked my Event log, it is clear of any probs.


Any ideas please, someone out there must know this one aye?

 

[HSV Guy]

Sounds like virus or spy/adware problem to me

Update your virus defitnitions and run a scan in safe mode to see if any
nasty virus have infected your system.

Run & update Spybot Search & Destroy to get rid of any spy ware that maybe
slowing or causing your system to crash.

Run and update ad-aware personal edition to remove any adware that could be
habouring in your system

Cheers
HSV Guy

 

[Malke]

Sounds like virus or spy/adware problem to me
(snippage)
HSV Guy

It is very unlikely that the OP's problem is caused by a virus. This is
a classic case of hardware failure. It actually sounds like his power
supply is dying - it will not have enough "juice" to get the drive up
and spinning the first few times, but after a few reboots, the momentum
of the drive will let it boot. It might also be bad RAM or a bad hard
drive.

Test the power supply by swapping it out for a known-good one. Test the
RAM with Memtest86 from www.memtest86.com and allow the test to run for
a long time, like overnight (unless you see errors immediately). If
there are errors, replace the RAM. Test the hard drive with a
diagnostic utility from the drive mftr.'s website. If hardware testing
is not your cuppa, then take the machine to a good local computer
repair shop (not a BestBuy or CompUSA type of store).

Malke