System freezes loading SP2

[MilesG]

P4 512 Mb Ram. Safe Mode boots OK. System restore doesn't work. Last known
good configuration gets as far as the desktop icons and a few in the taskbar
but then the whole thing freezes, just after saying "Found New Hardware"
which is the Ethernet connection. When in safe mode Network Settings comes
up totally blank; there should be a home Lan (Host and Client) and Broadband
connection, but maybe this is because Safe mode doesn't load the drivers for
these?
I'd be grateful for some advice as to what this might be please.
Miles

 

[MilesG]

P4 512 Mb Ram. Safe Mode boots OK. System restore doesn't work. Last known
good configuration gets as far as the desktop icons and a few in the
taskbar
but then the whole thing freezes, just after saying "Found New Hardware"
which is the Ethernet connection. When in safe mode Network Settings comes
up totally blank; there should be a home Lan (Host and Client) and
Broadband
connection, but maybe this is because Safe mode doesn't load the drivers
for
these?
I'd be grateful for some advice as to what this might be please.
Miles

If anyone's interested, I tried booting Safe Mode with Network, which didn't
load, so I though I'd try disabling onboard LAN in the BIOS. It worked. But
I now have no LAN of course. Does this point to a mobo hardware failure?
Miles