URGENT System hanging on boot at "Loading your personal settings"

[LorraineW]

I'm using XP Pro SP3 with all updates. This started out with OE 6 losing
the face of the app. (menu bar shows, and frame - but nothing else) I was
unable to shut it down either by using the red X in top right corner, using
Alt F4, or right clicking the icon on the task bar and choosing close (or
exit?). Using CtrlAltDel showed the program not responding and choosing end
now did nothing. The whole system then became totally unresponsive and I
had to shut down manually with the power button. When I rebooted, I did a
system restore to the last restore point logged. Everything was going well
until I tried to switch to OE while something was copying. Then I had the
same scenario - system went totally unresponsive. This time when trying to
restart after manual shutdown, it hung on "Loading your personal settings".
Tried leaving it for about 4 hours to no avail. Systems now hangs every
time I try to start it.

Should I try a system restore in safe mode (if I can even boot to safe
mode - haven't had the nerve to try that yet). I sure hope someone out
there can help.

Lorraine

 

[Bill in Co.]

I'm using XP Pro SP3 with all updates. This started out with OE 6 losing
the face of the app. (menu bar shows, and frame - but nothing else) I was
unable to shut it down either by using the red X in top right corner,
using
Alt F4, or right clicking the icon on the task bar and choosing close (or
exit?). Using CtrlAltDel showed the program not responding and choosing
end
now did nothing. The whole system then became totally unresponsive and I
had to shut down manually with the power button. When I rebooted, I did a
system restore to the last restore point logged. Everything was going
well
until I tried to switch to OE while something was copying. Then I had the
same scenario - system went totally unresponsive. This time when trying
to
restart after manual shutdown, it hung on "Loading your personal
settings".
Tried leaving it for about 4 hours to no avail. Systems now hangs every
time I try to start it.

Should I try a system restore in safe mode (if I can even boot to safe
mode - haven't had the nerve to try that yet). I sure hope someone out
there can help.

Lorraine

I don't understand what happened to cause this in the first place (did you
do something different today?), but if I were in your shoes, yes, I would
try restoring in Safe Mode, as you suggested.

And you may also want to run a Malware/Virus scan once you're up and running
just to be sure you weren't infected. If you were, then that's another
story.

Maybe you need to go back to a slightly earlier restore point this time just
to be sure (one that you know predates these problems for certain)?

Just keep in mind that every time you invoke System Restore you're probably
going to lose some of the older restore points.

A much better solution would be to restore an image backup of your system,
if you have been doing that, and have one.

 

[LorraineW]

| LorraineW wrote:
| > I'm using XP Pro SP3 with all updates. This started out with OE 6
losing
| > the face of the app. (menu bar shows, and frame - but nothing else) I
was
| > unable to shut it down either by using the red X in top right corner,
| > using
| > Alt F4, or right clicking the icon on the task bar and choosing close
(or
| > exit?). Using CtrlAltDel showed the program not responding and choosing
| > end
| > now did nothing. The whole system then became totally unresponsive and
I
| > had to shut down manually with the power button. When I rebooted, I did
a
| > system restore to the last restore point logged. Everything was going
| > well
| > until I tried to switch to OE while something was copying. Then I had
the
| > same scenario - system went totally unresponsive. This time when trying
| > to
| > restart after manual shutdown, it hung on "Loading your personal
| > settings".
| > Tried leaving it for about 4 hours to no avail. Systems now hangs every
| > time I try to start it.
| >
| > Should I try a system restore in safe mode (if I can even boot to safe
| > mode - haven't had the nerve to try that yet). I sure hope someone
out
| > there can help.
| >
| > Lorraine
|
| I don't understand what happened to cause this in the first place (did you
| do something different today?), but if I were in your shoes, yes, I would
| try restoring in Safe Mode, as you suggested.
|
| And you may also want to run a Malware/Virus scan once you're up and
running
| just to be sure you weren't infected. If you were, then that's another
| story.
|
| Maybe you need to go back to a slightly earlier restore point this time
just
| to be sure (one that you know predates these problems for certain)?
|
| Just keep in mind that every time you invoke System Restore you're
probably
| going to lose some of the older restore points.
|
| A much better solution would be to restore an image backup of your system,
| if you have been doing that, and have one.
|
Thanks Bill;

I'll try those tomorrow (when my brain is functioning at a higher level) and
post the results.

Lorraine

 

[Jim]

I'm using XP Pro SP3 with all updates. This started out with OE 6 losing
the face of the app. (menu bar shows, and frame - but nothing else) I was
unable to shut it down either by using the red X in top right corner, using
Alt F4, or right clicking the icon on the task bar and choosing close (or
exit?). Using CtrlAltDel showed the program not responding and choosing end
now did nothing. The whole system then became totally unresponsive and I
had to shut down manually with the power button. When I rebooted, I did a
system restore to the last restore point logged. Everything was going well
until I tried to switch to OE while something was copying. Then I had the
same scenario - system went totally unresponsive. This time when trying to
restart after manual shutdown, it hung on "Loading your personal settings".
Tried leaving it for about 4 hours to no avail. Systems now hangs every
time I try to start it.

Should I try a system restore in safe mode (if I can even boot to safe
mode - haven't had the nerve to try that yet). I sure hope someone out
there can help.

Lorraine

What did you do before this happened ?

 

[LorraineW]

| On Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:58:16 GMT, "LorraineW" <[email protected]>
| wrote:
|
| >I'm using XP Pro SP3 with all updates. This started out with OE 6 losing
| >the face of the app. (menu bar shows, and frame - but nothing else) I
was
| >unable to shut it down either by using the red X in top right corner,
using
| >Alt F4, or right clicking the icon on the task bar and choosing close (or
| >exit?). Using CtrlAltDel showed the program not responding and choosing
end
| >now did nothing. The whole system then became totally unresponsive and I
| >had to shut down manually with the power button. When I rebooted, I did
a
| >system restore to the last restore point logged. Everything was going
well
| >until I tried to switch to OE while something was copying. Then I had
the
| >same scenario - system went totally unresponsive. This time when trying
to
| >restart after manual shutdown, it hung on "Loading your personal
settings".
| >Tried leaving it for about 4 hours to no avail. Systems now hangs every
| >time I try to start it.
| >
| >Should I try a system restore in safe mode (if I can even boot to safe
| >mode - haven't had the nerve to try that yet). I sure hope someone out
| >there can help.
| >
| >Lorraine
| >
| >
|
| What did you do before this happened ?

Hi Jim;

As I stated in my first post "Everything was going well
until I tried to switch to OE while something was copying. Then I had the
same scenario - system went totally unresponsive"

Anyway, I was about to start in SafeMode this morning, and guess what???
- lo and behold - it booted. I did today's batch up updates, then ran my
super
registry cleaner (JV16 Power Tools) which found 45 errors that I fixed. I
shut
down the normal way, rebooted, and everything loaded just fine. Shut down
and rebooted once more (just to be sure) and all seems well - touch wood.
Needless to say, I'm one happy camper this morning. I don't think I'll ever
find out
what the problem was, and I really don't care, as long as it RUNS OK.

Thanks for your help guys.

Lorraine

 

[neil]

| On Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:58:16 GMT, "LorraineW" <[email protected]>
| wrote:
|
| >I'm using XP Pro SP3 with all updates. This started out with OE 6
losing
| >the face of the app. (menu bar shows, and frame - but nothing else) I
was
| >unable to shut it down either by using the red X in top right corner,
using
| >Alt F4, or right clicking the icon on the task bar and choosing close
(or
| >exit?). Using CtrlAltDel showed the program not responding and
choosing
end
| >now did nothing. The whole system then became totally unresponsive and
I
| >had to shut down manually with the power button. When I rebooted, I
did
a
| >system restore to the last restore point logged. Everything was going
well
| >until I tried to switch to OE while something was copying. Then I had
the
| >same scenario - system went totally unresponsive. This time when
trying
to
| >restart after manual shutdown, it hung on "Loading your personal
settings".
| >Tried leaving it for about 4 hours to no avail. Systems now hangs
every
| >time I try to start it.
| >
| >Should I try a system restore in safe mode (if I can even boot to safe
| >mode - haven't had the nerve to try that yet). I sure hope someone
out
| >there can help.
| >
| >Lorraine
| >
| >
|
| What did you do before this happened ?

Hi Jim;

As I stated in my first post "Everything was going well
until I tried to switch to OE while something was copying. Then I had the
same scenario - system went totally unresponsive"

Anyway, I was about to start in SafeMode this morning, and guess what???
- lo and behold - it booted. I did today's batch up updates, then ran my
super
registry cleaner (JV16 Power Tools) which found 45 errors that I fixed. I
shut
down the normal way, rebooted, and everything loaded just fine. Shut down
and rebooted once more (just to be sure) and all seems well - touch wood.
Needless to say, I'm one happy camper this morning. I don't think I'll
ever
find out
what the problem was, and I really don't care, as long as it RUNS OK.

Thanks for your help guys.

Lorraine

I think I'd leave the registry cleaner alone.
Neil