Window XP only starts in Safe Mode

[Guest]

I am using Windows XP Home Edition - do not have SP2 installed. I can only
start computer in Safe Mode. Without using safe mode it begins to startup,
then the screen goes dark, the keyboard no longer responds and there is no
hard drive activity. This started after we received a significant power
surge which shut down the computer. So far I have run chkdsk which repaired
a couple of files. What do I look at next?

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Have the hardware checked. Even protected by a surge protector or UPS, there
is still the possibility of damage from electrical bursts. Likely some
hardware that is not used in safe mode, like a modem or network card, is
damaged.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Malke]

I am using Windows XP Home Edition - do not have SP2 installed. I can
only
start computer in Safe Mode. Without using safe mode it begins to
startup, then the screen goes dark, the keyboard no longer responds
and there is no
hard drive activity. This started after we received a significant
power
surge which shut down the computer. So far I have run chkdsk which
repaired
a couple of files. What do I look at next?

It sounds like you fried some hardware. Start by stripping the box of
everything except the video card, memory and one optical drive (so you
can put in the bootable cd with the diagnostic utilities). Run hardware
diagnostics on the motherboard. I think I'd swap out the power supply
also.

If everything tests OK, then add components back in, one at a time. Like
you could add one hard drive and try and boot into Windows. If
everything is OK, then you know one of the components you haven't added
in yet (sound card, nic, modem, etc.) is the culprit. Keep going with
this process of elimination.

Here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

With all troubleshooting, it is key to be very methodical and make only
one change at a time. If all this is more than you want to do, take the
machine to a professional computer repair shop (not your local version
of BigStoreUSA) for testing.

Malke