Windows did not start successfully

[Guest]

Someone please help me!!!!! Recently my computer shut down and rebooted on to
the same message. The message was as follows:

We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully.
A recent hardware or software change might have caused this.

If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was
automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose Last Known
Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

If a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or
because the Power or Reset button was pressed, or if you aren't sure what
caused the problem, choose Start Windows
Normally.

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked) Start
Windows Normally

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice.

Seconds until Windows starts: 30

I have tried to get back into windows but none of the options work. I have
also tried to use my xp disc to repair it but that gets stuck on setup is
loading windows. My pc was working like 5 days ago normal. It is an HP
Pavilion 8513. Please help me.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Have you tried a System Restore via Safe Mode?

 

[Guest]

Thanks for replying. I have been trying to do a system restore via safe mode
but it won't go into safe mode it just keeps rebooting. I have tried to get
into everything. I also disabled the reboot when system fails but it seems
not to have worked

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Try another 'Repair' install - refer to the following article by Michael
Stevens:

"How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install"
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

If you still can't access Windows at all, you may have to think about a
'Clean' install, although you will lose all data on the hard disk/partition.

 

[Guest]

I have tried my xp disc but it hangs on setup is starting windows. I have
also let it sit but it still won't go past that point. Thanks.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

If you've tried all the possible options - LKGC, Safe Mode etc. - and still
can't get into Windows, I can't see any other way round it, but to 'Clean'
install XP. Although that is a drastic measure.

 

[Guest]

How would I go about doing that if the xp disc won't go past setup is loading
windows? Thanks..

 

[D Mazzetti]

How would I go about doing that if the xp disc won't go past setup is loading
windows? Thanks..

Go into your BIOS set up (while the PC is initially booting) and find
the boot up options. Make sure that your CD is made the first bootable
device. Save the settings, put you XP disc in the drive and reboot. It
should then boot from the CD without trying to load Windows and you can
attempt to reinstall XP.
Hope this helps

 

[Guest]

Thanks. I have done that, but what i am trying to say is that the xp disc
loads up all the files eg debugger and so on but when it gets to the point
'setup is starting windows' it hangs there and won't go any further.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

I wonder if theXP CD has become corrupt somehow? Have you tried it with any
other system, apart from your own?

 

[Guest]

Hello,
Yes I have tried the XP cd on another pc, runs no problems. I just had
another go at trying to get the pc to work. It still starts up with the
windows did not start successfully screen (still) but now it tries to start
windows but it just hangs on a black screen with a gray line at the bottom of
the screen.?????

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Can you get into the Recovery Console? If so, try running the following
command - it will check the hard disk for any errors:

chkdsk /r

Please note the space between the k and /

 

[Guest]

Hi,
I don't think that it is the hard drive. We have just replaced it recently
thinking that that was the problem but it still does the same thing with the
new one as it did with the old hard drive. Could it be the power lead or
something? It wants to get into windows but it just hangs. Tried to get into
safe mode, recovery console etc. but everything just hangs and won't go any
further. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Hey Melsey,

I am havin the exact same problem you are having. Once Windows XP Pro
installs the installation files to the hard drive, the system does not get
past "Setup is starting Windows". I cannot perform any diagnostics on the
drives that I install to because Windows is not installed...therefore what is
there to do? My system has been paralyzed for a week or so now. I have 1
new hard drive, and an old one that I am using for storage. Both are Western
Digital. The newest one (160GB Western Digital) had Windows on it, and when
I noticed my BIOS was not seeing the full 160GB (it was seeing 137.4 GB), I
reformatted, updated my BIOD tot he latest revision, and the problem STILL
exists... I cannot install Windows!!

Help?!!?

- Kevin

 

[Guest]

Hi,
I'm not sure what you should do. My hard drive already has xp on it, it was
working fine now I can't get into anything. Maybe you should start a new post
so other people can help you. I have tried the hard drive on my other pc and
it is works fine, xp and everything else is up to date but it just won't work
in my other pc, it just keeps hanging.

 

[Guest]

Melsey,

I, too had the exact symptoms and my problem was that my son downloaded a
file that contained a virus and he didn't scan the file prior to opening it.
The first thing this virus did was to disable my Anti-virus programs by
deleting some of the necessary Anti-virus program files. Then, it went into
the BIOS and changed the voltages on a couple of areas on my motherboard and
fried them. I wound up bying a new motherboard from H-P for about $178.00 (a
Media Center).

Once I installed the new motherboard and then put the Pentium into the
socket and applied the heat-paste and hooked all the wires back in place, I
used my emergency bootable floppy disks to scan the hard drive. I found out
that the virus also deleted the Master Boot record on my hard drive, so I
had to do a clean (re-formatted) install. Fortunately, my last (virus-free)
backup was only a week prior, so I didn't lose very many files. Thank God I
did that backup! If I hadn't done that backup, I would have lost about 140
Gigs of data and programs!

This was a nasty bug, and AVG, Norton, and my 3 anti-spyware programs didn't
catch it in time because the first thing it did (once my son opened the
unscanned file) was to go in and delete some of the Antivirus progam's files.
Bummer!

Here's another thing- Have you tried another set of H-P restore disks? They
will send you a set of CD's for about $10-12.00 (for a Media Center
Computer). I realize that you computer is pretty old, running only about 500
MHz on a Pentium III and probably using Windows 98. New H-P machines are
using 2 GBytes of RAM (mine can use almost 3 GBytes) at speeds over 6 times
faster than yours. Maybe it might be time to upgrade systems.....

Whatever you do, I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Guest]

Hi,
Thanks for that info. I finally got the pc back up and running. I removed
all the ram and found out that one of the ram sticks was not working. I was
able to put xp back on the system. It was working fine. When I shut it down
and tried to use it again it came up with the same message 'windows did not
start successfully'.Now I can't get into to it again. At least I can boot
from xp cd now without it hanging on setup. Please can anyone give me anymore
advice. At the moment i am doing a clean installing of xp, hopefully this
works.

 

[drsmith]

I just wanted to add a related tip for others that run into a similar
problem. I just got a machine that had the same problem(a toshiba
laptop). Toshiba support was no help at all with the issue and the
answer wasn't posted anywhere online.

Basically the XP Gold release has a bug in the ACPI hardware
abstraction layer that causes the very same freezup as was posted in
this thread. If you do a non-acpi installation(hit F7 when it asks you
to hit F6 to supply additional storage drivers) you can get the
installation to complete successfully, but the power management
features won't work.

To get around that, follow the instructions for creating an XP
installation cd with the current service pack integrated(slipstreamed):

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp

Then, redo the installation with the new installation cd. Apparently,
the service pack contains a fix to the HAL that allows the installation
to complete successfully.

No thanks to Toshiba America for the worst support from a major pc
manufacturer. After all, they must know this stuff - would it have
really hurt them to post a support article about this?

Anyway - I hope this helps someone down the road.

 

[Guest]

Hi,
Thanks for that. I have finally got it working nicely. After I took one of
the sticks of ram out it was fine but when I tried to do the windows updates
it would do the same messages after I restarted it. I was able to get back
into the pc using last known good configuration. I then put the xp cd in and
ran it while i was in xp. I then ugraded it from the disc and it actually got
updates from microsoft before it put xp back on. I didn't loose anything new
that I put back on the pc. This process took between 60-90mins to complete
but ever since then the pc has been running smoothly no hanging no nothing.
Hopefully this will can help others.