Windows XP hangs on startup after the windows logo shows

[Guest]

My hangs everytime on startup now. It only gets as far as the Windows Logo
and then the screen goes blank. It seems to be accessing the hard drive
briefly in a continuous short cycle. The only way I can end it is to hold
down the power switch until it powers down.

This started out of the blue. My system is a relatively new 3.0 Ghz IBM 8187
43U and I simply shut it down one night and it wouldn't start in the morning.
I made no hardware or software changes. Maybe some updates to Windows were
applied on shutdown as my system usually applies updates on shutdown.

I tried all the recovery techniques shown in standard texts.
The computer would hang in SAFE mode at mup.sys.
I tried repairing by booting from the XP CD install disk and that didn't
work. It simply gave an error saying "Setup cannot set the required Windows
XP configuration information. This indiscates an internal setup error.
Contact System Administration"

I then updated my BIOS but still the same problem.
I tried default BIOS setting but still same problem.
I then reset the CMOS but still the same problem.
I ran hardware diagnostics from boot CD and all hardware seems fine.

My system's primary hard drive is a 40 Gig drive and I also have a second
internal 40 Gig removal drive (not USB). Same problem even if I disable or
remove this drive. My data is mostly all on this removable drive with system
programs and applications on primary drive.

Any suggestions on how to get this system to boot up properly? I am totally
struggling with this one. Help!!

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Error Message: Setup Cannot Set the Required Windows XP Configuration
Information
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316425

Try removing all connected peripherals except keyboard, mouse and
monitor and boot.

What precisely is your Windows CD?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

It sounds like your computer is trying to access a peripheral. It asks a
question of all peripherals plugged into the machine, and will not progress
until it gets an answer from each one.

This can be a problem if one of your peripherals cannot answer. This can be
caused by leaving a device plugged in.

Another reason is you might be using something like Alcohol 120% or daemon
tools. These mimic virtual hard drives. If you are pointing your virtual
hard drive to a location that no longer exists on your hard drive (or to a
hard drive that is no longer plugged in), you will get an inifite pause while
the computer tries to access the virtual drive. I have had this happen to me
with a removable hard drive.

The previous poster was right: remove all of your devices except keyboard
and mouse and try again. And make sure your virtual drives are unmounted if
you can.

 

[Guest]

hi it sounds like you might have a graphics problem. If you desperately need
to access the drive you could try the following. insert the xp disc, boot
from disc and enter R for recovery panel go to the drive you want access to.
it will ask you for a password, default normally set to just pressing enter
button at promt. then you will have a c:/ windows prompt...you type "disable
uagp35" press enter type "exit" press enter and allow pc to start up from
hard drive. Does that work? if not try same again abut this time type
"disable mup". You might have to do a complete restall later but at least
you can access the drive and transfer stuff to a new drive.

 

[Guest]

Thanks. I do have a removable internal drive that slides in and out in using
a drawer installed in the disk slot (i.e. not a USB drive). I did try to
boot with this removed but still had the same problem. Do I have to disable
it in the BIOS as well or unplug the cables to the removable disk tray.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Unfortunately when I try the recovery procedure using the XP disc it
simply hangs after I enter the R.

 

[Guest]

Ok I unplugged, the floppy, the DVD/CD-Rom and 2nd hard disk and all other
peripherals except mouse and USB keyboard. Still the same symptoms except
the hard disk light doesn't cycle after the initial access. The systems
still hangs after the Windows logo shows up.

 

[Guest]

P.S. after the hang the hard disk light only cycles if the CD Rom is
connected. Thus whether is cycles does not seem to be the cause of the hang.

 

[Guest]

New info to help the diagnosis. I thought all the hard disc tests using
PC-Doctor passed but it turns out pc-doctor smart self test fails even though
my hard disk is supposed to support smartdrive. Could this cause the problem?

 

[Gerry Cornell]

See if of the Troubleshooting advice here helps:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Gerry Cornell]

What is the make and model of your hard disk?

Your Windows XP disk. You are using the original Windows
XP disk provided when you bought the computer and not a
Windows XP SP2 update?

I am not familiar with PC-Doctor. How are you accessing
this information given that the computer hangs on Start-Up

Googling I found this:

What should I do when the SMART test fails?
Answer: Self-Monitoring Analysis Reporting Technology
(SMART) tests are built into many hard drives. PC-Doctor
launches these built-in tests and monitors their progress.
If a test fails, the drive is not performing properly and may
stop working.

What is the Boot Sequence in the BIOS?


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

It is a Seagate ST340014A. I ran Seagates diagnostics and they gave a
S.M.A.R.T. failure as well.
I installed XP Pro on my second hard drive (removable non USB) and was able
to get that up and running and was able to access the primary hard drive c:
At least now I have recovered all my data on both c: and d: and can now play
with the system without worrying about lossing data.
I ran chkdsk on c: and this finally allowed a bootup on under the original
XP Pro but instead of booting up fully it went into Setup Mode and wanted my
XP installation disk. I put that in and got to the System Recovery Console.
I will now see if that will help restore the first XP Pro install. I just
have to get the admin password for the Console. I don't have that!!!. Just
pressing enter doesn't work. It looks for a password for XP Pro. Arghhh.
Any suggestions. I might be able to get it from our system admin folks if
they ever answer their email.

The interesting part of all this was being able to recover files on c: by
installing XP Pro on D: after not being able to boot up at all on C: due to
problems with that disk or O/S on that disk. It must be more than just the
disk because I can read the files on C: so the hard disk in not totally
broken. The SMART disc failure is a Seagate technology that warns of a
pending disc crash to allow you time to recover the data. I wonder if the
SMART error causes the system to stop booting up on that disc. It didn't say
anything about that on the Seagate site or IBM site. Unless I missed it.
Anyone know if the BIOS stops the bootup if it sees a SMART disc error?