Windows XP Pro Boot Issues

[Guest]

Let me first describe the problem i've having which has left me completly
confounded.

When i attempt to boot, it will proceed to the first windows boot screen
where there is the windows XP logo and the progress bar underneath it.
Usually after this stage, the computer will go into what i like to call
"zombie state". The monitor will go blank and its LED will begin flashing
rather than the usual steady on. All keyboard lights will go out and the
computer will not recieve any further input. It will no longer eject the cd
drives or retract them. However i can hear the processor and power source
fans still going and the power light on the computer is still on.

The only option after this is to do power down the computer by holding the
power button. After at least 6 attempts where the first problem occurs, the
computer will actually make it to the welcome screen but then do the same
state. This time, the optical mouse's lights, which go on after the first
windows screen, also go off.

After getting the the welcome screen, the computer will usually continue to
get the the welcome screen and hang but occaisionally will hang at the first
windows screen and hang there the next 4 times at least.

The only way i've been able to boot is to let the computer get to the
welcome screen and then boot from the XP pro cd and use the fixboot command
in the recovery console. Upon restarting with the fixboot command the
computer will also get to the desktop however about 20% of the time will go
into zombie state within 15 seconds of displaying the desktop. When the
computer does properly boot up, it will go into zombie state when no
processor intensive program is running. If i leave winamp running with
shuffle and repeat on, the computer stays regular for upwards of 8 hours. But
any times i've left the computer with nothing running, when i return an hour
later, its back in zombie state.

My first question is if this is for sure a windows problem or if it could be
a hardware problem? The only hardware component i can think of that could be
malfunctioning to cause this is the hard drive. But would htat malfunctionaly
produce these seemingly random errors?

Second question is whether this could for sure be fixed by a clean install.
The reason this is a concern is because i've lost since lost my original
windows xp cd ( 2 years of moving in and out of college housing). I've
purchased a student copy of XP pro however this copy is limited to 2
installs. I've already burned on by attempting to repair the previous
installation. ..

 

[Malke]

Onyeka wrote:

See my comments inline:

When i attempt to boot, it will proceed to the first windows boot
screen where there is the windows XP logo and the progress bar
underneath it. Usually after this stage, the computer will go into
what i like to call "zombie state". The monitor will go blank and its
LED will begin flashing rather than the usual steady on. All keyboard
lights will go out and the computer will not recieve any further
input. It will no longer eject the cd
drives or retract them. However i can hear the processor and power
source fans still going and the power light on the computer is still
on.

The only option after this is to do power down the computer by holding
the
power button. After at least 6 attempts where the first problem
occurs, the computer will actually make it to the welcome screen but
then do the same state. This time, the optical mouse's lights, which
go on after the first windows screen, also go off.

This sounds like a hardware problem. Could be the power supply, bad RAM,
bad motherboard, bad video card, bad processor.

After getting the the welcome screen, the computer will usually
continue to get the the welcome screen and hang but occaisionally will
hang at the first windows screen and hang there the next 4 times at
least.

The only way i've been able to boot is to let the computer get to the
welcome screen and then boot from the XP pro cd and use the fixboot
command in the recovery console. Upon restarting with the fixboot
command the computer will also get to the desktop however about 20% of
the time will go into zombie state within 15 seconds of displaying the
desktop. When the computer does properly boot up, it will go into
zombie state when no processor intensive program is running. If i
leave winamp running with shuffle and repeat on, the computer stays
regular for upwards of 8 hours. But any times i've left the computer
with nothing running, when i return an hour later, its back in zombie
state.

My first question is if this is for sure a windows problem or if it
could be a hardware problem? The only hardware component i can think
of that could be malfunctioning to cause this is the hard drive. But
would htat malfunctionaly produce these seemingly random errors?

This certainly does sound like a hardware problem. Actually, the last
thing I think would be the cause is the hard drive. To determine for
sure if it is hardware or Windows, you can do two things:

1. Test the hardware (see below for general hardware troubleshooting
steps).

2. Boot with a different operating system. Get Knoppix, a Linux distro
that runs from cd. Boot with it, and if you have the same problems you
know it isn't hardware.

Second question is whether this could for sure be fixed by a clean
install. The reason this is a concern is because i've lost since lost
my original windows xp cd ( 2 years of moving in and out of college
housing). I've purchased a student copy of XP pro however this copy is
limited to 2 installs. I've already burned on by attempting to repair
the previous installation. ..

If you have hardware problems, you need to fix them. Installing software
on bad hardware won't work. Here are the general hardware
troubleshooting steps:

1) open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing); 2) test
the RAM - I like Memtest86 from www.memtest86.com - let the test run
for an extended (like overnight) period of time - unless errors are
seen immediately; 3) test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from
the mftr.; 4) the power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for
the devices you have in the system so swap it out for a known-working
one; 5) test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out
suspected parts with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing
yourself and/or are uncomfortable opening your computer, take the
machine to a good local computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy
type of store).

Good luck, and post back if you need help with any of the hardware
testing.

Malke

 

[Jerry Undead]

Let me first describe the problem i've having which has left me completly
confounded.

When i attempt to boot, it will proceed to the first windows boot screen
where there is the windows XP logo and the progress bar underneath it.
Usually after this stage, the computer will go into what i like to call
"zombie state". The monitor will go blank and its LED will begin flashing
rather than the usual steady on. All keyboard lights will go out and the
computer will not recieve any further input. It will no longer eject the cd
drives or retract them. However i can hear the processor and power source
fans still going and the power light on the computer is still on.

(.....................)

I have seen the exact same behaviour on a 1,5 GHz Intel Celeron (VIA
chipset) machine once. It turned out to be caused by a bad memory
timing setting in the BIOS setup. The user had disregarded the auto
configuration of the memory setting and put in a setting that was to
aggressive in hope of gaining speed.
Sadly enough resetting the memory timing was not enough, the Windows
XP installation was thrashed beyond repair and the only thing to do in
this case was to reinstall.
I think bad memory could cause the same thing to happen. But it is
always worth while to try to repair installations once you have found
the fault.