Won't boot up in Normal or Safe Mode

[SteBar]

Running XP SP1 my PC has decided not to boot up in either Normal or Safe
mode.

In normal mode after selecting any User, it just restarts itself back to the
User Screen. This happens every time with any user.

In Safe mode "Last known configuration" doesn't solve the problem and it
will not boot into any of the 3 safe mode options. It starts to boot and a
lot of Windows\System32\Drivers\ files are scrolled down the page then it
just stops.

Any suggestions please. Thanks - Steve B.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

If none of those options allow to boot into Windows, you will have to look
towards a 'Repair' install of XP. Dependent on the type of XP CD you have,
the following article by Michael Stevens will help you:

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

 

[Guest]

If you have your original OS disk, try doing a repair [you might need a key].
Here's a link to tell you how to do it, use Method 2:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

 

[SteBar]

Thanks for both replies suggesting the Repair option, I will try that.

If it doesn't work, is it possible to create a XP Boot Disk and run System
Restore from the command prompt?

thanks - Steve B.

If you have your original OS disk, try doing a repair [you might need a
key].
Here's a link to tell you how to do it, use Method 2:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

Running XP SP1 my PC has decided not to boot up in either Normal or Safe
mode.

In normal mode after selecting any User, it just restarts itself back to
the
User Screen. This happens every time with any user.

In Safe mode "Last known configuration" doesn't solve the problem and it
will not boot into any of the 3 safe mode options. It starts to boot and
a
lot of Windows\System32\Drivers\ files are scrolled down the page then it
just stops.

Any suggestions please. Thanks - Steve B.

 

[Rock]

Running XP SP1 my PC has decided not to boot up in either Normal or Safe
mode.

In normal mode after selecting any User, it just restarts itself back to the
User Screen. This happens every time with any user.

In Safe mode "Last known configuration" doesn't solve the problem and it
will not boot into any of the 3 safe mode options. It starts to boot and a
lot of Windows\System32\Drivers\ files are scrolled down the page then it
just stops.

Any suggestions please. Thanks - Steve B.

Have you recently removed spyware? This can be an result of removing
certain kinds. See if this link helps:

Unable to Log On To Windows XP After Removing wsaupdater.exe
http://www.lavasofthelp.com/articles/v6/04/06/0901.html

If that doesn’t help see this:
A User Logon Request Is Rejected Without Any Messages
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=313322

 

[Alex Nichol]

In normal mode after selecting any User, it just restarts itself back to the
User Screen. This happens every time with any user.

In Safe mode "Last known configuration" doesn't solve the problem and it
will not boot into any of the 3 safe mode options. It starts to boot and a
lot of Windows\System32\Drivers\ files are scrolled down the page then it
just stops.

Adapted from a Post from Kelly: I suggest using this method if you
have a proper retail type CD you can boot from, otherwise you would need
the set of six floppies that can be generated from the download at
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;310994

This problem turns out to be that the Winlogon userinit entry is being
set to
"wsaupdater.exe," and not "userinit.exe,".

Set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard Disk. Boot the XP CD and, instead
of Setup, take the immediate R for Repair. Assume any password
requested is blank, and TAB over.

Change the C:\Windows prompt to: C:\Windows\System32
by
CD System32
then
COPY userinit.exe wsaupdater.exe

Reboot into Safe Mode and use a run of regedit.exe:

Open to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT
\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

And in the right pane double click UserInit and change from
wsaupdater.exe to userinit.exe,

Then you can reboot and delete the wpaupdater.exe file

 

[Kevin Harper]

Adapted from a Post from Kelly: I suggest using this method if you
have a proper retail type CD you can boot from, otherwise you would need
the set of six floppies that can be generated from the download at
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;310994

This problem turns out to be that the Winlogon userinit entry is being
set to
"wsaupdater.exe," and not "userinit.exe,".

Set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard Disk. Boot the XP CD and, instead
of Setup, take the immediate R for Repair. Assume any password
requested is blank, and TAB over.

Change the C:\Windows prompt to: C:\Windows\System32
by
CD System32
then
COPY userinit.exe wsaupdater.exe

Reboot into Safe Mode and use a run of regedit.exe:

Open to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT
\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

And in the right pane double click UserInit and change from
wsaupdater.exe to userinit.exe,

Then you can reboot and delete the wpaupdater.exe file

The problem posted here happened to me after the last update that the SP2
auto update installed on my machine. Until that point I had no problems
with SP2 or autoupdate. I telephoned ms support (in the UK) and they took
me through the repair routine. This did not work, so I got back on to them
and they talked me into doing a parallel install, which was successful and
allows me to boot up and use my machine (and also allowed me to back up the
little bit of data that I hadn't backed up prior to the problem).

Good news so far, but I'm now in a situation where I have one working and
one non working version of xp on my machine and all of my software
applications still on the c:> drive, but registered via the non working xp.
Is there any way that I copy over the registrations from the non working to
the working xp and then delete the non working one? Or do I need to format
my c:> drive and start again?

I do know what the probable anser will be, but it would save a lot of work
if I could avoid it! I wish I had seen this post before talking to ms
support - may be it would have prevented me from getting this problem!

Many thanks in advance

Kevin Harper

 

[Rock]

The problem posted here happened to me after the last update that the SP2
auto update installed on my machine. Until that point I had no problems
with SP2 or autoupdate. I telephoned ms support (in the UK) and they took
me through the repair routine. This did not work, so I got back on to them
and they talked me into doing a parallel install, which was successful and
allows me to boot up and use my machine (and also allowed me to back up the
little bit of data that I hadn't backed up prior to the problem).

Good news so far, but I'm now in a situation where I have one working and
one non working version of xp on my machine and all of my software
applications still on the c:> drive, but registered via the non working xp.
Is there any way that I copy over the registrations from the non working to
the working xp and then delete the non working one? Or do I need to format
my c:> drive and start again?

I do know what the probable anser will be, but it would save a lot of work
if I could avoid it! I wish I had seen this post before talking to ms
support - may be it would have prevented me from getting this problem!

Many thanks in advance

Kevin Harper

There is no easy way to do this. The best option is to reinstall the
software.