XP boot hangs on black screen with scrolling blue line - how to troubleshoot?

[kindalost]

I just did a repair install of Windows XP on a computer and now it is
hanging on the startup screen (Black Windows XP with the scrolling blue
bar). I let it sit there for two hours & it doesn't change & there is no
hard drive activity after the first minute or so. I am at a loss as to how
I can troubleshoot this.

I actually did repair installs on two computers. Both had stable XP SP3
installations. I did the repair installs because I upgraded the
motherboard on both computers (Intel board --> Intel board) & a repair
install has always worked to recognize the new hardware.On PC#1, the
repair install worked flawlessly. On PC#2, the boot is hanging on the
scrolling blue bar screen.

There were no hiccups during the XP install. Only after setup was finished
am I stuck on the scrolling blue bar screen. I can boot into safe mode and
I had a look at device manager. All of the devices are installed, no
yellow or red marks or oddball entries, duplicates or hardware from the
old motherboard.

I had a look at the startup items. There didn't seem to be anything
unusual.. adobe reader speed launcher, quicktime, nvidia control panel, et
al. I did try removing all of the startup items and the boot still hangs.
Autoexec.nt & Config.nt don't show anything unusual. Nor does Doug Knox's
startup tracker, run from safe mode.

Windows XP Pro SP3, Asus P4P800-VM, 3Ghz P4, Geforce 6600GT
no cards other than the video card plugged into the motherboard

CMOS /BIOS looks normal, clearing /resetting the BIOS didn't do anything.
No antivirus, ad blocker, firewall, etc installed at this time.

Helllllp?

 

[kindalost]

On Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:26:08 -0800, kindalost

I also tried a clean boot via msconfig /selective startup

I unchecked everything, so that statup is not using win.ini, sys.ini or
any startup items. I also tried unchecking all of the non-microsoft
services & all non-essential microsoft services. And it still hangs on the
scrolling blue bar screen during boot.

Just did a comprehensive check of the ram, it tests OK.

???

 

[kindalost]

On Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:26:08 -0800, kindalost

Hard drive passes SMART & Seatools diagnostic

What next?
On Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:26:08 -0800, kindalost

Hard drive passes SMART & Seatools diagnostic

What next?

 

[123Jim]

On Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:26:08 -0800, kindalost

Hard drive passes SMART & Seatools diagnostic

What next?
On Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:26:08 -0800, kindalost

Hard drive passes SMART & Seatools diagnostic

What next?

Guess: Windows does not like a driver .. but which one?
Disable graphics driver.. try boot to VGA mode
Download the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website
see if that fixes problem
if it does not work .. look at some other device driver.

 

[kindalost]

Guess: Windows does not like a driver .. but which one?
Disable graphics driver.. try boot to VGA mode
Download the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website
see if that fixes problem
if it does not work .. look at some other device driver.

Thanks. This is my assumption too. But I have no idea where to even begin
looking. I did try changing the video driver to a generic MS one. It
didn't help.

I've uninstalled a lot of software & presumably their associated drivers..

Bootlogging doesn't seem to help at all. There are never any bootlog
entries for failed boots. I only see entries for the "successful" boots
into safe mode.

Short of formatting the drive.. I don't know how to troubleshoot this.

 

[kindalost]

On Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:26:08 -0800, kindalost

Well, I have XP booting again. This after uninstalling two dozen programs
plus half a dozen MS updates e.g. net framework, etc from safe mode.

It isn't clear to me what was causing the boot to hang. But I imagine that
I'll find out as I reinstall the programs one by one.

Thanks for the help & Happy New Year!