XP Home Edition freezes at start-up

[Guest]

I have current updated XP home edition on my Toshiba laptop, successfully
running for 2 1/2 years. I use it at home, and at work I had the
administrator set it up to permit me to log into their network. Since then
the computer freezes at start-up on the blue screen that shows the Windows XP
logo, and the words "Windows is starting up". I found that I can navigate
through this at startup by tapping the F8 key rapidly before that screen
appears. I tried the System Restore to a date earlier than the
administrator's work, but no help. Is their a repair or restore procedure
that will cure this problem? Thanks.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Ryk,

You need to ask the administrator what he/she modified. It 'may' be that this setup is now waiting for a network connection or network login.

Is the problem occurring at the office, or away from the office?

Did the System Restore complete successfully all the way?

A XP repair is one of the very last things to resort to. And it will require your having the XP CD (not a recovery CD).

While in Safe Mode of XP, you should look at all the startup programs, and startup settings.

Also, look at contents of the following 2 files in the Windows\System32 folder (or yours may be WINNT\System32) :

Autoexec.nt
Config.nt


You may go to www.dougknox.com and download Doug's Startup tracker.
That would help you get a complete list of startups.
Hopefully you can download it from another pc, transfer to portable media, and setup & run while in Safe Mode.

 

[Guest]

Thanks. I plan to ask the admin when I get in touch with him about it. The
problem occurs at home, not at the office (so far). System Restore succeeded
completely. I will follow the other tips you offered at the end, and I
really appreciate it.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Ryk,
Do hope it helps. You are welcome.