xp strange and/or changed behaviour

[slider]

hello helpful peeps

something's going a bit odd with my xp os system and some advise might be
helpful in order to avert a major crash...

started a little while ago on boot-up when something changed, and where
instead of staying on the rolling start-up logo for several repetitions of
the blue bar (usually 6 or 7 cycles) it started going across only once or
twice until the usual keyboard lights flashed followed by a blank screen for
several long seconds, followed by the welcome screen where it hangs for
another several long seconds 'after' the start-up music plays??

whereas before, the music played and it usually jumped straight into desktop

which seems to be getting worse because sometimes now the desktop appears
after all the long delays but without all the icons or the quick
launch-bar... which lasts for maybe 15 or 20 seconds and then the icons etc
do at least appear and the system runs just fine, but this is intermittent
with booting straight into windows, desktop items and all...

question... what's going on + what usually loads from the os after the
start-up music plays?

this was never a problem before and the system's been running sweetly for
about 3 years without error + i've tried several tweaks with the services
etc which has improved the icons appearing somewhat quicker, but what's with
the delay/hang on the welcome screen and the faster disappearing rolling
logo just after the POST?

my start up folder is empty + in msconfig i've disabled most of the other
items in start-up, a set up that's worked fine until all this started
occurring, no new software has been installed, passes all bug and malware
tests so it's got me baffled...

was only this single warning in event viewer which appeared in the previous
boot before last

TIA for any advice
regards from slider

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Userenv
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1517
Date: 18/10/2007
Time: 22:59:19
User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Computer: FANNIE
Description:
Windows saved user FANNIE\slider registry while an application or service
was still using the registry during log off. The memory used by the user's
registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is no
longer in use.

This is often caused by services running as a user account, try configuring
the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account.

 

[Gerry]

What Error / Warning reports ( if any ) appear in the System log in
Event Viewer when you last booted the machine?

Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in
the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot. No
Information Reports or Duplicates please. Indicate which also appear in
a previous boot.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[slider]

hi Gerry, thanks for the tip about event viewer and the system log...

several error reports in there regarding DCOM pointed me in the right
direction, and after a few hours of playing around with the Services (trial
and error etc) i've finally managed to correct the long hang on the welcome
screen and it boots into windows now no-problem and with no delays, plus the
music now plays 'after' the desktop appears, so i thank you indeed for
that... all error reports have now ceased

only one small thing left now for a perfect boot, and that's the strange +
worrying windows xp logo effect that appears right after POST where instead
of the blue-bar animation playing 6 or 7 times as it used to before arriving
at the welcome screen, it only cycles twice (or less) before disappearing
(keyboard lights flash once) leaving it on a blank screen for a while with
only the cursor remaining until the welcome screen appears

this blank screen delay approximates the same time it would only normally
spend on the rolling logo for another 4 or 5 cycles anyway, but i'm
wondering why it's occurring + i've never seen this effect before

e.g. normally the logo cycled 6 or 7 times, the keyboard lights would then
flash and then it quickly jumped to the welcome screen, but now the keyboard
lights flash after only 2 cycles before the hanging on a blank screen with
only the cursor showing... everything else (including the whole boot time)
seems just fine otherwise

any ideas?

TIA again,
from slider







Gerry wrote...