XP Boot up problems

[Alan Gregory]

Hi,

Hope someone can help me as this one is a bit strange.

I have access to a XP Pro machine (build 2600) that was
shut down correctly last week and when I have come to use
it again it wouldn't boot up, freezing at the splash
screen immediately before you would expect the log in
screen to appear.

The PC will boot up in safe mode but switching back to a
restore point doesn't seem to have made any difference
with the PC still locking up.

The PC then after four attempts to boot up normally
started to work normally as if nothing was wrong. I have
had a trawl through the knowledge base but there doesn't
appear to be any articles about a pc freezing at that
particular point.

It's not urgent as the PC is currently working and all
critical data is backed up so if I have to do a full
install I can live with that but would rather not go down
that route unless absolutely necessary.

Does anyone have any ideas??

TIA

Al

[Walter Clayton]

Setting aside why the machine was hanging, since it could have been for a
whole slew of reasons that I can name off the top of my head, I do have to
ask you one question.

Why are you contemplating blowing away a perfectly functioning system?

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/default.asp


"Alan Gregory" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> Hope someone can help me as this one is a bit strange.
>
> I have access to a XP Pro machine (build 2600) that was
> shut down correctly last week and when I have come to use
> it again it wouldn't boot up, freezing at the splash
> screen immediately before you would expect the log in
> screen to appear.
>
> The PC will boot up in safe mode but switching back to a
> restore point doesn't seem to have made any difference
> with the PC still locking up.
>
> The PC then after four attempts to boot up normally
> started to work normally as if nothing was wrong. I have
> had a trawl through the knowledge base but there doesn't
> appear to be any articles about a pc freezing at that
> particular point.
>
> It's not urgent as the PC is currently working and all
> critical data is backed up so if I have to do a full
> install I can live with that but would rather not go down
> that route unless absolutely necessary.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas??
>
> TIA
>
> Al

[null]

Alan Gregory wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Hope someone can help me as this one is a bit strange.
>
> I have access to a XP Pro machine (build 2600) that was
> shut down correctly last week and when I have come to use
> it again it wouldn't boot up, freezing at the splash
> screen immediately before you would expect the log in
> screen to appear.
>
> The PC will boot up in safe mode but switching back to a
> restore point doesn't seem to have made any difference
> with the PC still locking up.
>
> The PC then after four attempts to boot up normally
> started to work normally as if nothing was wrong. I have
> had a trawl through the knowledge base but there doesn't
> appear to be any articles about a pc freezing at that
> particular point.
>
> It's not urgent as the PC is currently working and all
> critical data is backed up so if I have to do a full
> install I can live with that but would rather not go down
> that route unless absolutely necessary.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas??
>
> TIA
>
> Al

Since the problem seems to be resolved (?), and you have wisely made
backups of your data, I would just suggest some basic checks:

Look in Device Manager for problems/conflicts. Resolve any you find.
Even if you don't find any, download the latest drivers for your PC and
its peripherals - often it is driver problem when you get freezing just
before the login.

--
-the small one

All postings carry no guarantee or warranty, expressed or implied.
Proceed at your own risk, and perform system and data backups prior to
making changes to your system, and on a regular basis, to protect your
system.

[Alan]

Walter,

my main reasons that I am considering the rebuild is due
to the fact that the machine has to be 100% stable and
reliable for at least the next couple of weeks due to
various deadlines and the absence of any alternative PC.
The data is all backed up as of this morning and if the
price I have to pay to guarantee boot up is a reinstall
then so be it although I would prefer to avoid this.

Its amazing that the whole thing (XP) hangs together so
well when you think of the sheer number of companies
writing software (not all of them writing good software)
for the platform. At least with a bare bones system with
XP and office 2000 on it you can be sure that this
combination has been tested to death by microsoft.

I have checked all of the normal causes I can think of
and I have to admit I am currently stumped but right now
it is working but I like to know the whys so I can put
preventative action measures in place for future
occurances.


Regards


Alan



>-----Original Message-----
>Setting aside why the machine was hanging, since it
could have been for a
>whole slew of reasons that I can name off the top of my
head, I do have to
>ask you one question.
>
>Why are you contemplating blowing away a perfectly
functioning system?
>
>--
>Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
>Associate Expert
>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
>Any technology distinguishable from magic is
insufficiently advanced.
>http://www.dts-l.org
>http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/def
ault.asp
>
>

[Walter Clayton]

The platform is currently stable. Transient things however do occur. However
it's a very false assumption that the only way to insure stability is to
arbitrarily reinstall. That never corrects a hardware problem or an
application interaction issue. In fact about the one sure way to really hose
things up is to reinstall, even clean, just because a system has a transient
issue. No telling what kind of other issues you may reintroduce or critical
patch or application you leave off on the reinstall. And if the issue
happens to be malware that is copied off into back up data, then you'll find
yourself in a rather tight cycle of format, install, reload, splat, format,
install, reload, splat.....

And there in lies the rub. Although application interaction can not be ruled
out, since things seemed to clear by itself and these events followed a
dirty shutdown with no affect on safe mode then the most likely fault is a
transient hardware issue. Which can not be corrected by doing any kind of OS
or application reinstall.

Never reinstall to correct *any* problem, especially transient, until all
other avenues of correction have been exhausted *and* all hardware has been
verified to be functional with the current set of drivers. As is, keep
backups current, do your thing and don't worry it. Just be aware that
reinstall is only required when the OS has been stomped on in a major league
way.

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/default.asp


"Alan" > wrote in message
...
> Walter,
>
> my main reasons that I am considering the rebuild is due
> to the fact that the machine has to be 100% stable and
> reliable for at least the next couple of weeks due to
> various deadlines and the absence of any alternative PC.
> The data is all backed up as of this morning and if the
> price I have to pay to guarantee boot up is a reinstall
> then so be it although I would prefer to avoid this.
>
> Its amazing that the whole thing (XP) hangs together so
> well when you think of the sheer number of companies
> writing software (not all of them writing good software)
> for the platform. At least with a bare bones system with
> XP and office 2000 on it you can be sure that this
> combination has been tested to death by microsoft.
>
> I have checked all of the normal causes I can think of
> and I have to admit I am currently stumped but right now
> it is working but I like to know the whys so I can put
> preventative action measures in place for future
> occurances.
>
>
> Regards
>
>
> Alan
>
>
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Setting aside why the machine was hanging, since it
> could have been for a
> >whole slew of reasons that I can name off the top of my
> head, I do have to
> >ask you one question.
> >
> >Why are you contemplating blowing away a perfectly
> functioning system?
> >
> >--
> >Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
> >Associate Expert
> >http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> >Any technology distinguishable from magic is
> insufficiently advanced.
> >http://www.dts-l.org
> >http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/def
> ault.asp
> >
> >
>