Start Up Screen shows desktop before showing default blue screen

[Captain]

Yesterday I installed a few programs on my pc, and now I have noticed a
changed behaviour; prior to the default blue "Loading your personal
settings' screen, the background colour (in my case it is grey) for the
desktop appears for about half a second, it never happened before. I even
uninstalled the programs but to no avail. Could someone please guide me
appropriately.
Thanking in anticipation.

[R. C. White]

Hi, Captain.

Can you use the F8 key as WinXP starts to boot and choose Safe Mode?

Can you tell us the names of those "few programs". Somebody here might
recognize them and make a good guess about what happened to your computer.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

"Captain" > wrote in message
...
> Yesterday I installed a few programs on my pc, and now I have noticed a
> changed behaviour; prior to the default blue "Loading your personal
> settings' screen, the background colour (in my case it is grey) for the
> desktop appears for about half a second, it never happened before. I even
> uninstalled the programs but to no avail. Could someone please guide me
> appropriately.
> Thanking in anticipation.

[Captain]

Thank you White for the response. I can use the safe boot mode but don't
know what to do afterwards. The few programs that I installed and then
uninstalled were Norton System Works 2003, Spy Sweeper, Ad-aware and
RegScrubXP. The computer takes a bit longer to boot now, I even used bootvis
but to no avail, just an improvement of 5 secs but the default colour for
desktop still appears before showing the 'Loading your personal
settings' blue screen. Any help would be appreciated. And in case it is
relevant, I have an intel P4, with 384 MB RDRAM, and 60 GB 7400 rpm hard
disk.

[R. C. White]

Hi, Captain.

I also use SystemWorks (2002) and Ad-aware, but I'm not familiar with the
other two. SystemWorks, of course, is a bundle of different utilities, so
we may not be using the same combination of them.

Did you reboot after installing each program? Sometimes utilities that work
at a low level step on each other's toes. :^{

At this point, first try the System File Checker. At the Run prompt, type:
sfc /scannow

SFC will compare each WinXP operating system file with the "known good" copy
WFP keeps in your on-disk cache and replace any missing or damaged ones.
Have your WinXP CD-ROM handy; SFC probably will want to see it.

If SFC doesn't clear things up, you may need to do a "repair reinstall",
also known as an "in-place upgrade", as described in this KB article:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341

As the article says, this is not intended as a time-saver; it will take
about as long as an original installation of WinXP, but it should preserve
your installed applications and data. Be sure to visit Windows Update as
soon as you get back online - especially in light of the virus that's
sweeping the world today. MS posted the fix for that on Windows Update last
month, but many users haven't downloaded it yet and are having problems,
plus a domino effect on the rest of us. :>(

Uninstall those utilities - or leave them uninstalled - until after WinXP is
running right again. Then install them one at a time and reboot after each
one to test that your system is still running right. At the least, this
will tell you which one is causing the gray screen you are seeing. And,
yes, you should expect your computer to boot at least a little slower after
each one because WinXP has more work to do in starting each of those
utilities in the background.

Even with all this reinstallation, you should be "good to go" in half a day.

Let us know what you try and how it works out for you. In a newsgroup, we
all learn from each other.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

"Captain" > wrote in message
...
> Thank you White for the response. I can use the safe boot mode but don't
> know what to do afterwards. The few programs that I installed and then
> uninstalled were Norton System Works 2003, Spy Sweeper, Ad-aware and
> RegScrubXP. The computer takes a bit longer to boot now, I even used
bootvis
> but to no avail, just an improvement of 5 secs but the default colour for
> desktop still appears before showing the 'Loading your personal
> settings' blue screen. Any help would be appreciated. And in case it is
> relevant, I have an intel P4, with 384 MB RDRAM, and 60 GB 7400 rpm hard
> disk.

[Captain]

Thank you very much White, I am impressed the way some people like you have
a delightful way of offering help to others in solving their problems. Well,
thanks again for the advice but let me share certain things with you. First
of all, I have uninstalled all of those programs but still experiencing that
'grey' status. Secondly, I didnt allow any of them running during the
startup, not even Norton; I removed them from the startup. As regards
running the sfc /scannow, I tried using it but it asks for the cd but to no
avail. Actually, I have upgraded my xp to SP1 through a web downloaded
package. I remember running sfc /scannow prior to SP1 using the same CD and
it ran perfectly well. I dont know how to solve this problem now, could you
help?
As far as doing a repair install is concerned, it is not a bad idea but very
messy and hectic, and I am having second thoughts about using it as its only
for about half a second that I am seeing that grey screen and furthermore I
have had a bad experience of doing a repair install in the past. I ended up
getting a perfect system which would finally boot in about 55 seconds
against my previous 40 seconds boot time. So, I am afraid of doing that
again as I am a little stingy regarding my boot time.

And luckily enough, I installed the update as early as Microsoft posted it
on their update site and I have a completely up-to-date system.

I would again like to thank you for your concern and response. Please keep
it up.

[Captain]

Thank you very much White, I am impressed the way some people like you have
a delightful way of offering help to others in solving their problems. Well,
thanks again for the advice but let me share certain things with you. First
of all, I have uninstalled all of those programs but still experiencing that
'grey' status. Secondly, I didnt allow any of them running during the
startup, not even Norton; I removed them from the startup. As regards
running the sfc /scannow, I tried using it but it asks for the cd but to no
avail. Actually, I have upgraded my xp to SP1 through a web downloaded
package. I remember running sfc /scannow prior to SP1 using the same CD and
it ran perfectly well. I dont know how to solve this problem now, could you
help?
As far as doing a repair install is concerned, it is not a bad idea but very
messy and hectic, and I am having second thoughts about using it as its only
for about half a second that I am seeing that grey screen and furthermore I
have had a bad experience of doing a repair install in the past. I ended up
getting a perfect system which would finally boot in about 55 seconds
against my previous 40 seconds boot time. So, I am afraid of doing that
again as I am a little stingy regarding my boot time.

And luckily enough, I installed the update as early as Microsoft posted it
on their update site and I have a completely up-to-date system.

I would again like to thank you for your concern and response. Please keep
it up.

[R. C. White]

Hi, Captain.

It's your computer, so it's your call. And I don't disagree with you. Some
glitches are minor and not worth the time and trouble to fix. Or they can
stay on the back burner until something more serious demands attention, when
this minor thing might get fixed in the process. And sometimes, the
glitches just disappear all by themselves. ;<)

And you are quite welcome. Helping here is just my way of pay-back for all
the help I've received - and continue to receive. After all, if we don't
keep this channel open, where will I find help the next time I need it?

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

"Captain" > wrote in message
...
> Thank you very much White, I am impressed the way some people like you
have
> a delightful way of offering help to others in solving their problems.
Well,
> thanks again for the advice but let me share certain things with you.
First
> of all, I have uninstalled all of those programs but still experiencing
that
> 'grey' status. Secondly, I didnt allow any of them running during the
> startup, not even Norton; I removed them from the startup. As regards
> running the sfc /scannow, I tried using it but it asks for the cd but to
no
> avail. Actually, I have upgraded my xp to SP1 through a web downloaded
> package. I remember running sfc /scannow prior to SP1 using the same CD
and
> it ran perfectly well. I dont know how to solve this problem now, could
you
> help?
> As far as doing a repair install is concerned, it is not a bad idea but
very
> messy and hectic, and I am having second thoughts about using it as its
only
> for about half a second that I am seeing that grey screen and furthermore
I
> have had a bad experience of doing a repair install in the past. I ended
up
> getting a perfect system which would finally boot in about 55 seconds
> against my previous 40 seconds boot time. So, I am afraid of doing that
> again as I am a little stingy regarding my boot time.
>
> And luckily enough, I installed the update as early as Microsoft posted it
> on their update site and I have a completely up-to-date system.
>
> I would again like to thank you for your concern and response. Please keep
> it up.