Laptop occasionally freezes while booting

My Windows XP laptop just started hanging (freezing) during the boot
process.

This only happens about once per week.

The desktop icons are displayed but the taskbar and notification icons are
missing.

Nothing works, so I have to press the power button to turn it off.

Nothing in Event Viewer looks suspicious. I ran Disk Cleanup to clear
Temporary Internet Files.

Please offer your opinion as to whether the best first step is to use
MSCONFIG to disable ALL non-Microsoft services.

TIA.

Michael T. wrote:
My Windows XP laptop just started hanging (freezing) during the boot
process.

This only happens about once per week.

The desktop icons are displayed but the taskbar and notification icons are
missing.

Nothing works, so I have to press the power button to turn it off.

Nothing in Event Viewer looks suspicious. I ran Disk Cleanup to clear
Temporary Internet Files.

Please offer your opinion as to whether the best first step is to use
MSCONFIG to disable ALL non-Microsoft services.

TIA.

See if reseating the ram and hdd helps.

Michael T. wrote:
My Windows XP laptop just started hanging (freezing) during the boot
process.

This only happens about once per week.

The desktop icons are displayed but the taskbar and notification icons are
missing.

Nothing works, so I have to press the power button to turn it off.

Nothing in Event Viewer looks suspicious. I ran Disk Cleanup to clear
Temporary Internet Files.

Please offer your opinion as to whether the best first step is to use
MSCONFIG to disable ALL non-Microsoft services.

TIA.

Rather than MSCONFIG, you could take a look with Autoruns.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/bb963902

It does a pretty good job of listing everything that could
be starting up.

*******

As a confidence builder, I would also run another OS on the
hardware, and see whether that OS has any freezing episodes.
There are a number of Linux OSes you can boot from their
Live CD, which don't need to install anything to the hard drive.

http://www.linuxmint.com/

I selected that one, instead of Ubuntu, because Ubuntu is
getting worse (GUI wise) with every release. The release
13 beta I tested, was dog slow when I tested it. And for
an end user, about as much fun to run stuff from, as is
Metro in Windows 8. Some of the alternates, still
have conventional menus, and the interface allows learning
by exploring.

As a stress tester for hardware, I use Prime95, which is available
for a number of OSes. This gives the CPU and memory a good workout,
and will crank up the fan on the laptop. When prompted to "Join
GIMPS", decline, and use the stress testing option. My cutoff
criteria, is about four hours without any errors reported.
The LiveCD has a web browser in it, which would allow navigating
here and downloading the program.

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

Paul

Thanks Paul (and also the other "Paul in Houston") for replying.

It's so nice when people take time out of their busy lives to type out a
long missive to a perfect stranger.

That "once a week" scenario certainly makes troubleshooting a little more
challenging.

Michael T. wrote:

My Windows XP laptop just started hanging (freezing) during the boot
process.

This only happens about once per week.

It shouldn't happen at all.

Besides software, you could be witnessing the beginnings of a hardware
failure. They're the hardest to trace sometimes.

I had an intermittent failure of a desktop system that took me six
months to trace down. Turned out to be a failing CPU.


The desktop icons are displayed but the taskbar and notification icons are
missing.

Could be the boot process is waiting for something that is not ready, or
broken, etc. "Turn off" wireless and/or unplug the wired Ethernet,
disconnect any peripherals, etc. and see what happens when it boots.

Boot into Safe Mode with and without networking, with and without
peripherals connected.

Set your system to CHKDSK the hard drive at boot time. (Only need to
do it once.) See if it reports anything. And if so, let it fix it.

Nothing works, so I have to press the power button to turn it off.

So, the system crashed? Totally unresponsive? CTL-ALT-DEL not working?
Or is there a runaway process hogging the CPU? That could look the
same.

Nothing in Event Viewer looks suspicious. I ran Disk Cleanup to clear
Temporary Internet Files.

When you get it running, run a complete virus/malware scan. I recommend
AntiMalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware--scan it that order.

Please offer your opinion as to whether the best first step is to use
MSCONFIG to disable ALL non-Microsoft services.

Just do one-at-a-time, then if things start working correctly, you know
where the problems lies.

If nothing works, try a Repair Install. If it still doesn't work, try a
"Reset to Factory."

I just had to do that on a friend's netbook. It was so "****ed up" by
malware that even the Restore partition on it was damaged. Had to order
the Restore DVDs--set of 4--to fix it.

Stef

Those are some good suggestions Stef. Thank you.

The fact that it only happens when my laptop has been shut off overnight
certainly does nothing to dissuade me from considering your suggestion that
it might be a hardware problem. BTW, after the second boot in the morning
and left running all day there are no apparent further problems.

I like your suggestion to disable services in baby steps as opposed to
disabling all of them at once.

I have a bootable CD with a memory test ready to go the next time I'm away
from the computer for at least an hour -- like a trip for groceries. (I'm
retired and usually home all day.)

I agree with your comment that, "It could be the boot process is waiting for
something that is not ready, or broken, etc." This is problematic in that so
far I have not been able to determine what is happening when it freezes.

Michael T. wrote:

My Windows XP laptop just started hanging (freezing) during the boot
process.

This only happens about once per week.

The desktop icons are displayed but the taskbar and notification icons are
missing.

Nothing works, so I have to press the power button to turn it off.

Nothing in Event Viewer looks suspicious. I ran Disk Cleanup to clear
Temporary Internet Files.

Please offer your opinion as to whether the best first step is to use
MSCONFIG to disable ALL non-Microsoft services.

TIA.

The first step would be to boot Windows XP into its safe mode. Only
if that works to eliminate the problem would you then play with
msconfig.exe (or SysInternals' AutoRuns) to disable startup items.

"VanguardLH" wrote:

The first step would be to boot Windows XP into its safe mode. Only
if that works to eliminate the problem would you then play with
msconfig.exe (or SysInternals' AutoRuns) to disable startup items.

I agree.

My first boot in the morning is NOW in Safe Mode, as you suggested. I have
discovered it seems to always boot OK.

I say "seems', because I have only done this for two days running. As I
mentioned in my original post, sometimes I can go up to a week between
failures.

I should add that this Dell Inspiron 9300 is seven years old. It has been an
excellent purchase and served me well. But I haven't ruled out hardware. I
ran a memory test yesterday and it passed.

Having developed software and diagnosed problems since the 1980s I am
usually pretty good at diagnosing software problems. But this problem is so
tricky given its intermittent nature. Hopefully my stubbornness and
perseverance will pay dividends.

Cheers.

In message , Michael T.
writes:
Those are some good suggestions Stef. Thank you.

The fact that it only happens when my laptop has been shut off overnight
certainly does nothing to dissuade me from considering your suggestion that
it might be a hardware problem. BTW, after the second boot in the morning
and left running all day there are no apparent further problems.

Those could also indicate softwa I presume when you say "only ...
when ... has been shut off" that you normally don't, so it could be
something that only runs at cold boot.

I like your suggestion to disable services in baby steps as opposed to
disabling all of them at once.

A binary search would be quicker - i. e. disable half of them, then
re-enable those and disable the other half, then once you've decided
which half it's in, do half of _those_ ... however, (a) given the
intermittent nature of the fault this could _still_ take approaching
forever (though be quicker than doing just one at a time), (b) I share
the view of the other poster that disabling startups via MSconfig is a
bit of a last resort.

If you do try it (the binary search), though, do make note of which ones
you are and are not disabling - I wouldn't be surprised if msconfig
presents them in a varying order (at least if you've changed their
enabled status), so assuming "the first half" may not work!

I have a bootable CD with a memory test ready to go the next time I'm away
from the computer for at least an hour -- like a trip for groceries. (I'm
retired and usually home all day.)

Glad that proved not to be the problem.

I agree with your comment that, "It could be the boot process is waiting for
something that is not ready, or broken, etc." This is problematic in that so
far I have not been able to determine what is happening when it freezes.


Is the disc light on or off when it freezes? Any other lights (wireless
maybe?) tell you anything? (_Does_ a ctrl-alt-del not work?)

I hope it's not the HD (http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm
will let you look at the SMART data fairly effortlessly - other such
utilities exist), though given the rarity and specificity (?), it seems
unlikely.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"The wish of the lazy to allow unsupervised access [to the internet] to their
children should not reduce all adults browsing to the level of suitability for
a
five-year-old." Yaman Akdeniz, quoted in Inter//face (The Times, 1999-2-10):
p12

No solution yet despite many hours of trial and error trying to isolate the
cause.

I did end up doing a clean install of Windows XP two days ago, which is
something I had been planning to do long before this 'boot freeze' problem
arose.

It is significant to point out that I've seen my laptop hang-up once since
the reinstall. Hmmm.

By hang-up I mean it freezes after loading the desktop icons and before the
task bar is loaded. The only way out is the power button.

So perhaps it is a hardware problem after all. A second less likely
possibility is that it has something to do with one of the following;
1, The many software apps I am using, or the way I have WinXP configured.
2. The Avast ant-virus software I am using.
3. The transactional events that occur between my laptop and my broadband
modem connection.

I'll let you know if I find out more.

Michael T. wrote:
No solution yet despite many hours of trial and error trying to isolate the
cause.

I did end up doing a clean install of Windows XP two days ago, which is
something I had been planning to do long before this 'boot freeze' problem
arose.

It is significant to point out that I've seen my laptop hang-up once since
the reinstall. Hmmm.

By hang-up I mean it freezes after loading the desktop icons and before the
task bar is loaded. The only way out is the power button.

So perhaps it is a hardware problem after all. A second less likely
possibility is that it has something to do with one of the following;
1, The many software apps I am using, or the way I have WinXP configured.
2. The Avast ant-virus software I am using.
3. The transactional events that occur between my laptop and my broadband
modem connection.

I'll let you know if I find out more.

Did you reseat everything?
Ram, hdd, dvd drive, open up the laptop & reseat all the cables?
Those are the first things I would try before looking
for a software problem.

"Paul in Houston TX" wrote:

Did you reseat everything?
Ram, hdd, dvd drive, open up the laptop & reseat all the cables?
Those are the first things I would try before looking
for a software problem.


I remember you suggesting this a week ago.

I replaced a fan in this seven-year-old Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop last year
and it proved very challenging. I almost started smoking again it was so
difficult. :-)

But perhaps I need to give this further consideration.

Michael T. wrote:
"Paul in Houston TX" wrote:
Did you reseat everything?
Ram, hdd, dvd drive, open up the laptop & reseat all the cables?
Those are the first things I would try before looking
for a software problem.


I remember you suggesting this a week ago.

I replaced a fan in this seven-year-old Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop last year
and it proved very challenging. I almost started smoking again it was so
difficult. :-)

But perhaps I need to give this further consideration.

At least the ram and hdd. They should be easy to get to.

Michael T. wrote:

No solution yet despite many hours of trial and error trying to isolate the
cause.

I did end up doing a clean install of Windows XP two days ago, which is
something I had been planning to do long before this 'boot freeze' problem
arose.

It is significant to point out that I've seen my laptop hang-up once since
the reinstall. Hmmm.

By hang-up I mean it freezes after loading the desktop icons and before the
task bar is loaded. The only way out is the power button.

So perhaps it is a hardware problem after all. A second less likely
possibility is that it has something to do with one of the following;
1, The many software apps I am using, or the way I have WinXP configured.
2. The Avast ant-virus software I am using.
3. The transactional events that occur between my laptop and my broadband
modem connection.

I'll let you know if I find out more.

Did you blow out the dust?