XP Freezes at Wlecome Screen!

[broigel]

Hi, I have a laptop which, when booting up, freezes totally at the Welcome screen. The touchpad won't function and the boot up remains stuck. There is nothing to do other than switch off.
I have started it in Safe mode and restored the system twice, the second time going as far back as it will let me - all to no avail: it proceeds to the Welcome screen and freezes solid.
Any suggestions would be very welcome.

[exodus]

This guide may help.
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com...1-6031733.html

exo

[broigel]

Thanks, good article and I have worked my way through it but.....naturally my machine does not respond in the way it is supposed to according to this article. For example it will not boot up from the 'Windows' disk (naturally this is not quite a Microsoft Windows disk but a Dell Windows equivalent); it does not respond to 'Ctrl/Alt/Del' no matter how many times I try; I have restored the system to an earlier date (when it was working!) twice, to no avail; I do not get anywhere with Recovery Console, merely a Dos screen showing C:/Windows and F:/Windows none of which goes any further. So I'm stuck. I was hoping to do a 'Repair' option from the Windows disk but, although I can boot up in Safe mode, it will not do anything with the disk in the CD drive. Is there nothing else I can do in Safe mode, other than back up the files and then Reformat the C drive? But would that Dell Windows disk work then?

[exodus]

The Dell restore/recovery disc is different to a Windows installation disc, so you will not get the recovery console or repair options with your current disc.

From the Windows Options screen (screen for selecting safe mode) you could try 'Last known good configuration' as an outside chance.
Still no joy, again from the options screen, select 'Disable automatic restart' and reboot. Not hopeful that this will work but worth a try to see if we get any error message that may help with the cause.

If all else fails, then perhaps Windows is stalling over a driver issue.
Does it still open to Windows safe mode without any problem? If so, then this may indicate a driver problem or software corruption.

Let us know how it goes.

exo

[broigel]

Thanks again but I have tried 'last known good configuration' - no success, and I do not think there is any automatic restart going on - no start at all more like. I'll try disabling it. It does open OK in Safe mode. The problem arose after a Windows update with the persistent and extremely annoying automatic attempts to shut down and restart - these appear every 5 minutes or so and cannot be stopped, only delayed for another 5 minutes. I had delayed it umpteen times but then left the computer for 5 minutes, right in the middle of uploading photographs, and it finally succeeded in turning itself off - never to restart. THANK YOU MICROSOFT!
My main questions now are: (a) what if anything can I do with this Dell Windows disk? (b) If the answer is nothing, what is its purpose? (c) Am I not entitled to a proper Windows disk that I can restore? and (d) if the answer is no, then what alternatives are left?

[jack hackett]

The Dell CD is a bootable Windows Installation CD, I know I have one.
Briogel you should go into your BIOS and set the Boot Order so that the First boot device is your CDROM drive, then with the Dell CD in the drive boot up.
You have already said you have booted up from it and got to the Recovery Console, Using the Recovery Console is OK but you need to know what commands and tools are at your disposal and how to use them.

Repair Installation of XP

Configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive. For more information about how to do this, refer to your computer's documentation or contact your computer manufacturer. Then insert your Windows XP Setup CD, and restart your computer.

1. When the Press any key to boot from CD message is displayed on your screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.
2. Press ENTER when you see the message To setup Windows XP now, and then press ENTER displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen.
3. Do not choose the option to press R to use the Recovery Console.
4. In the Windows XP Licensing Agreement, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.
5. Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows X
6. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Setup.

[broigel]

Many thanks and yes, the Dell Windows disk seems to have done the necessary. I did manage to boot from the disk and went through the Repair function, which included a CHKDSK routine, followed by re-setting up XP itself. Altogether this took about 3 hours but left me in and working with XP. Whew! I closed down and started a normal bootup from the HD - it definitely froze!!! I switched off and tried again - this time, although it was a very long bootup, it got past the freezing point and settled down to work properly. So I think I might be OK now - just that little element of doubt about the future. We shall see. Many thanks for all help here, it's appreciated.