Win XP Restart Problem

Hi,
I have windows xp SP3 installed on my computer, and everything was working fine until few days ago.
Windows refused to load.
The black screen apeared with winxp logo and progress bar like usual, but it won't load, the progress bar just goes in circle for hours.
If I run the safe mode, and go on system restore, and choose some point, then the windows loads, but only that first time.
If I try to restart it again, then the same problem occurs, even if I restart as soon as they load.
I installed new version of windows on the second partition, and it was working fine, but after a day or two same problem occurs.
What might be a problem, maybe some some windows update hotfix?

 

Sounds like HDD failure to me, maybe.
Tell me, what brand computer is this?

 

mite be a root virus,or a hardware problem.unplug all but moniter and keyboard.ive just sorted a similer problem ,terned out neads a new mouse !

 

hmm.. it's no-name computer..

Does anyone maybe know a way to determine a problem.
So i can be sure what is the cause?

Maybe some startup log file or something.. ?

 

Ok, do you have a windows install disc?

 

hmm.. that's basically everything that I use.. monitor, keyboard and mouse. I tried without a mouse but nothing.

 

Yes I have.

 

Do you know how to boot to it?
If so, boot to it, but don't install. Go to recovery console.
When you get there, select your windows intallation, and use administrator as teh username and nothing for the password.
Type in: fixboot hit enter and y for any prompts
Type in: fixmbr hir enter and y for any prompts
Type in: chkdsk hit enter and y for any prompts

 

wel can you reinstall a fresh copy?it mite work for you.

 

Ok, I get back to you as soon as this system restore finish..
I started it before starting this thread...
tnx

 

She should try mine first. Better to save data.

 

I allready did that. Same problem.

 

Well if a fresh install doesn't work, then this is a hardware problem.

 

If you mean by "fresh install" that i format my HDD and install windows, then I haven't tried it.

What I have tried is to install the windows on the second partition of the same HDD.

Nevertheless, I ran your repair sequence in repair mode:
fixboot fixmbr and chkdsk.

chkdsk found errors and then I ran chkdsk /r to rapair them.
After that I restarted, but the same problem occured again...

 

OK. I understand that this can be frustrating.

I have an idea. Please try downloading, installing, and running this (even if you have to do it in safe mode):
http://majorgeeks.com/Disk_Checker_d258.html

But first: did you try last known good configuration from the f8 menu?

 

Yes I tried that. Doesn't work.

Ok, downloading....

 

Good. Tell me the results of that.

 

Ok. Here are the results of testing drive C: (old windows installation)

DSKCHKR is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)..
File verification completed.
DSKCHKR is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)..
Index verification completed.
DSKCHKR is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)..
Security descriptor verification completed.
DSKCHKR is verifying Usn Journal..
Usn Journal verification completed.
40957685 KB total disk space.
35929600 KB in 357806 files.
149060 KB in 39478 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
1219869 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
3659156 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
10239421 total allocation units on disk.
914789 allocation units available on disk.
volume C is in use by another application

Now I will test drive D: (with new windows instalation)
Do i need to run Thorough check ?

 

No. run quick check.

 

Also, try this on both.
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/seatoolsforwindowssetup.exe
(post the logs in seperate posts please)

 

Sorry.. that would be "File/Folder structure check" ?

 

Results of testing D:
-------------------

DSKCHKR is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)..
File verification completed.
DSKCHKR is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)..
Index verification completed.
DSKCHKR is recovering lost files
Recovering orphaned file Disk1 (83243) into directory file 83234.
Recovering orphaned file Disk1 (83420) into directory file 83384.
Recovering orphaned file Sounds (89320) into directory file 89601.
DSKCHKR is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)..
Security descriptor verification completed.
Correcting errors in the master file table's (MFT) BITMAP attribute.
Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap.
Windows found problems with the file system.Run DSKCHKR with the /F (fix) option to correct these
111153703 KB total disk space.
101610644 KB in 96711 files.
37720 KB in 8306 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
191991 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
9313348 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
27788425 total allocation units on disk.
2328337 allocation units available on disk.

 

Yes it would be.

 

this forum is blocking my messages.. anyway... if you see this.. thnx for your help.. i hope you'll well be in touch tommorow or the day after (If i go to trip tommorow).
its 5.40am here, and i can't post a message..it says something about moderator needs to check it..
im going to sleep, tnx again for all your help, i really appreciate it. this is something really wierd and i hope we will solve it.
hope to see you again here, byee..

 

I cannot install that "seatools..." program. It says:
"the system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation."

 

Your posts weren't blocked they were just invisible till a mod (me) could approve them. It makes it a lot easier when there is only one post to approve instead of 6 All of this is in the "readme" when you join MG and in the "something" you got when you tried to post. Next time please be patient.

 

That is most peculiar.
When you have time, try right clicking the installation file and click Run As Administrator.

 

Sorry.
In safe mode, which account are you logging in as?

 

I am confounded why you are troubleshooting the hard disk, zdawg. If the hard disk was failing and preventing it booting, a reinstall would fail as well.

Step back and look at the issue.

You boot up. It works once. You reboot, it doesn't. A system restore works. Once.

So what is changing each time?

I'll give you a hint. You do a system restore. It 'undoes' something. You boot, and the damage is 'redone'. You reboot and are in the same position.

So what would cause that?

A driver....

Leave the hard drive alone and focus on the problem at hand. It may be a hardware problem yet, but you are looking in the wrong direction. I'm not gonna tech this thread for ya. If you want to help out in the software forums, you need to stay logical and focused on the cause, not just the effect.

Round two?

 

Since there is no way to export your hardware list in XP (that i know of):
Open device manager (My Computer>Properties>Hardware>Device Manager>
Click the computer name(first item on the list) and hit the picture of the printer.
Change System Summary to All Devices and System Summary
Hit print to file
Post that file as an attachment.
Thanks!

 

I have the option, "Run as" and then I select Administrator, instead of my current profile (which also has all the administrator priveleges).
Then I get the message that this program cannot run in a safe mode. I'll try to run it from the normal mode as soon as I can because it takes a lot of time to restore...

 

A new information!
Before going to sleep, I left my computer to load windows, and when I woke up, the windows were up! ( seams like they just need awful lot of time)
After that restart also didn't work well. I haven't waited to see will it load again, because I wanted to share this information first.

Temporarily that option (Print to file) is grayed (I cannot click on it). I don't have a printer installed, maybe that could be a reason.
When I go into normal mode, then I'll try to print to pdf or something and send it to you. Thanx

 

Go to device manager, and disable your video card. Then reboot, and report back with results.

 

SMART - FAIL
Short drive self test - FAIL
Long drive self test - FAIL
Short Generic - Pass
Long Generic - still working.. ill edit this line when it's done..

I printed it to PDF using virtual printer and attached it to this post.

I'll do that after posting this post. Get back to you either very soon either in the morning (if it still needs some time).

 

You wont be able to edit the post.
The way I see it is it's either your HDD or your video card. Your hdd did fail 3 or 4 of 5 tests, so thats not good.
If I were you, I would switch the hard drives inside the computer and install windows to the other one. see if that works.

 

I have only 1 HDD.
It has 2 partitions, that's why I have C: and D:.
But I can buy another one.
Is there a way to "transfer" windows to another HDD, because if i'm going to install all programs all over again, that would take about 3 days..

 

Windows comes with the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, which is kind of garbage.
I reccomend Microsoft USMT
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...c9-f16c-4c52-a203-8daf944dd555&displaylang=en

 

If it failed the SMART test it would be complaining on boot, and its not? The hard disk program is probably not correct for his drive.

Very common for OEM drives.

 

This definitely doesn't sound like a HDD problem. The system hangs on start-up. If you can boot to safe mode, it points to the problem beginning with what boots on start up when starting windows normally. e.g. programs, background processes, drivers, etc. Safe mode loads a select set of drivers and disables all programs from starting up on boot.

I'd like to know what happens after you boot after using system restore. Do automatic updates take place after restoring? Are you re-installing software you don't have at the restore point you used? What processes are running after successfully booting? Does your computer still successfully boot when given enough time? You mentioned you left it to boot one night and found it up and running in the morning... Sounds like a serious hang.

To me it sounds like a program (or its process) is wanting to start before the operating system finishes booting. Troubleshooting this comes down to finding out what program it is, disabling it, or even removing the program altogether. The easiest way is to disable all programs from starting on boot except what is necessary to the OS, then presuming after that you boot ok, enable a program one at a time, rebooting each time, until you find the one that causes the hang. Disabling this program from starting up should have you back to normal.

If you chose to try this you can configure startup by going to:
start-->run
*then run*
msconfig


Now if you still hang after disabling all the non-essential start-up items, then that would leave drivers as the issue. It would be good to know if you have updated, or made changes to any of your drivers recently. Honestly though I think it will boot better once you find out whats hogging the cpu usage on start-up.

 

That last HDD test..

Long generic test- PASS

About turning off drivers and programs... Because it takes awful lot of time to reboot, I will do this stuff when I go away from the computer, because I'm approaching deadline in writing my final graduate work for my college, so i must not waste time.

Thnx you all for your help. I am eager to find the cause of this problem. Fresh install is for quiters.

 

Hi everybody.
Are you still reading this?
Yesterday was the first day I dared to restart my computer again (when I went to sleep).
I disabled display adapter driver, and removed all programs from that program Startup control panel. Also I disabled all non-microsoft services from msconfig.
It took about an hour to load windows.

(I calculated that based on the time i sent it to restart and System Idle process CPU Time from the windows Task Manager).

Do you have any more suggestions?

 

An hour to load?

Wow, if that doesn't scream hardware or malware issues, I don't know what does. Were you trying Safe Mode? You never mentioned if it helped the problem, disabling the video card.

 

Yes I disabled a video card driver. But it doesnt help. The video card is embended in motherboard.

 

Disabling the video card merely forces a different stable (but crappy) driver, and doesn't disable the device. Its useful for troubleshooting video issues.

 

What now, can anybody help me?

Maybe to start windows in that ..debuging mode.. or logging mode.. something like that.. and to post a log ?

do you think that would help?

 

Perhaps. At this point we are runing out of options. Not saying it cannot be fixed, but internet support is limited, especially if it takes an hour to boot.

 

We have all the time in the world.
We are just waiting for some briliant idea which will solve everything

I am only worried that this post isn't hot anymore, so maybe you experts don't see it anymore as much as you did before.
Do you think I should make another topic about this to make more action, with all the facts listed?

 

No stick to this post. What I would like to see though, because I keep being pulled away to other things, is a recap of where we are now.

Can we boot, does it still take an hour, does it still require a system restore to boot each time, etc.etc.

 

This might be Malware.
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=664939&postcount=2

 

OK.
1) I can boot but it takes an hour.
2) It does not require system restore anymore. (seams like it never did, only I haven't waited long enough, but if I run system restore, then it boots normally and quick for the first time). Interesting thing is that, when I was using system restore, then it wouldn't work if I choose a restore point after installing MS office, only prior to it. I don't know if that is related, because even when system is restored prior to installing office, then also after one restart haven't worked.
3) I can boot in safe mode normally. (also in safe mode with networking)
4) When I disable all programs using Startup control panel(a program DomLuc suggested to use instead of msconfig), and also disable video card driver, then, in terms of booting, nothing changes. It still takes an hour, only the picture on monitor is somewhat jittery when dragging windows because there is no video driver.
5) Chkdisk check found some errors when started from windows repair console ( http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=1417520&postcount=22 )