Windows XP Crash

I have a problem with windows xp. Whenever I log on to the user and its loading up during start up it usually doesnt completly start and it will just freeze. If you move the mouse to the start menu or task bar it always shows the little loading thing. Sometimes you can open a folder or 2 before it freezes. It works fine in safe mode. Any idea whats wrong?

 

Is it a complete freeze up? Meaning have you waited a long enough time for all programs in your start-up to load? Try booting into safe mode, if it does, then see how many programs you have loading on start up. Edit out the ones not really needed at start-up. CCleaner is a good program to check this with.

 

i've waited a long time for the stuff to load up even walked away for a long while once just to let it start up. Same thing happens and it just freezes and you cant open anything. Not even task manager

 

Expanding on what musksnipe has suggested, I'd recommend you follow the instructions in this post as it contains step-by-step instructions on using CCleaner (and Windows, too!) to improve your startup times.

Post back with any questions!

 

Did you try seeing which programs are loading on start-up? Do this from safe mode using Your system Configuration Utility if you don't have CCleaner or similar program.

 

I imagine there is a process running that is hogging CPU resources. Start by right clicking taskbar and choosing Task Manager, If that doesn't work try holding down these three keys at the same time, Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Under Processes Tab in the Task Manager it shows the processes and the amount of CPU usage of each, plus a lot more, especially if you choose View, Select Columns, and check mark everything. But the main things you are interested in are Image Name, CPU, Memory Usage, and possibly Peak Memory Usage. If a process is hogging CPU resources then it will be evident here. You can choose to end the process that is at fault, a program or service that is running and won't let you continue running the program you want. On a machine I dealt with recently it was the print spooler, I went to Run, services.msc, and stopped the service there, but could have stopped it with the Task Manager. Just be aware of what process you are terminating. If you rt. click on a process you can choose to end it or set its priority. I don't mess with priority but have used end process. There is also a registry hack that will give processor priority to what you can see on the screen, it is good if you don't do a lot of multitasking, it can be found here... http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks7.htm
another useful pdf document to help you on your way is here: http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html
you will need Adobe Reader for this one, there is a guide for XP, Vista, and elsewhere on the site a guide to Firefox.
Hope this helps a little.