XP Boots to blank desktop screen

  • Thread starter Thread starter Spar
  • Start date Start date
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Spar

Hello,

I am hopeing to get some help on a problem that I
recently ran into on a Sony Laptop.

Background:
A friend of mine was complaining about not being able to
access secure sites on the web. So, I made sure his
security settings were at the medium profile default and
they were. I then went to download the latest Updates for
XP as he has never updated it in the 2 years that he has
had it. I received a message stating that windows was
unable to run the update stating something about ActiveX
controls. I looked online for simliar instances and found
a few that pointed to the security settings. So, I
lowered it to Low and still received the errors. I then
downloaded service pack 1a (SP 1 was not installed) and
tried to update the laptop to SP1a in hopes to reset
whatever was wrong.

I then received the error stating that the update.inf file
could not be verified and to make sure the cryptographic
service was running, in which it was.

So, I rebooted the laptop, stopped the cryptographic
service, deleted the folder \windows\system32\catroot2 and
restarted the Cryptographic service. I was then able to
install the service pack. Before installing the service
pack, I first installed the MSBlast Vulnerability fix and
rebooted. After the reboot, I installed SP1a. Everything
went fine and I was prompted to reboot in which I did.

This is were the trouble starts. Upon the reboot, the XP
splash screen came up and then went to a black screen (had
a little back light to it as to indicate the machine was
on and 'processing' I let this sit for apporx. 30 minutes
and powered it off. I then rebooted and went into normal
boot when prompted about the previous shutdown. Now, the
laptop boots to the desktop screen with no icons or start
menu. I can bring up the task manager and run new tasks.

So, I ran the SP1a unistall program and received the
cryptographic error message. I went to the command line
and performed the following:

net stop crypt <- can't remember full service name
ren \windows\system32\catroot2 oldcatroot2
net start crypt <- again, can't remember service name

I restarted the SP1a uninstall and still received the
cryptographic error message. Actually, I belive it was
about the alt.dll not being present.

I figured I was impatient, so I let the laptop sit while I
went shopping. Approx. 3 hours later it was still at the
desktop with no icons or start menu. I rebooted about 5
times with the same results.

The CPU and HD lights are not blinking, so it gets to a
point and errors out.

I tried to boot to last known good config and had the same
results. I ran the disk integrity check and recieved a
message about a few files being truncated and that they
were fixed.

Any ideas ??

Thanks so much,
Spar
 
Hello,

I am hopeing to get some help on a problem that I
recently ran into on a Sony Laptop.

Background:
A friend of mine was complaining about not being able to
access secure sites on the web. So, I made sure his
security settings were at the medium profile default and
they were. I then went to download the latest Updates for
XP as he has never updated it in the 2 years that he has
had it. I received a message stating that windows was
unable to run the update stating something about ActiveX
controls. I looked online for simliar instances and found
a few that pointed to the security settings. So, I
lowered it to Low and still received the errors. I then
downloaded service pack 1a (SP 1 was not installed) and
tried to update the laptop to SP1a in hopes to reset
whatever was wrong.

I then received the error stating that the update.inf file
could not be verified and to make sure the cryptographic
service was running, in which it was.

So, I rebooted the laptop, stopped the cryptographic
service, deleted the folder \windows\system32\catroot2 and
restarted the Cryptographic service. I was then able to
install the service pack. Before installing the service
pack, I first installed the MSBlast Vulnerability fix and
rebooted. After the reboot, I installed SP1a. Everything
went fine and I was prompted to reboot in which I did.

This is were the trouble starts. Upon the reboot, the XP
splash screen came up and then went to a black screen (had
a little back light to it as to indicate the machine was
on and 'processing' I let this sit for apporx. 30 minutes
and powered it off. I then rebooted and went into normal
boot when prompted about the previous shutdown. Now, the
laptop boots to the desktop screen with no icons or start
menu. I can bring up the task manager and run new tasks.

So, I ran the SP1a unistall program and received the
cryptographic error message. I went to the command line
and performed the following:

net stop crypt <- can't remember full service name
ren \windows\system32\catroot2 oldcatroot2
net start crypt <- again, can't remember service name

I restarted the SP1a uninstall and still received the
cryptographic error message. Actually, I belive it was
about the alt.dll not being present.

I figured I was impatient, so I let the laptop sit while I
went shopping. Approx. 3 hours later it was still at the
desktop with no icons or start menu. I rebooted about 5
times with the same results.

The CPU and HD lights are not blinking, so it gets to a
point and errors out.

I tried to boot to last known good config and had the same
results. I ran the disk integrity check and recieved a
message about a few files being truncated and that they
were fixed.

Any ideas ??

Thanks so much,
Spar
Try to use system restore . This is accessible from safemode
if you can get to it (there may be a prompt during safemode
boot - watch out for it)
If you can't get to safemode, try safemode "command prompt"
mode and initiate system restore from there:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q304449

Dave
 
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