xp hangs on load

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Hollywood
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M

Mike Hollywood

Hi,

I went over to help a neighbor out and ran into a problem I hand't seen
before.
XP won't finish the load, hangs with a dialog box that says unable to load
explorer or something like that.
It's a Compaq running a 1.6 gig celeron cpu. about 3 years old.
Hitting F8 it starts to come up in safe mode, and hangs in the same spot.
Hitting F10 runs a compaq restore, but it hangs in the same spot.
The owner didn't make restore disks, and none came with his system.
The book said to make them before a problem arose. duh...
There is a partition on the hard drive that has the restore data, however,
I think it only works with the restore disks had they been created.

Has anyone run into this and is there a work around other than
buying a retail copy of XP and rebuilding the system?

Thanks,

Mike
 
Mike said:
Hi,

I went over to help a neighbor out and ran into a problem I hand't
seen before.
XP won't finish the load, hangs with a dialog box that says unable to
load explorer or something like that.
It's a Compaq running a 1.6 gig celeron cpu. about 3 years old.
Hitting F8 it starts to come up in safe mode, and hangs in the same
spot. Hitting F10 runs a compaq restore, but it hangs in the same
spot. The owner didn't make restore disks, and none came with his
system.
The book said to make them before a problem arose. duh...
There is a partition on the hard drive that has the restore data,
however, I think it only works with the restore disks had they been
created.

Has anyone run into this and is there a work around other than
buying a retail copy of XP and rebuilding the system?
Click to expand...

Since the machine hangs at the beginning of the restore process, if I
were working on this machine, my next step would be to do hardware
diagnostics to determine if component failure was the problem. There is
no point in trying a software solution (reinstall of Windows) if the
hardware is bad. Here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke
 
It sounds like hardware to me. Laptops can be a PITA to troubleshoot
hardware problems. I'd suggest a trip to a service center to see what they
can diagnose.
 
hi malke,
thanks for all the hardware tips. I'll try them eventualy, if i cant get a
software fix.
It's a mini tower, not a laptop.
Sorry i didn't make that clear in the post.
I had a bootable cd for changing xp's passwords that runs
off the cd. That worked fine so i think the hardware is ok,
but it could be the hard drive. I'm suspecting a borked os because it hangs
at the same place during the os load.

Mike
 
sorry for the confusion, it's not a laptop, it's a tower.I
I'm leaning awar fm hardware because it hangs at
exactly the same point when xp starts loading. It
gets to where it loads explorer and hangs, both in
normal, and in safe mode loads.

Mike


Harry Ohrn said:
It sounds like hardware to me. Laptops can be a PITA to troubleshoot
hardware problems. I'd suggest a trip to a service center to see what they
can diagnose.
--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


Mike Hollywood said:
Hi,

I went over to help a neighbor out and ran into a problem I hand't seen
before.
XP won't finish the load, hangs with a dialog box that says unable to
load
explorer or something like that.
It's a Compaq running a 1.6 gig celeron cpu. about 3 years old.
Hitting F8 it starts to come up in safe mode, and hangs in the same spot.
Hitting F10 runs a compaq restore, but it hangs in the same spot.
The owner didn't make restore disks, and none came with his system.
The book said to make them before a problem arose. duh...
There is a partition on the hard drive that has the restore data,
however,
I think it only works with the restore disks had they been created.

Has anyone run into this and is there a work around other than
buying a retail copy of XP and rebuilding the system?

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Mike said:
sorry for the confusion, it's not a laptop, it's a tower.I
I'm leaning awar fm hardware because it hangs at
exactly the same point when xp starts loading. It
gets to where it loads explorer and hangs, both in
normal, and in safe mode loads.
Click to expand...

A good way to determine if it is hardware or software is to boot with
Knoppix. If Knoppix runs well, then you know the problem is with
Windows. Unfortunately, with a Compaq the only way to restore it is by
paying the $25 for new restore disks (if Compaq still has them) or by
wiping the system, installing a retail copy along with all the Compaq
drivers.

Malke
 
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