xp freeze at start up

[OurNation]

Windows XP
My friends computer has two choices at start up it says something like "windows XP home edition" for both choices one goes further the other doesn't the one that works has 3 choices 1 gets you to another menu with about 12 options another is regulsr start up and I forget the rest but he has tryed all of those options and his computer freezes at all of them. I dont know much more because im not there and he can't start his computer. What should he do?

[Catweazle]

Use the choice that starts up properly!

[OurNation]

Sorry I made it sound differnet than it is the one that get further dosen't work. He's selcted each one and left it to sit for about an hour

[Catweazle]

There is a bungled reinstall on the system, by the sound of things. If so, the best course of action is to wipe the lot clean, and install fresh. See the link in my sig for advice with installing it all again.

[OurNation]

i dont know if that would work you dont actully get to windows it freezes before that

[Catweazle]

eerrr..... uummm......

Did you read the topic I suggested, and the articles linked in it? To wipe the hard drive clean and install freshh, you don't boot into Windows. You make a change in BIOS setup, (if necessary) and boot from the Windows CD, instead of from the hard drive!

[OurNation]

what cd would he use for hp pavilion windows xp he cant seem to find it

[Catweazle]

A HP Pavilion would have had a 'Recovery CD' or similar shipped with it. Read the product documentation to find out how to restore the system installation to its original state.

(He DID keep those leaflets, booklets and CDs, didn't he?)

[OurNation]

He got a new mother board today. And in his Hp books you need to get to a blue screen that says hp pavilion but the new mother board does not get him to that screen and stilll has a problem thus I don't know what he should do did waste $160?

[Catweazle]

If he has fitted a new motherboard, then the system is no longer a HP Pavilion. (Unless it is a replacement motherboard supplied by HP of course).

If it is a motherboard purchased from a PC components supplier, then the system needs to be booted from a Windows XP CD, the partitions on the hard drive deleted, new partitions created, and then Windows installed. Drivers for the new motherboard should be installed, and the HP Pavilion CDs would be no longer relevent to the system.

Again:

If that is a different motherboard to the one originally included, then it is no longer a HP Pavilion, and the disks and books are useless now!

[OurNation]

How much would a XP cd cost him?

[Catweazle]

Goodness! I've no idea where you even live! (I'm in Australia)

Have a look in a local computer magazine and check the advertisements for prices on Windows XP Home Edition. If you can get access to a CD of Windows 98 (a borrowed one would do, then you could use the less expensive 'Upgrade edition' of Windows XP. The upgrade version can still be used for a fresh, clean install, and only needs an earlier CD for a 'CD check' during the installation.

[OurNation]

Would he be better off installing windows ME I do belivie he has that.

[Catweazle]

No-one would be better off installing Windows Me. It's the least stable of all the versions of Windows that have been released. But if that is a genuine CD of Windows Me, it can be used for 'verification, and enable an Upgrade CD of Windows XP to be installed, as I suggested previously.

Windows XP is so much more stable than Windows Me, that the relatively small expense of purchasing an Upgrade Edition of the newer OS would be well worth it. I'd not advise anyone to install Windows Me, under any circumstances ;)

[industry2m]

It sounds like the reason your computer is freezing is because you installed a new motherboard and didn't do a clean install. With Windows, this is like asking for the blue screen of death (BSOD) and you're lucky that you didn't get it. Anytime you make major hardware changes (especially motherboard) you should do a clean install because windows is bound to fail.

Also, try doing some researching and reading some articles and following links that Catweazle gave you instead of asking a question every 5 seconds.