Member Avatar for chewedpup

Hi - XP laptop (genuine, not pirated) froze today - now constantly reboots. It goes through the motion of rebooting - I see the windows XP screen with the little "meter" thing running, then it tells me that it wasn't shut down properly before so offers me options - safe mode, safe mode in networking, normal mode etc - but no matter what I do, it starts booting up and hangs at agp440.sys (I think) and then reboots again - goes on and on doing this and will not go any further. I am on a sailboat in the caribbean - this laptop has all our charts etc. so it's vital for us - but we can't go to a shop to get it fixed and we don't have the installation disk with us - we have other install disks for other laptops but stupid us, we didn't bring the disks for THIS laptop..... HELP - anybody got ideas????????? This happens regardless of whether it is plugged into mains or running on battery power. HELP!!!

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Dani AI

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Short diagnosis and practical next steps for : a boot hang at agp440.sys normally points to the Intel AGP driver or its service/registry entry being corrupt, or to hardware problems (video subsystem or RAM). Since the original XP install/recovery disk is not available, Recovery Console options are limited. Below are safe, offline workarounds and quick hardware checks that complement 's driver-disable suggestion and 's memory tip.

Practical offline fixes (can be done from a rescue USB or another PC)

  • Create a bootable rescue USB on another computer (Linux Live, WinPE/BartPE or a reputable rescue CD image) and boot the problem laptop from it (use the BIOS/boot menu key like F2/F12/ESC).

  • Rename the driver file: mount the Windows partition and move or rename C:\Windows\System32\drivers\agp440.sys to agp440.sys.bak (keep the original as a backup). This forces Windows to fall back to basic video drivers.

  • Offline registry edit (safer when done from WinPE/BartPE): run regedit, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> File -> Load Hive -> open C:\Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM and give it a temp name (e.g. OFFLINE). Then edit:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\OFFLINE\ControlSet001\Services\agp440
Start (DWORD) = 4

    Also check ControlSet002 if present. Unload the hive and reboot. Back up the SYSTEM hive before changes.

Hardware and quick diagnostics

  • Follow : power down, remove battery/power, ground, reseat RAM modules and clean gold contacts gently with a soft eraser; run memtest86+ from USB to check RAM.
  • From F8 at boot try “Disable automatic restart on system failure” to capture a STOP screen, and try “Last Known Good Configuration.”
  • Check for a manufacturer recovery partition (special boot key like F11) before destructive steps.

Data-first caution

  • Copy critical chart files off the disk immediately (use the Live USB to copy to an external drive) before changing drivers or the registry. If offline fixes fail, obtain OEM recovery media or a professional repair when ashore.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for starfireone

To resolve this issue, you need to disable the Agp440.sys service.
It should be alright to use any install Windows install disk as long as it is the right OS. So if you have one from one of the other laptops it should work.


This is from a MS problem article solution, follow the steps:
Here is the link:

Member Avatar for mdk2k4

I would suggest this, check your memory. shut the laptop down, and with a pencil eraser, clean the memory(like erasing only the gold part) I had the same problem and fixed it like that.
let us know if it worked.

Member Avatar for chewedpup

this would have been a great solution IF I had the original XP disk with me - unfortunately that's back home in Florida - I know, I'm an idiot, I should have brought it - but without the recovery or installation disk, there's nothing I can do. I have saved this information for future use though, it is very helpful, thank you I really appreciate it.

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