Member Avatar for dshoultz

Windows XP Pro
2 gigs RAM
3.2g P4 processor

Recently, my computer has not been able to boot into XP.

It will load the Windows XP back screen with logo, and then stay there. It will not reach the User Logon screen.

I did a system restore and that didn't work. I booted successfully into Safe Mode and everything looked fine, however when I go to boot into Windows Normally, it feezes every time.

Can anyone help me with this?

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Dani AI

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The fact that could boot into Safe Mode but not normal XP strongly points to a driver, service, or peripheral that is initialized only during a normal boot. ’s repair-install suggestion is a valid last-resort, and ’s note about keyboards/peripherals is useful — stray USB/PS2 devices, surge protectors or even a bad monitor cable often produce exactly this behavior.

Quick, low-risk troubleshooting (in roughly this order):

  • In Safe Mode run msconfig (Start → Run → msconfig): choose Selective startup, uncheck “Load startup items”, then on Services hide Microsoft services and disable third-party services. Reboot to test. If normal boots, re-enable items in small groups to find the culprit.
  • Check Device Manager → Display adapters: try “Roll Back Driver” or uninstall the display driver while in Safe Mode (Windows will use the generic VGA driver on next boot).
  • From the F8 boot menu enable “Boot Logging”, then inspect C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt for drivers that failed to load. Also open Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) in Safe Mode and review System/Application errors timestamped around the failed boots.
  • Try “Last Known Good Configuration” (F8) before doing anything destructive.

Hardware and environment checks:

  • Remove all nonessential peripherals (USB drives, printers, cameras, hubs). Swap keyboard/mouse, monitor and video cables. Try a different AC outlet or bypass a UPS/surge strip. Reseat the video card and RAM. If the machine reliably boots at work but not at home, power/grounding or a peripheral at home is a likely cause.

If these steps don’t isolate the problem, run chkdsk /r from the Recovery Console and run a memory test (MemTest86) before attempting a repair install. Back up personal data first — a repair or clean install erases risk-sensitive possibilities. Keeping the boot log and Event Viewer notes will make further diagnosis much quicker.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for tayspen

I would try a repair install.

Member Avatar for .Pat

Did you install any new applications? If so, uninstall them when in safe mode. Otherwise, I'd run an online virus scan (never know), try: housecall.trendmicro.com

Member Avatar for dshoultz

The strangest thing.. I brough my PC into work and it booted up fine, so I thought it might have something to do with my monitor...

I went back home, plugged it in and it booted just fine.

Thanks for your help guys! I really apprecaite it.

Member Avatar for .Pat

Do you have a keyboard attached? I've seen bad keyboards do weird things to a PC.

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