Member Avatar for NevadaSam

"Critical Stop" sound after XP Pro loads

Everything works great on my PC, but I get the "Critical Stop" sound right at the end of everything being loaded into memory during startup. There is no problem with anything that I use working correctly. This has been happening as long as I can remember so I've lived with it. Now I would like to understand what it is and know how to correct it. I am not an expert but I have explored some of the management tool.

Is there a why I can monitor what programs load and fail to load? Where do I look to see what is running (Other than CTRL+ALT+DEL)? Is there a program I need to get to analyze this problem with?

Any advice you have is greatly appreciated.

Sam

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by goldeagle2005

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Short primer: when XP plays the "Critical Stop" sound at the end of boot while everything appears to work, it usually means a program, service, driver, or scheduled task reported an error during initialization. Credit to for narrowing the cause with msconfig and to for pointing toward Microsoft guidance. Below are practical, non-destructive steps to find the actual failing component.

Begin with Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc). Inspect the System and Application logs for error entries time-stamped within a minute or two of the last boot. Double‑click any red Error to see the Source, Event ID and details; those fields often name the service, executable or driver path that failed. Correlate that name with entries shown in msconfig, the Startup folder, Task Scheduler and services.msc.

For deeper visibility use Autoruns (Sysinternals) to list everything that can start automatically (Logon, Services, Scheduled Tasks, Drivers, Explorer extensions). Autoruns shows file paths and publisher info and lets entries be unchecked (disabled) without deleting them. For transient or low‑level failures, Process Monitor’s boot‑time capture will record file/registry errors during startup. Another effective isolation method is a clean boot: hide Microsoft services in msconfig, disable the rest, reboot, then re‑enable groups of entries until the sound reappears.

Safety notes: create a System Restore point before changing startup items and do not disable known antivirus or essential drivers. Once identified, update or uninstall the offending product or contact its vendor. Changing the system sound is a workable band‑aid, but locating the failing component prevents hidden problems and keeps the system more reliable.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

have a look here might be your problem

Member Avatar for NevadaSam

Thanks for the reply, caperjack. For a while I thought that you might have pointed me in the right direction. I don't remember exactly when my PC started doing that, but I did install a wireless mouse and Keyboard a few months ago. Today I followed you link to MS website and download a couple of files for WinXP that I thought could have fixed it, but it didn't. Then I thought, "Was the installation disk that came with the new keyboard and mouse really necessary?" I finally found it and installed it for the first time, but still nothing. It sure sound like the problem might have been where you mentioned. Now I am not sure again.

Everything is working and there are not critical issues. I've worked around that annoying loud "Critical Stop" sound by changing it to something else. I can live with it.

Member Avatar for caperjack

was worth a try ,sorry it didn't work

Member Avatar for NevadaSam

I was able to use the "msconfig" command from the run prompt and uncheck what was loading into the sys tray until I found the problem. The Critical Stop would sound off when Spyware Doctor was loaded. I am not sure the reason but a least now I know what is is.

Problem Solved!
Thanks,
Samantha

Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

Glad you could resolve your issue...

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