Member Avatar for Kreptonstar

I'm running Windows XP Professional on my desktop computer. When I try to boot Normally, it appears to work fine until it gets to the Windows XP screen with the horizontal moving dots. The dots continue to move for awhile and then stop. This is as far as it goes. The hard drive light stays on solid. I can boot into Safe Mode with no problem. I appreciate any help offered.

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Safe Mode succeeding while Normal fails almost always means some non‑Microsoft driver, service, or shell/startup item that Safe Mode doesn’t load is hanging the boot. The solid HDD light and the hang at the animated XP splash point point to a driver or filter waiting on I/O rather than a purely GUI/Explorer problem.

Quick, diagnostic workflow to narrow it down (do these from Safe Mode):

  • Enable boot logging (F8 at startup → "Enable Boot Logging"), attempt a Normal boot, then open C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt in Safe Mode. Look for drivers that failed to load or third‑party drivers that load late — those are prime suspects.

  • Do a clean boot with msconfig: Services → check "Hide Microsoft services" → disable the rest; Startup → disable all. Reboot normally. If normal boots, re-enable services/startup items in halves to find the offender (binary search). Use Autoruns/Sysinternals if something hides from msconfig.

  • Check Event Viewer (System/Application) from Safe Mode for service or driver error entries timestamped at the failed boots — they often name the problematic driver or service.

  • Repair system files if corruption is suspected (needs XP CD): run

    sfc /scannow

    from within Windows Safe Mode (or run an in‑place Repair Install if SFC can’t fix key files).

If the system restore fixed the boot but removed optical drives, check the CD/DVD class filter values (backup the registry before editing):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Remove UpperFilters and LowerFilters values only after exporting that key; reboot to test.

Cautions: always export registry keys before edits and make a full data backup before fiddling with services/drivers. If malware is suspected, run a current offline rescue scan (bootable AV rescue media) from Safe Mode or another machine. If these steps don’t find the culprit, note which driver/service shows up in ntbtlog.txt or Event Viewer and report that — it usually points to the exact component to disable or reinstall. References to earlier comments from , , , and indicate good starting ideas; the above sequence focuses on isolating the specific driver/service rather than broad reinstalls.

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Member Avatar for rexluporum

I'm running Windows XP Professional on my desktop computer. When I try to boot Normally, it appears to work fine until it gets to the Windows XP screen with the horizontal moving dots. The dots continue to move for awhile and then stop. This is as far as it goes. The hard drive light stays on solid. I can boot into Safe Mode with no problem. I appreciate any help offered.

do you recall when this started occuring? Was it just after you updated a driver or program? If so uninstall said driver/program and reinstall an older version.

Also you may want to run a boot-time virus scan, to see if a virus may be at fault. avast! antivirus is free and has this feature.

Member Avatar for dcc

I'm sure the rexluporum was implying that this should be done in the safe mode, but I will point out the obvious just to be sure.

I you don't find anything when you run the scan/s you might try using the last known good configuration, if that fails you can try a system restore.

Member Avatar for Kreptonstar

This just suddenly started happening. No new programs or drivers were installed. I did run Norton Antivirus in Safe Mode but the problem was not corrected. I also tried the Last Known Good Configuration. I did not try a Syatem Restore Point. When I get home on Monday, I will try this and re-post the results.

Member Avatar for caperjack

just fixed similar /same problem by booting to the winxp recovery console and typing in chkdsk

Member Avatar for noxious

Something hat boots in nomal mode oe not boot in safe mode. You could check and compare apps in the task bar. If this i srecent you might know the application or try a system restore. Otherwise i don't know how to identify the application.

Member Avatar for Kreptonstar

I did a Syatem REstore to an earlier date and I can now boot to Windows normally. Now I have another problem. I can't see my CD Drives and oter devices. I will close this thread and post another one for my new problem.

Member Avatar for Electronicgeek

There is a virus that can rename or even delete system files this will cause the computer to boot in safe mode but not in Normal Mode. All files are not required for a safe boot up. You can try running a program in safe mode that is called "ReImage" it will most of the time repair your system with new files that are missing or damaged due to this virus. I am not associated with this ReImage program in no way, but I have seen it work. Good Luck!

Member Avatar for caperjack

There is a virus that can rename or even delete system files this will cause the computer to boot in safe mode but not in Normal Mode. All files are not required for a safe boot up. You can try running a program in safe mode that is called "ReImage" it will most of the time repair your system with new files that are missing or damaged due to this virus. I am not associated with this ReImage program in no way, but I have seen it work. Good Luck!

Reimage ,it only got one review on download .com and it wasn't a good one .http://download.cnet.com/Reimage-Repair/3000-18512_4-10907808.html

Member Avatar for Electronicgeek

It worked for me sorry no one likes it. Maybe it don't do so good on all computers and in my note is why I said "it will most of the time repair your system" not all the time
Thanks anyway!

Member Avatar for Electronicgeek

The ReImage review you said was in 2008 but it has come a long way from there. Better at fixing pc problems but just like you I can not say I completely trust it to fix his problem. Most likelly a hard drive problem. Good Luck!

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