Member Avatar for mckgreg

Man this is frustrating! Oh..hello all!!

So like I was saying, my Vista Ultimate will start loading up, icons and desktop background visible, and it just stops! Seizes up completely. The computer seizes before the sidebar loads up. Not quite sure how to attack this problem. For a start I unplugged the USB devices; no help. I also, prior to the problem, ran one of those optimization programs which may be the cause of all this. Any ideas or suggestions??!!

Thank you very much,
Gregory

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Partial desktop load (icons and wallpaper) that then freezes before the Sidebar finishes usually means the shell (Explorer) is starting but being blocked. Common culprits are third‑party shell extensions or toolbars, a changed Winlogon "Shell" registry value, a graphics/driver that never finishes initializing, or a corrupted user profile. Since ran an optimization tool just before the failure, registry/startup tweaks from that tool are a prime suspect. , and touched on rollbacks and startup items; the steps below focus on targeted diagnostics that find the root cause instead of guessing.

When the freeze happens, try Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc). If it opens, look for processes with high CPU or I/O, and use File -> New Task to run explorer.exe to see whether restarting the shell restores the desktop. If Task Manager does not respond, boot using the Advanced Boot Options and enable Boot Logging; examine C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt after the failed boot for drivers that failed to load (pay attention to video, storage and chipset drivers).

Investigate Explorer/shell issues next. From a working environment (or by attaching the disk to another PC), use Autoruns to disable non‑Microsoft Explorer shell extensions (context menu handlers, toolbars, namespace extensions)—only untick entries, do not delete them. Also check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell; it should read explorer.exe. If you cannot boot long enough to edit the registry, load the offline hive from the Recovery Environment and inspect the value (always export the hive before changing it).

Rule out hardware and file corruption: run chkdsk /r from the Recovery Command Prompt and a full memory test (Windows Memory Diagnostic or Memtest86+). If system files are corrupted, use the Vista DVD repair tools or an in‑place repair install to restore system files without wiping user data. Back up personal files first (use WinPE, Linux live media, or attach the drive to another machine) before making registry edits or performing repairs.

Event Viewer Application/System errors and the boot log usually point to the failing component (explorer.exe hang, driver or service). System specs (CPU, RAM, GPU, recent driver updates) are especially useful to correlate a driver issue versus a shell/profile problem.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Laser

Try booting to safe mode and hopefully the optimization program created a backup so you can undo the tweaks it made. Otherwise you could try a System Restore.

Member Avatar for bobbyraw

have you installed any other program, that woiuld require starting when the pc boots up? if so uninstall the program then reboot the pc

Member Avatar for jbennet

What are your system specs?

Member Avatar for airbourne

I would boot to safe mode and undo those "optimizations" that were run. Or use a restore point.

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