windows xp wont load

[yuzi87]

Hi all,
i have a computer im fixing for a friend and cant seem to get it running, the problem is windows starts loading and after a few loading bars it freezes and i get bsod.

I would normally have it fixed by now but ive tried everything i know and cant think of anything else except new install of xp, ive done memory tests and hardrive and cpu scans, ive used an antivirus program from dos and removed some viruses, safe mode starts loading and freezes as its loading drivers.

Anybody got any ideas?

 

[davethe11]

do you have a sata hard drive in the machine? if so it's possible that you didn't install the sata drivers during the xp install, go into the bios and set sata drives to be recognised as IDE drives (might say compatibility mode or something similar), then try booting

 

[yuzi87]

do you have a sata hard drive in the machine? if so it's possible that you didn't install the sata drivers during the xp install, go into the bios and set sata drives to be recognised as IDE drives (might say compatibility mode or something similar), then try booting

the computer was working at one point and bios hasnt been touched, also the comp finds windows on the harddrive as it starts loading up but doesnt get to desktop

 

[davethe11]

normally bsod's like this are driver issues, but as you say safe mode is not working either then it could be some corruption. I recently repaired a friends machine that had a nasty virus on it (Cyber Security), my first action was to reboot in safe mode, but doing this caused the exact symptoms you describe, I don't suppose the blue screen mentions updating your bios amongst other things? I had to do a repair install to get back into windows (xp machine) and remove the virus so this is probably the easiest solution if your symptoms are the same (you did mention you removed some viruses in your first post):

boot from windows cd
choose 'set up windows' (or whatever it says, i forget I'm afraid, think you press ENTER)
it should find you windows xp installation
choose 'repair installation' (think you press R)

this is NOT using recovery console, this will basically install XP over the top of your current installation without removing any third party programs or your files, BUT if you do this I highly recommend backing up your data first just in case.


[edit] something important I forgot to mention, if you go down this route and repair install then you will have to activate XP again so make sure you have the XP License key, alternatively if you can access the hard drive before reinstalling (via a live CD or other method) then backup the files wpa.bak and wpa.dbl in the system32 directory, then do the reinstall and copy these files back to the system32 directory, you should find re-activating is not required, but you will have to do this using a live CD or other method as you will not be able to login to XP until activation is successful.

 

[ChileanLlama]

I had a USB mouse that would 100% reliably cause a BSOD during boot. Nothing wrong with the install or drivers.

Might be a long shot for you...cause I went through the same headaches...til I tried it on other machines with the exact same result.

GL

 

[yuzi87]

thanks for the help guys, unfortunatly i cant repair the installation as its a xp home install and i have pro disc

ive just installed xp pro on another disk i put in so im gonna try and do some scans on the other hardrive now im in windows enviroment