XP starts to load and then - nothing!!

Can anybody help please?

My friend's PC was working fine till she put it off on Monday night. Last night she put it on as normal, everything started to load - she got the Windows XP logo - then nothing. Just a blank screen. The PC's lights are still on and the screen seems fine.

She put it off and tried again a couple of times with always the same thing happening.

She has tried pressing F8 on startup and tried the options of safe mode and restoring to a previous point. Safe mode started filling the screen with the usual computer jargon and them just seemed to "get stuck" and didn't do anything. Restoring to a previous point prompted her to press "F8" again but nothing happened.

She doesn't know the first thing about computers other than how to switch it on (and I'm not that much better) so if anybody has any ideas (in as simple technology as possible) we would be much obliged

Comments

  • Has Service Pack 2 (SP2) recently been installed?
    I will be mortgage free by December 16th 2013
  • Might be one of your boot up files are missing. They could be boot.ini, ntdetect.com and msdos.sys. I would have explained in detail but some one else will come along anyway. I have to leave to get to work. Will check up when I get back tonight.

    Sorry.
  • Mr_Skint_2
    Mr_Skint_2 Posts: 5,183 Forumite
    Sounds abit like boot.ini try installing System restore cd that came with PC and do a repair, Boot from CD,, dont do a full resstore or you will lose all yer files....
  • Follow these steps to fix the boot sector of windows XP. This should do the trick 

    PART ONE:
    1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
    Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
    2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
    3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
    4. When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
    5. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
    md tmp
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

    delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
    delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
    delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
    delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
    delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

    copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
    copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
    copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
    copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
    copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default
    6. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart.




    PART TWO subsection a:

    1. Click Start, click Shut Down (or click Turn Off Computer), click Restart, and then click OK (or click Restart).
    2. Press the F8 key.

    On a computer that is configured to start to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when you see the Startup menu.
    3. Use the arrow keys to select the appropriate Safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
    4. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, use the arrow keys to select the installation that you want to access, and then press ENTER.

    PART TWO subsection b:

    1. Start Windows Explorer.
    2. On the Tools menu, click Folder options.
    3. Click the View tab.
    4. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.
    5. Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you want to display these files appears.
    6. Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP to display a list of the folders. If is important to click the correct drive.
    7. Open the System Volume Information folder. This folder is unavailable and appears dimmed because it is set as a super-hidden folder.

    Note This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders such as "_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}".

    Note You may receive the following error message:
    C:\System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied.
    If you receive this message, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to gain access to this folder and continue with the procedure:
    309531 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/) How to gain access to the System Volume Information folder
    8. Open a folder that was not created at the current time. You may have to click Details on the View menu to see when these folders were created. There may be one or more folders starting with "RPx under this folder. These are restore points.
    9. Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder. The following path is an example of a folder path to the Snapshot folder:
    C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot
    10. From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the C:\Windows\Tmp folder:
    • _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
    • _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
    • _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
    • _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
    • _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM
    11. Rename the files in the C:\Windows\Tmp folder as follows:
    • Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
    • Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
    • Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
    • Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
    • Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM





    Part THREE:

    1. Start Recovery Console (or by using a Windows 98 Boot Disk).
    2. At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
    del c:\windows\system32\config\sam

    del c:\windows\system32\config\security

    del c:\windows\system32\config\software

    del c:\windows\system32\config\default

    del c:\windows\system32\config\system

    copy c:\windows\tmp\software c:\windows\system32\config\software

    copy c:\windows\tmp\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

    copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam

    copy c:\windows\tmp\security c:\windows\system32\config\security

    copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default
    Note Some of these command lines may be wrapped for readability.
    3. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts.





    Part Four:

    1. Click Start, and then click All Programs.
    2. Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
    3. Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous RestorePoint.


    Good luck! I hope this works for you. If you come into any more problems just drop me a PM or whatever.
    [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"The internet is a great way to get on the net."
    - Bob Dole, Republican presidential candidate
    [/FONT]
  • Anic
    Anic Posts: 845 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Marty wrote:
    Sounds abit like boot.ini try installing System restore cd that came with PC and do a repair, Boot from CD,, dont do a full resstore or you will lose all yer files....

    Unfortunately the PC didn't come with a CD - it had the XP pre-installed and last time she had a problem (about a week after she got it) she had to keep pressing a button (maybe F2 or F10? Can't be certain which) and it reinstalled it back to factory settings but obviously she doesn't want to do this now as she has a lot of photos, documents, etc on it which she hasn't backed up.
  • Anic
    Anic Posts: 845 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Follow these steps to fix the boot sector of windows XP. This should do the trick 

    PART ONE:
    1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
    Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
    2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

    As I said she doesn't have a CD. Will she still be able to use Recovery without a disk? If so we'll try your instructions tonight.

    Thanks for your help
  • Try getting hold of any Windows XP cd :)

    They all contain the recovery console and thats what you need if you don't want to format completely!
    [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"The internet is a great way to get on the net."
    - Bob Dole, Republican presidential candidate
    [/FONT]
  • Mr_Skint_2
    Mr_Skint_2 Posts: 5,183 Forumite
    Or drop it down the stairs and put a claim in. :rotfl:
  • Anic
    Anic Posts: 845 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Marty wrote:
    Or drop it down the stairs and put a claim in. :rotfl:

    The way she is feeling I think that might be what she will do
  • Mr_Skint_2
    Mr_Skint_2 Posts: 5,183 Forumite
    Anic wrote:
    The way she is feeling I think that might be what she will do

    Getting even with an inanimate object now and again makes me happy.
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