Stuck in XP - "Windows is Starting Up" Screen

Hi, My Toshiba Satellite Laptop is stuck in the "Windows is Starting Up" screen. It starts ok in safe mode. I have backed up all my data files successfully. Any suggestions?

Boot to Safe Mode.
Click on Start then Run.
Type chkdsk /r and press Enter.
Reply Y when asked if you want this to be done at next boot.

Reboot normally.

Chkdsk should run. Let it complete. May take awhile depending on the size of your hard drive.

See if that fixes the problem.

Done, worked, but now start up is very slow.

Perhaps something is starting at boot that is causing the problem.

Use msconfig to determine what is causing the problem

These are good tutorials on using msconfig in XP, Vista or Windows 7:
How to use msconfig in Windows XP
How to use msconfig in Windows Vista
How to use msconfig in Windows 7

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if it runs better.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, start msconfig and click on the Services tab.
Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system. Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.
Enable everything else you disabled.

If this doesn't help, then I would suggest going to the hard drive manufacturers web site and downloading their utility program and test the hard drive, see if there are any problems.

Also, if you have PATA (IDE/ATA) hard drive and not SATA then open Device Manager (Start then Run, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter).
Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Double click on Primary IDE channel.
Click on the Advanced Settings tab and make sure Transfer Mode is DMA if available and Current Transfer Mode is some level of DMA.

Might also be worthwhile Defragging the hard drive.

Thanks I think it's the Spigot Search Settings. Should we continue on this site or close this ticket and start a new one in malware?

Thanks I think it's the Spigot Search Settings. Should we continue on this site or close this ticket and start a new one in malware?

Definitely post in the malware forum. Take a look at the pinned posts a the top before posting.