Win XP stopped booting

Hi, Following on from my win XP hdd failure,i now have a different problem: I have two identical Win XP Desktop PCs One has a 60gb hdd (which failed) and the other has an 80gb hdd. Both discs are Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 ata/133 So i put the 80gb disc in the machine that failed and it booted up normally,log in screen was normal but when i got in, the machine is totally unresponsive,everything takes minutes,the mouse curser trail lags and sometimes stops for a few seconds. If i keep moving the mouse rapidly i get a series of short beeps,then the mouse starts moving again. I checked the BIOS and the disc is being seen and i saved the changes. There are 2gb of ram loaded which are being seen by the system. In safe mode everything works normally. There is very little on this drive,it was a backup machine really. There is no malware present to the best of my knowledge. (Malwarebytes,Superantispyware,MSE) So it looks like a conflict? If so how do i suss it out? Thank you

Hi sammy 5575
That's interesting……

In safe mode everything works normally

In safe mode only a limited amount of stuff is loaded….just sufficient to get the cvomputer goingwith a very basic set of drivers…. so if its Ok in safe mode but slow and unresponsive in normal mode then the finger of suspicion is pointing in the direction of the extra drivers that are being loaded in normal mode….
Here's some suggestions for you to consider:

1 Boot to safe mode
2 Click on Start
3 Click on Run
Type in the white box:
msconfig
and press ENTER.
4 On the System Configuration utility, click Selective Startup tab.
5 Under Selective Startup, click disable all.
Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services tick box, and then click Disable All.
Click OK.
When you are prompted, click Restart and let the computer boot in normal mode. (accept the warnings if received)

If this does resolve the issue (and the desktop loads in normal mode), then you will need to click on the Startup Tab and then re-enable (one by one) each of the disabled entries rebooting each time until you find the culprit!

You will probably ned to do the same on the Services tab……..In the workshop we tend to re-enable half the items at a time to try and save a little time, as the reboots can be very time consuming…… but if you do this be sure to write down exactly what you have renabled as its easy to become confused…..(see the following Microsoft Article for more detailed instructions)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796
Once you have found the culprit report back and hopefully you will be able to update or roll back or uninstall the culprit….
Regards
paws

Hi Paws Thank you once again for replying to me so quickly. I will not be able to start the process you describe until tomorrow. As a matter of interest, if i were to re-install XP, wouldn't that just cut to the chase? The reason i ask is that this drive has nothing on it of value, at least until such time as i begin adding my programs/apps etc. Would i be as quick doing that in this case?

Hi sammy 5575,
In the ordinary course of events I would not consider a complete reinstall to be the the first type of action to be considered…. as it's a pretty drastic approach for a machine that boots OK into safe mode but not in normal mode….. it would be normal "standard operating procedure" to follow the suggestions set out in my previous post…(using msconfig etc)
However as always, it's your call, and there are some complicating factors that also should be considered.
I'll set some of these out (as I see them) so you can make an informed decision of how best you wish to proceed.

1 Using the msconfig utility should be able to identify the culprit within an hour or so…..
2 If there's not much on the hard drive apart from the operating system then if you have a good disc image then its a 20 to 40 minute job to re-image back to its "perfect state" ( that is to say the state the computer was in when you took the image.) if this was a little while ago then a visit to Windows update and your anti virus application site will be required to download and install the updates….
3 If you don't have a disc image then the next port of call is either a Repair install ( see 4 below) or a fresh install via the Recovery Partition on the hard drive (used to restore the computer to its "Factory State") this has the advantage that it will often include all the correct drivers, (Motherboard/chip/video/audio etc etc) If you don't have a Recovery Partition (or an image of one) then hopefully you will have the computer manufacturere''s Recovery discs? if you don't have any of these then its a re install using your Microsoft Windows XP installation disc. ( see 4)
4 If you reinstall using the Windows XP installation disc you have a choice (sometimes!) of performingh a non destructive Reinstall on top usually called a Repair install or a destructive fresh install to the newly formatted disc….. you obviously know your way around computers so I'm not going to set out here the differences between the two different methods…… but if you have any questions post back and one of us will do our best to explain.
5 You did mention that you installed a different hard drive into this machine but that this machine and the donor machine are identical…….("identical" is a pretty strong word and if there is even the slightest variation in the specification of the two machines then a corrupted or incorrect driver is a very strong possibility…). the symptoms of an incorrect driver or corrupted one are …..that the computer will boot into safe mode but not into normal mode……
6 For the reasons given in 5 above a fresh install of Windows may well be attractive…..
7 A fresh install with a quick format takesabout 45 mins…. if you don't use an installation disc with SP 3 on it then you will need to put this on and then do the other 120 odd Windows updates issued post SP 3 .Depending on what discs you have available,and the speed of your Internet connection (not to mention how many cups of coffee you require!) it's best to allocate the best part of a day to complete this task. This will include installing all required drivers, configuring Windows settings and core applications…( Anti Virus, Firewall etc) and all the usual Office Applications , Java, Flash, Adobe Reade/Foxit, Internet Explorer updated and configured etc….. multiple reboots will be required) and peripherlals installed…NAS, Scanners, Printers, etc etc
Two extra tips for you if you go down this route:
1 make sure you have your network adapter driver safe on removable media, as if Windows doesn't provide native support for your particular network adapter then you won't be able to use the Internet (on this machine) to download the stuff you need!
2 Make sure you have the Service Packs copied to disc…..especially SP3 and maybe SP2 as well, as XP versions prior to SP 3 are no longer supported by Microsoft and so it will be more difficult to do Windows updates….
Let us know how things go
Regards
paws

Hi paws, I decided to try the msconfig route first,mainly for the learning experience:-) I disabled everything as you outlined,and the situation in normal mode is the same…..unresponsive!! Thing is, the mouse curser stops moving every few seconds and when i try to move it i get lots of beeps, bios beeps, sometimes i get a string of short beeps, sometimes i get individual beeps.

Hi sammy 5575, OK I understand…. Do you have a suitable disc image for this computer? If not I would try a "Repair install" next Regards paws

Hi paws Well the merry-go-round continues…. In my very first post to you,i desdcribed a 60gb Maxtor hdd that failed outright,just died and brought everything with it. Well i just remembered that i had originally cloned that from the original 40gb drive that came with the pc and was on its last legs with various diagnostic utilities telling me failure was imminent. So i cloned it on to the 60gb,but i did it without taking an image,just dragging the drives into the window in Macrium Reflect. Looking back,that was very foolish,not thinking ahead at all!! I searched and searched until i fould that drive and it finally turned up!! It still boots although it's health status is very bad. So i took an image of that drive today and saved it to an external drive. The other Maxtor 80gb drive that came out of an ALMOST identical :-) pc, was formatted and i copied the new image onto it, and it boots up and everything works fine…..BUT this 8ogb drive shows up in the BIOS as an 80gb drive, but everywhere else it is seen as a 40gb drive!! in drive management, or when i click on My Computer the drive is seen as 40gb. How do i put that right? Or should i leave it and be thankful for small mercies!! :-) Oops never spotted that almost 40gb was unallocated!! Got hold of Easeus Partition Master and re-sized……peace and tranquility has been restored! Thank you paws for your help and patience,very much appreciated!!

Hi sammy5575, Sounds like good news to me….. well done! Just a quick word to the wise…. When taking a disc image, try and do it when things are running fast and sweet, all junk files removed, hard drive in good shape, defragged, free from virus or malicious elements, and with all your core applications installed and Windows updated and running well…. When you are "forced into taking a disc image when there are already signs of problems, then there is always the risk of reproducing those problems when you come to re-image…. Regards paws

Hi paws, All in all a good learnong experience,thank you for your solid advice, i have taken it onboard!! Many thanks again for your help. Kind regards sammy5575