Computer freezing WHILE booting?

J

Jibu

New Member
hey, I'm having an unusual problem with my computer. When the computer is booting up, it passes the "Compaq" logo and the Windows XP splash screen fine, but when the screen is supposed to go blank briefly after the splash screen, 2/3s of the time the computer doesn't pass that point.

This has only started happening since yesterday. It occurred right after I had installed a new modem into the system. I had also switched around some PCI cards to try and fix a freezing problem I was having before. I'm not sure if this is related to the problem, but I know it has been happening since I installed the modem. I tried removing all of the PCI cards (including the modem) except for the graphics card, but the problem persists. Also, I checked the hard drive LED when the screen changed from the xp splash to the blank screen (just before it is supposed to go onto the log on screen) and the LED basically stops by the time it gets to that blank screen--it may flicker every few seconds or so but that's it. When the computer boots up normally, though, the LED flickers throughout the boot. At least every other boot has been giving me this problem. I end up having to manually shut down the system and reboot again when it happens.

PLEASE help :confused:
thanks
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
This has only started happening since yesterday. It occurred right after I had installed a new modem into the system. I had also switched around some PCI cards to try and fix a freezing problem I was having before
Click to expand...
IRQ conflict :(

I tried removing all of the PCI cards (including the modem) except for the graphics card, but the problem persists. Also, I checked the hard drive LED when the screen changed from the xp splash to the blank screen (just before it is supposed to go onto the log on screen) and the LED basically stops by the time it gets to that blank screen
Click to expand...
Reset the BIOS to failsafes :)

At least every other boot has been giving me this problem
Click to expand...
Is the memory ok?
 
J

Jibu

New Member
I checked for IRQ conflicts in Device Manager, but there weren't any.

What does resetting the BIOS to failsafes exactly do, and how would I go about doing that?

The memory is fine. I even tried switching each memory stick to different slots. I've had the memory sticks for quite some time now. One has been in the computer since I bought it (2000), while the other is about a month old. I don't believe their are the cause of the problem.
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
What does resetting the BIOS to failsafes exactly do, and how would I go about doing that?
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When you boot up your computer at the beginning it says something like Press F1 or Press F2 or Press Delete to enter setup. Press that button and there should be an option to enable Fail Safe settings.

You can't be sure about the RAM until you test it
Click to expand...
In BIOS you can also have the option of performing an extended memory test on bootup :)
 
J

Jibu

New Member
Praetor said:
When you boot up your computer at the beginning it says something like Press F1 or Press F2 or Press Delete to enter setup. Press that button and there should be an option to enable Fail Safe settings.


In BIOS you can also have the option of performing an extended memory test on bootup :)
Click to expand...

The extended memory test didn't make any difference. I couldn't find any settings that referred to "Fail Safe" so I wasn't sure how to activate fail safe settings. I was able to access the Compaq startup menu (This is probably where the bios settings are) but it didn't show anything about fail safe settings. I read somewhere that failsafe settings are not the optimal settings and it may degrade the performance of the machine. Please tell me what I should do, whether it be this and/or something else. Thanks.
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
I couldn't find any settings that referred to "Fail Safe" so I wasn't sure how to activate fail safe settings. I was able to access the Compaq startup menu (This is probably where the bios settings are) but it didn't show anything about fail safe settings.
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Well what options are available?

I read somewhere that failsafe settings are not the optimal settings and it may degrade the performance of the machine
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Well right you are but you're not concerned with performance right now are you....after you get it working you can start to tweak the BIOS :)
 
J

Jibu

New Member
Here are the BIOS options:
 

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F

Flash_AAA

New Member
Have you tried compaq instant support their pretty knowledgable and if worse comes to worst you should have that partition on you harddrive to revert your computer.
 
J

Jibu

New Member
Flash_AAA said:
Have you tried compaq instant support their pretty knowledgable and if worse comes to worst you should have that partition on you harddrive to revert your computer.
Click to expand...


I have tried their instant support several times. I don't have that quickrestore partition anymore because I did a clean install of xp and deleted the old partition. The old partition had Windows ME on it :eek: I would like to fix this problem without having to reformat because I like the way my computer is set up right now. Some please help! I'm losing hope of getting this fixed as each day passes! :(
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
The memory is fine. I even tried switching each memory stick to different slots. I've had the memory sticks for quite some time now. One has been in the computer since I bought it (2000), while the other is about a month old. I don't believe their are the cause of the problem.
Click to expand...
Make sure you test it. Crap happens out of the blue. Lorand gave a link to a testing app. :)

I would like to fix this problem without having to reformat because I like the way my computer is set up right now
Click to expand...
That would be ideal but dont get too attatched to that plan... might not be feasible/effective :)
 
J

Jibu

New Member
Praetor said:
Make sure you test it. Crap happens out of the blue. Lorand gave a link to a testing app. :)


That would be ideal but dont get too attatched to that plan... might not be feasible/effective :)
Click to expand...


I tested the memory. It's fine.

Is there anything else I can do before I move on to reformat the drive? :confused:
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
Well you've made it pretty clear that it's not a hardware problem... so it's gotta either be a software problem or OS problem. Since damn near no software is active at pre-OS-boottime it would seem to make sense that it would be the OS
 
M

messiahnet

New Member
I would boot into safe mode and uninstall the modem driver completely and physically remove the modem from your system. Then try and boot up. If all of this happened because of installing a modem, backtrack by removing everything that had to do with it. This all assume, of course, that when you said you installed a modem, you actually installed the driver, too and not just the card.
 
I

ice52

New Member
Have you tried booting up in safe mode? or another OS (get hold of knoppix!?) you dont want to reformat if its NOT a software issue... so make sure it is!

i think... you can reset the bios mannually by using a jumper by the battery on the motherboard, but i doubt that will do anything.... if you have another computer availiable that is of the same architecture you could try taking the harddrive out and booting it in the other system? you will probably want to use another computer to get the files off it anyway....

good luck
 
stratford

stratford

New Member
Uninstall The Modem Driver See If This Works.
If Not When It Gets To The Hang Point Unplug A Usb And Plug It Back In This May Just Help It On Its Way.if All Fail Then Reboot Press F8 Every Second Until You See The Screen To Choose Safemode Scroll To Safemode Hit Enter See If It Bootsup.
Give It Time When It Gets To The Mup File This Takes Sometime To Load.when Loaded Logon As Administrator And Uninstall Modem And Software. Reboot.
 
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