XP doesnt complete startup....help...Janine

IBM 2.8GhzP4, 256Mb, Windows XP Home Preload SW. Returned from hurricane
evacuation and was only able to access dialup only, not DSL. Able to pull
email, didnt access anything I didnt know. ONLY pertinent email. Machine
started acting up so signed off. Later signed on and it goes thru the normal
startup and gets to the desktop screen with icons. Appears to be ok, but it
Stops at that point...cant access icons, cant sign off, and arrow cursor
turns into hourglass on bottom status bar and "start button." Called IBM and
went thru HW diagnostics. All seems to be fine. Assumption is that Windows
OS hickup or got a bug. I had up to date virus definitions from Norton AV.
I committed the cardinal sin. Was working on several personal files and did
not save to disk or CD. Smack me later, ok. NEED to recover files asap.
Also tried to put HDD as a slave to another machine, but it failed to
recognize the HDD, even with jumpers. Suggestions... I cannot format the
HDD and start from scratch....I NEED to recover the data. Have no idea where
to start at this point. Please help asap..........Janine

Janine <Janine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>IBM 2.8GhzP4, 256Mb, Windows XP Home Preload SW. Returned from hurricane
>evacuation and was only able to access dialup only, not DSL. Able to pull
>email, didnt access anything I didnt know. ONLY pertinent email. Machine
>started acting up so signed off. Later signed on and it goes thru the normal
>startup and gets to the desktop screen with icons. Appears to be ok, but it
>Stops at that point...cant access icons, cant sign off, and arrow cursor
>turns into hourglass on bottom status bar and "start button." Called IBM and
>went thru HW diagnostics. All seems to be fine. Assumption is that Windows
>OS hickup or got a bug. I had up to date virus definitions from Norton AV.
>I committed the cardinal sin. Was working on several personal files and did
>not save to disk or CD. Smack me later, ok. NEED to recover files asap.
>Also tried to put HDD as a slave to another machine, but it failed to
>recognize the HDD, even with jumpers. Suggestions... I cannot format the
>HDD and start from scratch....I NEED to recover the data. Have no idea where
>to start at this point. Please help asap..........Janine

Can you boot the computer into Safe Mode?
To start Windows XP in Safe Mode turn it on and start tapping the F8
key rapidly just as soon as the first information of any kind shows on
the screen.
Keep tapping rapidly until the Windows XP Startup Menu appears and
choose Safe Mode from the menu.

Note that many functions (such as your Internet access) will not work
in Safe Mode.

However if you can get the computer booted into Safe Mode and can open
Windows Explorer there then we can work further on fixing the problem.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

Sorry, Ron. It does the same thing in Safe Mode. Destop screen opens with
Start button and status bar at bottom. Cannot use cursor to open anything
and hour glass takes place of arrow when moved to start button. Nothing
happens. Any other options??



"Ron Martell" wrote:

> Janine <Janine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >IBM 2.8GhzP4, 256Mb, Windows XP Home Preload SW. Returned from hurricane
> >evacuation and was only able to access dialup only, not DSL. Able to pull
> >email, didnt access anything I didnt know. ONLY pertinent email. Machine
> >started acting up so signed off. Later signed on and it goes thru the normal
> >startup and gets to the desktop screen with icons. Appears to be ok, but it
> >Stops at that point...cant access icons, cant sign off, and arrow cursor
> >turns into hourglass on bottom status bar and "start button." Called IBM and
> >went thru HW diagnostics. All seems to be fine. Assumption is that Windows
> >OS hickup or got a bug. I had up to date virus definitions from Norton AV.
> >I committed the cardinal sin. Was working on several personal files and did
> >not save to disk or CD. Smack me later, ok. NEED to recover files asap.
> >Also tried to put HDD as a slave to another machine, but it failed to
> >recognize the HDD, even with jumpers. Suggestions... I cannot format the
> >HDD and start from scratch....I NEED to recover the data. Have no idea where
> >to start at this point. Please help asap..........Janine
>
> Can you boot the computer into Safe Mode?
> To start Windows XP in Safe Mode turn it on and start tapping the F8
> key rapidly just as soon as the first information of any kind shows on
> the screen.
> Keep tapping rapidly until the Windows XP Startup Menu appears and
> choose Safe Mode from the menu.
>
> Note that many functions (such as your Internet access) will not work
> in Safe Mode.
>
> However if you can get the computer booted into Safe Mode and can open
> Windows Explorer there then we can work further on fixing the problem.
>
> Good luck
>
> Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
> --
> Microsoft MVP
> On-Line Help Computer Service
> http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
>
> In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
> http://aumha.org/alex.htm
>

Janine <Janine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Sorry, Ron. It does the same thing in Safe Mode. Destop screen opens with
>Start button and status bar at bottom. Cannot use cursor to open anything
>and hour glass takes place of arrow when moved to start button. Nothing
>happens. Any other options??
>

There are a couple of other options on the Startup Menu, such as "last
known good configuration" which you should try next.

If none of these work then your next option is to do a Repair Install
as per the instructions at
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

A Repair Install will preserve all of your installed applications,
configuration settings, and user data files. Windows Updates will
have to be reinstalled.

Note that doing a Repair Install requires an actual Windows XP
Installation CD. The "system recovery" disks, or hidden hard drive
partitions, used on many systems that come with Windows XP
preinstalled (=OEM versions of Windows XP) often cannot do a Repair
Install, although some can. It varies from manufacturer to
manufacturer.

Also note that if you do have a Windows XP Installation CD that is
either the original release or Service Pack 1 version, and your
installed Windows has been upgraded to Service Pack 2 then you will
have to create a new installation CD with Service Pack 2 slipstreamed
into it. Post a reply back here if you need assistance with this.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm