XP Pro Freeze During Boot

Hi,
I am having great difficulty getting my PC to boot. I am posting this from my 2nd PC.
For no apparent reason my PC started to freeze up during loading a program that had been on my PC for a long time, Ctrl "“ Alt "“ Delete did not work only a reboot but during this attempt it froze during the boot process. When Windows Logo is on and the blue scroll bar running it suddenly stopped and would not commence.
I booted into Safe Mode ok and had a good look around but could find no problems anywhere the program that initiated the first freeze booted without any problems in safe mode. All looked ok in Device Manager, checked defrag was not needed.
Restarted the PC into Windows Mode but it froze on shutting down Windows.
Again when attempting to load Windows it froze on boot Windows Logo scroll.
Can I run "sfc /scannow in safe mode?? Or what would be my best shot to try.
Your advice as always would be greatly appreciated.
Hawk22

 

In regards to the obove problem I have a question that I would like to ask.
In the past I have made Registry Backups in Regedit > Export and those Registry Backups are in a Folder in MY Docoments.
How can I Import them back, can it be done in safe mode, to be honest I have no idea.
hawk22

 

Rather than using registry, export (a la Win98) you should be making System Restore points in WinXP.

I've never tried sfc in safe mode but I know of no reason why it shouldn't work.

 

Have you chosen something like "last bootable configuration" in the F8 boot menu? Think you can also select a restore point dated before the problem began while in safe mode if you haven't turned system restore off. Go to
Start > All Programs > accessories > system tools > system restore and choose an appropriate date.

 

You are assuming this is a software problem. My first instinct with these type of lockups would be a hardware issue.
First move should be to simply check for a loose connection. The graphics card is always favourite so remove and refit this first and also reseat all the IDE and/or SATA cable plugs while you are inside the computer. If the problem persists than remove and refit the ram and try new drive cables if you can. Then try reseating all the other add on cards in the machine.

If the problem happens more while the computer is cold then it points to a loose connection. If it happens more when it is hot it suggests overheating. Check the processor’s heat sink for dust build up and run a monitoring program so you can keep an eye on its temperature.

If still no joy then I’d be checking for faulty hardware.

 

It could be hardware, but its doubtful as the evidence points to software
Go to Start > run and type msconfig
hit enter
Uncheck this mystery program in the startup tab
Reboot, and see if you still have the problem
Did you run any virus or spyware programs?
I would try running them in Safe Mode, along with sfc /scannow.

 

Is this line in the original post saying that he did manage to boot into XP?

 

Hi and thanks for the hints,
I should mention that the OS XP Pro is SP2 and that I have 3 HD's in that machine 2 of 40 gig and one 80 gig. One 40 gig is for photos only and I think this drive is giving me some problems I did Analyze the drives for defrag and 2 of them did not require defrag but my 3rd drive P:\ Photos would not allow to Analyze or defrag. So my suspicion is that this drive might be faulty.
When I did try to copy some folders to another drive it again would not allow me to do so, that is all in Safe Mode.
To answer your question Mc Tavish the freeze occured during a attempted restart from Safe Mode into Normal Windows and it frooze at shutting down in Safe Mode.
I have handed over the PC now to a Techie to try to safe a number of Photos that I had not backed up yet onto DVD.
I will let you know of the results when I get it back.
Thanks for now
hawk22