Windows XP Startup Problem

Mark Murphy · 03-01-2005, 05:58 PM

My PC is acting a little weird lately. I woke up a few days ago to find my PC trying to start up after leaving it on the night before. It seemed frozen, so I turned it off and restarted it manually using the power button. When it came back, I got a black screen that said this:

Quote:

We apologize for the Inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent Hardware or software change might have caused this.

If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose Last Known Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

If a previous startup attempt was interupted due to a power failure or because the Power or Reset Button was pressed, or if you aren't sure what caused the problem, choose Start Windows Normally.

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Last Known Good Configuration

Start Windows Normally

Use the up and down arrow keys to move the highlight to your choice.

The only "new" thing I have added was a Windows update on Saturday or Sunday. I chose Last Good Configuration over the weekend and it ran fine for all of Sunday, Monday and up until around 4p today. Now it won't get beyond this screen. I haven't chose any of the safe mode options yet. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

Charles Miller · 03-01-2005, 06:03 PM

Try "Start Normally". If this doesn't work, when you reboot, try "Last Known Good Configuration". If this doesn't work, you will probably have to do a system restore. To do this, start in "Safe Mode", and Windows should walk you through the steps to re-set Windows to a configuration that works.

Good luck.

Mark Murphy · 03-01-2005, 07:52 PM

I restarted in Safe mode and went back to Friday's configuration and everything seems to be in good shape for now. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Mark Murphy · 03-03-2005, 04:48 PM

My problem as returned and its gotten worse. Now the PC won't start in safe mode. It gets hung up on the same screen as before. It won't boot up at all most of the time and if it does, it will only work for a few minutes. Sometimes it goes to a blank black screen. Any suggestions?

ChrisMatson · 03-03-2005, 05:10 PM

I have heard of similar problems pointing to a hard drive failure.

Maybe it is time for an authorized repair? Is it under warranty?

Good luck.

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Mark Murphy · 03-05-2005, 09:16 PM

I opened it up and the fan was fried. It was running but it was erratic. It would speed up, slow down and the heat sink above the processor was scorching hot. I replaced the fan and heat sink and ran a CHKDSK. It seems ok, for now. I'll let it run overnight to do a disk defragment and see how it goes from there.

Christo Ramo · 03-07-2005, 07:50 AM

That will do it every time!

Neil Joseph · 03-07-2005, 12:06 PM

When you run chkdsk, do the complete version to fix any potential problems. Good to do that every now and again.



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