Win XPhome gets past welocme and go to black

[xchefpeter]

Client calls in saying his pc was fine he was booting up when there was a power failure. He removes the pc and puts it in his car where it sits for 3 hours in the hot sun (internal temp of car may have been over 115 at this time ) Brings pc to new location powers up and starts boot process and the xp screen comes on says welcome and goes to black. He reboots and tries "last known good"-no work. He tries starting in safe mode able to work in safe mode but unable to determine problem , reboots to normal and goes to black.
I originally thought it was the video card I removed it and tested it in another system and the card works fine.
Any suggestions?

xchefpeter
A+N+MCP
Pending MCSA>MCSE>CCNA
----------------------------------
I never know my limitations until I exceed them

 

[linney]

Did you try running ChkDsk from Safe Mode? Right click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

If they don't work you could try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

 

[xchefpeter]

I did try the restoration and it failed to fix the problem. As soon as the client brings me his copy of the OS and key I will do the repair instal
Thanks for the idea re: scannow and chkdisk again as soon as I have the CD handy. Will let you know

xchefpeter
A+N+MCP
Pending MCSA>MCSE>CCNA
----------------------------------
I never know my limitations until I exceed them

 

[bigjohn8210]

Have you tried changing the video driver,try F8 and boot up in VGA Mode see if it boots ok. Most likely it the driver of resolution settings

Bigjohn8210
A+ N+ MCSA

 

[linney]

bigjohn8210" makes a good point about the driver. Also you don't need any CD to run ChkDsk from Safe Mode, a couple of things for you to try before you get the CD.

 

[itfellow]

One of the first things I would do just to make sure what level of malfunction I was dealing with would be to determine whether it is just a video malfunction or if the OS itself is locked up entirely.

When you boot the PC, after it blacks out, can you ping it from the network? If not, the problem may not be the video per se, but any driver or app causing a lockup, although the video driver could be the one causing this. If you can ping it and otherwise connect normally after the blackout, then it is most likely strictly a video issue.

 

[xchefpeter]

I thank all for your suggestions. It turned out to be a two prong problem 1) video drivers, which I fixed by going into safe mode and adjusting the video properties and reloading the drivers for the video card; the 2nd was a litle more tricky . It was an OS problem which I determined by going over the the applications error file in which I found both the system rcovery strings hanging and os startup files not loading propertly. I disengaged the system recovery and reload the os over itself. So far on 10 cold boots and reboots the system is functionnig well.
BTW itfellow, the pc is a stand alone so pinging would not have been part of the diagnosis.
once again thanks to all who answered

xchefpeter
A+N+MCP
Pending MCSA>MCSE>CCNA
----------------------------------
I never know my limitations until I exceed them