XP Home Boot Problem 1

[itsgenekramer]

Hello. When I boot normally to XP I just get a black screen with a white pointer. When I boot in safe mode I get the same thing only I can see where it says "Safe Mode" in all 4 corners and Windows XP Build 2600 in lettering at the top, but I can't see the desktop or the taskbar.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Gene

 

[mattjurado]

White pointer"

Is it flashing or solid? And I assume this is a cursor.

If its flashing, wait, its still processing. If its solid, it is probably locked up on something.

When did this start?

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[itsgenekramer]

Solid white. No HD activity. Mouse pointer moves but that's all. It started after I did a system restore from May 5. I was getting a "...bridge.dll" file not found error.

 

[bcastner]

1. Do a repair/upgrade installation of XP by booting from the XP CD.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

2. Enable a firewall. The native XP firewall is sufficient.

3. Head to Windows Update and become current.

4. Do all the steps outlined in faq608-4650

 

[linney]

Did you try the Startup screen's "Last known good configuration" option?

 

[Jump1ng]

Bridge.dll is usually a spyware file not sure if its any valid application that uses it.

But I'm surprised that you can't startup in safe mode which means you got more than just a problem with bridge.dll

As stated by bcastner do a repair which should hopefully fix your problem and let you get into your machine. Once thats done run some spyware removers like SPYbot, Adaware...

 

[itsgenekramer]

Last known...." didn't work either. I did the repair per bcastner's first suggestion and it went well until there was 1 minute remaining. At that time, the screen went black again and all I had was a mouse pointer. PC was not locked (I could turn num lock and caps lock off and on).

 

[linney]

Before you start the setup process, obtain and install the latest basic input output system (BIOS) upgrade for your computer from the computer manufacturer. Remove any USB Devices prior to Setup. Turn off any Anti Virus in the Bios.


Try the Checklists and Troubleshooters in these articles.

310064 - HOW TO: Troubleshoot Windows XP Problems During Installation When You Upgrade

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310064&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316639 - HOW TO: Prepare to Upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition to Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316639&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Run the compatibility checking option from the XP CD.

Have a look at something like BartPE with the view to saving any data that might be valuable.

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Apart from having the hardware of your machine checked out all that is left to suggest is a complete format and re-install of XP.

HOW TO: Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP (Q313348)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q313/3/48.asp

Read the paragraph,
"How to Partition and Format Your Hard Disk by Using Windows XP Setup."

 

[itsgenekramer]

Well, I've tried hitting F7 when it says to hit F6 during the upgrade/repair and I've tried hitting F5 when it says to hit F6 and making a selection. When I hit F7 it copies the necessary files to begin the setup but I get a message that says it did not detect a keyboard and I have to restart it. I tried rerunning the upgrade/repair to see if it would get any further, but it will not. I'm pretty sure that I'll need to reformat (which is not a big deal), the only issue is.....The PC I'm working on belongs to a friend. When she bought it about a year ago, they didn't give her a recovery disk (Wal-Mart). The hard drive is partitioned to allow a recovery from the D: drive, but I can't get to it since I can't get Windows to start correctly.
I appreciate the help and any other suggestions are welcome. If I can't get it, I'll either load W98 for her or have her buy XP Full Install and load that and have her start from, scratch.

Thanks again.
Gene

 

[koala15]

Hi,

RE your comment: "When she bought it about a year ago, they didn't give her a recovery disk (Wal-Mart)."

If the PC is a named brand, try contacting the manufacturer and see if they can supply you with a recovery disk.

Cheers.

"Life is full of learning, and then there is wisdom"

 

[linney]

You may have to contact the manufacturer for instructions on starting the Recovery partition.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=...overy+partition%22%2Bwindows%2Bxp&btnG=Search

 

[itsgenekramer]

Well, I found out that to do a recovery with this particular HP Desktop, I'm supposed to hit F10 when the Blue HP screen first comes up on boot. It's supposed to take me to a recovery menu, however, when I pressed F10 it takes me to a C: prompt. I'm about to give up unless someone else has another suggestion.

Thanks for all of your time and assistance.

Gene

 

[satrow]

Next step is to pull the drive to copy your friends data onto another disk. If it's encrypted, you have problems.

Can you do a Ctrl-Alt-Del in Safe Mode to pull up TaskMan? If so try running Explorer.exe. Msconfig?

Could there be some malware that prevents Windows running *.exe files?

Andy.

 

[koala15]

Have you searched the HP website or talked to HP tech support?

"Life is full of learning, and then there is wisdom"

 

[linney]

Is C the Recovery partition? Do a DIR command at the prompt if it is, or try changing to the Recovery partition drive. Then ask HP which program (if there is more than one) you should launch.

 

[itsgenekramer]

I've been in contact with HP. I made an XP boot disk which included a boot.ini file

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons

When I boot to this disk I get an error that says the hal.dll is missing or corrupt. I ran a scandisk on the recovery drive, with no errors. It also says that the hal.dll file should be located in <Windows Root>\System32

but I can't see the Windows Root directory.

What a pain !!!!!!

 

[linney]

If that is the complete Boot.ini it seems to be trying to load the Recovery Console as your default operating system, as opposed to any Recovery partition. It is also giving you no chance to choose XP Pro. Have you actually got the Recovery Console loaded on your machine? It needs to be loaded before you can boot to it.

Is that what you want? Recovery Console and Recovery are two different programs, I would imagine.

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp

 

[rehbock]

I have exactly the same problem with my PC.

I did an upgrade from XP home to XP Prof. All I get is the black screen and the mouse pointer.

I thought it has to do with the AGP Graphic-Card, So I replaced it by an PCI, but still the same problem

I guess I started the repair-Upgrade for 20 times, but no changes, still problems.

Did you get your system working up again?

THX, L@rs

 

[itsgenekramer]

Finally got it working, but had to have my friend order the recovery disks from HP. If it was my PC I would have seen it through to the end, but she just wanted to start browsing again.

Thanks for all your help.

~Gene

 

[rehbock]

ok - this means, system is working but you lost data!

I'll go through the end. Using now the NTFS Reader to safe data. Afterwards, I'll go to reformat the sh*t and start again :-((

Take care mate!