Sometimes, for no reason at all, XP will just stop in the middle of a boot. The Windows XP screen just stays there and the little bar at the bottom moves, but no hard drive access happens. Anyone else ever had this problem?

Yes, it happened to me just about a week ago. I found out that the problem was that a memory card adaptor on one of the USB holes/slots/plug/thingy caused this. When I removed it and restarted my PC it worked perfectly.

I am not sure whether such a resource could help you, Teancum, but as you seem not to have many ways to work out your current problem faced with Microsoft Windows XP, I would highly advise you to read the content of either this Windows BBS thread or this Google Results Page...

Yeah, been there, tried that Lev. Trust me I exhuasted all my resources.

Oh, and it's not an Infinite Boot Loop, it stops sometimes in the middle of a boot, and I reset the machine. In fact, not to be a jerk, but how in the world does an infinite boot loop relate to a system hang?

Actually it is a common problem and really no one solution for it. It usually has to deal with a device driver screwing up every so often, causing it to just hang. Does it do it from a cold boot , hard reset, or soft reset? (just in case, after it has been shut down a while, when it was reset from the reset button, or restarted from windows itself.) Also, does it seem to fit a patern (ex. every third boot) or does it happen randomly? When did it start doing it and what did you add/romoved/do/install/uninstall before it it happened (if you can remember)?

It's very random. It' happens ~ 1 every 15 times

Well, I am feeling sorry to have visibly disappointed you, Teancum, but it seems that I have other suggestions to share with you. Indeed, if you're still interested in being advised by GameToast members, then I would suggest downloading and executing Sysinternals PageDefrag, additionally to the consulting of all the following Microsoft.com Articles :

• http://www.microsoft.com/resources/docu ... hkdsk.mspx
• http://www.microsoft.com/resources/docu ... xboot.mspx
• http://www.microsoft.com/resources/docu ... ixmbr.mspx

Yes, I apologize if I seemed rude, but this is very frustrating, as this is my gaming machine.

Off-topic : Do not worry, Teancum, I am not that easy to irritate, and I guess that's why I have always tried to post messages which were all as much "neutral" as possible...
Regarding the "Technical Issue" you're actually facing, might I know whether you've looked at the content of my above message ?

http://www.tweakxp.com/article36992.aspx
Here ya go

there is a command that you add to your boot.ini, that will show you what is loading instead of the XP screen.

Add /NOGUIBOOT or /SOS to your boot.ini. for example:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /noguiboot

you could add this by msconfig in the run menu.

If it hangs again, write down the information and post it here.

I personally would not suggest disabling Background Intelligent Transfer Service for the fact that also controls your updates for XP. But do what ever works. But since it is random, I feel that is not the problem.

Off-topic : Well, according to this Sysinternals Article, it seems that the "BOOT.INI" Optional Command meeting the description you have provided to us earlier is the one labelled "/NOGUIBOOT", Shadow'...

Got the info at the same time. Thanks anyway Lev.

Off-topic : Alright, at least, I hope that the URL I have equally joined will make my previous message a little more "valuable" and worth a reading, anyway...

That would simply stop the Graphical User Interface from loading, right?

So far no luck on any of those links. It still sometimes just hangs at the XP logo. Well, it technically doesn't hang, the hard drive just stops loading XP. I'll check to see what it does behind the GUI by changing boot.ini.

Maybe the problem you're facing is directly related to the Hard-Drive contained inside your Computer's Case, Teancum ? As we do not have "alternative" ways to work out this "annoying" situation, I guess such a question might be worth an answering, and that's why I would wish you to give me the exact References of this Internal Device, in case other owners of this Product would have encountered similar botherings with it and reported them on different Message-Boards...

Thanks in advance !...

OGEB1103 wrote:That would simply stop the Graphical User Interface from loading, right?

That is correct, sort of. You will be able to see what is loading in the background that the XP loading screen covers. Where ever it hangs, it is usually that particular driver that XP loads. I personally have not used /sos, but it might give more detailed info from what I gathered.

Teancum how many 3rd party programs do you have on your compy? In my EZ Tech Guide Turbocharge Windows XP says (this is probably a gimmey) the more 3rd party programs you have on your compy the longer it takes 4 XP 2 load. Hope this helps!

I think the problem he is having is it stopping at the black XP logo screen (before the user selection screen). Am I correct Teancum?