Re: Windows XP startup

'Sailor' wrote:
| Thanks once again. I'm interested in your comment
| "You might try starting with a log file enabled to find
| out the last successful step before starting Windows XP hangs."
| That may tell me what is causing the hang. How do I do that,
| please? Is it reasonable to expect that when it hangs on start
| and I find the "last successful step", then follow my usual method
| of successfully restarting, that I could find the NEXT step that
| could be the problem? With a successful start I would think it
| should produce a log for the complete start.
_____

The following is a quote from "Windows XP Professional Resource Kit".

*****
Boot Logging
If your computer stops responding during startup, Boot logging allows
you to identify initialized drivers. THis information is useful if your
computer cannot complete the startup process. By examining the boot log,
you can identify the file name of the last file processed, which might be
causing the problem. YOu can then focus your troubleshooting efforts on the
suspect file and replace the file or search for an update.

To enable boot logging:
1. Restart the computer.
2. When prompted. Press F8, and then select 'Enable Boot Logging' on
the Windows Advanced Options Menu.

Enabling boot logging and restarting causes the operating system to create a
log file in the 'systemroot' directory named Ntbtlog.txt. You can view the
lof by doubling-clicking it. The log lists files that Windows XP
Professional attempted to load during startup. 'Loaded driver' or 'Did not
load driver' precedes the path to each file.

*****

This book is very useful for understanding and troubleshooting Windows XP.
It weighs about 6 pound, has over 1500 pages and has a list price of $59.95
US (probably discounted quite a bit by now.) Most of the information is
available online in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.


The log from the incomplete start would indeed show the last successful step
and the last file processed.

At this point, all I can suggest is a lot of research on your part or using
a reputable computer repair shop.

Phil Weldon

"Sailor" <Sailor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:720D16AC-45CD-4F00-BF30-58A22F2DB94D@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
|
|
| "Phil Weldon" wrote:
|
| > 'Sailor' wrote, in part:
| > | Thanks for your reply. I only have 256mb of RAM right now.
| > | I bought a 256mb stick on ebay but it isn't recognized by the
| > | system. Can't understand why unless it was DOA. The system
| > | hangs and won't even start! The computer works fine with either
| > | or both of the 128 sticks I now have after I do get it started with
| > | the method I mentioned earlier.
| > ..
| > _____
| >
| > Thanks for your follow-up post. I'll have to think about the new
| > information for a while, and will post again when I have more to offer.
It
| > will probably be a list of questions.
| >
| > For now,
| > * not all memory that fits in a motherboard slot is compatible.
| >
| > * 256 MBytes of memory which you have as two 128 MByte sticks is not a
| > limitation on whether Windows XP boots or not, but is a limitation on
| > performance. You might want to disable as many startup tasks as
possible
| > and see if that helps.
| >
| > * You might try starting with a log file enabled to find out the last
| > successful step before starting Windows XP hangs.
| >
| > * Your secondary hard drive formatted as FAT32 should have no effect on
| > startup, but FAT32 is not as secure and robust file system as NTFS.
| >
| >
| >
| > Phil Weldon
| >
| >
| > "Sailor" <Sailor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| > news:4DB7B685-A07F-40CD-8554-B9EAD69B2C85@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| >
| > | Thanks for your reply. I only have 256mb of RAM right now.
| > | I bought a 256mb stick on ebay but it isn't recognized by the
| > | system. Can't understand why unless it was DOA. The system
| > | hangs and won't even start! The computer works fine with either
| > | or both of the 128 sticks I now have after I do get it started with
the
| > | method I mentioned earlier. Does RAM have anything to do with
| > | my weird start up? As for the OS it has SP2. The HDD is 20gig
| > | with 14 gig free. BTW I installed a second HDD of 10MB before
| > | I installed XP. I converted drive C: (the main) to NTSC but left the
| > | 10gb one at FAT32. Could that have any effect on my problem?
| > | The funny thing is as I described earlier, the start up hangs on
initial
| > | start BUT it does start when I restart using the "normal" start up
| > | method from the text screen.
| >
| >
| > Thanks once again. I'm interested in your comment "You might try
starting with a log file enabled to find out the last successful step before
starting Windows XP hangs." That may tell me what is causing the hang. How
do I do that, please? Is it reasonable to expect that when it hangs on start
and I find the "last successful step", then follow my usual method of
successfully restarting, that I could find the NEXT step that could be the
problem? With a successful start I would think it should produce a log for
the complete start.


.

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