System locks up

[TOCSYS]

My friend's computer keeps locking up as soon as I click on a user in the welcome screen of Windows XP. I can let it hang there for hours without clicking anything and the system doesn't lock. But as soon as I click on a user I hear the system fans slow down a bit then the mouse freezes and the keyboard stops responding. I hear the normal read access of the hard drive for about two seconds then it also stops responding. The system never leaves the welcome screen. I tried booting into safe mode, as well as last known good configuration, but I still run into the same exact problem. Is this a software issue or a hard drive problem? Any information is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Sounds like a driver problem. Start deleting and replacing drivers in safe mode.

 

[TOCSYS]

I tried booting into safe mode, as well as last known good configuration, but I still run into the same exact problem.

Thanks anyway though.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: rorrim180

I tried booting into safe mode, as well as last known good configuration, but I still run into the same exact problem.

Thanks anyway though.

It can still be a driver problem, but given that the issue only pops up when you (try to) log in, it's unlikely to be a driver issue unless the driver's related to the login prompt.

I assume this happens with any user you click on.

You might flip your registry back to an original version (see my .sig's URL for more info - it's about 5-10 posts down in the "How do I do this?" post) - basically you'll copy c:\windows\system32\config\ (sam|software|system|security) files to a backup directory somewhere, then you'll copy c:\windows\repair\ (those same 4 files) to c:\widnows\system32\config, and then reboot. You'll do all that in the recovery console.

That will tell you if you have a registry issue or an issue with other files on the drive. It's a start....

I'll assume you can map a drive to the system having the problem (from a working system), so you've got many possibilities for other things to try, too.

 

[TOCSYS]

Wow. Thanks for the information dclive. I'll give that a shot.