Windows Loading Problem

[hennethannun]

ok, I have just reinstalled windows xp (pro sp2) on my system (clean install on reformatted drive), and now half the time I try to boot the machine, it hangs JUST BEFORE the windows xp splash screen (with the scrolling blue blocks).

The machines posts and i can access the bios properly, then the machine runs through the boot sequence and attempts to load windows. My monitor flickers as if resetting the resolution in preparation of launching windows, but then the screen just stays blank.

Each time I cold boot the machine i get this hang-up, and each subsequent reset gets me to the 'windows was unable to start properly' screen where i can select to start in safe mode, safe mode with networking etc.

If I select start windows normally the machine loads windows properly and everything seems to be fine.
Also, if I hit F8 before windows tries to load, i can force windows to load and everything seems to be fine.

So my problem seems to be that windows simply cannot load automatically. Any suggestions?

My Specs:
-->Athlon 64 3700+ (San Diego)
-->MSI K8n Neo4 Platinum
-->1gb corsair value select RAM
-->Western Digital 120bg IDE hdd (two partitions, one legacy and one freshly reformatted system partition)
--> Maxtor 250 gb IDE hdd (full of legacy files)
-->Built By ATI Radeon x800xl
-->Thermaltake Purepower 420W psu
-->NEC 3520A DVD burner
-->Mistumi fdd (FA404A/404M, disk drive and USB card reader)

 

[sipuncher]

I had my xp pro install hanging at the splash screen and it took me ages to figure out... turned out to be a stupid IR port USB dongle plugged in. The problem was intermitant also. It's probably due to a hardware device causing a major conflict. Make sure you've got latest drivers for everything, especially graphics card, and if that doesn't help try removing peripherals one by one to see which is causing the problem.