XP computer stops mid boot

[Todd33]

It's my old 4400+ XP SP3 machine and I hardly ever install anything to it, but suddenly it won't boot. I tried runningg some utilities in Safe mode that clean the registry and I also looked over the stuff that runs during boot up, nothing stands out.

Are their any tools that will tell you what is causing the hang?

 

[TheStu]

Do you have an ipod plugged in?

I know, it sounds crazy... but my desktop will not fully boot sometimes if I have an ipod plugged in. It keeps trying to look for a boot sector on it I guess.

 

[Todd33]

No, but I recall the did reboot after a Windows update, that reboot hung as well.

 

[TheStu]

Huh, drat... I was hoping you would reply yes, and then remove and BAM, problem solved. Cuz then i would say "That just blew your mind, didn't it". And you'd be all like, "Yea, TheStu, that did just blow my mind, do I owe you anything?" and I would reply "Nothing, just doing my job" and fly off into the distance with my own theme song.

But unfortunately we are stuck with...

Updates recently installed, and that was when the problem started. Have you run MemTest? RAM can also do gnarly things.

 

[mpilchfamily]

So it runs fine in safe mode but has trouble booting in normal mode?

Then you may want to reinstall the video card drivers. Since safe mode uses the very basic card fuctions and doesn't use the actual drivers for the card. So its likly the drivers have gotten currupted over time. If that doesn't help you may need to consider otehr drivers as a possiblity or even hardware starting to fail.