Windows XP Splash Screen Freeze - MBR or other?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by optigrab, Jan 2, 2008.

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  1. optigrab

    optigrab Registered Member

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    Hi all,

    My laptop running XP occasionally freezes on boot - just as the Windows splash screen begins to appear (the screen with the short green blue progress bar). In fact the freeze always occurs as the splash screen is fading in (from dim to bright). I must then perform a power-off force reboot which gets me to the recovery screen (asking if I wish to boot normally, using last good configuration, or in safe mode).

    Problem first appeared, I believe, after an incident where I was making a full backup using a Lenovo utility, and the utility froze in the middle of the process, and I had to do a restore to a previous image. It could be a coincidence, but if not then perhaps I have a MBR problem? o_O

    Would it possibly be an MBR problem if the freeze only happens occasionally?

    Is it advisable to attempt to repair the MBR? How can I do that if I do not have the full XP installation discs? I only have the vendor's initial state recovery discs. I also own Paragon Backup Pro - wondering if I can use the Paragon restore media for MBR repair.

    I will call my vendor support (Lenovo), but I am wondering if anyone has any ideas. Thanks!
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2008
  2. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    I wouldn't think it's the mbr. By the time you see that screen, I believe the machine is well on it's way loading drivers. Have you tried booting into safe mode.

    If you are seeing that windows error message you referenced you should be past the point, where the mbr causes any problem.

    Pete
     
  3. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    Sometimes a boot of my system stalls when a USB device is connected (for example my portable audio player)

    Hope this hint may be helpful.
     
  4. optigrab

    optigrab Registered Member

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    Thanks Pete. I guess that suggests it might be a driver problem. I will reinstall some drivers for starters - it's easy to do. But I will be surprised to find a bad driver can kill the boot process so early (yes, I realize how naive that sounds). Any guess on the chances it's hardware related instead?
     
  5. optigrab

    optigrab Registered Member

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    Thanks, your input seems to be (possibly) consistent with Pete's input above. Have you corrected the problem or investigated what's going on?
     
  6. wilbertnl

    wilbertnl Registered Member

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    For me it's a simple matter of disconnecting the USB device before boot-up.
    If you don't have USB devices connected, then my tip would not apply to your problem.
     
  7. optigrab

    optigrab Registered Member

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    But I do; I have a USB trackball and webcam. Both precede this new problem by a significant amount of time, but perhaps something's happened to the drivers. I'll check them first.
     
  8. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Funny you should ask. On one my systems I was seeing several "weird" issues, one of which was hangs at different stages of the boot process. The weirdest of which was I could copy very large files from the d: drive to the c: array, but not the other way. Turned out it was the motherboard.

    So yes it can be hardware.
     
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