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If your computer powers up okay, but the Windows XP operating system won't boot properly, you have some troubleshooting ahead of you. Here's a look at the likely culprits and what you can do to fix the problem.

When your computer hardware appears to power up okay, but the Windows XP operating system won't boot properly, you have to begin a troubleshooting expedition that includes getting into the operating system, determining the problem, and then fixing it. To help you get started on this expedition, here are 10 things you can do when Windows XP won't boot.

One of the first things you should reach for when troubleshooting a Windows XP boot problem is a Windows startup disk. This floppy disk can come in handy if the problem is being caused when either the startup record for the active partition or the files that the operating system uses to start Windows have become corrupted.

To create a Windows startup disk, insert a floppy disk into the drive of a similarly configured, working Windows XP system, launch My Computer, right-click the floppy disk icon, and select the Format command from the context menu. When you see the Format dialog box, leave all the default settings as they are and click the Start button.

Once the format operation is complete, close the Format dialog box to return to My Computer, double-click the drive C icon to access the root directory, and copy the following three files to the floppy disk: Boot.ini – NTLDR- Ntdetect.com

After you create the Windows startup disk, insert it into the floppy drive on the afflicted system and press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] to reboot the computer. When you boot from the Windows startup disk, the computer will bypass the active partition and boot files on the hard disk and attempt to start Windows XP normally.

You can also try to boot the operating system with the Last Known Good Configuration feature. This feature will allow you to undo any changes that caused problems in the CurrentControlSet registry key, which defines hardware and driver settings.

The Last Known Good Configuration feature replaces the contents of the CurrentControlSet registry key with a backup copy that was last used to successfully start up the operating system.

To use the Last Known Good Configuration feature, first restart the computer by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Delete]. When you see the message Please select the operating system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the Windows Advanced Options menu. Select the Last Known Good Configuration item from the menu and press [Enter].

Keep in mind that you get only one shot with the Last Known Good Configuration feature. In other words, if it fails to revive your Windows XP on the first attempt, the backup copy is also corrupt.

Another tool that might be helpful when Windows XP won't boot is System Restore. System Restore runs in the background as a service and continually monitors system-critical components for changes. When it detects an impending change, System Restore immediately makes backup copies, called restore points, of these critical components before the change occurs. In addition, System Restore is configured by default to create restore points every 24 hours.

As the Windows XP operating system begins to load, the Ntldr program refers to the Boot.ini file to determine where the operating system files reside and which options to enable as the operating system continues to load. So if there's a problem rooted in the Boot.ini file, it can render Windows XP incapable of booting correctly.

If you suspect that Windows XP won't boot because Boot.ini has been corrupted, you can use the special Recovery Console version of the Bootcfg tool to fix it.

Of course, you must first boot the system with the Windows XP CD and access the Recovery Console as described in #4.

To use the Bootcfg tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type
Bootcfg /parameter

· /Add--Scans the disk for all Windows installations and allows you to add any new ones to the Boot.ini file.

· /Rebuild--Completely re-creates the Boot.ini file. The user must confirm each step.

· /Redirect--Allows the boot operation to be redirected to a specific port when using the Headless Administration feature. The

Redirect parameter takes two parameters of its own, [Port Baudrate ] | [UseBiosSettings].

The partition boot sector is a small section of the hard disk partition that contains information about the operating system's file system (NTFS or FAT32), as well as a very small machine language program that is crucial in assisting the operating system as it loads.

If you suspect that Windows XP won't boot because the partition boot sector has been corrupted, you can use a special Recovery Console tool called Fixboot to fix it. Start by booting the system with the Windows XP CD and accessing the Recovery Console as described in #4.

To use the Fixboot tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type
Fixboot [drive]:
Where [drive] is the letter of the drive to which you want to write a new partition boot sector.

The master boot record occupies the first sector on the hard disk and is responsible for initiating the Windows boot procedure. The master boot record contains the partition table for the disk as well as a small program called the master boot code, which is responsible for locating the active, or bootable, partition, in the partition table. Once this occurs, the partition boot sector takes over and begins loading Windows.

If the master boot record is corrupt, the partition boot sector can't do its job and Windows won't boot.
If you suspect Windows XP won't boot because the master boot record has been corrupted, you can use the Recovery Console tool Fixmbr to fix it. First, boot the system with the Windows XP CD and access the Recovery Console as described in #4.

To use the Fixmbr tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type Fixmbr [device_name]

Where [device_name] is the device pathname of the drive to which you want to write a new master boot record. For example, the device pathname format for a standard bootable drive C configuration would look like this:
\Device\HardDisk0

When Windows XP encounters a fatal error, the default setting for handling such an error is to automatically reboot the system. If the error occurs while Windows XP is booting, the operating system will become stuck in a reboot cycle--rebooting over and over instead of starting up normally. In that case, you'll need to disable the option for automatically restarting on system failure.

When Windows XP begins to boot up and you see the message Please select the operating system to start or hear the single beep, press [F8] to display the Windows Advanced Options Menu. Then, select the Disable The Automatic Restart On System Failure item and press [Enter]. Now, Windows XP will hang up when it encounters the error and with any luck, it will display a stop message you can use to diagnose the problem.

#9: Restore from a backup

If you can't seem to repair a Windows XP system that won't boot and you have a recent backup, you can restore the system from the backup media. The method you use to restore the system will depend on what backup utility you used, so you'll need to follow the utility's instructions on how to perform a restore operation.

If you can't repair a Windows XP system that won't boot and you don't have a recent backup, you can perform an in-place upgrade. Doing so reinstalls the operating system into the same folder, just as if you were upgrading from one version of Windows to another. An in-place upgrade will usually solve most, if not all, Windows boot problems.

Performing a Windows XP in-place upgrade is pretty straightforward. To begin, insert the Windows XP CD into the drive, restart your system, and boot from the CD.

Once the initial preparation is complete, you'll see the Windows XP Setup screen (shown earlier in Figure A). Press [Enter] to launch the Windows XP Setup procedure.

In a moment, you'll see the License Agreement page and will need to press [F8] to acknowledge that you agree. Setup will then search the hard disk looking for a previous installation of Windows XP. When it finds the previous installation, you'll see a second Windows XP Setup screen, as shown in Figure C.

This screen will prompt you to press R to repair the selected installation or to press [Esc] to install a fresh copy of Windows XP. In this case, initiating a repair operation is synonymous with performing an in-place upgrade, so you'll need to press R. When you do so, Setup will examine the disk drives in the system. It will then begin performing the in-place upgrade.
Keep in mind that after you perform an in-place upgrade or repair installation, you must reinstall all updates to Windows

A simple way to speed up a defrag operation in Windows XP is to restart the system before you launch Defrag. This allows the operating system to clear out the swap/paging file and reset it to the default size. This lets Defrag focus strictly on the necessary data on the hard disk, without having to stop and manage a huge swap file loaded with unneeded data.

Another approach to speeding up a defrag operation in Windows XP is to configure them to occur immediately upon startup. Fortunately, you can do so easily with a simple registry edit. Follow these steps:

2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce.

The defrag operation will begin when you type in your password and press [Enter]. (Keep in mind that values added to the RunOnce key are removed immediately after the command has been run.)

Windows Vista search indexing is constantly reviewing files on your system to make their contents available for quick searching. This is handy, but can severely impact system performance.

To disable this constant indexing:
·

Click Start then Computer

Right Click the C: Drive

On General Tab, Uncheck Index this drive for faster searching

On the subsequent dialog box, Select Include subfolders and files

2. Turn off Remote Differential Compression

Remote Differential Compression measures the changes in files over a network to transfer them with minimal bandwidth rather than transferring an entire file that has previously been moved. By constantly checking for file changes, this service can hinder system performance.

To disable this service:

· Open Control Panel

· Switch to Classic View

· Select Program Features

· Choose Turn Windows features on and off

· Scroll down and uncheck Remote Differential Compression

*Special Note: Windows Vista has the same tendency as XP to get bogged down with a bloated and corrupt Windows registry and file system. We strongly recommend keeping Vista running in optimum condition using an app like RegCure PC Optimizer: Free Download (Recommended)

3. Turn off Automatic Windows Defender Operation

Windows Defender real-time protection against malware continues to run despite having Automatic operation disabled.

To disable this feature:

· Open Control Panel

· Select Windows Defender

· Choose Tools from the top menu

· Select Options

· Uncheck Auto Start at the bottom of the window

4. Turn off Automatic Disk Defragmentation

Windows Vista and its always-on defragment feature isn't really that necessary and can cause system slow down. Just remember to run a defrag manually every week or so.

To disable this:

· Click Start then Computer

· Right Click the C: Drive

· Select the Tools Tab

· Uncheck Run on a schedule

*Important: Keeping your hard drive defragmented is key to great system performance, but it's very important not to neglect Vista's core files, dll structure, and file/path reference system. PCTuneUpTips advises regular Vista system scans and maintenance with RegCure: Free Download (Highly Recommended)

5. Add a 2GB or higher USB Flash drive to take advantage of Windows Ready Boost (Additional Memory Cache)

Ready Boost is Microsoft's name for using a USB thumb/flash drive to provide some quick access memory the operating system can use as extra RAM. The Ready Boost system can significantly improve system performance.

6. Turn off Windows Hibernation

Windows hibernation background services can use a large amount of system resources. If you don't use the Hibernate feature on a regular basis you may want to disable it to give Vista a performance boost.

7. Turn off System Restore

Analysis and restore point creation by Windows Vista can eat a fair amount of system resources. Disabling this service will obviously mean the system restore feature in Vista will not be available in the event of a system crash. Change this at your own risk.

*Note: The best protection against ever needing to restore your PC is regular file cleaning and maintenance. We strongly recommend regular Vista error detection and repair scans using RegCure PC Optimizer: Free Download (#1 Recommended)

8. Disable User Access Control (UAC)

This much-loathed new Vista feature attempts to protect your system from malware infection by making you manually confirm a whole host of everyday user operations. While it doesn't directly impact performance, it can be annoying and might be more hassle than good.

9. Disable excess Windows Services that Auto-Launch at Startup

Just like Windows XP, Vista ships with all kinds of services enabled that load at startup and may never be used by most users.
To see what loads at startup and disable the ones you likely won't be needing (they can always be started manually later):

*You can also control Windows Vista strartup programs very easily with RegCure: Download Now

Windows ships with other features that are listed separately in the Vista operating system from the startup services.

Personal storage devices such as USB flash drives are more powerful than ever and have become ubiquitous in the enterprise environment. Originally designed for consumer use, these devices typically lack security, control and auxiliary management tools. Many employees don’t think twice about taking work home or out of the office on the personal thumb drive they purchased at a local center for office supplies. With millions of people carrying around personal storage devices, these gadgets are being used both innocently to increase productivity and for other less legitimate purposes such as smuggling information out of the enterprise.

Even when used with the best intentions, the data stored on USB drives is generally not covered by routine company procedures, such as backup, encryption, or asset management. How can companies keep track of the data coming in or leaving the company via these devices? Keeping company data secure has become a significant challenge for any corporate IT department.

Recent events in the industry have been cause for concern, leading IT professionals to understand that new policies and technologies must be set in place to protect information being stored on personal storage devices.

Flash drives with classified military information were up for sale at a bazaar outside Bagram, Afghanistan. The US Army realized they had to secure USB drives, find a way to keep track of the devices, and ensure that the information could not be accessed by unauthorized personnel.

When company information is stored on non-secure and personally owned devices, employees put their company at risk every time they step out the door. Auditing companies are at risk of exposing account numbers, hospitals can be exposed if patient information falls into the wrong hands, and finance companies need to ensure that mission critical data is not lost. Once company data falls into the wrong hands, the possibility of threats and risk are almost infinite. Companies lose credibility, leave themselves open to lawsuits, and expose employees to ID theft or fraud—just to name a few.

* Data exposure due to device loss or theft
* Unauthorized data extraction
* Introduction of malicious code.

Enterprise Concerns Regarding the Vulnerability of USB Drives

* Data Leakage – To minimize the threat of data leakage, enterprises can start by limiting the use of USB drives to company-authorized devices.

* Regulatory Compliance – All organizations should ensure they comply with government and security regulations—such as SOX, HIPAA, GLB, California SB and FISMA—to minimize the risk of data loss. The first step is to set clear security policies, publicize among employees and enforced through use of technology that audits, tracks and backs up all information on mobile drives.

* Lost data and support costs – Despite security measures, data may be lost or stolen, leaving the organization in a position to minimize the damage done. Issuing company-authorized USB devices will enable the initiation of procedures to recover lost data and reduce the subsequent damage.

The following steps will help your enterprise secure personal storage drives, both on and off the network.

1. Always define and publicize your company policy for personal storage devices.

Try these solutions for speeding up a slow PC if the usual fixes (running Disk Cleanup CHKDSK, Spy Ware remover, running Scandisk, defragmenting the hard drive, and checking the system resources)

In a new low, spammers are now abusing a seemingly-innocuous feature in Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems to place pop-up messages on systems with high-speed connections to the Internet.
The NET command is used to send such messages (e.g. net send * Hello World), and the messenger service (different than Windows Messenger) allows users to receive such text messages. By default, it is running and active on all Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems. Here's how to turn it off:

4. Select Disabled from the Startup type list to prevent it from loading automatically the next time Windows starts.

Once it has been disabled, you will no-longer receive such messages. Note that many firewalls also prevent this type of data from reaching your computer in the first place, but it certainly can't hurt to turn off the service anyway.

Keyboard shortcuts are a great way to keep things moving when you're using your computer, and they let you perform tasks without lifting your hands from the keyboard. These are some of the basics that you should know--at least if you want to cut down on the number of times you reach for the mouse every day.

1. Ctrl Alt Del is the mother of all keyboard shortcuts, affectionately known as the "three-fingered salute," since it's so useful when your Windows box locks up. Pressing the combo once (simultaneously) opens the Windows Task Manager.

(From within the Task Manager, you can force-quit a crashed program, see a list of processes or applications running on your machine, check performance parameters such as how hard your CPU is working, or track your network usage.) Is your machine totally locked up? Reach over, grab the mouse and click Shut Down.

2. Ctrl S saves the file you're working on. Ever lost your homework, a spreadsheet at work, or some video you've been editing? Hit Ctrl S (simultaneously) to save.

Hit it early and often! (Want to open a file from within the program you're running? Ctrl O universally opens the File/Open window.)

3. Ctrl C copies text, files, or icons that you've highlighted, Ctrl V pastes them where you point your mouse (hey, you can't completely eliminate using it), and Ctrl X cuts whatever you've highlighted out of the document

(or folder, photo, movie clip, or whatever it is you're working on). Ctrl A highlights the entire file you're working on or everything in a folder or on your desktop.

4. Alt Tab lets you switch on the fly between all of your open windows. Press the combination once to switch to your last open window or multiple times to switch to any other open window. Holding down Alt Tab will bring up a system window that shows you what apps are running and which one you're switching to.

5. Ever wonder why almost every Windows program has the F in File underlined, not to mention the E in Edit, and so on so forth across the top of the Window?

Hit Alt that letter to open that particular menu; you can either use the arrow keys to move around within that window, or keep your eyes peeled for more underlined letters to use more Alt key combinations.

6. The Windows key (the one that looks like the Windows logo, or a flag) R opens the Run dialog. From here, you can launch a command-line window by typing cmd, but you can do a lot more. You can, for example, paste in a folder path, such as C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\My Documents\Expenses, and Windows will open it automatically. You can also use the Run dialog to open Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, or Notepad. Just type winword to launch Word, type excel to launch Excel, and notepad to launch Notepad.

8. F2 renames a selected file or folder. (This is so much easier than right-clicking!)

10. Windows M minimizes all open windows, and Windows D shows your desktop. (These results look similar, but they're slightly different; Windows M minimizes all windows that support the command, while Windows D actually raises the desktop to the top.) This is a great one for when the boss pops up in your cubicle.

Once the boss gone, hit Shift Windows M to bring up your minimized windows, or Windows D to drop your desktop back down again.

Recently I found E-Mail from member Kevin Case, who is troubleshooting an extremely slow-running PC for a user. In fact, according to his e-mail, it takes three to four minutes just to open My Computer. The computer is a P3 850-MHz with 256-MB RAM, and 90 percent of the hard drive is free.

Kevin has checked for unnecessary software, run Disk Cleanup, run Scandisk, and defragmented the hard drive, but to no avail. Since I’am currently having the same problem with my laptop, I decided to offer Kevin some advice.

the very first thing that I recommend doing is performing a thorough virus scan on the machine. Some viruses can severely degrade a machine’s performance. Both Kennedy and MS Computer Engineers agreed. "My guess would be a virus on [the] system, probably Klez and or ElKern virus," Hienz wrote. "Many systems I have been working on as of late have [had] the same symptoms.

Don’t put false hopes into All Anti-Virus Programs…Remember to complete windows updates and security patches weekly, try experimenting with different Anti-Virus programs that also offer Spyware remover/Pop up/ Spam mail stoppers (note not to download to many Anti-Virus & Spyware Demo programs, they will conflict with each other !)

Hienz stated most web sites have spy ware programmed into their web site to follow your web site surfing; this is an intrusion in privacy.

Once loaded on your computer it allows criminal hackers/crackers to snoop through all of your personal or clients business information. Since hackers are programmers, they can cause serious problems in your computer by writing a program “Key Logger” that mirrors the keys you type, allowing them to steal your user name and password.

This can be more than just a nuisance, it is a serious threat to your Identification in that it will be stolen from you, or worse your business clients personal information,Spyware or enough of it will slow your system to a crawl; it also can bypass your firewall opening a port for any hacker attack. Kennedy wrote; I had a client that stated it took 12 minutes to boot or shut down their computer.

Hienz found spyware/adware programs loaded on the clients computer, slowing it down to a complete stop.

Run spy ware software weekly, be careful of free spy ware removers, some have spy ware attached and are just a gimmick from hackers.

At the Dos Prompt C: type in CHKDSK /f This should automatically check your hard drive for errors and fix any errors found.

Remove it from the system, If you were once on a network or no longer using it for DSL or cable…a bad nic card search’s for the network with no network present, it will slow your system down. Remove any recent hardware install, and software including games.

Click Start, Settings, Control panel, Add Remove Hardware or Add Remove Software

Once you’re sure that the machine is virus free, I recommend checking the temperature of the processor. Microsoft engineer concurred. "Make sure the CPU and other fans are running well and providing enough cooling, and [that] the room temperature isn't excessive (78 degrees or higher)." Intel has designed its newer processors to slow down as the processor heats up.

This is to prevent the processor from overheating to the point of being damaged or destroyed. here are a couple of ways to check the processor’s temperature. You can give the processor the “finger test” and see if the processor feels like it’s hot enough to burn you. If you use this approach, unplug the computer first, and use a grounding strap to avoid damaging the processor with static electricity.

A more scientific method is to use a multimeter with a temperature probe to test the temperature.The appropriate temperature will vary depending on the make and model of the processor, but the temperature should be below 110 degrees. If you find the processor to be above this temperature, check the machine's fans to make sure they are operating properly.

Also, check the fans and internal components for excessive dust buildup and clean if necessary. Check for DOS compatibility mode If the system is running Windows 9x, Computer Systems Engineer Carl Hienz recommended checking to make sure that the hard disk is not running in MS-DOS compatibility mode. "If it [the hard drive] is running in this mode, your computer will crawl along," Hienz wrote.

To check this, open the Device Manager, right-click on the hard disk in question, and select the Properties command from the resulting menu. This will display the drive’s properties sheet. You can use the properties sheet to determine the driver being used and the drive’s mode.To compress or not to compress Hienz also suggests that Kevin check to see whether the disk is compressed. "I experienced a severe reduction in performance on a machine once after it was compressed," Hienz wrote.

You can check a disk’s compression by right clicking on the disk in My Computer and selecting the Properties command from the resulting menu to view the drive’s properties.

There are some other possibilities as well. It could be that some program that’s running during the boot process is slowing the machine down. To test for this condition, try booting in safe mode.

By its very nature, safe mode runs slower than normal mode. However, if you boot in safe mode and find the machine to be running much more quickly than it was in normal mode, then a program or driver is probably causing the problem.

Try a drive transplant If booting in safe mode doesn't pinpoint the problem for you, try taking the hard disk out of a comparable system and hooking it up in the system that’s having the problems. If the system boots slowly from the known good hard disk (which should also be running a known good operating system), your PC has a hardware problem.

This hardware problem could be related to a bad ribbon cable, a bad disk controller, or a bad system board.Once all fails to work for you, call an experienced professional Microsoft Engineer to diagnose your computer, and repair it.

Computek of Tampa Bay has Onsite computer engineers that will come out for $29.95 And trouble shoot you computer, make recommendations to get it back up running like when you first bought it.

Call today and schedule an appointment local: 813-818-9075- National Line 702-997-5246. Ask for our senior Engineer Carl Hienz or John Penner CEO.

Try our Tech support Local line @ 727-466-6242 (10:am est to 5:pm Est. Mon. thru Fri)

If you suspect that a program or driver is causing your problem, check out these articles from Compu Tek of Tampa Bay, LLC weekly or e-mail a support request at Tech Support Info