Gateway laptop stuck at XP title screen

[sandmanz66]

I am trying to fix a gateway laptop that keeps getting stuck at the xp title screen. I did a restore that saves the data files and it went through the entire process only to be stuck at the xp title screen again. Was hoping to be able to save some of the old data files but thats not looking too likely. This is a last ditch effort before I have to do a reformat of the drive and load it all up again. Hoping for any suggestions that could be a work around.

Thanks in advance

 

[B00kWyrm]

Without more information we are kind of shooting in the dark.

And I may not be the one to carry you through to solution...
(I only have limited exposure to Win7 so far.)

Based on experience with other OS...
Could be Hardware (HD most likely, though Ram is not impossible)
Have you tried HD diagnostics? WD offers a diagnostic program for their drives.
We regularly have referred people to Memtest for Ram testing... not sure of use with Win7.
There may be other utils if Memtest is not compatible.

Both Memtest and WD's drive util run outside of Windows, so boot failure is not a problem.

Another way this kind of problem can result (with XP for example) is with driver conflicts, or with application conflicts, including security software. (For example, a firewall might cause a hang at boot, but the next reboot, no problem... your problem sounds different; but without more information it is hard to tell.)

Again... I am not familiar enough with Win7... someone with Win7 experience will need to weigh in.

A Product like Apricorn will help you rescue your data, so that if you need to to a system restore, you will not have lost your data.

Another possible option is to boot to "Safe Mode"; if you can, then this will help resolve the driver or application conflict causing the problem.

See here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode

I hope this gives you a start.

 

[sandmanz66]

thank you for the reply bookwyrm...not a win 7 OS though...its an xp machine

 

[B00kWyrm]

Re: Not Win7
Sorry. My miscue was in your system specs.
I thought you were dealing with the machine listed there.

Since it is an XP machine... more Information please...
It is a laptop... model number? How old?
XP SP1?, SP2?, or SP3?
What specific software is configured to start at boot?
(Firewall? AV?)
Is the hard drive original?
Has the computer ever received any hard bumps (while running or NOT).


What was happening just prior to this problem?
System or Software updates?
Internet activity (filesharing?)?
New Software or Hardware?
Something else?

Please answer in your next post.

Meanwhile:
First- Can you boot to Safe Mode?
To get into the Windows 2000 / XP Safe mode, as the computer is booting press and hold your "F8 Key" which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu" as shown below. Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode" and press your Enter key.

If you can get to Safe Mode, then we can explore driver conflicts,event viewer, minidumps, etc, looking for conflicts there.

Please answer in your next post.

Otherwise Previous recommendations stand. except...
1. Drive is probably not WD? and not SATA? Even so, the maker probably has a utility for your drive. Hitachi's is here @ http://www.hitachigst.com/support/downloads/

If you do not know the maker of your drive, then I would suggest the utility from Gateway, found here
http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?param=gwscan

Though my primary system is a Gateway, I have not used this utility.
I have chosen to use the utilities from the drive makers.
Gateway has a link to the instructions for this utility.


2. I would suggest that you Run Memtest: .
Download here @ https://www.techspot.com/downloads/500-memtest.html
Please follow this guide... https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html

Please note that (unless you start getting errors reported) you will need to let this run a long time.
A good way of doing this is to let it run over night. In each 'pass" there are a series of eight memory tests that are run, each more complicated than the previous. You need to let it run a minimum of 7 passes, unless you start getting errors. If you have errors reported, you may want to re-run the test with only one stick of ram installed, checked each stick until you isolate those that are faulty. That way you can limit your replacement to those that actually need it.

Let us know the results.

HTH.

 

[sandmanz66]

Waiting on the windows disk from the previous owner. Started it up in safe mode and told me it was missing the windows system32 config file. Will update after i get the disk