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Computer will not load past welcome screen

wldy 2Posts August 4, 2008Registration date - Aug 5, 2008 4:05am BST - Last answer on Mar 7, 2010 8:05am GMT annie wag
Hello,
My computer, after not being used for a few months logged into windows and the internet just fine, once....then it stopped going to web pages. So I restarted the computer. Then XP would load to the welcome screen, and the next screen it shows is the background (just before you would choose which ID to login under) it never loads past that point. When I tried to reboot and go to safe mode the keyboard would let me get it to that screen then the keys would stop working. TO fix that I had to take out that little battery inside the computer. Then I tried to log into safe mode, I got past the choose ID screen, then it stopped loading again.

I cannot reformat the harddrive as I do not have the windows XP disk, I have the key, just not the disk.

I did find programs on the computer before I rebooted the first time, and I tried to go into Add/Remove programs to remove them, I cuold not get into that either, but I did find the weird stuff in the program files and deleted a few things that I knew what they were and that were not supposed to be on this computer (ie world of warcraft)

I have tried every single thing I can think of and I cannot get this problem fixed, any suggestions besides blowing it up, or brining it to a shop? I already have to replace one computer that will not turn on anymore....Configuration: Windows XP Internet Explorer 6.0?
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When i click LOG ON button it Shows (windows Loding Your Personal Settings) it''ll Suddenly Show The Message (windows log off.
Willcannonwill - Aug 16, 2009 2:30pm BST
I'm haveing the same problem i was wondering if you found a solution if so can you let me know.
cameraeye - Mar 4, 2009 7:15pm GMT
I have the same problem. I got infected with the antivirus 360 and that is when my nightmare began. I tried to repair it by reinstalling ie8 and the it won't let me get pass the screen logon. Please if you get an answer email as soon as you can and I'll do the same.
ceb - Apr 23, 2009 8:23pm BST
mine has been doing the same thing! if u figured out how to fix it email me at gcgdlover3377@aim.com plz!
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+14
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you can download the xp disk and burn it to re-format your computer. ive left my email address, if you need specific instructions on how to do so.lifeisagame @ hotmail. co. uk
tuck - Aug 22, 2009 2:29pm BST
how do i fix my pc it freezes at welcome screen my email doinitall4ya@yahoo.com
Greg - Feb 19, 2010 12:22am GMT
It's not that eazy as you think because if you download a windows xp or higher os system offline will install and every thing but you will not pass the windos activation and your computer will be considered counterfit
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PDUB,

Thanks for the thorough response. I didn't explain myself clearly, I apologize for that. As a side note, I have a fair amount of experience and have reinstalled Windows on dozens of machines, but I am not an expert or even a veteran by any means. I'm the friend "who knows computers."

The machine's symptoms were boot to welcome screen (where user selects profile). Upon selecting the profile (there was only one) the machine would flash the desktop (no icons) and then return to the Welcome screen saying "Saving settings . . ." and then sit there as if I had not clicked on anything. I could shut down, but never properly attain the desktop. Before this, the user said they had accidentally clicked on something while browsing and a bunch of pop-ups started showing up.

I figured it was a virus of some sort and my first order of business was to boot to Safe mode. Upon doing this, the safe mode boot (after selecting Safe Mode and not Safe Mode with prompt or network) was to boot to welcome screen and now show two profiles - Admin and the User. I've tried both profiles and both act as mentioned above - a quick flash of the desktop screen sans icons and then back to the welcome screen.

I can't say that I've seen this before, so I figured the virus messed up the HD royally. I then removed the boot HD, he has two in the machine, a second larger HD for maintaining his work, and put the boot HD into a USB HD kit to read it from another machine (also the User said there may be some data on the machine that he needed). So after checking the drive, it came up fine as an external USB drive, I put it back in and did a Win XP install (repair), this went fine (as far as I could tell), but upon final booting of the machine, it had the same behavior as mentioned above. Welcome Screen only.

So I said, bugger that. I bought and put in a new drive. I had to change BIOS to boot from CD. This worked fine an Win XP (full version) started to install. It wanted to format the new drive. Good. I chose NTFS and after formatting it copied over the Win XP installation files. After copying over the files, I get a 15 second (red bar) countdown that says it will reboot automatically. As I remember, this is normal. Upon reboot it starts using the files it copied over to HD.

Well, when it did reboot, the BIOS has the "Boot from CD: . . . ." message, which usually means press any key if you want to boot from CD. I didn't press anything but the system boots from the CD as if the driver were new. It wants to start the XP installation from the VERY beginning. So I went into BIOS and changed boot order again to HD first. This didn't change the outcome. So then I changed BIOS again to say HD only, and it still boots from CD.

I am starting to wonder if the Mobo IDE controller has gone bad. I think the mobo is about 4 years old. The user does not have the documentation for it.

What I currently still need to try:
Checking the original boot HD in another machine with a virus checker. (Another thing I noticed about the drive was in the Documents and Settings directory -where profiles are stored - the user had about 10 different profiles that looked like automatic bastardizations of his original name. Not sure how else to explain it. As if Win XP was trying to boot but couldn't so made a new profile similar to old one).

Removing battery from mobo - to reset BIOS.

The mobo has a second IDE controller slot (where his two DVD drives are attached). I thought I might detach these, and hook up original drive only to see if it can boot from that controller.

And to answer you question, I couldn't get into Safe mode, so that is what prompted all this other action. I may have a situation where a virus and a hardware failure are occurring at the same time.

Thanks again for reading and for helping!
cherWeed - Apr 11, 2009 2:10am BST
I have had these problems and more with pc's.
Need to tell a virus that is in your programs that some time is not deteced which when as soon as it has done its damage to the HD no going back. Wipeout time sorry to say!My husbad works on PC's on the side, can tell
you some wild stories about them.And myself has had some problems that has him for days to figure out!
I know that is not what you want to hear but thats what is to do .XP is not a good window. My husband uses 2000 sata and loves it,I use XP sata and now less problems.No more wiping out the HD.
Weedcher - Apr 15, 2009 1:23pm BST
More importantly, what Windows and most operating systems have taught me, is never to keep any data that I want on the boot drive.

All my computers and all computers that I build for people I highly recommend having two drives. One for the OS and one for everything else.

Too often Windows craps out and you have to reformat the drive or reinstall the OS. And NEVER, NEVER save anything in the My Documents folder. That is just asking for trouble.

Thanks again for the help.
Sunny - Feb 15, 2010 10:00pm GMT
I am having the same problem exact same, on a laptop. I am a little tech savy but no enough to understand what HD is can you tell me if you ever fixed this? I need some data on this comp, otherwise I would say erase away. Please help I am desperate.
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Hello,

It often happens that some computers that has been dormand has these problems since windows has not been updating .


Best is to re-install Windows and update your system.
Eve - Nov 8, 2009 11:44pm GMT
Im only 16 and on my 5th laptop already over the past 6 years. The same thing happens every time and im having the same problem right now, my internet stopped working along with my mums and my brothers (all using wireless), they managed to reconnect however i didnt. I know its stupid but i never shut my laptop down, i always hibernate it, which is what i did after many attempts to reconnect. I then opened the screen as it wouldnt hibernate and i saw it was on a black screen saying 'windows detected a problem and shut down' in order to protect my computes or something. So i chose 'start windows normally' and it goes to the loading screen with green bar that moves across, then it went back to the 'windows has detec...' screen. So i chose repair mode and it loaded then changed to a blue screen mentioning F8 and Safemode. I tried safemode and that wont work either. Ive been working with computers since i was 9 and my fathers a computer network engineer yet i cannot fix the problem, i would tell my dad but he will be very angry and ive asked about removing the HD and retrieving files but he said it was complicated and i dont mind reformating it, he has the cd and key so its no problem but is there no other way i can save my files? (sorry about the length and the layout, im using my phone)
shwcladyEve - Feb 22, 2010 2:29pm GMT
I am having the exact same problem. Let me know how you were able to fix it. I do not have my original disc, so I might be in more trouble.
annie wag - Mar 7, 2010 8:05am GMT
how do i reinstall windows xp if my laptop does not have a cd drive and can't get past the welcome. it just freezes and stops working. i have xp on a flash drive but can't use as wont come up. tried the press zero and start. did the recovery thing, then create but keeps saying error with numbers and letters. please help
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I have the same problem, but I have the disk and correct activation code. I am stuck bad......any suggestions??
PDUB - Dec 5, 2008 4:42pm GMT
just got the same problem. how did you get it fixed? any help would be greatly appreciated.
where to get xp disc - Dec 24, 2008 2:00pm GMT
Take your key # to a computer repair store and they will usually burn you an xp disc.
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I have seen this problem and it sounds like some kind of virus ,boot or Bios . I have only seen it in PC's with older MB's and not in one with dual bios chips. I am working on another PC with the welcome screen problem now ,so I will let you guys know what I find.
WeedPdub - Mar 16, 2009 6:27pm GMT
pdub - did scanning and removing viruses from your HD allow you to boot the original PC?

I have same issue. Could not do a repair on the HD. Need the data on it.

Bought a new HD. Tried to install XP on it, but the system keeps booting to the XP Media CD and will not install XP - even after I go into BIOS and say boot from HD only.

Makes me think it is BIOS problem and not a HD/software/virus problem. But I have never seen this before.

Any help is appreciated.
PDUBWeed - Mar 16, 2009 7:28pm GMT
I wasn't comfy with existing version so I actually did new install of OS on a different HD and it worked. I have 2 hd's on system so had to switch master/slave config and it seemed to work. You want to boot from CD and not HD because that's where the problem exists if trying to reinstall OS. Boot order CD-rom drive and take HD boot off. May need a touch more info on your system to figure out what may be the issue.

Suggestions that I have gotten that may be of help from this thread.
*Take MB battery out to clear Bios
*Take HD off system and see if it is recognized by other workstation away from your box, If yes then you know its not the HD, clean it and try to go into it to get data (ultimate solution for me) or copy to ext HD if you want....if No then you found your issue.
*You mentioned trying to install OS on new HD and it wouldn't work (dumb question, is it full version or upgrade that you have (sry but have to ask since i don't know your level of expertise)
*Can you get into safemode? When I had the issue, I couldn't even go into safemode which I believe was a direct result of a virus shutting down my usb ports...after the scan the usb ports still didn't work but my ps2 input still worked for my keyboard. I was then able to put fresh OS on HD and blah blah blah.
*Another weird thing was that my comp would shut down 3 minutes in after being cleaned....found that temp settings were adjusted to auto shut down would initiate because temp was being exceeded. Cranked up fans and it was all good.
Was a royal pain in the butt to get it fixed but alas like my wifes pregnancy the destination was definitely more enjoyable than the journey.

Hope this helps.

Biggest thing is to isolate as much as possible to find out where the issue may be...Hopefully you can get it fixed and be able to fix on the cheap and take HD back if not needed
JayPDUB - Apr 15, 2009 7:56pm BST
Hey weed,
Have you tried hitting ctl, alt, del and loading the task manager and starting a new explorer task? You might have to do it twice but it should give you the desktop back, long enough to save your data.
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If your keyboard is not working when trying to boot in safe mode all you need to do is enable the USB Emulation option in Bios.... F2 for Bios
pat - Apr 25, 2009 4:00am BST
Dave, your suggestion solved the problem for me. I also had a problem selecting to safe mode from the boot menu since my keyboard did not work and I was running into the BSOD (blue screen of death) after installing bootskin and login studio from stardock..
EJ - Nov 16, 2009 3:39am GMT
Dave, I'm having the same problem but when I make it into BIOS and find the option you suggested to change, it is "blued out" so to speak. I am unable to change that setting. Any advice?
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+2
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when i turn ob my computer all i get is a orange screen with start on left side and icons on the right. no icons appear on the opening page ? please help. i have tried every thing suggested except throwing it out the window. please respond asap.thank you
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at FIrst u have to do "change the motherboard battery".
or remove the battery and after half an hour reinsert in the same locatiion.
this is the utlimate solution
victoria390Pdub - Mar 1, 2009 9:18pm GMT
Hi. I would suggest you reinstall the operating system. :) I'm having that trouble also with a friends computer, as I can hit F10 and get the safe mode screen, but I can't get past that. The arrows on the keyboard won't work. If you don't have the OS on CD-ROM, I would suggest downloading it onto a flash drive, and trying it that way. :) Hope I helped, I'm majoring in CPT-IT and we are just starting to trouble shoot. :)
imjustaguestvictoria390 - Oct 15, 2009 11:24pm BST
how can i make the dowloaded xp installer work on a flash drive?(just a 16 y/o lmao no clue about reformatting etc)i have problems when the windwos screen the log on screen wont show up and tried safe mode but cant theres a blue backround and says technical infromation stop and numbers......if u can help me(knwing how to reformat with a flash drive)maybe i dont have to play my ps2 again ang again
Jonezyy - Jun 19, 2009 11:58pm BST
So you think if we remove the watch battery looking one, leave the computer alone for half an hour then put it back in, the comp should work? Does it matter if you try and turn it on during that half hour? Thanks
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Switch on PC and keep pressing F8 till u get that SafeMode screen. Choose Load Last known Good Config of XP. Try that and see.

There are many things you can do other than that. Try removing all peripheral not needed devices.

* REMOVE RAMS - one by one. (Eg: if u got two RAMs remove one and try to boot, if that fails remove it and try booting after plugging in the other)

* REMOVE VGAs. (if u got onboard graphics enable it through BIOS and remove your VGA card and try to boot)

* REMOVE all Harddrives except the one you got Windows on.

* REMOVE Drivers of hardware devices and also software's like disk managment applications etc.

* You can also try and see whether there are malicious software at boot - u can check how to do dat here - http://windowsxpproblem.blogspot.com/2009/02/edit-windows-xp-startup-items.html

* One last thing, try to fix your master boot record. - see how to do it here http://windowsxpproblem.blogspot.com/2009/01/fixing-your-master-boot-record.html
Pdub - Feb 3, 2009 11:42pm GMT
pathum, first off thank you for all of the advice. unfortunately the majority of your solutions dictate that i can get into safemode or 'load last known good config' which i can not. i have stated this earlier but my keyboard works initially (f# keys) and after bootup (welcome screen) but does not work if i go to f8 (it goes to the screen but I am not able to move the cursor and by default it sits on load windows as normal...either way i have to reset at this point since no keys work). I also tried some of your other fixes for s*&t's and giggles but none of them worked. Actually just did the RAM and Vid Card since I had all ready taken off 2nd hdd (yes I moved jumper on main hdd back to original setting as only hdd on system. This is driving me totally insane......love my laptop but would love to have my desktop back, times are tough so i will not be replacing or taking into a shop to fix until economic situation improves. I have made a video of exactly what it does after startup on my camera, i would be more than willing to send it to anyone who may (out of the kindness of their heart) have some computer skills that I don't possess and wish to help. thanks for trying.
pathumPdub - Feb 4, 2009 2:25am GMT
hmmm...interesting....Can u get into BIOS? If u can (by pressing DEL or F1 or F2 in most PCs at bootup) in most motherboards there are PRESET SETTINGS. For Eg: HIGH PERFORMANCE, OPTIMIZED, FAIL SAFE. I used to have it on my previous motherboard. Try to switch to something similar like that.

Try disabling your USB ports, and putting DEFAULT values in the BIOS if you have entered any High Values previously.
Clear the BIOS using the CLEAR JUMPER on the motherboard. (removing or replacing the battrey doesnt do it sometimes)


Oh and there is ALTERNATIVE (which i dont knw you would like to) Use Linux (UNTIL YOU FIND AN XP CD)
IF u like to have a go i recommend UBUNTU which even i use. I dual boot it with XP. U can download it here and its totally free http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

You can backup your info using linux and burn them onto DVDs or whatever. There is an application called WINE for Linux and it can be used to Emulate windows and run most Windows Applications on Linux.
Also if you DO go for Linux u might want to look at the last post of this http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-329592.html

Yes i'd like to see that video which you've made of ur system
heypathum - Feb 9, 2009 8:04am GMT
i need help i need a welcome screen and i dont think i have a # or disk what can i do (i need it for free)
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go bios setting and fuck up lol worked for me
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I made my own coustimized computer and i dont have a key or a disk help me!
s - Dec 19, 2009 1:38pm GMT
go to bittorrent and get it from there good luck ! :)
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Well it seems there is a lot of this happening but not a lot of solutions.

I have had this same problem happen on 4 different computers within the last 24 hours!

All are running XP Pro, all machines are less than 12 months old (one is only 2 weeks old!)

Yesterday i had a call from a family member saying the pc (Running XP Pro) wont go past the user log in screen. It shows the desktop but with no icons, then goes to "Welcome" screen and then shows the user accounts. (Which is unusual as the pc does not usually require login). Once you click on the user account it quickly shows "loggin on" and the immediately switches to "logging off".

I have tried a repair install of XP but it did not fix the problem.

This morning my own pc has done exactly the same thing, and i then received calls from 2 other family members reporting the same fault on their pc's.

Thats 4 pc's with the same fault within 24 hours!


Surely this has to be virus related?
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I would love to just reinstall windows, however I do not have the disk, I have the key, just not the disk.

I was told by my kids that the computer was not working well before the last time we used it in June. So I guess this is a long time problem (its the kids internet computer)

Any other suggestions?
cher - Apr 11, 2009 2:22am BST
have had the same before and you call Microsoft and tell them.They will help you get Xp disk.
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Chances are its a simple mistake like the time and date is incorrect, i have had this problem on several other computers i have seen. Best thing to do is...

Boot into Safe Mode when the computer gets passed the Bios press F8
Boot into safe mode, the computer should boot up as normal asking which account you would like
to login to [USERS] or Admin
Login to the user as your normally would, check the date is correct if not adjust accordingly.

Restart the computer, and it should be working.
pdub - Jan 25, 2009 7:32pm GMT
can't load into safe mode. keyboard disabled after initial startup. I can show the screen for booting in safemode f8 but can not move to option of safemode because my arrow keys don't work. like i explained in my first response.
cgauna - Oct 4, 2009 11:02pm BST
would like say thanks for help thought i would lose everything on my computer. stressed
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my mom is having a similar problem with her computer. she just recently got it from my grandmother and its an older comp. its worked slow but decently for years now. She got it and downloaded internet explorer 8 onto it and once she rebooted it, it wont go past the start-up screen. she has a disc to reformat it and the key but the computer wont turn the disc at all. and she cant get it to do anything. anyone know what she could do? would be awesome if we could get the comp to work seeing as she doesnt have the money to get a new one.
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I had a similar problem. My computer my power cord came undone whilst i was logged on and when I restarted the computer after 2 weeks holiday it did not load past the logon page. (mouse not moving and keyboard inactive)

I removed the motherboard battery for a few minutes and put it back in. This fixed the issue.

best of luck to you all
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My fiance's computer got a virus. So I ran a sweep and it found some very harmful stuff. It kept popping up with svchost.exe error 0x7d4caa9b throughout the entire process. After trying to restart the computer I did get a start key in the bottom but it would not go to anything. Now it has gone pass the welcome screen and nothing. Just the background pic of the dog. No start screen no icons nothing. Any suggestions!
Weed - Apr 2, 2009 8:18pm BST
Jen,

If the virus check found a bunch of crap on there, then your best and most sure method of getting back to normal is to install the OS again - but try the repair install first. Not the Repair Utility, but the Repair installation. This leaves all the files on the drive intact and basically repairs the Windows installation.

Do a few more searches on your problems and symptoms first and then - if nothing helps, reinstall OS.

Good luck.
redmond.48Weed - Jun 4, 2009 11:58pm BST
I am having the exact same problem as described above, with one additional problem. I have a windows XP disk and would like to re-install the OS, but BIOS doesn't recognize my CD-ROM drive. I suspect the drivers have been deleted from the virus, but since I can't log into windows past the welcome screen, I don't know how to check or re-enable my CD-ROM drive.

I've tried changing the boot order in BIOS so that the CD-ROM drive boots first, even unchecking the hard drive. The message displays that selected drive not recognized. Help.
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this happened too me this morning after i put a digtial cam driver disc in, it installed and then asked me to restart pc, so i clicked the ok button to restart, and it didnt even get pass log in, it takes me to the option of load safe mode etc, which i can move arrows, however it dont load in any mode at all.

last time i had a funny problem like this was when windows did a auto update and screwed my system up a few months back it took 4 days to iron out no idea how it was fixed last time,(problem was video card update driver didnt like new windows update)i was able to get into safe mode, and try a FEW THINGS OUT BUT NOT THIS PROBLEM ATM.

on a side note i havnt used the desk top pc as much the last 3 weeks only been using the laptop in bed after long shift work.

ill try the battery tomorrow, only things i tired so far are which loading options to rom from hd and back to hd, no luck, even tired removing plugs to all hardware no luck,

i beleive in my case adding the driver for my cam screwed the pc up and removed some windows data, who knows.
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My problem was caused by the anti-virus i was using finding a 'false positive' and moving the windows logon file into quarrantine. Without this file in the correct location it was unable to login after a reboot.

I remove the drive and plugged it into another pc as a slave HDD that was also running XP.

C:\windows\system32 folder should have a file called USERINIT. This is the file that had been quarrantined by the anti virus.

Copy if from the 'good' pc intoi the same location on your HDD and then put it the HDD back in your pc. Your problem should be fixed.

It will have had nothing to do with installing your camera software, except that it forced a reboot and this file was missing.

Good luck
RB10 - Jan 23, 2010 7:49pm GMT
GDUB,
What you described on Jul 26, 2009 at 9:14:20 pm BST is EXACTLY what happened with my computer. Except, when I connected my drive to another computer to transfer a replacement USERINIT.exe file, it was still in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder. I renamed it and copied a new one in, anyway. However, when I reinstalled the hard drive back to my "infected" computer, it still would still immediately log back off as soon as my desktop wallpaper showed up. Incidentally, I get the same response even in Safemode.
Are there other files that could be causing this same effect, that I should replace along with USERINIT.exe?
Thanks for the help.
RB10
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