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Freezes at "Windows is starting up..."


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#1
melindaguf

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I am trying to fix my mother's laptop, which has Windows XP. She has no idea what happened to it. It freezes at "Windows is starting up...". It will not boot in safe mode or "last known working configuration" either.

She does not have the XP CD either :tazz: Is this something that I am going to have to get?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated.

THANK YOU!!!
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#2
Retired Tech

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Was XP Preinstalled, if so, there may be a recovery partition, otherwise an XP CD would make things quicker and easier

If you borrow an XP CD to run the repair, it will need to be the same version XP CD as was used for the original installation, when it asks for a product key, the product key for the laptop must be entered

You could be lucky with system restore

Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a command prompt then press enter.

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:


%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

Look for a recent system checkpoint to restore from

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:


http://support.micro....com/kb/315222/


A description of the Safe mode boot options in Windows XP

You can use these to repair XP

XP Repair Install

Or here if you are unable to run XP Repair Install

Alternative XP Repair Install Method

Use Windows Installation CD to repair the current installation, from the list, which uses a slightly different method

Windows XP repair feature won't delete your data, installed programs, personal information, or settings. It just repairs the operating system

After running XP Repair you will need to install all Windows Updates

Microsoft Update
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#3
melindaguf

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Hi Ketih,
Thank you for your help.

Yes, the laptop came with Windows XP Home Edition on it.

I may be able to get a copy of XP Home Edition CD. If so, where do I find the product code of the laptop to enter in???

System Restore did not work.
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#4
Retired Tech

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Download and install Everest Home Edition

Run the programme, click + next to software then licenses, I hope Everest Home also has this feature, if not, there are a number of others, though I would have to ask around
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#5
melindaguf

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It does not have that feature.
Any other suggestions?
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#6
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You need Winzip for this

http://www.majorgeek...ad.php?det=4628

Download it, unzip, open the folder it was unzipped to, click the blue and white box and it took 3 seconds to show the Key for this PC
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#7
melindaguf

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Ok, but I don't need the key for the computer that I am on, do I?
I can not boot the laptop, so I can't get the key for it?
I'm not sure that I understand.
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#8
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WinKeyDOS, works from DOS Prompt and gets your windows Product Key

This is really a help full tool for System Administrators who wish to have this tool in their armory, in case of system not booting in normal mode or graphic mode you can login from dos and get your key, and reinstall windows with the same key

http://support.micro...kb;en-us;307848

If you have a floppy drive on the PC you can save it to a floppy then run it from there

Or contact them here

[email protected]
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