I have a problem related to networking that is causing a PC to hang for 6 mins after logging in, even after disabling all startups not Microsoft and cleaning with the usual Spybot, using HiJackThis and other tricks with autoruns. Now I don't have the logs here but will post them tomorrow - at the moment I need advice on tools etc to help identify what is causing the lockup.
I was at one of wifes friends house to set up a router on a working PC, and before I even got the router working I was left with a PC (Windows XP SP 2 Dell Dimension 5000) hanging in limbo after logging in. I saw it working fine minutes beforehand. Previously the internet connection was a USB SAGEM ADSL modem.
So what did I do to it to cause this change in behaviour? First Mcafee was moaning about an install of "P2P Networking", so I got rid of that. I did an ipconfig and saw an unexpected IP address which turned out to be hardcoded (192.168.0.1 - there has never been anything connected to the ethernet port on this PC before!). No one in this house would have had a clue how to do this. I removed this and set for the usual Auto using DHCP setup ready for the router. Then I did the expected reboot - and thats how the problem started.
After a little investigation and some patience I found that it wasn't freezing, but would completely log in after about 6 mins. However it would not network (acquiring IP address indefinitely). A string of errors from services are in the event viewer looking like symptons of networking failure. They start with the DHCP client service failing: The DHCP client service is shutting down. The following error occurred: A system call that should never fail has failed. Source: Dhcp Event ID: 1004
Thinking that it must have been something I did (see above) I rolled back to a restore point from earlier that day before I got there. This restored the original IP and the P2P Networking. BUT the 6 min login remained! the only thing different was that I had plugged in an ethernet cable in the back, but it wasn't connected to the router anymore as I had disconnected it.
I used bootvis to log the start up and found that at 27s into the boot up, and after login, Explorer runs and then hangs. I then spent alot of time cleaning the system and disabling all start ups and all non-Microsoft services. The problem persisted though. Booting in safemode works, but booting in safemode with networking has the same issue.
I am going back to get all the logs and can post these tomorrow - what i need now is advice on what info to get and what other tools can help me log and indentify what Explorer is doing when it starts up.
Can anyone help me get the information I need to daignose this one?
Regards, YoDJMC
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