[robert1234]

Hello,
I Have a Dell Dimension 5150 running Windows XP, the machine will boot and load windows but freezes on the login screen... reloaded OS from disk, didnt help at all... any suggestion would be helpful, Thanks
Rob

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Check your system memory, see if there are any problems.

Download Memtest86+ (you want the 2nd one Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)). Unzip it then create a CD from the iso file using your CD burning software. There is a good freeware burner called ImgBurn which will do this easily.

DO NOT burn the .iso file directly to CD. It must be used as input to a program that knows what to do with it, like the one I mentioned above.

Boot the CD and run for at least 3 complete passes unless it shows errors sooner than that.

[Ztruker]

Check your system memory, see if there are any problems.

Download Memtest86+ (you want the 2nd one Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)). Unzip it then create a CD from the iso file using your CD burning software. There is a good freeware burner called ImgBurn which will do this easily.

DO NOT burn the .iso file directly to CD. It must be used as input to a program that knows what to do with it, like the one I mentioned above.

Boot the CD and run for at least 3 complete passes unless it shows errors sooner than that.

[robert1234]

system doesn't prompt to boot from cd... mouse wont work as well

[Ztruker]

Is there anything that say Press Fn (F11 or F12 perhaps) when you boot to go to the Boot Menu? If so, do that. If not you need to go into BIOS Setup and set the CD/DVD drive as the first device in the boot sequence/priority.

[robert1234]

ok , 3 passes no errors...

[Ztruker]

When you reinstalled Windows, do you do a Clean Install, formatting the hard drive or did you do a Repair Instal, over the existing Windows installation?

Can you boot to Safe Mode by pressing F8 during boot as soon as you see the Dell logo?

If so, try creating a new User Account from Control Panel and see if you can logon there. Pick a good name as you may end up keeping it. Follow the directions here to create a new account and copy all your user data over to it:

http://support.micro...om/?kbid=811151

Or follow these directions posted in GeeksToGo.com

• Boot to Safe Mode, login as Administrator
• Show all files by opening My Computer, Tools menu, View tab, check Show Hidden Files/Folders then uncheck Hide extensions for known filetypes and Hide protected operating system files [Recommended]. Click Apply then OK.
• Create a new Administrator level account via Control Panel / User Accounts.. Pick a good name as you will be keeping it.
• Reboot the computer.
• Login with the new account so the folder structure under Documents and Settings gets created, then log off.
• Boot to Safe Mode, login as Administrator
• Browse to c:\documents and settings\OldUserAccount
• Select everything in that folder, including sub folders, except the three files called ntuser.dat, ntuser.dat.log, and ntuser.ini.
• Copy all those files into c:\documents and settings\NewUserAccount. Reply Yes or Yes to all when duplicate folders or files are found.
• Reboot the computer and login with your New user account.

Once you satisfied everything works, you can delete the old profile.

[robert1234]

ok, followed all steps, still freezes up @ login screen unless in safe mode

[robert1234]

BTW, repair install...

[Ztruker]

All I can think of at this point is for you to backup any data you don't want to lose then do a Clean Install:

Clean Install- WhatTheTech
Clean Install - Michael Stevens Tech

If it's not a hardware problem this will fix it. If it still fails then I'd say you have a hardware problem of some kind. Try disconnecting everything from your computer except mouse, keyboard and display. Unplug all USB or Firewire devices or anything else except the above 3. See if it boots.

If you have enough free hard drive space you could do a parallel install, where you install another copy of windows along side of the existing one.

A much less common way to install Windows XP is called a "parallel install." A Windows XP parallel install puts a second, independent copy of Windows XP on your computer.

To be clear, after a parallel install, you will have two separate and basically unrelated copies of Windows XP on your PC.

A Windows XP parallel install is usually created by accident after making certain mistakes during a clean install but there are some kinds of Windows XP issues where creating a parallel install might be helpful as a troubleshooting step.

How To Install Windows XP

Microsoft's Windows XP Professional Parallel Install step by step

If this works then you can backup your data and do a Clean Install or copy over any data you want to keep to the new, parallel install then delete the old Windows XP install.