Member Avatar for cloverswift

Hi, I've been having this intermittent startup problem and and I haven't found a solution yet. Once I start the Windows XP SP2 computer, everything looks normal as I can get to the log in screen. I then log in using an Admin account (the only user available) and the desktop starts to load. I can move my mouse and I can see all of my icons and everything looks fine except that I am unable to click on any icons. When I move my mouse down to the taskbar I just get the hourglass. If I try to Ctrl-Alt-Del to get the task manager nothing happens.

The last program I installed was Adobe CS3 (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Acrobat, Illustrator, Flash). But this problem didn't happen immediately after the install.

I've left it in the state for an hour (just to see if it was really really slow) and still the same. This doesn't always happen when I restart, although sometimes it happens so many times in a row I just use Norton Ghost to restore a backup I have (this problem is the reason I purchased Norton Ghost and its an absolute lifesaver).

I've seen similar versions of this problem where users are able to get the task manager up with Ctrl-Alt-Del but in this case I can't even do that. If I boot in Safe mode it works.

I have Norton Anti-Virus up to date and it finds nothing.

Is there any way to debug what is happening during startup? Something is preventing it from fully loading and it seems like it is "stuck" on something or a process is in an infinite loop. Or maybe I have a virus that Norton can't detect?

I've already completely rebuilt my computer once and I just don't know how to narrow the problem down.

Thanks for any help, it is much appreciated.

-Tom

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by bobbyraw

Dani AI

Generated

Because the machine boots to the logon screen and Safe Mode works, the fault is almost always a third‑party component (a startup program, a shell extension, or a driver) rather than core Windows. ’s experiments with Autoruns/startup tools were the right direction; the next step is a methodical, evidence‑first elimination so you don’t keep chasing symptoms.

  • Check logs first (in Safe Mode): Event Viewer -> System and Application around the time of the hang. Look for “Application Hang”, Service Control Manager errors, or drivers failing to start.
  • Enable boot logging (F8 -> Enable Boot Logging), reboot normally and inspect C:\Windows\ntbtlog.txt for drivers that failed to load or timed out.
  • Capture a boot‑time trace: use Sysinternals Process Monitor’s boot logging (enable it from Safe Mode, schedule a reboot) and analyze the saved PML after the hang; it shows which module or registry call blocks startup.
  • Disable non‑Microsoft shell extensions (use ShellExView) and all non‑MS services/startup items (msconfig or Autoruns), then re-enable items in small groups to find the culprit. Shell hooks or context‑menu extensions commonly freeze Explorer and stop Ctrl+Alt+Del.
  • Hardware checks: run Memtest86+ (bootable) overnight and run CHKDSK with repairs: 
    chkdsk C: /r
sfc /scannow
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v Shell

    (the reg query confirms the Winlogon Shell is explorer.exe and not replaced by something else).

If a specific DLL or RUNDLL32 call looks suspicious, rename that file from Safe Mode (add a .bak) or remove the Autoruns entry to prevent loading. Update or clean‑reinstall video drivers (use a safe‑mode cleaner if necessary). Driver Verifier can find bad drivers but may induce BSODs, so use it only after backups. Keep regular Ghost backups — they save time when an in‑place repair becomes necessary.

Prioritize logs (Event Viewer, ntbtlog, Procmon) over guesswork; they’ll point to which driver or shell component is stalling Explorer so you can isolate and fix it without repeated reinstalls.

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for reedone816

try disabling several start up programs in safe mode by using msconfig, to see what's clogging your system...

Member Avatar for cloverswift

Thanks for the tip, that's exactly what I did by dowloading two tools, one called "Startup Control Panel" by mlin.net and the other called AutoRuns by SysInternals.com. I disabled a bunch of startup tasks but haven't reboot yet because I want to do a Ghost backup just in case it fails. I'll post the result when I get it.

Member Avatar for cloverswift

Just to post the result, I think I've narrow the problem down to acrotray.exe, which has something to do with Adobe Acrobat Professional. It is my belief that this was causing my intermittent startup issues because after disabling this program I haven't had a startup failure yet. Here's hoping ...

Member Avatar for reedone816

well acrotray.exe usually don't eat resources,
are you by chance install/uninstall something from adobe or pdf program? probably it is corrupted.
have you try to uninstall the acrobat reader and install it again?

Member Avatar for cloverswift

Well, this problem started happening again even though acrotray.exe is disabled during startup. I now think it may be related to NvMediaCenter run as RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit during startup. This is supposedly an Nvidia tool that starts in the task bar, which helps explain the taskbar hang and infinite hourglass. But only time will tell as this problem has been intermittent for some time now and I thought it was gone. Would appreciate any feedback if anyone else has had issues with NvMediaCenter, thanks

-Tom

Member Avatar for gaurav_indian

Well, this problem started happening again even though acrotray.exe is disabled during startup. I now think it may be related to NvMediaCenter run as RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit during startup. This is supposedly an Nvidia tool that starts in the task bar, which helps explain the taskbar hang and infinite hourglass. But only time will tell as this problem has been intermittent for some time now and I thought it was gone. Would appreciate any feedback if anyone else has had issues with NvMediaCenter, thanks

-Tom

man i am also facing this problem for the last 1 month.And its damn irritating.:@It hangs everytime i run windows xp for the first time in a day.And then it hangs randomly.Last 2-3 days it was working fine but once again today it hanged 3-4 times already.
I have Adobe Reader,Photoshop and Autodesk Maya on my system.If you get the solution then plz tell me.I have tried everything formatting,reinstalling windows xp.

Look at this thread

http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread102063.html

Member Avatar for reedone816

something that make your system hang randomly can be because (what i remember now):
- unidentified bad sector in hdd.
- faulty ram.
- clashed driver resources. incorrect h/w driver.
- pc component over heat.
- power supply wattage is too low or unstable DC output.
- unstable AC electricity input (your home).
- minimum hdd space for temp folder or page file expansion.
- unstable OS system (faulty system files).
- virus/spyware/trojan.
- etc / x factor.

to test:
start in safe mode and run any program and let it on for 10-12 hours to see if it is infact because of the electricity/powersupply/hdd faulty.
while in safemode scandisk your hdd to see if it is because of badsector or faulty sector.
make your page files not to reside in your system drive and make it in a fixed amount (2x ram space).
use registry fixer like advance windows care (the personal edition is freeware) to see if there are faulty in your sytem...
check also using that software your startup pogram, disable all that nor marked as required.
use antispyware program, just download the trial, like pctools, eset nod32, f-secure. and run it to check your system for viruses/spyware/rootkit/trojan.

those above are mostly for software checking, for the h/w checking a has little knowledge aside from swapping component checking...

Member Avatar for bobbyraw

if did a restore from norton, i suggest you do a repair with the windows XP cd, insert the cd start the set up program, windows will take you to a screen to choose r for repair, it will delete all system files and reinstall them...... if you are not able to get the CRTL+ALT+DEL you probable have the welcome screen to log on to windows. where you can just click on the user name to log on. if thats the screen you have RTL+ALT+DEL will not work.

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