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HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

 
sri Bala
New Member

HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

Hi,

I am having problems logging on to my N800V laptop. It is a P4 with 256 MB RAM running on windows XP sp2.
When i start it, it seems to be booting fine but it seems to be clocking for ever when i
try to log on as user. It seems to bring up
the desktop background and it is stuck there and doesn't even get the start menu.I am not sure if it is very slow (or) it is totally stuck.
Please do let me know if you would have come
across similar problems, what could be causing it and how to get it rectified.

Appreciate your help.

cheers
sri
8 REPLIES 8
Richard.Brown
Regular Advisor

Re: HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

Hi Sri,

I have had similar problems it can be down to any number of reasons - but is caused as you correctly predicted by the computer running EXTREMLY slowly.
Do you rememeber what you were doing before it refused to load? Was it by any chance a reboot due to Windows Updates?
Your first tactic is to try and boot it in to Safe Mode (press F8 before XP starts you should get a menu for safe mode) and then see if its any better.
Once in safe mode check the system event logs (administrative tools in control panel). You can also try rolling back to a system restore point if safe mode works.
sri Bala
New Member

Re: HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

Hi,

thanks a lot for your reply.

I was able to logon in SAFE mode and i tried
restoring the system to a point when it was
working fine. But this restored only SAFE mode and when i tried normal log in, it didn't help at all - it is still the same.
I tried even creating a new USER account using SAFE mode but the result is same.

I am thinking of backing up all the files
first and may be run XP operating system CD
again in SAFE mode to refresh the OS again.
Do you think this would help?
Also before that, i am planning to give a full norton anti virus scan & spyware doctor scan to make sure there aren't any foreign elements.
If you had any other suggestions/ideas other than these, please do let me know.

thanks again for your help.

cheers
sri
sri Bala
New Member

Re: HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

Hi,

Also i haven't tried anything new (or) any
windows updates recently which could give rise to the problem.

I will check the system log in control panel
while i am on SAFE mode.

BTW, how did you resolve the problem in your case?

cheers
sri
Richard.Brown
Regular Advisor

Re: HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

Hi Sri,

In quick answer to your last question, I just backed up the data and then did a fresh install of XP.
Rightly or wrongly I am not of the opinion that its worth repairing Windows when it goes drastically wrong. 9 times out of 10 it won't go back to the same speed and reliability it was before the problem, and with Windows a fresh install is always worthwhile doing once a year or so anyway - so I just use that as an excuse to do it!

Most other people I am aware however, prefer to try and fix the issue - so I will have a read back through what you wrote and see if I can give you any more pointers.
Richard.Brown
Regular Advisor

Re: HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

Ok, is it running slow, or just not loading the start menu?

I initially assumed it was running slow, but now not so sure. You would know if it was slow because just loading the background would take a painfully long time.

My guess is that its not loading explorer.

When its sat at the desktop but not loading anything, press ctrl-alt-del
Then open Task Manager. Look at the processes and see if any are using a ton of memory, or all the CPU - if so, report back which.
If there is nothing out of the ordinary, then look to see if explorer.exe is listed. If it is, then End Process on it. Then click File > Run and type in EXPLORER.

Does it then load the start menu etc?
Jules
Esteemed Contributor

Re: HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

Yep - sounds like explorer.exe is not running in the tasks.
Look at this link:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071007140716AARdEWH
And a re-load or system restore might be in order.
---++++Only read the manual as a last resort++++---.
sri Bala
New Member

Re: HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

Hi all,

Thanks you very much for all the responses.

I was able to back up all data successfully.
I tried running system recovery cds(2 totally) provided along with my compaq N800v laptop but those doesnt seem to work.
I tried installing OS cd(win xp) provided
along with laptop and almost after the end
of the process, it said that the 'XP SET UP
PROCESS CANNOT CONTINUE IN SAFE MODE. WINDOWS WILL RESTART NOW' and i am not able
to log on to either SAFE MODE (or) NORMAL mode now.

Also can anyone please let me know what would
be the cause for explore.exe issue?

Appreciate all your help.

Thanks a lot.

cheers
sri
Jules
Esteemed Contributor

Re: HP COMPAQ N800V laptop - Unable to logon

Hi Sri - well now it sounds like you have a 'failing' hard disk. It is difficult to diagnose a failing hard disk in the early stages of failure, but one of the symptoms is that the system goes VERY slow.
I am glad that you have managed to save your data in safe mode.
With a Notebook you are provided with the operating system CD and the driver CD.
What you must do now is buy another hard disk and install it. Then hit F2 on boot to change the boot order in the BIOS to boot off the CD. Put your XP CD in and save the BIOS settings (F10?), then your operating system will load - use the licence key which should be stuck to the underside of your notebook. After loading the operating system you will notice in the device manager that some hardware is not installed - this is what you need the driver CD for.
You will then need to go to the windows update site to get approximately x85 updates since SP2. And make sure you load a virus checker!
---++++Only read the manual as a last resort++++---.