XP hangs or freezes on start up

Hi,

Yesterday when I tried to turn on my computer it got as far as the xp
loading screen and then got stuck there. The loading bar kept running but
nothing else happened, even if I left it for ten minutes. I tried loading it
in safe mode but it gets stuck the last driver listed before it freezes has
"agp" included in the name (I can't remember the exact file name, I'll have
to check when I get home).

I've been looking around at the microsoft knowledge base but it's hard to
find a specific answer... is this a motherboard or hdd issue? If I run
recovery, am I going to lose my files?

The computer is about 5 years old, a dell, running xp media center.

"didley" <didley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7EA80836-6D14-4257-B457-82EB4E729B59@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> Yesterday when I tried to turn on my computer it got as far as the xp
> loading screen and then got stuck there. The loading bar kept running but
> nothing else happened, even if I left it for ten minutes. I tried loading
> it
> in safe mode but it gets stuck the last driver listed before it freezes
> has
> "agp" included in the name (I can't remember the exact file name, I'll
> have
> to check when I get home).
>
> I've been looking around at the microsoft knowledge base but it's hard to
> find a specific answer... is this a motherboard or hdd issue? If I run
> recovery, am I going to lose my files?
>
> The computer is about 5 years old, a dell, running xp media center.

Try booting it with the "Last Known Good Configuration" option.

About your data files: Yes, if you chose not to back up your
important data files to an independent medium once every
week then there is a good chance that you're going to lose
them. There are posts here every week that deal with this
very subject. Prepare yourself for an involved recovery
process or else seek professional help now.

Ironically I did back up my files.. to an external hard drive that failed the
next day. I'll try the last known configuration option, thanks.

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "didley" <didley@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7EA80836-6D14-4257-B457-82EB4E729B59@microsoft.com...
> > Hi,
> >
> > Yesterday when I tried to turn on my computer it got as far as the xp
> > loading screen and then got stuck there. The loading bar kept running but
> > nothing else happened, even if I left it for ten minutes. I tried loading
> > it
> > in safe mode but it gets stuck the last driver listed before it freezes
> > has
> > "agp" included in the name (I can't remember the exact file name, I'll
> > have
> > to check when I get home).
> >
> > I've been looking around at the microsoft knowledge base but it's hard to
> > find a specific answer... is this a motherboard or hdd issue? If I run
> > recovery, am I going to lose my files?
> >
> > The computer is about 5 years old, a dell, running xp media center.
>
> Try booting it with the "Last Known Good Configuration" option.
>
> About your data files: Yes, if you chose not to back up your
> important data files to an independent medium once every
> week then there is a good chance that you're going to lose
> them. There are posts here every week that deal with this
> very subject. Prepare yourself for an involved recovery
> process or else seek professional help now.
>
>
>