XP 64 freezes shortly after "loading preferences"

I'm trying to confirm that my ultra-mega Win-XP 64-bit PC;

1. GigaByte 955-Royale 64-bit motherboard
2. 3.24 GHz 64-bit Intel dual-core Pentium-D
3. Maxtor 300 Gb SATA hard drive
4. 1 Gb Kingston DDR RAM stick
5. ATI XL-800 64-bit AGP card
6. 27" Viewsonic HDTV monitor
7. Logitech Optical / Cordless mouse / keyboard
8. Logitech 280-watt 5.1 Dolby THX (OK, now I'm just bragging!)

has a virus-related problem and is not suffering from a hardware-related
failure. The system has been running fine since its birth in mid-July 2005.
The PC freezes after I boot-up Win-XP 64-bit; a few seconds after my apps
(Avast 64-bit AV, MS-Outlook 2003, etc.) begin to pre-load. I tried to repair
Windows with the CD, but the installation's repair process freezes-up during
the portion that says "Windows will finish installing in 37 minutes."

I ran check CHKDSK /R (twice) from the CD's recovery console: All was well.
I figured if there was a memory (stick) issue, it might have been reported. I
also figured, if the memory-stick was defective, the PC would have froze
during the 90-120 minute CHKDSK /R process; but it didn't.

Based upon those observations, I'm thinking a stinking virus(that Avast
didn't catch)!!!

The ultimate question is; "Where is the 64-bit bootable CD that scans my
BIOS and hard drive without my potentially corrupt Win-XP 64-bit OS being
booted??? After-all; isn't that the most effective way to scan; without the
primary (potentially infected) OS being booted???

If this is not (yet) an FAQ, I'm sure it soon will be!!!

I'd like to hear your thoughts (and reccomendations).

Meanwhile, I'll be trying "system restore" after I read the few articles
written about some of the caveats.

Thanx!

Barry Peters

Tony
Sun Dec 25 17:10:59 CST 2005

I hardly think it's a virus - at least let's not assume that until going
through an exhaustive investigation. First, nothing in the booting process
or the standard OS util's can uncover faulty memory, unless it is completely
broken, CHKDSK is fine for doing that - 'checking the disk' - nothing much
else.

If you trust your PSU, I would start off by lifting the box onto a well lit
table and gently and systematically pulling all cards and cables and
connectors and re-seating them carefully, do this with the memory also, and
you might take the opportunity to re-seat those in the opposit fashion, that
is, switch them in their banks!

When everything is done to your satisfaction you should boot and enter the
BIOS setup and reset it to the safe setting, they almost all have such a
setting but they may be called different names.

There is so many possibilities to your problem, this simple method should at
least eliminate a bunch of them, report back and we will all be a lot wiser.

Tony. . .


"Techead" <Techead@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:48D61306-B751-40FB-B7AE-0FBD1E8D3DFB@microsoft.com...
> I'm trying to confirm that my ultra-mega Win-XP 64-bit PC;
>
> 1. GigaByte 955-Royale 64-bit motherboard
> 2. 3.24 GHz 64-bit Intel dual-core Pentium-D
> 3. Maxtor 300 Gb SATA hard drive
> 4. 1 Gb Kingston DDR RAM stick
> 5. ATI XL-800 64-bit AGP card
> 6. 27" Viewsonic HDTV monitor
> 7. Logitech Optical / Cordless mouse / keyboard
> 8. Logitech 280-watt 5.1 Dolby THX (OK, now I'm just bragging!)
>
> has a virus-related problem and is not suffering from a hardware-related
> failure. The system has been running fine since its birth in mid-July
> 2005.
> The PC freezes after I boot-up Win-XP 64-bit; a few seconds after my apps
> (Avast 64-bit AV, MS-Outlook 2003, etc.) begin to pre-load. I tried to
> repair
> Windows with the CD, but the installation's repair process freezes-up
> during
> the portion that says "Windows will finish installing in 37 minutes."
>
> I ran check CHKDSK /R (twice) from the CD's recovery console: All was
> well.
> I figured if there was a memory (stick) issue, it might have been
> reported. I
> also figured, if the memory-stick was defective, the PC would have froze
> during the 90-120 minute CHKDSK /R process; but it didn't.
>
> Based upon those observations, I'm thinking a stinking virus(that Avast
> didn't catch)!!!
>
> The ultimate question is; "Where is the 64-bit bootable CD that scans my
> BIOS and hard drive without my potentially corrupt Win-XP 64-bit OS being
> booted??? After-all; isn't that the most effective way to scan; without
> the
> primary (potentially infected) OS being booted???
>
> If this is not (yet) an FAQ, I'm sure it soon will be!!!
>
> I'd like to hear your thoughts (and reccomendations).
>
> Meanwhile, I'll be trying "system restore" after I read the few articles
> written about some of the caveats.
>
> Thanx!
>
> Barry Peters
>
>

Randy
Wed Dec 28 05:33:40 CST 2005

You might give Bart's PE Builder a try (http://nu2.nu) if you have another
system ohn which to create it. I've tried other similar bootable virus
scanners, but most failed with a SATA boot drive.

"Techead" <Techead@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:48D61306-B751-40FB-B7AE-0FBD1E8D3DFB@microsoft.com...
> I'm trying to confirm that my ultra-mega Win-XP 64-bit PC;
>
> 1. GigaByte 955-Royale 64-bit motherboard
> 2. 3.24 GHz 64-bit Intel dual-core Pentium-D
> 3. Maxtor 300 Gb SATA hard drive
> 4. 1 Gb Kingston DDR RAM stick
> 5. ATI XL-800 64-bit AGP card
> 6. 27" Viewsonic HDTV monitor
> 7. Logitech Optical / Cordless mouse / keyboard
> 8. Logitech 280-watt 5.1 Dolby THX (OK, now I'm just bragging!)
>
> has a virus-related problem and is not suffering from a hardware-related
> failure. The system has been running fine since its birth in mid-July
2005.
> The PC freezes after I boot-up Win-XP 64-bit; a few seconds after my apps
> (Avast 64-bit AV, MS-Outlook 2003, etc.) begin to pre-load. I tried to
repair
> Windows with the CD, but the installation's repair process freezes-up
during
> the portion that says "Windows will finish installing in 37 minutes."
>
> I ran check CHKDSK /R (twice) from the CD's recovery console: All was
well.
> I figured if there was a memory (stick) issue, it might have been
reported. I
> also figured, if the memory-stick was defective, the PC would have froze
> during the 90-120 minute CHKDSK /R process; but it didn't.
>
> Based upon those observations, I'm thinking a stinking virus(that Avast
> didn't catch)!!!
>
> The ultimate question is; "Where is the 64-bit bootable CD that scans my
> BIOS and hard drive without my potentially corrupt Win-XP 64-bit OS being
> booted??? After-all; isn't that the most effective way to scan; without
the
> primary (potentially infected) OS being booted???
>
> If this is not (yet) an FAQ, I'm sure it soon will be!!!
>
> I'd like to hear your thoughts (and reccomendations).
>
> Meanwhile, I'll be trying "system restore" after I read the few articles
> written about some of the caveats.
>
> Thanx!
>
> Barry Peters
>
>