PC freeze after boot up

Have you added or removed any hardware from this system recently. That can cause issues at times.
Before you run a Repair, I would suggest at a minimum selecting F8 at startup and selecting Last Known Good Configuration. If that doesn't correct the issue and you can log on to the system I would suggest running SFC SCANNOW.
SFC SCANNOW takes about fifteen minutes and require yours OS CD.
Just insert your CD while holding down Shift to prevent autorun.
Release the Shift key after about ten seconds.
Then click Start and in the Run field type SFC /SCANNOW and select OK.
http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html
Reboot afterwards to test.
I would only run a Repair after these steps fail.
A Repair is not designed to overwrite data but you should take precautions.
Additionally, while a Repair may correct the issue it will require that you reinstall your most current Service Pack as well as the Hotfixes that accompany it.
Detailed XP Repair instructions can be found here.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

hi

did you test the ram ?
here you can build a bootable cdrom and test a lot of hardware components :
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Thanks, Lee. I guess I did make a mistake there as the laptop is running Windows XP Media Edition. That's where my mind wen to ME. Please do move the question accordingly. Thanks very much...

Thanks for all of the responses thus far. At this point it sounds like running Windows XP repair might be the most promising possibility. I'm waiting for my son to find the Windows XP CD for the laptop, after which I'll give this a try. Thanks very much to everyone who's offered possible solutions!

Sounds like hardware issue.
If XP repair did not help then download UBCD (as sugested greg_vander) and test ram and hard drive.

1. Click Start----run-----type "msconfig" and click OK.
2. Click on the "Startup Tab" and uncheck the unwanted Applications running.
3. Save and click OK and reboot the computer.
4. Download "SPYBOT" antispyware and update and then run a full scan. Preferably run it in the safe mode.

http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

5. Remove the unwanted items.

Its quite possible that your computer is still infected, please try the above suggestions first. If the problem still remains, then download ComboFix from here:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix

Please read the instructions carefully on that webpage before running ComboFix. Disable all computer security software and then run ComboFix. After ComboFix has created a log, please send that log to us and re-enable the security software again. Scan again with MalwareBytes.

Download Speedfan and see if your computer CPU core temps are much above 52 Degrees C.

A freeze like that usually indicates Heat problems. what happens is heat expands the carbon in the doping of the CPU. The computer will appear to slow down after a bit of being turned on. Then, eventually, the resistance in the CPU will prevent data from going through the CPU. This will give the appearance of a total freeze of ALL perifrials.

I am pretty sure this is a heat issue. That type of "Freeze" is usually indicative of heat.

With the computer off, use a can of compressed air to blow out the intake of the cooling fan as well as the opening for the hot air exhaust. Could be dust is causing the problem.   Heat could be an issue.  In msconfig, System Configuation Utility, General tab, select Diagnostic Startup and reboot, as well as Selective Startup.  See if either helps.  Start up the computer with the power adapter cord plugged in, but with the battery removed.  If problem is gone, then the battery might need replacement.    

Thanks very much to everyone who's offered suggestions for how to possibly fix this problem! I don't think the problem has to do with heating since I'd think that would logically affect the PC in Safe Mode as well as in Normal Mode. However, when booted in Safe Mode, the computer seems to work normally. This is what makes me think this problem may be due to some sort of malware that's initiating in the process of a normal boot up.

The idea of running a Windows repair sounds most promising to me. However, my son seems to have lost track of the original Windows XP Media Edition CD. So, I may just have to use Safe Mode to copy all of the files to an external drive and then "crash" the computer and start from scratch. Thanks again...

OK, try a repair and let us know, how it goes. ComboFix would surely have been helpful with the malware situation.

Thanks for the reminder on that. I'll try to run ComboFix and send the log to this discussion before I go to the extreme of crashing the PC. Thanks again...

Did you follow up on suggestions from greg vander 25088934 and Aliokas 25090709?  Checking  memory is a basic diagnostic test for any computer problem.  Your memory could be too small or your DIMM's memory sticks) could be braking down. It happens.  Update the mouse drivers in Device Manager and also usb drivers as well.  

memory problems would also effect safemode.

This is probably a NIC, video, or chipset driver problem. Most likely a NIC driver problem.

Tell us a little about your nic and video. Are either mother board integrated? If not, it's not a chipset problem.

Not sure as this isn't my own laptop. It's an Acer Aspire 5600, about three years old, if that sheds any light on the hardware questions. Given that it's a laptop, my layperson guess would be that both the NIC and the Video are on the mother board, but I can't say for sure.

Thanks for the continue effort, by the way. My workload this week hasn't prevented me from taking time to follow up on some of the suggestions above (mainly trying the ComboFix approach) but I hope to get to it this weekend. Thanks again all...

Time to check all the device drivers.  Connect to the internet.  Go to Control Panel.  System.  Hardware.  Device Manager.  Go down the whole list and right click every piece of hardware.  Select Update Driver for each one.  Allow the driver search to connect to the internet.  It will take awhile to do this.  

Sorry, forgot to include this website link in my last post.  

http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/desktop/aspire_t671.html

If your PC works in Safemode and not in normal mode. it is most likely a driver. In safemode, generic Microsoft drivers are loaded up, not your third-party drivers.

When in safemode, go to device manager>>view drop down menu>>and select show hidden devices.

All drivers with a yellow exclamation point on them will be conflicting or improper drivers for your setup.

If you have your original disks, you might check your chipset, nic and video drivers.

An update for everyone... Having tried most of the suggestions in this thread with no luck, I went ahead and crashed the machine and installed a new version of Windows Vista. To my surprise, the problem with the freezing mouse and keyboard still occurred after wiping the machine and installing a new version of Windows. So, I've taken it to the PC repair place that I use when the extent of my kit and craft isn't enough. I'll let you all know what they figure out.

Thanks again to all of you for your time and attention!

Mc

If you used a store bought version of Vista rather than the discs that came with your laptop,  the native device drivers for the motherboard and BIOS of the laptop would not be installed.  You still may have to have the motherboard drivers updated before your problem is fixed.  Did you try the website link I posted above?  Good luck.

Hi all,

Just a quick update for you all... After trying all of the suggestions with no success, I finally gave in an took the laptop to the PC repair place I normally use. Some $87 later we at least know that this has something to do with the battery, as they found that the problem goes away if you use the PC without the battery inserted. Their suggestion was to order a new battery, which I've done, although there is, of course, no guarantee that this will fix the problem as it could be something related to any battery being inserted rather than something related to this battery. They did confirm that the battery is not actually charging though, again, not sure whether that's a problem with this particular batter or a problem that would still occur with any batter. Anyway, more light will be shed when I see whether or not the new battery solves the problem. I'll let you know. Thanks again...

Please recall my post on 8/15 #25107956 regarding removing the battery and starting the laptop with the power supply.

My bad for missing that as it would appear you were going very much in the right direction. Obviously, I need to slow down and read more carefully. Thanks...

Unfortunate that, due to my own hurried situation, I overlooked this adviser's early comment which, as it turned out, would have taken me directly to the needed solution. I've since implemented his suggestion and the problem is entirely resolved. Thanks very much!