ShiftCo
asked on
Taskbar Won't Load
A friend has dropped his laptop on my desk with the comments "it wont load"
Its history is unknown as his son as been playing with it.
It is a new Acer Aspire 5102WLMi running XP Home Edition. It can only be a couple of weeks old and has very little installed.
It boots up fine and jumps straight to the desktop (no password & 1 user account)
However the taskbar never loads completely, it is visible with the start button and time but nothing else.
When the mouse pointer is hovered over it, it simply shows the hourglass. Clicking L or R buttons, the start button on the keyboard all yield nothing
The desktop icons are present but also do nothing, as does the desktop.
Typing in the title of this question into google shows some newsgroup results but I am unable to view them because of the company webblocker.
Trying to boot in safe mode crashes the computer with a large block of white text on black background all saying:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
I have let the diskchecker do its job without finding anything.
I cant enter MSCONFIG as I cant access the Run box, though when I first booted it up, it opened automatically, after a couple of reboots, it doesnt.
From what I understand it is some kind of problem loading drivers???
Thanks.
Its history is unknown as his son as been playing with it.
It is a new Acer Aspire 5102WLMi running XP Home Edition. It can only be a couple of weeks old and has very little installed.
It boots up fine and jumps straight to the desktop (no password & 1 user account)
However the taskbar never loads completely, it is visible with the start button and time but nothing else.
When the mouse pointer is hovered over it, it simply shows the hourglass. Clicking L or R buttons, the start button on the keyboard all yield nothing
The desktop icons are present but also do nothing, as does the desktop.
Typing in the title of this question into google shows some newsgroup results but I am unable to view them because of the company webblocker.
Trying to boot in safe mode crashes the computer with a large block of white text on black background all saying:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
I have let the diskchecker do its job without finding anything.
I cant enter MSCONFIG as I cant access the Run box, though when I first booted it up, it opened automatically, after a couple of reboots, it doesnt.
From what I understand it is some kind of problem loading drivers???
Thanks.
ASKER
Nope, Taskmanager will open up if i'm quick but no, system idle is still at the top almost all the time with svchost moving up to 2nd place for about a second every 10 - 15 seconds of so.
And I cant read the link you have just posted until I get home - bl**dy webblocker!
J
And I cant read the link you have just posted until I get home - bl**dy webblocker!
J
ASKER
In the task manager window under the performance tab, the CPU graph windows do n=both show 4 peaks of 50% useage at all times flowing along, so you are onto something, do I just have a smaller version of the problem???
I have had a couple of Acers do that. Bung the recovery disk in and start again. I think it is an issue with their image setup.
Chris B
Chris B
ASKER
But what caused it to start doing it?
What if it does it straight again afterwards?
I'm happy to use the recovery disk to start again, but only once there is an overall solution.
What if it does it straight again afterwards?
I'm happy to use the recovery disk to start again, but only once there is an overall solution.
<<But what caused it to start doing it?>> Absolutely no idea, but it seems to happen with some regularity on new machines. Weird. If it is drivers, you should be able to tap it into safe mode (F8), then perhaps try an sfc /scannow. I never bothered. New, no go, trash it and start again. Works for me. One thing for sure, Acer are not running the install disks, just a hi speed image load and shipping. And adding a lot of extra rubbish that do XP no good at all.
Chris B
Chris B
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
OK, you are correct, if I leave it long enough (about 7 or 8 minutes) it finally boots in Safe mode.
The last line of text that it sticks on is:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
And, yes, it does run smoothly, so whatever has caused the problem is now not running.
In the event log there were a few errors so I decided to do another reboot and then re-examine the event log.
However, upon reboot, it informs me that the boot.ini file is missing or corrupt and that the
windows.root>\system32\hal
So I need to repair XP etc.
Wierd! I'm pretty sure I didn't mess with anything but googling the problem sounds like its common as well.
Conclusion: I will get the recovery CD, repair XP and then reboot and examine the event log.
I can't download the neuber software until I get home anyway.
Thanks for your help so far...
The last line of text that it sticks on is:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
And, yes, it does run smoothly, so whatever has caused the problem is now not running.
In the event log there were a few errors so I decided to do another reboot and then re-examine the event log.
However, upon reboot, it informs me that the boot.ini file is missing or corrupt and that the
windows.root>\system32\hal
So I need to repair XP etc.
Wierd! I'm pretty sure I didn't mess with anything but googling the problem sounds like its common as well.
Conclusion: I will get the recovery CD, repair XP and then reboot and examine the event log.
I can't download the neuber software until I get home anyway.
Thanks for your help so far...
Can you get into any kind of GUI? does safe mode still work? If you can, look for the Boot.ini (root of C) and open it. Ensure the following line is at the bottom...
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
You may notice a line similar... if thats the case, then just make sure "/KERNEL=NTOSKRNL.EXE /HAL=HAL.DLL" is stuck on the end.
Reboot again (if any changes have been made), if it still doesn't work, then we need to reinstall the HAL type.
You can reapply the HAL type from safe mode (Well you just need a command prompt)... as long as the I386 folder is on the local drive (unless you can stick your XP cd in and use the I386 folder from there)...
There are several different HAL types, depending on your CPU type (Uniprocessor, MultiProcessor etc.), a cpu with HT (Hyper-Threading) technology is classed as a MultiProcessor.
It might be worth making a backup of the existing files just in case something goes wrong... so before you do anything...
goto command prompt... type the following two lines:
Rename C:\Windows\System32\Hal.dl
Rename C:\Windows\System32\NTOSKR
Now, for a multiprocessor...
type the following from a command prompt:
Expand <I386Folder>\Halmacpi.dl_ c:\Windows\System32\Hal.Dl
Expand <I386Folder>\NTKRNLMP.ex_ c:\Windows\System32\NTOSKR
For a uniprocessor (If you are unsure, do this one)...
Expand <I386Folder>\Halacpi.dl_ c:\Windows\System32\Hal.Dl
Expand <I386Folder>\NTOSKRNL.ex_ c:\Windows\System32\NTOSKR
As long as the boot.ini contians the above mentioned line, all you need to do is reboot... :)
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)par
You may notice a line similar... if thats the case, then just make sure "/KERNEL=NTOSKRNL.EXE /HAL=HAL.DLL" is stuck on the end.
Reboot again (if any changes have been made), if it still doesn't work, then we need to reinstall the HAL type.
You can reapply the HAL type from safe mode (Well you just need a command prompt)... as long as the I386 folder is on the local drive (unless you can stick your XP cd in and use the I386 folder from there)...
There are several different HAL types, depending on your CPU type (Uniprocessor, MultiProcessor etc.), a cpu with HT (Hyper-Threading) technology is classed as a MultiProcessor.
It might be worth making a backup of the existing files just in case something goes wrong... so before you do anything...
goto command prompt... type the following two lines:
Rename C:\Windows\System32\Hal.dl
Rename C:\Windows\System32\NTOSKR
Now, for a multiprocessor...
type the following from a command prompt:
Expand <I386Folder>\Halmacpi.dl_ c:\Windows\System32\Hal.Dl
Expand <I386Folder>\NTKRNLMP.ex_ c:\Windows\System32\NTOSKR
For a uniprocessor (If you are unsure, do this one)...
Expand <I386Folder>\Halacpi.dl_ c:\Windows\System32\Hal.Dl
Expand <I386Folder>\NTOSKRNL.ex_ c:\Windows\System32\NTOSKR
As long as the boot.ini contians the above mentioned line, all you need to do is reboot... :)
ASKER
Nope, can't access anything, whatever I do, it comes back to the same messsage.
The guy is going to bring in the recovery CDs etc tomorrow
After that, i'll try your steps, cheers!
J
The guy is going to bring in the recovery CDs etc tomorrow
After that, i'll try your steps, cheers!
J
ASKER
Well, it locked down completely and would not respond to anything. I could not access a ommand line, nor enter safe, or any other mode for that matter.
I booted from the CD and restored Windows because the guy needed the computer and wasnt bothered about discovering the exact problem.
So, inconclusive!
I'm awarding points to DjDezmond as you the were most helpful, and the points you have made will be useful i he brings it back in.
Thanks!
I booted from the CD and restored Windows because the guy needed the computer and wasnt bothered about discovering the exact problem.
So, inconclusive!
I'm awarding points to DjDezmond as you the were most helpful, and the points you have made will be useful i he brings it back in.
Thanks!
Look in the processes list for anything using lots of CPU and end that process. It sounds like you have the same problem a few of my mates are having... scvhost.exe (or svchost.exe) will be running at %100. Apparently this is down to an exploitation attempt.
If it is this same problem, then rest assured his son has done nothing to provoke it. It is quite common and has only the outside web-world to blame!
There is a patch you can install from microsoft that close the loophole (ill try to find it and post it later)...
For now, please refer to the following link for more information:
http://help.lockergnome.com/windows/scvhost-exe-spikes-cpu-100-malfunction-afterward-ftopict525922.html
Assuming this problem IS the same as the one I have seen...