Start-up problem .... :-( Help please .

My Plll 866 was running fine until a few days ago.
Problem:
Windows XP will start up showing desktop without any icons and freezes i.e. you cannot do anything. Not even shutting down.
Have to turn power off. I also noticed that Northern Anti- virus 2002 is been disabled.
But if you let it freezes for sometimes say 10 to 15 minutes the icons will show up on the desktop and the computer would work normal including the ADSL internet.
I would have to manually enable Northern Anti-Virus protection then.
If I unplug the external ADSL modem or have power shut of to it, the computer would start up normally and works with Anti-Virus enabled.
And when the ADSL modem is plugged in or power up internet would works just fine.
I have tried the following without result:-
Restored system to early date when everything was working fine.
Re-installed Windows XP, Look & check off some items that may be problem from the Start up.
Uninstalled & reinstalled the "3 Com software" for ADSL modem.
I spoke to Telus Tech support and down loaded a program "Ad-ware" to clean up unwanted downloads.

Any ideas how I can fix this ??

Can you recall what you were doing or what you just did when the prob first started to appear? Did you install any new hard or software? Download anything? Have you tried running your A/V to check for a virus? Seems a bit strange that whatever the prob is, it shuts down your A/V prog. Also that your sys restore to an earlier date doesn't clear it up. I'd try getting the latest update to Norton and running it.

I'm having the same problem...I get my desk top with no icons...my mouse and keyboard will work. I can hit the CTRL ALT DEL and get my task manager...then go to file and open a new task (run), open a web page and after 1 to 2 minutes the icons and task bar appear and the system completes the load cycle...Any ideas?

Mainboard: MSI K7T266 Pro2-A
O/S: Windows XP Home Edition SP1
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 1800
RAM: 1024 MB Crucial
File System: NTFS
Display: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420
Hard Drive: Master/80G Maxtor 7200rpm
Slave/40G Maxtor 5400rpm

I run ADSL from bell sympatico and every time I restart the computer everything works except system programs ex. control panel. this freeze up lasts for exactly 55 seconds to a minute after which all works fine. tech support explained to me that in that time the modem is contacting the server and is attempting to identify it's self on the network, and which has to be done every time before the possibility of a connection. I’ve had ADSL on both win9x and win nt based systems and the problem persisted always. it's kind of weird that on cable connections where there is no user connection process the modem identifies it's self during the boot-up, therefore, no delay no freeze ups. makes you wonder if it's actually a problem with windows ability to manage PPPoE broadband connections. hmm


winxp pro
pIII866
asus cuv4x
kingston 256mb sdram cl2 133
20g diamond max plus 7200/ata100 raid-0
chaintech gf4 ti4200 128mb 300/520
7587 3dmaks

I fixed it useing the repair option on the win xp install disk...it's working good!


Mainboard: MSI K7T266 Pro2-A
O/S: Windows XP Home Edition SP1
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 1800
RAM: 1024 MB Crucial
File System: NTFS
Display: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420
Hard Drive: Master/80G Maxtor 7200rpm
Slave/40G Maxtor 5400rpm

Hi doodlebug, Which actual option did you choose to get it repaired ? A little bit in details please if you can. TIA.