What XP boot problem is this?

[Revenicus]

One of my computers is hanging on Windows XP loading screen, where the progress bar keeps moving but nothing happens.

Try and boot into safe mode and it actually reboots.

I don't have the original windows license/cd for this computer so I'm looking for a possible quick fix. Is there ANY way to do a system restore without getting into safe mode?

Also this might be related but I'm not sure, I had to turn off S.M.A.R.T monitoring on the harddrive or else it would let me boot, it had a feeling the HD was damaged or dying. That was 2 weeks ago, Now 2 weeks later it is doing this, maybe related? I really hope the HD isn't going bad, argh

 

[engiNURD]

Heh, it sounds like the HD is going bad. If so, you'll need a new drive. Copy the image of the old drive to the new one, and do a repair installation with any XP disc.

If its a software problem, all you need is an XP disc to do a repair installation. Proceed as you would a regular installation. Setup will detect the old install and ask if you'd like to repair it. If it doesnt detect it, your installation is hosed.

 

[venom077]

You may wanna try going to the HDD makers website and downloading their diagnostic tools to check out the hard drive. They all boot off floppys or cd's and can run low level tasks on the drive to see if it really is the drive thats failing.