everytime i try to fire up my girlfriend's computer, it boots up fine until the screen where you're supposed to pick which user to sign in. when i get to that page, all it ways is "Windows XP" and doesn't even give me an option to pick a user. users arent even showing up on the page. before this issue, the computer had been running pretty slowly, even with minimal programs running. can anyone give me any advice? i called HP, but all they did was give me links to a help forum (since the warranty has expired) which didn't help me at all. i'm just trying to see if anything can be done without having to do a system restore. she has school stuff and pics she doesn't want to lose so i'm just trying to see if there is a way around it.

any help would be appreciated. thanks guys

Are you saying that it just stays on the XP splash screen? You can go no further?

If so try booting into Safe Mode. Reboot and start tapping the F8 key after the computer logo screen or BIOS and before XP starts.

First off try the option: Start Last Known Good Configuration

If that doesn't help try Safe Mode with Networking.

Let us know if you can access this. Also is this XP Home or Pro?

Originally Posted by jephree

Are you saying that it just stays on the XP splash screen? You can go no further?

If so try booting into Safe Mode. Reboot and start tapping the F8 key after the computer logo screen or BIOS and before XP starts.

First off try the option: Start Last Known Good Configuration

If that doesn't help try Safe Mode with Networking.

Let us know if you can access this. Also is this XP Home or Pro?

tried all of that and none of it worked. its XP home. even after selecting safe mode and "last known good config" it still stays on the same screen. it just stays on the XP spalsh page and i cant get any further. very frustrating lol

If you choose Safe Mode what happens?

It should not go to the XP screen.

If Safe Mode wont load for some reason it should just freeze or reboot.

Anyway the next step is to boot your XP CD.

Make sure your BIOS is set to boot the CD drive prior to the hard drive then boot the XP CD.

Press the first R for the Recovery Console then type: FIXBOOT

Then: EXIT

But try Safe Mode first.

Originally Posted by jephree

If you choose Safe Mode what happens?

It should not go to the XP screen.

If Safe Mode wont load for some reason it should just freeze or reboot.

Anyway the next step is to boot your XP CD.

Make sure your BIOS is set to boot the CD drive prior to the hard drive then boot the XP CD.

Press the first R for the Recovery Console then type: FIXBOOT

Then: EXIT

But try Safe Mode first.

Ok i'm going to try that now. Anytime I've tried safe mode before, it will reboot and take me to the same exact screen. ill give it another shot though to see what it does. give me a few mins and ill let you know

Ok i tried the safe mode with networking, it didnt seem like it even totally rebooted... just gave me a list of things that it was doing, then a blank screen with "safe mode" in each corner and then took me back to the same XP splash screen again

If you cannot get into Safe Mode then you will need to use your XP CD or Recovery disk if OEM.

Boot it and press R then FIXBOOT then EXIT

Originally Posted by jephree

If you cannot get into Safe Mode then you will need to use your XP CD or Recovery disk if OEM.

Boot it and press R then FIXBOOT then EXIT

doing that now.. i'll let you know how it goes. thank you for all your help so far

ok im in the recovery console and i can only type 1 letter. so how can i type fixboot? lol

by the way it says "Which Windows Installation would you like to log onto"