[davebreal]

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Is the boot order properly setup in your bios (ie boot from CDROM before HD)? Sounds like it was before at least, hmm...

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yes, boot order is correct. i am actually able to run the Windows Recovery disk now.

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So this was on the same computer? Perhaps not the best omen.

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yes, HP Pavilion A1320n, unfortunately I had to reboot my desktop after I installed Norton Ghost and now I can't get back into XP. The crash occurs during Windows startup, when the "Windows XP" screen appears and the Num Lock/Caps Lock flash. It is hanging there everytime now, no error message.

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So to test stability I would go this route:

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I guess these diagnostics aren't possible since I'm locked out of XP again. I tried to boot from Safe Mode and Last Known Good Configuration, both crashed. I am running a "chkdsk /p /r" right now from recovery console (DOS shell) it is running extremely slow. Also noteworthy is that I was getting "Access Denied" messages while trying to browse most directories from the C:\ prompt. I have never put any login or admin passwords on my desktop.

Starting to wonder if it could possibly be a Virus, but I have AVG up-to-date, and it runs daily.

Maybe I will try to patch up the Boot.ini file if Chkdsk finishes in my lifetime, otherwise it's looking like i'm going to have to re-install XP.

Any other ideas?

Thanks.