XP locks up at splash screen

Apologies if this has been discussed before, but I've only just joined

this group. I have a problem on two different PCs running XP home with

the latest patches and updates, but with quite different specifications

and different software in daily use, by and large. On boot-up, XP runs

as far as the splash screen. The progress indicator runs for a while and

then XP locks up. The only thing that will clear it is turning off the

power and re-starting. The machines then show the page offering to start

from safe mode etc. - if I select start in normal mode, the machine

takes the last good configuration and starts just fine. I've done this

countless times, and

it always follows the same sequence.

I read quite a few discussions on the net about this, so I know it's a

common problem, but without a common solution. The first suggestions

were that it was a driver problem, so I disabled the splash screen to

see if it locked at the same driver each time, but this was not the

case, they all loaded just fine and then the machine stopped - the

message on screen just showed the Windows version - not an error

message. I updated all the drivers I could find anyway - to no avail.

The two machines had different graphics cards, hard drives etc. so there

were not many drivers in common anyway.

Since it loaded OK from the last configuration on the *second* time of

asking it seemed reasonable therefore to assume that something was

happening on shut-down which was blocking the first load, but cleared by

the reboot. I found a conversation which blamed the problem on some

program/s keeping a handle on the Windows Users section of the registry

on shut-down. I'm not very technical, but this sounded good. I installed

a prorgram from Microsoft which purported to prevent the problem by

forcing all programs to release their "grip" on the registry before

close-down - UPHclean-setup.msi . This seemed to work for a while, but

the behaviour returned. Logic would suggest that the problem was related

to the previous shut-down. My guess (and it is only a guess) was that a

Windows update altered things. Indeed, my guess was that a Service Pack

or update started the problem in the first place, as it started just

after one, but then as there are so many updates anyway, it's almost

bound to start just after one.

Anyone any ideas as to where to go from here? The longer it goes on the

more annoying it gets.

Regards,

Bob

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