Long Pause During Windows Startup Process

[Jaffa159]

I have recently corrected a problem with my HDD however there is still a niggling problem with my system!

I have narrowed the possible problem down to the following (I have taken this directly from the Microsoft Knowledge Base article No.:242518)
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;242518

"This behavior can occur if Windows is installed on a drive or a partition to which Windows cannot gain access with normal Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) INT-13 or INT-13 extension calls. When Windows Setup determines it cannot use BIOS calls to start, it uses scsi() or signature() syntax in the Boot.ini file instead of multi() syntax."

"In this case, you can try adding an additional entry in the Boot.ini file and use multi() syntax on the new entry to boot from."

If I am to use the solution I need to know how to add this entry.
Can anyone advise how I am to do this!!!

Many Thanks

[mrmister1]

You can open and edit the boot.ini file with Word Pad, but make sure you know what your doing.

[Statica]

Open up your boot.ini file (you can go to Control Panel > System > Advanced > EDIT for Startup and Recovery > Display the list of operating systems for a decent amount of time (like 10 seconds or so) and then click the EDIT button to open up the boot.ini file)
You might see something that looks like

These are examples, your boot.ini may be different .. if you require further help post the contents of your boot.ini for verification.

Originally Posted by Original Boot.ini file [boot loader] timeout=10 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /FASTDETECT

So create a new entry so that it looks like:

Originally Posted by Modified boot.ini file [boot loader] timeout=10 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /FASTDETECT scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP SCSI option" /FASTDETECT

When booting, you should see an option to boot to SCSI, use that option to see if you can boot quicker. If it does work quicker and your system is stable then come back to boot.ini (make sure that you try this for at least a few hours of running), and remove the last line and change the default to scsi instead of multi.

Please remember to read this: for boot.ini ARC and naming conventions.

[Jaffa159]

Thanks for the advice Statica, I modified the boot.ini with the scsi mod but unfortunately there were no scsi devices and it froze on booting up, i changed back to to original boot.ini and the system is as before i.e. with a long wait. I resolved myself to putting up with a long start up wait (what the hell - it works!!), except that when I installed my HP printer it crashed the system and wouldn't start at all (USB PSC1205) I then downloaded the latest drivers from the HP site and a utility for removing all of the remenants of the old drivers. still no good (this is now driving me crazy and I might have to introduce the computer to mr sledgehammer if I cant get it fixed soon)
Help me....... I'm running out of hair to pull out.

[Jaffa159]

I have isolated the problem to a single setup situation, but I dont know how to resolve it! All of the PC components apart from the HDD have been running perfectly for about six months(until a recent HDD failure). Apart from reinstalling XP SP2 the setup is the same as when the machine was running OK.

Boot up without the printer connected to the USB port and it works perfectly.
connect the Printer with the USB while the computer is running and it prints
..no problems, so far.

Boot the computer with the printer connected on the USB and it crashes the system (Hangs after the XP start up screen) and then restarts again and again

Disconnect the printer and ...hey presto it boots ok!

Why oh why oh why etc.... (HELP!!)

[glc]

What is the exact printer model?

[Jaffa159]

Hp psc 1205 all-in-one USB connection brought about 12 months ago and apears to be working perfectly, I have also downloaded the latest drivers from HP web site.

[glc]

HP USB multifunction device drivers are notorious for causing this kind of problem. The driver install puts a ton of stuff in the startup that must communicate with the device before giving you control of the computer.