When you start up your computer a sequence of events will take place.

1.The Power On Self Test (POST) is the first item to run. The BIOS firmware settings are used by the computer to test and make sure that the systems hardware which includes storage media,RAM,power supply and several other computer peripherals is working correctly. POST also will check to ensure that the operating system is properly installed. If any of these tests should fail a beeping sound will tell you that there is a problem.

2. After the POST tests are finished other tests are run which will ascertain that hardware such as the hard drive and video card etc are working properly. If there is any problemyou will one more get an error message.

3.The NT Loader which is usually called the boot loader or ntldr will start to run. Ntldr loads your startup programs,starts up the files system and will check the computer boot.ini file to find where the operating system should be uploaded to. Again their may be errors shown if your hard drive or Master Boot Record(MBR) is damaged.

4. The next event is for ntdetect.com to identify and configure many of the computer hardware items such as the mouse,keyboard,hard drive,video adapter etc.

5. The next step is for ntoskml.exe to load the Windows kernel which is the main component of the Windows operating system. Once ntoskml.exe and the hardware files have been loaded successfully the computer registry is then consulted in order to load the programs which will keep the system running properly.

6. The next step to run is smss.exe which is the Session Manager. This allows Windows to go to GUI mode from text mode.

7. Now the Windows operating system is in place and controls the computer. You can now log in and start using the machine. Under normal conditions booting up should take 2 to 3 minutes or less. However if any of the above listed steps should fail the startup could be very prolonged or the computer may freeze and will not boot at all.

Common failure signs are:

1. During the initial POST(Power On Self Test) the computer emits a beeping sound and will freeze or shut down.

2. The computer screen remains blank with nothing displayed on it.

3. The text which scrolls during bootup freezes.

4. A " blue screen of death" appears or a stop error may appear on the screen and the computer shuts down.

5. During startup you have an error message shown and the machine freezes.

6. An error message is shown and the boot is aborted.

7. Windows is loading message remains on display but the system will not load.

Troubleshooting startup problems and when your computer runs slow depends greatly on finding at what time in the sequence of events the error happened.

Guideline For Troubleshooting Startup

1.If there is an error message shown the text and error codes in the message can be used to find the source of the problems. The Microsoft knowledge base or other help sites may be of assistance to you with this.

2.If the problem occurs during the text mode of the boot up sequence take a look at the last few lines of text to find which process succeeded. If you are fortunate you may get some information about the failed processes also.

3.If "Windows is loading" remains on the screen or if there is nothing displayed try:

A. Wait for a few minutes to see if the problem will resolve itself.

B. If it does not then press the Escape key (ESC) a few times.

C. Should you still have no success you can try pressing the reset button which will cause the system to hard boot.

D. Next try booting the computer in safe mode. To try this press the F8 key just after POST and choose SAFE MODE from the options which are displayed.

E. If the mouse cursor can be seen on the screen try moving the mouse and observe if the cursor moves. If the cursor does move this suggests that windows is loading. If it does not move you have a system freeze and should try hard booting the computer.

If your computer runs slow and has Windows XP startup problems the common reason is a bloated corrupt registry. Over a period of time as the machine is used the registry accumulates many pieces of files and data which are of no use. These result from unused shortcuts,useless drivers,adware,spyware, fragments of programs and many other things.

This corrupt registry slows the operating system greatly when it tries to find the registry files required to run the computer. The easy way to eliminate this problem when your computer runs slow and has Windows XP startup problems is to use one of the good windows XP registry cleaners.

Windows XP registry cleaners can be downloaded from the internet for your use. Good windows registry repair software will first offer you a free scan to find what errors you have in your computer registry. You can check the results of this scan and decide whether you want to use the repair function of the windows reg cleaner to fix the problems.

We recommend that you do this and do not attempt to do the job manually.Do your registry repair the safe way. One wrong item removed by mistake can cause you problems even to the point that your computer will completely cease to function. You can get a free scan from the top registry cleaners to correct registry errors.