WinXP won't startup after C Drive format

[m_ridzon]

I've formatted many PC's but have never encountered this problem. I was
asked to format and rebuild a Hewlett Packard PC. From what I could tell, it
seems the PC was factory-built with Windows 2000 and then upgraded (but not
formatted and rebuilt) to WinXP Home. Before I started working on it, it
seemed to be reasonably stable and operable. To start, I did a CD-ROM boot
with a WinXP SP2 Pro disk. I deleted all partitions and proceeded to format
C drive (NTFS format) and load XP Pro onto the PC. It seems to have loaded
properly being that it went through all of the steps that I'm used to seeing
on an XP rebuild. However, the PC will not startup. If I turn it on it will
go through part of its boot-up sequence. It will get to the black screen
with the Windows logo, copyright statement, and progress bar on it and
appears to be loading up perfectly fine. However, a few moments later, the
screen will go completely black and the PC does nothing else. It will not
get to the user login screen and I'm not sure why. I tried to format and
reload WinXP Pro multiple times to no avail. In the past, I've used the disk
on other PC's successfully and the disk doesn't appear to be damaged at all.
I am able to start it up in Safe Mode. So I ran a Scan Disk on C drive. It
said the volume was clean and found no problems. Does anybody know why this
boot-up sequence is not working properly? Why can't I get to the login
screen?

[Andrew E.]

How did you delete the partitions,the only possible way by booting to xp cd
is thru recovery console (DiskPart).Also,if 2000 was its default OS,if xp
upgrade was the xp cd & a true format was done then xp requires a former
OS on C: drive,or to install a windows retail OS cd,for prior
verification.HP issued
hp windows OS cds,not microsoft retail cds,the prior doesnt work unless its
installed to C: hd,then boot to xp cd with the 2000 OS intact.

[Pegasus [MVP]]

"m_ridzon" <mri...@discussions.microsoft.com> said this in news item
news:3818E371-4C18-4578...@microsoft.com...

If you're able to start up in Safe Mode then your Windows installation is
intact and the damage is done by something that loads in Normal Mode. Your
challenge is to find out what it is. I would do this:
1. Boot up in Safe Mode.
2. Log on as Administrator.
3. Run msconfig.exe.
4. Disable each and every task under the Startup tab.
5. Tick the box that hides Microsoft services under the Services tab.
6. Disable all remaining services.
7. Reboot in Normal Mode.

I expect that the machine will now start normally. Now restore the various
services and tasks in groups of 2 or 3 until you find the culprit.

[HeyBub]

Sounds like you need a required driver; which one, you may never know. Or be
able to get.