XP Hangs at Startup, Can't boot from floppy or CD

[Ricky_Ricardo]

I have managed to really screw up one of my computers.  Here are the system specs;

OS:  XP Pro, SP2 with all current updates

CPU:  P4 - 2.0 ghz; RAM:  1.5 GB

HDD:  1-80 GB PATA boot drive; 1-80 GB PATA storage drive

Optical drives:  NEC 3550 DVD burner; Plextor Premium CD burner

The computer was originally assembled by local VAR.  Several weeks ago I moved the components to a new case with a new PSU and HSF.  Biostar U8068 Mobo, Phoenix Award BIOS v 6.00PG.  Virus and spyware scans are performed nightly.

The evening the problem started I had just installed Samsung Natural Color software, rebooted, and then installed Samsung Magic Tune v3.6 software.  On reboot after installation of Magic Tune the computer hung after POST.

What I have tried to do to recover:

1.  reset button:  system will POST and then hangs at splash screen.

2.  last known good configuration:  hangs at splash screen.

3.  all three safe modes:  starts loading drivers and hangs at windows\system32\giveio.sys.

4.  change 1st boot device to CD and boot from XP Installation CD:  starts loading files and then hangs at “Setup is starting Windows”.

5.   change 1st boot device to floppy and boot from XP created boot floppy:   Unknown “Hardware Monitor” displays CPU Temp, CPU Fan Speed, System Fans Speed, CPU Vcore and several voltage readings.  Then goes to A:\ prompt.  Cannot change directory to C:\.

6.  change 1st boot device to floppy and boot from XP Quick Boot diskette from Bootdisk.com:  the “Hardware Monitor” information is displayed and then;
     a)  starts boot up and hangs at splash screen, or:
     b)  displays “Disk I/O error” and hangs.

A Google search revels that the giveio.sys is associated with the Speed Fan application. I do have Speed Fan v4.27 installed but it is not in the start up folder.

My guess is that Speed Fan is some how inserting itself in the start up process, hence the “Hardware Monitor” information that is displayed after trying to boot from a floppy.

I’ve run out of ideas.  The only thing that I can think to do next is set the storage HDD to master, do a clean XP install and then see what I can salvage from the original boot HDD.

Any suggestions about what else I can try to get the system to boot will be appreciated.

Thanks

Rick

[Fed]

Have you tried setting your bios to the failsafe option?

[Ricky_Ricardo]

Fixed. Powered down, removed and reconnected the power cord then powered up.

Started in Safe Mode, stalled a bit at giveio.sys, then completed boot process.

I removed Speed Fan, rebooted and now the compter is running great.

Thank you for your suggestion Fed.  For future reference, how do you set the bios to the failsafe option?

[Fed]

I bet you were happy to get into Windows.  
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000192.htm
Take care and read every screen.

[Ricky_Ricardo]

I bet you were happy to get into Windows.  

You better believe it!!

Thanks for the link.

[Backdated]

It's likely that giveio.sys was not the problem. XP has a rather bad habit of listing drivers etc after they've been successfully loaded. Therefore, it was probably the device after giveio.sys that was giving problems.