Freeze on boot (XP)

[gamerx365]

i connected a old hdd as a slave yesterday and when i tried to boot up, it froze at the loading screen. i've disconnected the slave and it still freezes. i got a BSOD that suggested disabling caching, i did and nothing. i can only boot in normal safe mode. any help appreciated. thanx.

[Zylstra]

Your using the operating system that was on the old drive?
Assure you are booting into the right one...

[Broni]

Hey Seth...
At 602 posts, you should know already what kind of info we need here...
....like FULL error message, for instance...

[gamerx365]

i know. im posting from a handheld game device... a little slow. i can't seem to replicate the BSOD anyway. and no, im trying to boot from my normal master... the fossil (old drive is disconnected; turns out it was broken anyway) I'm not sure what more info I can provide though. ask and i'll do my best to answer.

[Broni]

Did you try Safe Mode?

[Broni]

Also, since you're monkeying inside, did you triple check all cables, cards, RAM are seated well?

[gamerx365]

my cd drive ide seemed loose but it wont go in any more so i guess thats all good

[gamerx365]

oh. and yeah i booted into safe mode but what should i do once in?

[Broni]

While in Safe Mode...

Go Start>Run (Start Search in Vista), type in:
msconfig
Click OK (hit Enter in Vista).

Click on Startup tab.
Click Disable all

Click Services tab.
Put checkmark in Hide all Microsoft services
Click Disable all.

Click OK.
Restart computer in Normal Mode.

NOTE. If you use different firewall, than Windows firewall, turn Windows firewall on, just for this test, since your regular firewall won't be running.
If you use Windows firewall, you're fine.

[gamerx365]

still froze before the welcome screen.

[Broni]

Did you reseat cards, RAM. Tried to start with 1 RAM stick at a time?

[gamerx365]

well no. i will. which cards? do i take them out? i'll do the ram now though.

[Broni]

Reseat whatever is movable.

[gamerx365]

i did the ram. i noticed it always freezes right after the keyboard lights flash. but im dead tired. anyway we can finish this tomorrow... or maybe tuesday? thank you for your efforts so far. im very appreciative when people give their time to help me with all the stupid errors i make.

[Broni]

Hey, no sweat