WinXP won't boot - in safe mode freezes at isapnp.sys

[dmcgibbo]

I have a T42p with WinXP and when I boot it up the initial IBM screen comes up where you can press an F key to go into different modes or BIOS utility. The machine never goes to the "Windows XP" screen with the bar and it loading.

But after that the screen is blank and the computer doesn't boot up - just nothing happens (although the battery, power, and dvd drive lights are on)

I pressed F8 and booted in safe mode and it started listing all the drivers it was loading and stopped at "isapnp" - I went into the BIOS and disabled the USB b/c in the past I would have issues with the USB ports not working but that didn't fix anything either.

Do you think a virus wiped out my Windowsa or the USB issue is preventing start-up or the motherboard is fried or the hard drive has an issue or something? Is there anything I can do to get the computer on and boot up so I can pull my files off at least?

[Harryc]

You obviously have another machine since you are typing this post, so download and burn a copy of PC-Doctor to CD. Boot the CD and run the hard drive tests.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-56222

If your recovery partition is intact, you may be able to hold down the blue 'Access IBM' button on boot and run diagnostics from there too...of course this is also assuming that your hard drive is functional at that level.

[RealBlackStuff]

Sounds to me like a loose Southbridge.
Take the keyboard and front KB-bezel off.
Remove the wifi card. Underneath you find a big Intel chip.
Loosely attach the KB again, then press on a corner of that chip and try to boot. Try different corners.
If it now works, you need reflowing/reballing.