WinXP Login Freezes

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nomoreno · #1 Post by **nomoreno** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:57 pm

I just got a brand new T42 last month, and everything is great until the last couple of days.

Everytime when I start my computer, and just right after I type in my login name and password for WinXP, my computer freezes as the light of the hard drive does not blink and the CPU usage is minimum. Only after 2-3 mins does the computer "wake up" and load all the windows applications, then in the middle of loading, it freezes again for about 1 min, then finish loading.

It is very annoying and I have no idea what is going on. I have WinXP professional SP2, and I got all the latest update from Microsoft. I did not install any new software, and the only thing I remember is that I installed the following Windows updates last Sunday.

Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - March 2005 (KB890830)
Windows Update website Update for Windows XP (KB887742)

Anyone have similar experience and know how to fix it? I suspect it is more a problem with Windows as opposed to my T42. I really appreciate any information you might provide.

ibmuser · #2 Post by **ibmuser** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:51 pm

Look in System event log for error messages and post what you find here.

egibbs · #3 Post by **egibbs** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 7:11 am

Check your network settings and Access Connections. It sounds like it's waiting to connect to a network resource that ain't there.

Ed Gibbs

nomoreno · #4 Post by **nomoreno** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:40 am

I am sorry but where to find the System Event Log?

egibbs · #5 Post by **egibbs** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 9:32 am

Right click "My Computer" and select "Manage"

Ed Gibbs

nomoreno · #6 Post by **nomoreno** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:15 am

Thanks. I looked at my log and got a couple of suspicious ones:

1. The browser was unable to retrieve a list of servers from the browser master \\SAL on the network \Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{015B6D7E-DE65-42D9-B34B-09E677729516}. The data is the error code.

2. The browser service has failed to retrieve the backup list too many times on transport \Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{015B6D7E-DE65-42D9-B34B-09E677729516}. The backup browser is stopping.

Any ideas?

PetraM · #7 Post by **PetraM** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:03 am

I think I have a similar problem and it has something to do with ucgather.exe - the annoying IBM updater. When it happens (not always but maybe every second boot, really annoying) the computer would stand still for two minutes and then the ucgather would take 100% CPU for a while.
Could you check if it's the same in your case? (with ctrl-alt-del)

Petra

egibbs · #8 Post by **egibbs** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:10 am

You are definitely trying to log onto something that ain't there.

It's possible your Winsock is damaged. See this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811259

You may have a spyware or trojan infection that is trying to connect to a botnet that has been shut down. Run Anti-virus, AdAware, and Spybot S&D scans.

Have you connected the laptop to a different network recently? If so it may have modified the network settings. You could try running Access Connections and let it set them up for you.

EDIT: I just noticed that you installed "Windows Update website Update for Windows XP" before this started - but the KB number you cited in the original post points to a completely unrelated article. You could try backing this out using Add//Remove programs. It's also possible that you had a trojan that the Malicious Software Removal Tool Update only partially killed.

Good luck,

Ed Gibbs

nomoreno · #9 Post by **nomoreno** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:06 pm

EDIT: I just noticed that you installed "Windows Update website Update for Windows XP" before this started - but the KB number you cited in the original post points to a completely unrelated article. You could try backing this out using Add//Remove programs. It's also possible that you had a trojan that the Malicious Software Removal Tool Update only partially killed.

I just cut and paste from Windows website, so you are saying the KB number is sort of weird? Hmm....

How can I get rid of "Windows Update website Update for Windows XP"? I went the Add/Remove programs and I did not see it.

I also have ZoneAlam installed on my laptop, and it does complain much for Trojan or anything else.

egibbs · #10 Post by **egibbs** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:18 pm

If it's not listed in Add/Remove Programs you probably can't back it out. I'm not sure what it is - I didn't get it in the latest batch of fixes, and it just seemed funny that if I enter that KB number on the MSKB site I get an unrelated article. But Microsoft works in mysterious ways.

That said, you computer is still trying to connect to *something* that is not there. It could just be misconfigured network settings or it could be something more evil.

How are you connecting to the net? Are you on a network or dial-up?

Ed Gibbs

nomoreno · #11 Post by **nomoreno** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:28 pm

At home, we have a wireless network. At school, we have both wireless and ethernet but I only connect to ethernet in my office.

I think you are probably right that my computer is trying to "connect" to something, and hopefully it is just network profile problem as opposed to something malicious.

Do you have any idea regarding the error log I posted? It is something related to the super browser, assuming the MS explorer. Any ideas?

egibbs · #12 Post by **egibbs** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:59 pm

Both of those errors are referenced in this MSKB article - http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;135404

The article applies to NT and W2k, but a lot of the network plumbing is the same.

My guess is that your home and school network settings are all mixed up together and you're looking for resources from one network on the other network. Does this only happen at one location or at all locations?

Are you running Access Connections, and do you have separate location profiles for Home and School? Does you Home location only have the wireless card in it, and does your School location only have the Ethernet adapter? If not, try setting it up like that and see what happens.

Ed Gibbs

nomoreno · #13 Post by **nomoreno** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:28 am

Ed,

I think you are probably right on the money. I start my computer at school with my ethernet cable plug it, and there is no "freeze". When I'm at home, I disable my ethernet port, and there is no "freeze" either.

So, it seems that my network profile is mess up. Well, I have a stupid question: where can I find out what kind if network profile I have on my computer. I click on the Access Connection, and there is only one profile for my wireless network (I am at home right now). I did not see the option to set up a seperate one for the ethernet. Moreover, even I do, can the Access Connection automatically switch between profiles given the status of the network?

egibbs · #14 Post by **egibbs** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:46 am

nomoreno wrote:I did not see the option to set up a seperate one for the ethernet. Moreover, even I do, can the Access Connection automatically switch between profiles given the status of the network?

Yes - If set up correctly Access Connections will do a very good job of switching between them, though you may need to tell it which location to use.

I'm not an Access Connections expert - I just started using it a couple months ago myself. But if I was trying to fix this on my PC I would download the latest version first. Then I would delete any existing profiles since they are likely messed up.

Next I would create two profiles - one at home with only the Wireless adapter in it, and one at school with only the ethernet adapter. Once you successfully connect to each once AC should learn the settings and you should be good to go.

Maybe someone who is more fimiliar with AC can explain how to make it auto-detect which profile to use...?

Ed Gibbs

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