freeze up on boot -up

[CHAROD06]

I'm running Windows XP 2nd edition. I have 512 meg Ram on a Athlon 1700+ system. My problem is as soon as I get to the Windows XP screen at start up, my system freezes up on me. After turning the computer off/on for number of times, it will finally let me sign on completely. If after I get logged into the system I do a restart, then I can then turn the computer off/on at will without anymore freeze-ups. At first I thought I was having a IRQ problem, but I checked the IRQ and found no problem. I did not see any hardware trying to use the same interrupt. Please help, what can it be? Again, I don't really know if I'm having a hardware problem, software problem or an operating system problem. I really don't want to have to reformat my hard drive, but will if all else fails.

 

[T3C]

Boot into safe mode. Run MSCONFIG remove startup items. Reboot as normall and see what happens.

 

[CHAROD06]

More information about my computer that maybe helpful in determining the problem and possible solution to my freeze-ups. I was reading about PSU. How do I know if my PSU is upgradable? Secondly, I currently have the following hardware on the computer: separate 48Xcd Sanyo and 16XDVD drives, floppy, 40 gig HD, 1.4 mhz cpu, an HP DVD 4X external writer, Sound Blaster 5.1 Sound card, 56 k V90 modem, newly installed DSL, and EVGa GeForce MX 400/128 mb DDR/AGP 8 X /TV out /video card. I have 512 meg DDR Ram. The current PSU is 450 watts. With all that being said, how do I determine how may watts I need to run my computer.

 

[compusaguy]

450 Watts is huge. Most computers, including yours, do not even hit 180 watts at peak.

 

[CHAROD06]

So, if the PSU is not the problem what can possibly be the problem?

 

[compusaguy]

Here's what I would do in order to save time: reformat/reinstall. If your computer continues to freeze anymore, you have either defective RAM or a defective motherboard. This is the most generic solution because it's hard to know when your problem started to occur or under what circumstances. But the quickest way to find out is just to bite the bullet.

 

[CHAROD06]

More information concerning my freeze-up. Now I have discovered that after I turn the computer on, it still freeze up but if I leave the computer on for 5 to 10 minutes then turn it off. The computer will come on and operate properly without any problems. Is this still an indication that the power supply is going bad?