Good morning,
Lately my Toshiba Satellite 1955 S805 has a XP Home SP2 start-up problem. The start up screen appears, but the 'runner' at the bottom doesn't start. Sometimes I have to restart 4 or 5 times before it starts up. So far it eventually did start, but ...
I realise this sounds rather vague, but any ideas?
GJS

How long are you waiting before you restart? XP can take a long time to start up if you have indexing and system restore enabled.
I would also check for spyware as this can slow things down also.
If you are waiting a long time before restarting [90 seconds or more], the worst case explanation would be a hard drive that is beginning to fail.

Thank you for your reaction dlwolff0. I waited 5 minutes once, but I don't think that is the problem, because when it does start after a couple of tries, it is quick. The hard disk is brand new and it shows no (other) indication of imminent failure. All checks are good.

Have you checked Control Panel \administrative tools\event viewer?
This will show you system errors, application errors and security problems.
You should be able to spot the trouble area there.
Some service is probably having problems initializing

Might be a problem with your settings. The start up settings you are using right now might not work real well with your computer. There are many programs out there that will help you optimize your start up settings. Here is one.

http://www.freshdevices.com/

How many programs do you have starting up at the same time when you boot up?--Any more then 10 is too many-Have you done a good system cleaning and defragging lately?--Have you used the utility in XP called System File Check?-try it-If system restore is enabled use it to go back to any earlier system setting-If you have the disk' you can use it to fix the system-or re-install it-be sure to back up your files if you decide to format the drive-good luck-

Thank you again.
The event viewer doesn't go back far enough to see the last time it happened, because I put the computer in standby now and restart after it wakes up. That way I don't have to do a 'cold start'. But if the problem occurs again I will check the viewer. Good tip!
I have loaded a Ghost file (complete hard drive back up) from before this start up problem began, that did not solve the problem. I have also tried to start up with (almost) no programs running (via 'ErrorNuker') but to no avail.
I have used 'bootvis' to improve my start up and I will will try 'freshdevices' as well.
Thanks guys.