I have Dell music pc that I got about ten years ago. I have been running XP on it for a long time with no problems. Now, for some reason, when I try to start it up it ALWAYS freezes on the screen with Windows XP and the progress bar below it. I can get into Safe Mode sometimes, but it freezes also sometimes. I have completely erased/formatted more than 2 hard drives for it and it still freezes. I have also had problems with the fan and overheating. I will post the specs if anyone needs them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
u tried reinstalling windows or installin xp on a secondary format? (id get a brand new laptop if i were you.) Might be a prob in motherboard/hardware...
Okay so you've tried 2 new hard drives, I'm assuming with new XP installs on. So they're not at fault. Now, this PC is 10 years old, stuff ages quite a bit at that age. I'd suggest trying a different power supply in there, if that doesn't fix it, scrap the system and get something new, it's not worth getting a new motherboard for something so old as the board you'd buy would probably be used, and fixing old PCs is false economy.
I had a PC that used to switch off at the Windows XP loading screen, yet it could run Windows Me perfectly. The problem was the power supply, if you have a spare one around try swapping it.
If the system has had problems overheating in the past, there is likely a fault with the system board or hardware attached to it. With the age of the hardware and the difficulties you would have replacing the processor/main board, you would likely be better off buying a new PC.