I have a dual boot PC, Win7 and XP, and while trying to change from MS Security Essentials to AVAST the XP system crashed and now does not complete a boot properly.

 

When selecting XP to boot from the dual boot menu XP boots through to the Welcome screen stays there for a while then goes to the blue screen you get before the desktop loads but it just hangs there and the desktop never loads.

 

Is there a PC tech on line that can suggest a solution.  I can still boot into Win7 perfectly so can access all the XP files from there but I do not know what to do, or even if there is a way to fix this.  I am hoping that there is a simple solution, a file I can copy across from my other XP system or a text file I can edit.

 

Any help appreciated

Have you tried booting the xp one in safe mode / last known good configuration?

Or if you hit control + shift + escape at once, does it load the task manager (when at the blue screen?).

 

If so, can you start a New Task and load Explorer? Worked for me in the past when the desktop doesn't appear.

Thanks, that had completely slipped my mind, got the XP system working but is still acting OD - will update and run diagnostics now.