In the Windows family of operating systems, XP is by far the most reliable. Still, it’s not without its problems, and there are chances of things going wrong. Startup and shutdown troubles are mostly due to incompatible hardware and software. Before getting down to troubleshooting, it is advisable to make sure your system has all the latest hardware device driver updates, patches and software programs updates that are XP-specific. At the minimum, you should run Windows Update and download all the latest patches. If you are not sure whether there is an update required for any device or software program, and are not sure where to start looking, don’t worry—let’s get on with the troubleshooting.

There are many sources of problems that could give you Startup troubles. These include (but are not limited to): defective, incompatible, or incorrectly configured hardware, incompatible (software) device drivers, or a recently installed program.