Help me escape from "Welcome to Windows" Purgatory

July 10, 2008 5:37 AM

Can anyone help me with a log-in problem after coming out of hibernation on a Dell Latitude D830 running XP Professional SP2? "Welcome to Windows" dialog is shown, but ctl+alt+delete does not bring up the log in dialog. I have to do a hard power down and reboot to get back in to Windows.

I've searched around on google for half an hour or so, and although I've come across tons of people who've had various problems with hibernation, logging in and booting up with XP Pro SP2, I haven't found anything on this one yet.

FYI - this happens when the laptop goes into hibernation while it's on its docking station.

I could disable Hibernation and Stand By, but I'd prefer to use them both, in order to be a little more green.

posted by syzygy to computers & internet (3 comments total)

See this thread:
http://ask.metafilter.com/87338/Standby-and-hibernation-issues
posted by lungtaworld at 6:24 AM on July 10, 2008

Thanks lungtaworld - I searched askmefi, but didn't see that thread. I read through the thread, but, unfortunately, the asker there has Vista, and his problem was different than mine.

That's one reason I asked. I haven't been able to find anything about my exact problem online.

I'll probably simply disable hibernation when the PC is plugged in. I'm guessing it's not worth the time to check every known potential cause of the problem.

Unless someone comes along with a solid suggestion, of course.
posted by syzygy at 7:30 AM on July 10, 2008

Dell's Troubleshooting Steps

The first few steps seems rather stupid, so I would move on ('Next' at the bottom) to things like Download and Install the Video Driver, Clear the Startup Environment, Restore the Default Values in System Setup, and Download and Install the Latest BIOS (checking to see if you still have the issue after each process).
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 9:01 AM on July 10, 2008