If you click on the box on the home page at Eddie's it takes you to another screen with the program's capabilities. It lists the ability to clone Win95, 98 and ME. No more to say as it seems a cure all created long ago. Could be worth $10, who knows? Probably all of that can be achieved with free programs readily available.

You make no mention of the troublesome computer. Seems like a heat issue to me. Have him remove the left side panel and see if the fan over the CPU spins up as he boots the computer. Also look at the heatsink under this fan to see if it is clogged with dust and debris.

Does he keep the tower in a cupboard built into the computer desk? If so tell him to rip the door off and the back panel where the computer is situated. Circulation is the lifeblood of a computer, heat is a killer.

The first sentence gives a little insight into the problem...His machine, not mine...Will not boot past the welcome screen, so I don't think heat comes into play yet. He's running XP, but I don't know the brand of machine. Hmmmm....where do I go to find a similar fixer-upper for free? I need to be able to download to my machine, burn a copy and run on his at boot.

he could have bad or leaking capacitors on his mother board they cause freeze ups like that.

Heat can always be a problem if the pc has not been opened and cleaned if it is chock full of dust bunnies it is keeping things from getting air and can be blocking fans from starting at all, boot up is the most strenuous time for a pc. Open the side panel and clean out the inside good, make sure all fans are clear and running.

Have you tried to boot into safe mode?
Have you gone into the event viewer logs to see if there are any error codes showing that could tell you exactly what is causing the failure? Control panel> administrtive tools> event viewer, view each option if you see any warnings double click on it and you will get the info box with the event codes they can be used to diagnose problems.

Did he recently let sp3 install on the computer? if so it could be the problem.
If so you should try to go in safe mode and in add remove programs remove sp3.
IF he does not have sp3 then you could try a system restore point prior to when this issue started through safe mode possibly.

Give more specific info so we know more what is happening. I doubt you will find a magic pill with a program, it will take trouble shooting.
It could be infections you did not say if he has his pc fully updated and what type of security programs are run?

Has he tried booting into Safe Mode? There is a chance by doing so whatever is causing the concern may be temporarily disabled allowing him to access his O/S.

DA

I just read the about page on that program it gives more detail there and can be used for xp apparently but to me this sounds like all it is a live cd a bootable cd just like any linux distro is. You can do that free, you can download a live linux cd iso and burn it to cd and use it on any pc, just put it in the cd drawer and boot the pc it will boot from the cd and run it live, linux live cd's also contain the tools he mentions including partitioning tools. I looked at the screen shots and recognize most of the tools on it they are all free tools, but all in all it is a decent little cd that someone has put together. For $10 it may be worth it to you.
you do have to burn it as an iso image just like you would do a linux live cd. Do you know how to do an iso?
How To Burn An ISO Image To A Bootable CD
Where to get free linux live cd iso
DistroWatch.com
Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer

Thanks, raven... No, I don't know anything about linux except that it's out there and a lot of folks seem to like it. Other than that, zip on linux knowledge. But, it seems I'm about to learn. Thanks for the help.

BTW, I lurk a lot, ask a few questions and read about other's problems and the solutions offered. I've learned a lot from you guys by default. I've also noticed that there are generally just a few who constantly give the best (IMHO) solutions/advice - you know who you are so I won't list. To you guys, I tip my hat. Again, thanks.

Heat can definitely come into play that early. The processor is under load at that time and heats very quickly. Modern motherboards are designed to shut down on overheating to protect the computer. This can happen in a few short seconds.

You may indeed be correct and this is not heat but you need to prove or disprove this before moving to other possibilities. Your friend needs 5 minutes to remove the side, switch on and watch. If the fan spins we have a first success, on cut out he can then visually inspect the heatsink. No dirt or other crud? Point 2 removed from the equation.

Another way to see if this is heat is to remove the left side and use a small house fan blowing in there during startup. This is not a solution but a way to decide if heat is the cause and the fan is just a temporary cooling source.

If you cannot get beyond the Welcome splash screen how will you run diagnostic tests?

Assuming your friend has only one computer does he have access to any others? If not he could visit the local library to follow this thread and help avoid all the long distance phone bills.

You might reach the point where popping the XP CD in the drawer and doing a repair install might cure the ills if heat is eliminated. That would require downloading over 100 updates and security fixes so he would need a high speed connection.

I second using the live CD version of Linux: Knoppix.
You just pop a Knoppix CD into the drive and boot the computer.
(boot device order must be set in BIOS to boot from CD)
If it boots up all the way to the desktop
then you know the problem is not hardware related.

Knoppix is a free download but it is 700 MB in size.
There is nothing strange about using it.
Looks just like Windows but with things named a bit different.
It is super duper easy to use.

Pooh Bear

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.knoppix.net