After trying the advice, some interesting findings:

Firstly though, I'm in the wrong place here as my machine is ME - should I
repost?

I tried the shell=progman idea, but could not find ie5setup.exe or
ie6setup.exe
After switching back to shell=explorer.exe, I tried hitting C-A-D
frequently, to try to look at the Close Program diaglog and see what was
running when the system hung. Astonishingly, it completed when I did this,
but not the next time!



"Andrew" wrote:

Thanks both for such quick replies.

I installed only the critical updates. The system seems to hang right at
the end of the startup process, so the icons are all visible on the screen,
and the 'Start' button works for a short while.

I tried looking at the task manager as it booted, and it appeared to get to
an application in the Startup folder, so I removed this entry in Safe mode
but still no joy

"glee" wrote:

You say you tried running the virus scan in Safe Mode, leading me to assume that you
*can* start in Safe Mode. If that is the case, the info of mine that Gary posted is
not likely to help (though it may). Did you install any *Driver* updates from WU,
or just Critical updates?
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/communities...t/default.mspx

"Andrew" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

I've just installed three Windows patches using Windows Update, and now my
machine will not complete the startup - it hangs with an hourglass, and C-A-D
allows restart. Any ideas on what I can do to try to fix this?

Many thanks,

The hang appears to be near the end of the startup - antivirus is started,
and there are various normal items showing in the right of the Start bar.

I didn't note which fixes were installed, but I think two were Windows and
one was Internet Explorer.

So far, based on items on this forum, I've tried:
Running anti-virus in safe mode
Checking device manager for obvious problems
Removing the ethernet cable to broadband