xp startup issue
 

Sys; P4 1.8, SB live, Nvidia (do not know model), 30 gb, etc...

When the computer is turned on, it gets to the "windows xp pro" start up screen, finishes (or seems to) then imediatly reboots. I tried starting in safe mode, startup reboot, I tried last known good, startup reboot, I tried safe mode with command promp, startup reboot.

I then tried plugging the computer in directly (they had a UPS) No dice.

The only other thing I tried was to go into the BIOS and make sure everything was in order.

Sometime today, or tomorrow I will go over with a boot disk, but have never tried one with XP before....... I assume it is still the same process...


any help is welcomed, and thanked.

This may seem silly, but it happened to me...is your CPU fan working properly? Mine died on me and the computer did exactly what you described - I'm lucky I didn't damage the processor.

I would check the ACPI settings in the BIOS. Both XP and 2000 are picky about this setting. If set to the wrong thing, it can, and will cause the system to reboot on boot.

Is there anything in particular that made this start happening?

Installing some new software, or more importantly new drivers or new hardware?

Alturnativly you could re-install windows. Easier than formatting in that you keep all your user accounts and files, you just have to change the view options like classic or XP start menu back to how you had it.

I saw something like this on a Win2k machine that was infected with Stealther.B and they had tried to install a service pack and then they got nothing on the reboot.

I fixed it my running the Windows repair tools off the install CD so you might want to try that. Might try CHDSK off the CD too.

It could also be a hardware problem. Open the case and remove every non-essential component. If you have an alternate video card try swapping that in too. If the 'puter boots up, then reinstall each piece of hardware one at a time until it doesn't boot- you'll then know what is at fault.

fogot to mention......


this happened starting after that power outage we just had, but has never done it with any other outage.

the fans are a-ok, I will check the ACPI when I go there tomorrow, reinstalling is my last hope (they dont think backups are important.....), I thought at fisrt it was a virus, but cannot get to a spot to run AV software, my only option would be to rip out the drive, scan it, and replace it..

And finally, I really hope it isnt hardware related, as that would mean something is fried, and when something is fried, it usually takes things with it......

Are you getting a blue screen with codes on it? If you are do a google search by code. I had a similar problem and it turned out to be a bad auto update from symantec (nortons system works).

If I understand your post correctly, your system is rebooting even when booting in safe mode? If this is the case then it is not a driver problem at all, especially if you are not getting a stop error (blue screen). If you are not getting a stop error something bad happened to a process as part of the kernel and the system is being restarted under ACPI. Which means even if you could fix it you would probably be better off reinstalling windows anyway.

dead registry probably, i wrote a post a few weeks ago how to recover it

seeing how there was a power outage, check the fan as mentioned above. you also might want to look at swapping out the power supply. this happened once, and it turned out to be a bad motherboard. but try the power supply first as this is easier/cheaper to replace

its hard to pinpoint something like this because it can be either hardware or software. I recommend using your XP cd and formatting and reinstalling XP. Then if it boots, dont buy any hardware :)

If it still doesn't work, it could be bad, something on your board could have shorted out.