My PC keeps rebooting

[SCPD]

I turn on my PC {OS windows XP} attempts to start windows, then restarts, and repeats < cycle

I am unable to start it in safe mode, but I am able to go into the boot menus, system recovery menus etc. without the PC restarting, so I know its not a virus. I assume its missing or corrupted windows boot file.

Any ideas? I rather not do a system recovery. And I know its a simple fix. {I heard of someone else with same problem, paid $50 to a PC tech and 5 mins later he was up and running}

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[N_Jay]

What was the last thing you did or last change you made before the problem stared?

It could be a virus, or a file corruption (from a virus or other cause) or a registry error (from a virus or other cause), or even a hardware problem.

 

[SCPD]

Don't rule out a virus just yet. The fact that you can boot using safe-mode indicates something. As N_Jay said, it could be a driver issue, hardware issue or perhaps memory, and even a virus.

When booting into safe-mode Windows doesn't load everything that it does in normal mode. So programs that auto-start aren't auto-starting. Un-needed drivers (in safe-mode) aren't loaded. The processor could be stressing. When was the last time the system was opened and cleaned out? Are you a smoker? Are you in a dusty environment? Is it over-heating?

Has something new been installed before the reboots started? Any hardware added or removed? There are many things to consider. The best thing to do is retrace your steps back to before the problem started and then work your way forward, systematically ruling out each possible issue as you go.

 

[shaft]

It can be any number of things, software or hardware related. If you have another machine or a friend can do it, download knoppix and burn it to a CD. Boot your broke PC with Knoppix and fsck the hard drive. Ive hard this issue a few times before and the issue was fixed due to errors on the drive.

Not saying this is the issue, but it can be one.

 

[SCPD]

Just to clarify I am NOT able to go into safe mode.

Not a smoker, not overheating, nothing new added, but I do live in a dusty by nature State {TN} but I do try to clean my PCs often {I have 7 PCs} and I cleaned this PC again right before I posted this with no change.

Before this started happening my virus protection stated it had encountered a problem and had to close. So maybe it could be virus related, the PC was not in use by anyone at the time of the incident although all PCs stay connected to the internet and on 24-7

I will try what "shaft" said to do and see what happens.

 

[al95]

Just to clarify I am NOT able to go into safe mode.

Not a smoker, not overheating, nothing new added, but I do live in a dusty by nature State {TN} but I do try to clean my PCs often {I have 7 PCs} and I cleaned this PC again right before I posted this with no change.

Before this started happening my virus protection stated it had encountered a problem and had to close. So maybe it could be virus related, the PC was not in use by anyone at the time of the incident although all PCs stay connected to the internet and on 24-7

I will try what "shaft" said to do and see what happens.

Do you have a recovery disk for that computer or a recovery partition in the cpu? The recovery step will erase all of your information and make it new like when you took it out of the box.

 

[davidmc36]

It can be any number of things, software or hardware related. If you have another machine or a friend can do it, download knoppix and burn it to a CD. Boot your broke PC with Knoppix and fsck the hard drive. Ive hard this issue a few times before and the issue was fixed due to errors on the drive.

Not saying this is the issue, but it can be one.

Just to clarify I am NOT able to go into safe mode.

Before this started happening my virus protection stated it had encountered a problem and had to close. .

Have had similar situation leading up to similar result with XP. Similar to what shaft suggests I used my XP disc to re-write the boot sector and it was right as rain. Did it again about three months later and then a month or two after that the HDD puked. When I start getting disc errors bad enough to halt a safe-mode boot it worries me a bit.

 

[ilgrant]

I would suspect a virus right from the 'get go'. Of course, that's because I fixed a computer that had a problem like you are describing and that was the cause.

How deep do you want to go into it? If it is a desktop computer and you have another one available I would take the hard drive out and put it in the second computer as a slave and run a virus scan.

(duh...you said you have 7 computers...so you'll be able to place into another computer.)

 

[SCPD]

and fsck the hard drive.

what does "fsck" mean?

 

[SCPD]

How deep do you want to go into it?

Really all I want is a few files that I didnt get a chance to transfer over to my new desktop PC I just wanted to see if there was a simple fix rather then going the System recovery route and then running file restore to get my old files back. Ive done that before and it was a long drawn out process

 

[frodo069]

Ultimate Boot CD for Windows

Since you have a 2nd working computer, you could try the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (UBCD for Windows), allows you to boot from a CD into a windows like environment, with network connections. Just share a drive on the 'new' computer and copy your files to the share. Although the setup for UBCD for Windows does take some time it is well worth it. UBCD for Windows is free and available here ---> UBCD for Windows. BTW:You need to be a little 'computer geeky' for this option.

-Joe

 

[lgentle]

"UBCD4Win is based on Bart's PE©"

Then, why don't you just download BartPE???

I only use BartPE. It's an awesome disc!

 

[CapStar362]

have you tried pressing F8, and selecting this option:

DISABLE AUTOMATIC RESTART ON SYSTEM FAILURE



then select your OS and let it run, it will then give you a actual BSOD Screen. write everything down and post it here

 

[SCPD]

It wont let me press F8
It wont let me go to "last known configuration"
It wont let me enter safe mode

All I can do is:

Esc {for boot menu}
F10 System recovery
F12 boot from LAN

 

[SCPD]

"UBCD4Win is based on Bart's PE©"

Then, why don't you just download BartPE???

I only use BartPE. It's an awesome disc!

does BartPE require you to be part computer geeky like UBCD4Win? Because Computers are not my expertise. I am a expert on other things that require PCs, but working on a PC themselves when there is a problem is not one of them.

 

[CapStar362]

okay, goto boot menu..... select your HDD with Windows on it. the moment you press enter, start pressing F8.

 

[UPMan]

what does "fsck" mean?

That message reminded me of a very startling telex I received in the mid 80's from one of our dealers in Nigeria. I had told her to run "fsck" and she asked me that same thing, but fixed what she thought was a spelling error on my part.

fsck is a Unix (or Linux) command that does a "file system check" on a hard drive.

 

[mike_s104]

You could try connecting it to your working PC directly to the motherboard as a slave or with a USB adapter. Before connecting it, update any anti-virus software and install Malwarebytes. Then, once connected, scan the drive for anything. Be careful.

Another thing you can do is install another hard drive not in use and re-install Windows XP on it and then recover your data with that so you don't possibly infect your other working PC. Then, either leave that drive in and use the other as a spare or swap them once you have gotten all your data off and install Windows XP on the one in question.

if you can get into safe mode (you stated you can't) check out msconfig to see what's loading when you boot.

Could be hardware too.

You can check your memory with Memtest86.
Use an adapter like this or this (I have this one and works well) for checking the power supply. If you don't have one of these or want to wait to get one, take a working power supply out of another PC and try it in the one in question.

You might want to at least try reseating your RAM and all other connectors.

I've had both memory and power supplies cause these symptoms as well as viruses.

 

[frodo069]

You could also try one of these Amazon.com: USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter Serial ATA, ATAPI/IDE 3.5" &2.5": Electronics if you just wanted to pull the hard drive and connect it to your working computer, following the scanning advice given above.

-Joe

 

[lgentle]

does BartPE require you to be part computer geeky like UBCD4Win?

Only if you want to do more than it can do "out-of-the-box". OOB, it's pretty useful. If you need to load a SATA or NIC driver, you need to read how to do it. It's really really simple.

I'm not trying to be a a$$hole here, but, you said you have 7 PC's. This, to me, would denote some intermediate computer skills. How can THIS be causing such trouble for you????