Windows XP Home Ed Crash

[Guest]

I recently had to do a Windows XP recovery on my daughters computer, as it
had totally crashed due to a virus enfection; no virus protection had been
installed at that time

After several tries, I got it up and runnning (humming, actually) and she
downloaded all the updates including SP2. Virus protection installed and
everything was running smoothly for several weeks. She said it was like a new
machine.

Suddenly yesterday, without warning, she turned it on and could not get
Windows to start. It looked like it was starting normally, but then after
long minutes of nothing happening (Windows XP screen that you first see when
starting), the screen goes black. Then it tried to restart.

We had a momentary power failure (about 30 sec) the prior day; but she is on
battery back up (??). She had turned the computer off after that, and it was
on startup the next day that this problem occured.

I'm in the process of doing another Recovery, as there seemed to be no other
option (first couple of times, could not get the control panel features to
open so I'm doing it again).

Any clues here what might have caused this? The machine had been running
very well.

 

[R. McCarty]

Momentary "Brown Outs" are a threat to PCs. Most folks understand
the need for surge protection but not for UPS. Every summer I replace
several Wireless routers as these are particularly sensitive to drop outs.

Are you sure the UPS monitor is installed and connected (USB) to the
PC so it can monitor the line voltage ?

One suggestion is to get a Imaging program, such as Acronis True
Image. For ~$35 you can protect both the System state and user data.
Doing Repair installs and Recoveries can get to be a hassle after you've
done it a few times.

 

[Rock]

I recently had to do a Windows XP recovery on my daughters computer, as it
had totally crashed due to a virus enfection; no virus protection had been
installed at that time

After several tries, I got it up and runnning (humming, actually) and she
downloaded all the updates including SP2. Virus protection installed and
everything was running smoothly for several weeks. She said it was like a
new
machine.

Suddenly yesterday, without warning, she turned it on and could not get
Windows to start. It looked like it was starting normally, but then after
long minutes of nothing happening (Windows XP screen that you first see
when
starting), the screen goes black. Then it tried to restart.

We had a momentary power failure (about 30 sec) the prior day; but she is
on
battery back up (??). She had turned the computer off after that, and it
was
on startup the next day that this problem occured.

I'm in the process of doing another Recovery, as there seemed to be no
other
option (first couple of times, could not get the control panel features to
open so I'm doing it again).

Any clues here what might have caused this? The machine had been running
very well.

This is one possible fix for this startup problem:
Windows XP logon screen does not appear and the computer continuously
restarts
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310396

Resources for troubleshooting startup problems in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308041/en-us

I second R McCarty's recommendation of using Acronis True Image version 10
to image the system to an external hard drive. Make an image of the base
system when it is running well and set that aside, then regularly image for
backup. In the case an OS reload is needed for something you can't fix
restore the most recent known good image and in about an hour or so the
system is running with all data and programs intact.

ATI images can be full, incremental or differential, imaging can be done on
a drive or partition basis, and restores can be done on a file, folder,
drive or partition basis. It also does file backup and disk cloning. Look
around for the best price. You can get it cheaper at a discount software
retailer such as Newegg.com than through Acronis.

 

[Guest]

This wasn't a "brown out", but a total power failure. There was no storm or
anything, so no lightening; just a momentary power failure of about 30 sec.

I don't know what you mean by "UPS". What's UPS? UPS monitor?

Doing a recovery definitely is a hassle, especially downloading all those MS
updates again, which took several days (at least) to complete using automatic
updates.

Her system is up and running again today, and we are ready to (once again)
download the updates and reinstall other software. But hey, I'm learning a
lot through all this!! LOL

 

[R. McCarty]

UPS = Universal Power Supply ( Battery Backup ) supplies power when
line voltage is lost. Usually has a USB to PC connection and a small app
that monitors status. Small units ( APC ES350 ) can be bought for ~$35
that should maintain power for 5 minutes or so.

80 Windows updates really needs a Roll-Up ( Single module with all of
them included ). Thanks for posting that the machine is back up and running.