WinXP reboots continuously -- have tried everything

[Scott C]

Started using WindowsXP a few months ago. Never had a
crash or any problem. Suddenly today I try to start up my
computer and it continuously reboots once it hits the
WindowsXP screen. I have tried hitting F8 during start-up
but none of the options work like 'Safe mode' or
choosing 'Last Known Good Configuration' (I have tried
every option on that page without success). When
selected, it just begins the rebooting cycle all over
again. Because of this, I am also unable to put my
original WinXP CD in and repair/reinstall.

I am completely baffled and would greatly appreciate any
help. Also, is there a keyboard shortcut during start-up
that would allow me access to the MS-DOS prompt? Perhaps
I could gain access to my WinXP CD via that way if
needed. Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

You still can use your WinXP CD, as it acts as a startup disk. You'll have
to check that your system has your CD drive set as bootable (most systems
do) in the BIOS first. Then you can boot form CD instead of HD and do a
repair or reinstall. Obviously, first try to reinstall

 

[Ron Martell]

Started using WindowsXP a few months ago. Never had a
crash or any problem. Suddenly today I try to start up my
computer and it continuously reboots once it hits the
WindowsXP screen. I have tried hitting F8 during start-up
but none of the options work like 'Safe mode' or
choosing 'Last Known Good Configuration' (I have tried
every option on that page without success). When
selected, it just begins the rebooting cycle all over
again. Because of this, I am also unable to put my
original WinXP CD in and repair/reinstall.

I am completely baffled and would greatly appreciate any
help. Also, is there a keyboard shortcut during start-up
that would allow me access to the MS-DOS prompt? Perhaps
I could gain access to my WinXP CD via that way if
needed. Thanks in advance.

Try booting from the Windows XP CD. You may need to go into the BIOS
setup for your computer and change the boot sequence so that it looks
at the CDROM first and then the hard drive.

Then do a Repair Install of your Windows XP per the instructions at
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm



Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

 

[Oliver Roth]

Started using WindowsXP a few months ago. Never had a
crash or any problem. Suddenly today I try to start up my
computer and it continuously reboots once it hits the
WindowsXP screen. I have tried hitting F8 during start-up
but none of the options work like 'Safe mode' or
choosing 'Last Known Good Configuration' (I have tried
every option on that page without success). When
selected, it just begins the rebooting cycle all over
again. Because of this, I am also unable to put my
original WinXP CD in and repair/reinstall.

I am completely baffled and would greatly appreciate any
help. Also, is there a keyboard shortcut during start-up
that would allow me access to the MS-DOS prompt? Perhaps
I could gain access to my WinXP CD via that way if
needed. Thanks in advance.

Hi Scott,

I had a similar problem about three months ago but only after I
switched from an AMD Duron 800 to a XP2000+...
The reason was a WinXP CPU driver problem!
After a reboot I was only able to get my PC up and running by pulling
the plug and then after powering it up again it sometimes stayed
stable even after login. Sometimes I had to repeat that procedure 5 to
10 times till the system was up and running. This lasted for about 6
weeks, then finally MS released the patch that fixed the problem.
Haven't had any problems since.
Hope this helps, Oliver

 

[djdave]

i am also having this issue with a dell laptop but i have lost the original cds. if i use my friends xp cd, will i be able to repair it? and if i repair it, will i lose all the files and data that i have on that laptop?

 

[Quasar]

i am also having this issue with a dell laptop but i have lost the original cds. if i use my friends xp cd, will i be able to repair it? and if i repair it, will i lose all the files and data that i have on that laptop?

The inability to boot into any option of the operating system is never a good sign although, I won't say it cannot be resolved in some cases via the XP CD and repair process (just don't hold your breath). No one will be able to ensure you with any certainty that a successful repair can be made, as each scenario involves different circumstances. Was software or drivers recently installed? Did the unit take an impact especially while powered up? Did the unit have unwanted pop-ups or was a virus detected previous to the appearance of the issue? Did the unit lose power while software or drivers were being installed? These are just a few scenarios that can cause this issue.

Coincidentally, a user where I work just knocked over their tower PC (from its vertical to horizontal position) and unfortunately, it was knocked over WHILE powered up.

The only thing it would do imediately after that impact was begin the boot sequence and just seconds later, reboot and come up with the options for Safe Mode, last Known good configuration, etc...

Last known good configuration proved useless, as did Safe Mode, as in each case, it simply restarted the boot sequence seconds later and presented the same options screen.

The XP CD (an SP2 version, which was the same CD used to initially load XP) was used to make the necessary repairs and it took a very long time to complete this task, which also isn't a good sign. Even so, it stated afterwards that it "repaired one or more errors found on the volume".

Upon rebooting, it simply continued exactly as it had previous to the repair process using the XP CD (using chkdsk /r).

When the troubled hard drive was placed in another identical tower PC (became the E: drive), when attempting to read the troubled drive, the operating system reported that the volume was not formatted. Needless to say, this user's data has passed into oblivion (and they never previously backed up any of their data). The impact either did physical damage to the head and/or platter, or the disk was caching at the moment of impact and wrote over the MBR's partition or volume information, which prevented it from locating the necessary operating system files hence, its endless rebooting and inability to boot up into any operating system mode.

So it depends upon what your circumstances are, but I've seen this happening many times over the years to hard drives that received an impact while powered up and the outcome is rarely good.

Now that I know the user's data has been lost, I need to run disk diagnostics to see if the drive is physically intact or needs to be replaced. If it doesn't have any bad sectors, then I'll reimage it.

...Quasar

 

[demonsbane105]

wait, oliver roth said he found a patch for that problem, does anyone know where i can find such a patch?

 

[dkterry]

HP WinXP Pro SP3 - MediaCenter Rebooting

I have had this HP computer for 5 years and never had a problem until I changed my antivirus. Now if I boot up in normal mode, it gets to the welcome screen and reboots continuously. If I boot up in Safe Mode then I can do some things but not much at all. Help! My computer is my life, I am a photographer and all my photos are on there and I can not figure out why it is doing this.