XP Keeps Restarting - Want to Reinstall XP in SAFE mode

[Guest]

PC got infected w/ multiple viruses and would freeze up - quarantined the
viruses/spybots/adware using McAfee Virus Scan 2006 (used the windows SAFE
mode). But now XP (Home version) keeps restarting after logging in. I was
able to save all my files by accessing in the SAFE mode.

I was thinking of reinstalling XP, but can I do it in the SAFE mode?

 

[Gary Tsang]

Hi,

Perhaps before reinstalling Windows XP you can try doing a repair
installation which would perserve your files/settings, but fix any damaged
system files etc.

Follow these steps to do a repair install.

1. Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM
drive.
2. Restart your computer. If you have to, change the BIOS settings to start
from
the CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer again.
3. At the "Welcome to Setup" page, press ENTER.
4. Press F8 to accept the Licensing Agreement.
5. Use the arrow keys to select the installation of Windows XP that you want
to
repair, and then press R to start the automatic repair process.
6. When Setup is completed, activate Windows XP.

Note that you will need your Product Key for this procedure, so have it
handy before you begin.

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm


If after doing the repair installation of Windows XP and you're still
experiencing the same restarting issues, then your best bet is to properly
start off clean and install a fresh copy of Windows XP and wipe everything
on the partition out.

Easiest way is to take your Windows XP Installation CD, and boot your
computer off of the CD. You may have to go into your BIOS to tell your
computer to boot off your
cdrom.

Once it starts booting off the cd, this will startup the Windows XP
installation process.
During the process, it'll ask you where you want to install your Windows and
options are given if you want to delete the partition and format the hard
drive.

Choose the format hard drive option and continue the setup and you'll have a
fresh brand new install of Windows XP.

Remember when choosing the format hard drive option all your data on that
hard drive or partition will be lost.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the complete response; I switched the boot sequence in the bios to
CDROM first then the HD, but I get two error messages during the boot-up
process and both messages says "Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM: Failure . . . ". I
have a Creative CD/RW and a generic CD-ROM drives. Both of them have been
working and I have tried booting up the XP CD in both drives and neither of
them works - I get the same two error messages. Any guidance would be
appreciated.

Gary

 

[Plato]

Thanks for the complete response; I switched the boot sequence in the bios to
CDROM first then the HD, but I get two error messages during the boot-up
process and both messages says "Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM: Failure . . . ". I
have a Creative CD/RW and a generic CD-ROM drives. Both of them have been
working and I have tried booting up the XP CD in both drives and neither of
them works - I get the same two error messages. Any guidance would be
appreciated.

Both of them set to AUTO detect in the bios?

 

[Ron Martell]

Thanks for the complete response; I switched the boot sequence in the bios to
CDROM first then the HD, but I get two error messages during the boot-up
process and both messages says "Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM: Failure . . . ". I
have a Creative CD/RW and a generic CD-ROM drives. Both of them have been
working and I have tried booting up the XP CD in both drives and neither of
them works - I get the same two error messages. Any guidance would be
appreciated.

Gary

Try cleaning the CD with warm water and a soft dry cloth.

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

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[Guest]

So I went into the Award bios and under the options for boot devices I don't
see an option for AUTO. For the "First Boot Device", I set it to CDROM and
for the "Second Boot Device", I was already set to HDD-0. So where would I
set the option for the CDROM to auto?

 

[NotMe]

In boot devices, you must specify a device.
To set the CD to auto, would be in the IDE Drives area.

 

[Plato]

In boot devices, you must specify a device.
To set the CD to auto, would be in the IDE Drives area.

Should be in the first screen

 

[Guest]

As it turns out my bios is old and doesn't have the feature to auto detect a
CD drive so I got a utility (Smart Boot Manager) called sbmist.exe installed
to a floppy which allows a boot up from either the hard drive or a CDROM.
Anyway the windows repair didn't work so I ended up reformating the hard
drive and performing a fresh install of XP. Thanks to everyone who provided
their input - I am up and running again.