XP Pro SP2 will not boot

[Guest]

Last ditch effort here, I've been on hold for MS Support for over an hour.

System is Gateway E-4100
1 Gig RAM
40 GB HD

User reports disconnecting a network drive and rebooting, only to boot to
the black screen giving the choices of Last known good config, Safe Mode,
Safe Mode w/ Networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt, and Boot normally;
selecting any option has the same result; an immeadiate reboot to BIOS.

All USB, Firewire, and PCI devices have been disconnected. AGP video card
and keyboard are all that remain connected.

Gateway recommends formatting and starting over, this is not an option for me.

One thing I have noted, when attempting to boot into safe mode, the last
driver that is attempted to load is:

\WINNT\System32\DRIVERS\iomdisk.sys

This system did have a SCSI card and Iomega JAZ drive attached.

Any suggestions are appreciated; next step is to try a recovery using XP CD
or an overlay OS install.

 

[Guest]

Recovery,boot to xp cd is a fairly simple task,once in recovery,type:
CHKDSK C: /R When its thru type:EXIT

 

[Guest]

Yep, getting there. Recovery console needs the local admin password, which
of course, I do not have.

I'm working with the linux utility chntpw now to get it reset.

I'm also using a boot CD (BART'S PE) to do the CHKDSK.
_______________________________________________

 

[Guest]

I have the same problem but can't get the "recover" option to do anything.
It just sits there. How long should it take?

 

[Rodney Kelp]

Sounds like anything that tries to access memory causes a boot.
What do you mean "Boot to BIOS"? I would suspect a memory problem first,
then a motherboard problem. Can you boot to the command prompt with a
floppy? Boot a CD?

 

[Guest]

Boot to bios in my case means that it starts up from the beginning (POST)
again and again.