Continuous restart in XP

[Guest]

My Dell Dimension 2350 keeps rebooting itself. It gets to the XP start
screen, and then reboots. Any boot option (safe mode, etc.) has the same
effect. Only start-up with command prompt does anything different, which
shows the system files loading, but still reboots. I've tried getting into
the BIOS, but it doesn't allow me to. I've reseated everything inside the
machine, and all it's gotten me is now it reboots just after the Dell screen.

A little history on this machine, we had a huge power spike at our home
(neutral wire had connected to the hot wire at the pole outside), which
knocked out this machine. It appeared all I had to do was replace the power
supply, which I did (got it directly from Dell). It ran fine for a good 6
months, until this happened. My first thought was hardware, like perhaps the
CMOS battery is on the blink? Anyway, what happened this time, I don't now,
but my daughter had friends over and now it doesn't work. I don't blame
them, it could be a coincidence, but it is possible something happened,
although they don't have access to the internet on that machine.

I've seen some similar situations listed here and elsewhere, but one thing
the others always seem to do is to be able to eventually get into Windows
somehow. I cannot. It will not boot up completely, and putting a CD in the
drive seems to do nothing. It's as if it doesn't even recognize the drive,
although the drawer opens and shuts just fine.

I don't think it's a problem of overheating, the fans both come on, the hard
drive spins, etc. I've cleaned it out, too.

Please help.

 

[Ron Martell]

My Dell Dimension 2350 keeps rebooting itself. It gets to the XP start
screen, and then reboots. Any boot option (safe mode, etc.) has the same
effect. Only start-up with command prompt does anything different, which
shows the system files loading, but still reboots. I've tried getting into
the BIOS, but it doesn't allow me to. I've reseated everything inside the
machine, and all it's gotten me is now it reboots just after the Dell screen.

A little history on this machine, we had a huge power spike at our home
(neutral wire had connected to the hot wire at the pole outside), which
knocked out this machine. It appeared all I had to do was replace the power
supply, which I did (got it directly from Dell). It ran fine for a good 6
months, until this happened. My first thought was hardware, like perhaps the
CMOS battery is on the blink? Anyway, what happened this time, I don't now,
but my daughter had friends over and now it doesn't work. I don't blame
them, it could be a coincidence, but it is possible something happened,
although they don't have access to the internet on that machine.

I've seen some similar situations listed here and elsewhere, but one thing
the others always seem to do is to be able to eventually get into Windows
somehow. I cannot. It will not boot up completely, and putting a CD in the
drive seems to do nothing. It's as if it doesn't even recognize the drive,
although the drawer opens and shuts just fine.

I don't think it's a problem of overheating, the fans both come on, the hard
drive spins, etc. I've cleaned it out, too.

Please help.

If you cannot get into the BIOS setup and cannot get the machine to
boot from a CD then your options are indeed somewhat limited.

Does the machine have a 3.5 inch diskette drive? If so then download
a Windows 98 boot disk image from http://www.bootdisk.com and use the
diskette that creates to boot the computer. Then see if you can
access the CDROM drive from DOS. At least that will tell you if the
hardware is working in that respect.

One trick that sometimes works to get a machine into the BIOS setup is
to unplug the keyboard and then turn it on. Some, but not all,
machines will halt during the power on self test, report their is no
keyboard, and give you the choice of either continuing to boot or
going into the BIOS setup. At that point you can usually plug the
keyboard back in again and go into the setup.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

The keyboard trick worked! Well, sort of. It did bring up the right screen,
and I was able to select the CD as the boot option, but as soon as I selected
it it shut down. Every attempt after that to start it was a faster
shut-down, which says to me something is wrong hardware-wise. I don't think
it has time to build up any kind of heat, so it probably isn't overheating.
I wish there was a way to check how much juice the CMOS battery has.

This is irritating. I guess I'll have to bring it somewhere to have it
looked at.

Thank you for your help. I noticed your name in several threads, you are a
great help.

 

[Stephan Rose]

The keyboard trick worked! Well, sort of. It did bring up the right screen,
and I was able to select the CD as the boot option, but as soon as I selected
it it shut down. Every attempt after that to start it was a faster
shut-down, which says to me something is wrong hardware-wise. I don't think
it has time to build up any kind of heat, so it probably isn't overheating.
I wish there was a way to check how much juice the CMOS battery has.

This is irritating. I guess I'll have to bring it somewhere to have it
looked at.

Thank you for your help. I noticed your name in several threads, you are a
great help.

Actually, it has plenty of time to build up enough heat for the CPU to
shut down.

It only takes a few seconds for the CPU to get so hot without
sufficient cooling for the temperature protection to kick in.

First thing I would look at in a case like this is the CPU.

Check your fan. Is it spinning freely without noise? Is the bearing
quiet or grinding? Does the fan spin up immediatly when you turn on
the power? Is the fan clean or covered under 1 inch of dust?

Next...check the heat sink. Is it clean or covered with dust?

Definitely clean the fan with compressed air if required. Heatsink as
well. If the fan is making any noise it shouldn't, replace it.

Next step, take the fan and heatsink off. Check the heat transfer
grease on top of the CPU. I would also reccommend buying some
additional grease prior to this (should be able to get some at like a
radio shack or best buy or equivalent).

Check to make sure the CPU is properly seated. Take it out and reseat
it if necessary. Also check to make sure no dust has made it
underneath the CPU, especially on the LGA type CPUs that no longer
have any pins.

Even if there still is heat transfer grease on the CPU, I would clean
it up and remove all the old grease and put new grease on. Don't be
too sparingly, just make sure that you keep the underside of the CPU
clean.

Then put it all back together and give it another try.