Help: Vista in Endless Reboots

[Dab]

Hoping that someone can help with how I can pinpoint my problem. Here's the
background:

Running Vista for the last 6 months with few problems (well, perhaps 'few'
is a big generous, but in any case, working for the most part normally.

Last week, shut down for a system update - wouldn't start up.

System wouldn't revevert to last know good config (well it may have, but
wouldn't boot in any case), but I could (still can) boot in safe mode and
rolled back the update - still won't boot normally.

Ran every system/hardware check known to man including the Vista OS repair,
all the Dell hardware checks and some third party checks - they all indicate
that there are no problems.

Tried turning off all start-up's and non MS services -still no boot.

Disconnected all external devices - still no boot

Removed all cards (except video of course) still no boot

Tried new memory - still no boot

Even tried new disk and OS - still no boot (I booted of the vista CD and
installed a new OS - everything worked fine for a bit - all the OS updates
fired - including SP-1 - but eventually the thing became unstable again and
wouldn't boot.

Just to clarify, if I let the system continuously reboot after an average of
20 reboot attempts, it will boot normally - but will likely crash at some
point, after which it takes 20 reboots to get it to boot again.

As I mentioned I can boot in safe mode no problem - which would seem to
indicate that I don't have a hardware problem.

Seems to me that I have a hardware issue, but I can't find any check that
will tell me what the problem is.

Could my power supply be bad? Any advice definitely appreciated.

 

[ray]

Hoping that someone can help with how I can pinpoint my problem. Here's
the background:

Running Vista for the last 6 months with few problems (well, perhaps
'few' is a big generous, but in any case, working for the most part
normally.

Last week, shut down for a system update - wouldn't start up.

System wouldn't revevert to last know good config (well it may have, but
wouldn't boot in any case), but I could (still can) boot in safe mode
and rolled back the update - still won't boot normally.

Ran every system/hardware check known to man including the Vista OS
repair, all the Dell hardware checks and some third party checks - they
all indicate that there are no problems.

Tried turning off all start-up's and non MS services -still no boot.

Disconnected all external devices - still no boot

Removed all cards (except video of course) still no boot

Tried new memory - still no boot

Even tried new disk and OS - still no boot (I booted of the vista CD and
installed a new OS - everything worked fine for a bit - all the OS
updates fired - including SP-1 - but eventually the thing became
unstable again and wouldn't boot.

Just to clarify, if I let the system continuously reboot after an
average of 20 reboot attempts, it will boot normally - but will likely
crash at some point, after which it takes 20 reboots to get it to boot
again.

As I mentioned I can boot in safe mode no problem - which would seem to
indicate that I don't have a hardware problem.

Seems to me that I have a hardware issue, but I can't find any check
that will tell me what the problem is.

Could my power supply be bad? Any advice definitely appreciated.

Definitely sounds like a hardware problem to me. If you'd like to verify
that, you could boot a Linux Live CD and see if the same sort of thing
happens, though it would not really identify the problem. It could be
power supply, memory or disk controller or disk. If a Live CD runs, that
would point at disk problems. Most Linux Live CDs will also have a
memcheck.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Power supply, motherboard, memory - all possibilities. The power supply can
be checked by a technician. As for the motherboard, pop the case and look at
the capacitors. Any that are bulging or leaking means it's time for a new
motherboard. Memory can be checked with Vista's diagnostic tool.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[westom1]

Hoping that someone can help with how I can pinpoint my problem..
...
Last week, shut down for a system update - wouldn't start up.

System wouldn't revevert to last know good config (well it may have, but
wouldn't boot in any case), but I could (still can) boot in safe mode and
rolled back the update - still won't boot normally.

Ran every system/hardware check known to man including the Vista OS
repair, all the Dell hardware checks and some third party checks - they
all indicate that there are no problems.

You post does not state what you ran. For example, did you execute
the Dell comprehensive hardware diagnostic that verifies all hardware
devices - or some other diagnostic that only checks for some software?

If you computer does not boot, then how did you run any software
including execute from that last known configuration? Sounds like you
might have booted the Bios routines but cannot boot Vista. Probably,
but not clear enough to get a useful reply.

Did you boot Dell's comprehensive diagnostics from the hard drive or
from the CD-Rom? Diagnostics that should have taken maybe one hour to
complete?

Tried a new disk? Did you replace the hard drive? What new disk?

What about those diagnostic indicator lights on the back? Read the
manual to know what those lights report.

Power supply: he need not even know how electricity works to be A+
Certified. Many techs will just replace your power supply and charge
you rather than do what any user of a Ipod or cell phone can do in
less than two minutes. It means buying a meter that sells whereever
hammers are sold and for about the same price. Only then can anyone
say whether the power supply is or is not bad.

You have replaced so many things that the problem easily could be
complicated by new failures. Swapping parts to find a problem is also
called shotgunning - how a problem can get exponentially more complex.

Go back. Your original post leaves too much to speculation. Which
diagnostics were executed? How was that diagnostic booted - from hard
drive; CD-Rom; USB memory stick? How far does the system boot?

Is your power supply OK? That answer will only be definitive when
you report numbers from a less than two minute procedure with nothing
disconnected.