Where to start?

[Kenny]

Friend's bring me his PC to look at over the weekend.
Says it's in a reboot loop, gets as far as loading Windows then shuts down
with no messages then reboots to the same point. Same trying in Safe Mode
so can't get as far as checking Event Viewer.
I'm looking for a few pointers about where to start with it, is it more
likely hardware than software?
Should I strip it to the bare minimum and work from there?
One problem is that I don't have spare PSU, RAM or graphics to try
substituting.

 

[null2006]

My first thought is overheating - check the fan on the power supply and cpu.

 

[John O]

Can you boot to a floppy or a CD such as a Windows install disk? If yes,
then hardware is less likely a problem.

-John O

 

[acrs]

After hitting F8 to get to the Safe Mode screen, select the option that says
"Disable automatic restart on system failure" your machine will then reboot
but you should then be able to see if you are getting a BSOD and can use the
information provided by the blue screen to narrow down your search.

 

[Guest]

I had the same problem with a Dell Inspiron 1150....what ended up happening
was it was a laptop so the fan got blocked by dust and whatnot...this caused
an overheated processor....eventually the processor melted into the heat sync
and the computer shut down without warning....after 2 months not knowing this
my computer went into the same problem that is occuring for u where the
reboot gets to a certain point and loops.....sometimes what i did was i
waited a while to tart it up again and it would work...eventually that
stopped working...i called up dell they said the heat sync was being
obstructed....later foudn to be the processor.....everything in the computer
had to be replaced aside from the HDD and the motherboard....i highly
recommend calling the manufacturer ASAP....P.S. stay away from dell
computers...nothing but trouble for me....after this incident i ended up
having a crapped out motherboard replaced and after that i demanded and was
awarded with a new laptop....persoanlly i would rather have not gone through
all that

 

[John O]

the fan got blocked by dust and whatnot...

snippage

...P.S. stay away from dell computers...

Ummm, seems like the problem was dust and cat hair, not Dell.

-John O

 

[Guest]

the computer didnt sit in one place for more than 3 days so the dust couldnt
have gained that much dust....the fan shoots out the air not suck it
in...andd i dont have a cat so that couldnt be much of a problem
either...most if not all computer fans ...except those by delltake in and
blow out dust particales in the air to prevent such occurances...especially
laptops...but dell is too concerned with making their products so u have to
buy the parts of it from them only if it happens to break or expire

 

[John O]

A lady in the office here brought in her HP for a CD replacement, and the
thing was *loaded* with dust. I suppose they used a different brand of fan
that didn't clog as easily, but otherwise the exact same amount of air goes
in as comes out no matter who makes 'em. The trick is, does it flow through
quickly or does the air settle then go out...the new BTX cases are pretty
good at this.

-John O

 

[paulmd]

I've noticed that certian Case, and heatsink designs wind up with more
dust than others.

For example, there is a particularly bad Athlon heatsink where the
"rays" are very small and very close together. Good for heat transfer.
In theory. In practice it clogs up with dust in a BIG hurry.

In the P3 world, there is another Bad heat sink seen on Compaqs
866-1000 mhz. They are, without fail, ALWAYS clogged up. Even when the
rest of the computer is spotless.

Dell has a another bad case LxxxR, and XPS Txxx design where dust
easily blocks the front intake.

So There are cases where i'd have no problem faulting the manufacturor
for bad design.

 

[Kenny]

Thanks for the replies so far. Haven't seen the PC as yet but have taken
note of suggestions.

 

[Guest]

I have the exact same problem on my machine right now. Unfortunately, it
won't even read the boot disk, so it ends up in a loop of continuously
rebooting and going to the boot option menu (Normal Windows, Safe mode, Last
Known Good, etc.). Every option I try the same thing happens, even when
booting to C: prompt. Windows (XP) starts to load, and then it reboots.

I'll check the dust in it. Back in September the power supply got fried by
a huge power surge at my house (an extra 110 volts through the neutral/ground
going through every wire in my house--that was a lot of fun , and I have
since replaced the power supply, but I never could see any other damage.
Curious if that has anything to do with it.