Win2000Pro continuous rebooting

[wolf]

On this Win2000 Pro system, it mysteriously has started
randomly rebooting. It gets as far as the "starting
Windows" screen with the indicator bar, but never actually
makes it to the Windows screen, it just loops back through
the reboot. Here are some of the messages seen along the
way (this is a friend's PC and I haven't actually seen it
in person...this is all from verbal descriptions!) :
- Last boot hung up system for IMPROPER CPU EXTERNAL
SPEED SETTING. System is working in safe mode.
- Hardware monitor found an error. Option to enter power
set-up (BOIS) for details or F1 to continue.
I had her power off and remove the case cover, thinking
the CPU was overheating. The fan appears to be working
fine. Then, I had her remove all cards except video from
the PCI slots. Same problem occured.
This PC does not normally go online, but she did recently
attempt to dial-up www access on MSN - and got online. (No
anti-virus protection) Could this be a virus? Since she
doesn't use the PC for surfing, I doubt she has kept up
with MS updates. Any known issues from previous SP
updates?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm driving up this
afternoon to troubleshoot in person, and worst case, give
her my PC since this is her business computer (small video
store).
Thanks in advance.
Wolf

 

[Steve]

On this Win2000 Pro system, it mysteriously has started
randomly rebooting. It gets as far as the "starting
Windows" screen with the indicator bar, but never actually
makes it to the Windows screen, it just loops back through
the reboot. Here are some of the messages seen along the
way (this is a friend's PC and I haven't actually seen it
in person...this is all from verbal descriptions!) :
- Last boot hung up system for IMPROPER CPU EXTERNAL
SPEED SETTING. System is working in safe mode.
- Hardware monitor found an error. Option to enter power
set-up (BOIS) for details or F1 to continue.
I had her power off and remove the case cover, thinking
the CPU was overheating. The fan appears to be working
fine. Then, I had her remove all cards except video from
the PCI slots. Same problem occured.
This PC does not normally go online, but she did recently
attempt to dial-up www access on MSN - and got online. (No
anti-virus protection) Could this be a virus? Since she
doesn't use the PC for surfing, I doubt she has kept up
with MS updates. Any known issues from previous SP
updates?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm driving up this
afternoon to troubleshoot in person, and worst case, give
her my PC since this is her business computer (small video
store).
Thanks in advance.
Wolf

I would start with the basic maintenance:

Critical Windows Updates, get an antivirus software and scan for
infections, check for spyware, uninstall any unnecessary software, check
for start up programs to see if there is anything there shouldn't be.