Windows XP Pro. Can anyone help stop continual rebooting? TIA

[AsK]

Windows XP Pro. Can anyone help stop continual rebooting?
This has happened on at least three occasions fairly recently.
I have gone into the "safe mode" setting and have tried all there
with no positive results. I start up, get to the first Windows splash
page and then
it automatically reboots. Any and all hints/tips welcome. TIA
(appologies for cross-posting to alt.windows-xp)

 

[Don Phillipson]

Windows XP Pro. Can anyone help stop continual rebooting?
This has happened on at least three occasions fairly recently.

Defective power supply seems to be the single most common
source of spontaneous reboots. PSUs are cheap and easily
replaced.

 

[glee]

Windows XP Pro. Can anyone help stop continual rebooting?
This has happened on at least three occasions fairly recently.
I have gone into the "safe mode" setting and have tried all there
with no positive results. I start up, get to the first Windows splash
page and then
it automatically reboots. Any and all hints/tips welcome. TIA
(appologies for cross-posting to alt.windows-xp)

While it's true that a faulty power supply could cause random reboots,
they would also happen in Safe Mode, so I doubt that is your problem.
More likely, you are getting a STOP error (Blue Screen error), and your
computer is configured to automatically restart on STOP errors.

Click Start, then right-click "My Computer", and click "Properties" on
the menu that appears.
Click the Advanced tab, then in the bottom section named "Startup and
Recovery", click the Settings button.
In the "System Failure" section, UNCHECK the box for "Automatically
restart".
Click OK all the way out, and restart the computer.

If you have been restarting due to a STOP error, the next time one
occurs, instead of rebooting, you will get the Blue Screen error and the
computer will stop. You can then copy down all the info on the blue
error screen and report back with the error details for analysis.

If you know the time and date of one of you previous automatic reboots,
we can look at the dump file that should have been produced if it was a
STOP error on that date and time, and see what was reported.

To do that easily, you can install a little freeware utility called
WhoCrashed:
http://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed

Install it, then run it, and WhoCrashed will prompt to download the
Windows Debugging Package (WinDbg)...do so.
The program will give you an easy to read display of the info found in
the crash dump files. When it displays its results, see if any of them
correspond with the time and date of your auto-reboots, and if so, post
back with the details it shows for them.

See also:
Windows XP Shut Down and Automatic Reboot Problems
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/russel_02may13.mspx

 

[AsK]

While it's true that a faulty power supply could cause random reboots,
they would also happen in Safe Mode, so I doubt that is your problem.
More likely, you are getting a STOP error (Blue Screen error), and your
computer is configured to automatically restart on STOP errors.

Click Start, then right-click "My Computer", and click "Properties" on
the menu that appears.
Click the Advanced tab, then in the bottom section named "Startup and
Recovery", click the Settings button.
In the "System Failure" section, UNCHECK the box for "Automatically
restart".
Click OK all the way out, and restart the computer.

If you have been restarting due to a STOP error, the next time one
occurs, instead of rebooting, you will get the Blue Screen error and the
computer will stop.  You can then copy down all the info on the blue
error screen and report back with the error details for analysis.

If you know the time and date of one of you previous automatic reboots,
we can look at the dump file that should have been produced if it was a
STOP error on that date and time, and see what was reported.

To do that easily, you can install a little freeware utility called
WhoCrashed:http://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed

Install it, then run it, and WhoCrashed will prompt to download the
Windows Debugging Package (WinDbg)...do so.
The program will give you an easy to read display of the info found in
the crash dump files.  When it displays its results, see if any of them
correspond with the time and date of your auto-reboots, and if so, post
back with the details it shows for them.

See also:
Windows XP Shut Down and Automatic Reboot Problemshttp://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/rus...

Thanks for the helpful links, Glen. Much obliged.

 

[AsK]

Defective power supply seems to be the single most common
source of spontaneous reboots.  PSUs are cheap and easily
replaced.

Thanks for the help, Don. I had a replacement PSU installed a few
months ago but I will keep that tip in mind. ATB, Don.

 

[JRosenfeld]

If you can't get into Windows to change the autostart, you can also do it
this way:

Start your PC and tap F8 key repeatedly before Windows tries to load. In the
screen that appears, use up/down arrow keys and select 'disable
autostart....'. Restart your PC, then when XP crashes you'll see the BSOD
that will have information on the error that caused the crash (and possibly
also the specific file that caused it).

You can then go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff542347.aspx

and get further information on the stop error.

Also handy is the fact that when XP crashes a dump file is created. These
files are not so easy to interpret, but a handy utility (free, no
installation required) is Nirsoft's Blue screen View:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

It will scan your PC forthe dmp files and analyze theircontents, so identify
the file(s) that most likely caused the crash (usually a driver). That will
give you a clue as to what you need to fix.

 

[Tester]

Something wrong with the driver you must have installed recently (either
automatically or manual). If you can't tract this driver then the best
thing is to reformat the HD and start everything again. There aren't
any tried and tested method of stopping this. You could try this
article to see if it helps:

<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320299>

hth

 

[glee]

If you can't get into Windows to change the autostart, you can also do
it this way:

Start your PC and tap F8 key repeatedly before Windows tries to load.
In the screen that appears, use up/down arrow keys and select 'disable
autostart....'. Restart your PC, then when XP crashes you'll see the
BSOD that will have information on the error that caused the crash
(and possibly also the specific file that caused it).

You can then go to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff542347.aspx

and get further information on the stop error.

Also handy is the fact that when XP crashes a dump file is created.
These files are not so easy to interpret, but a handy utility (free,
no installation required) is Nirsoft's Blue screen View:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

It will scan your PC forthe dmp files and analyze theircontents, so
identify the file(s) that most likely caused the crash (usually a
driver). That will give you a clue as to what you need to fix.

Thanks for adding that, I should have mentioned the option on the F8
boot screen when I made my reply.

Nirsoft's BlueScreenView is another tool I often use, along with
WhoCrashed (which I mentioned earlier). Try out WhoCrashed
sometime....it gives a bit more user-friendly results and is a nice tool
to use alongside the excellent BlueScreenView.

 

[AsK]

Something wrong with the driver you must have installed recently (either
automatically or manual).  If you can't tract this driver then the best
thing is to reformat the HD and start everything again.  There aren't
any tried and tested method of stopping this.  You could try this
article to see if it helps:

<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320299>

hth

That has always been my last resort, Tester. Format. At least then I
get the faulty driver. Thanks for your help.

 

[AsK]

If you can't get into Windows to change the autostart, you can also do it
this way:

Start your PC and tap F8 key repeatedly before Windows tries to load. In the
screen that appears, use up/down arrow keys and select 'disable
autostart....'. Restart your PC, then when XP crashes you'll see the BSOD
that will have information on the error that caused the crash (and possibly
also the specific file that caused it).

You can then go tohttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff542347.aspx

and get further information on the stop error.

Also handy is the fact that when XP crashes a dump file is created. These
files are not so easy to interpret, but a handy utility (free, no
installation required) is Nirsoft's  Blue screen View:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

It will scan your PC forthe dmp files and analyze theircontents, so identify
the file(s) that most likely caused the crash (usually a driver). That will
give you a clue as to what you need to fix.

Hey, thanks for the link, JRosenfeld. Very helpful piece of software.

 

[Tim Meddick]

Surely, if you booted into "safe-mode", will not load any auto-started
processes - including those from the "Startup folder" and the "auto-run"
registry-keys.

If you get the error while trying to boot into safe-mode as well, then,
unfortunately, the problem is *not* going to be anything that's
auto-loaded, as nothing but the most basic and essential drivers and
services are loaded when entering safe-mode.

*NB Make sure you choose safe-mode *without* networking, when using the F8
key, to obfuscate a few more drivers.

If you have any "suspicions" of your own - please don't be shy of
mentioning them - anyone can have important insight and anyone's "gut
feeling" is as valid as anyone else's!

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[glee]

Surely, if you booted into "safe-mode", will not load any auto-started
processes - including those from the "Startup folder" and the
"auto-run" registry-keys.

If you get the error while trying to boot into safe-mode as well,
then, unfortunately, the problem is *not* going to be anything that's
auto-loaded, as nothing but the most basic and essential drivers and
services are loaded when entering safe-mode.

*NB Make sure you choose safe-mode *without* networking, when using
the F8 key, to obfuscate a few more drivers.

If you have any "suspicions" of your own - please don't be shy of
mentioning them - anyone can have important insight and anyone's "gut
feeling" is as valid as anyone else's!

Tim,

The OP already stated in his first post that he tried Safe Mode with the
same result, when the rebooting issue was occurring.

What isn't clear is whether this is an intermittent problem or if it is
happening all the time, making Windows inaccessible altogether.

It "sounds" like he's getting a STOP error and Windows is set to do an
auto-reboot instead of displaying the BSOD (the brainless default
Microsoft set in XP).