Windows XP Pro restarts continually

[Tom B.]

A friend is using Windows XP Professional on an IBM NetVista PC. It had been
working fine, but after adding several programs and a wireless card to it, it
began to restart every time it got to the point where you choose who is
logging in. If I start in Safe Mode, it boots up fine and does not restart. I
have put the hard drive into my machine as a slave drive and run Norton with
no viruses found. I also ran chkdsk /F with no problems found. Where do I go
from here?

 

[Vaughn]

This may be suitable as a "workaround" until you resolve the issue: boot to
Safe Mode, right-click My Computer and select Properties. Select the Advanced
tab. In the Startup and Recovery section, click the Settings button. In the
System Failure section, deselect Automatically Restart.

If you are then able to boot normally, check the System Event logs for
clues. Also, has any new hardware or software been installed or updated
lately? That may point you in the right direction.

 

[Leonard Grey]

If the computer starts and runs fine in Safe Mode, then something that
starts with Windows is causing the problem; possibly one or more of the
"several programs and a wireless card" that were added.

When adding programs or hardware, the prudent thing is to add them one
at a time, then test, then add the next, then test, etc. You get the
idea. That's what your friend needs to do.

 

[Vaughn]

Sorry, I'm blind - you did say new hardware/software was installed, so that's
probably the culprit - bad drivers or something.

 

[db]

first step is to remove the card
and retry your booting to normal
mode.

the next step if the above proves
futile is to boot into safe mode and
initiate a system restore to a
functional time "or"

uninstall those programs via
add/remove.

--
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[Tom B.]

Thanks, Vaughn
How would I go about testing the drivers? I obviously don't want to
delete a driver if it's good. Can I disable drivers one at a time to see if
that fixes the problem?