Xp Pro boots in a loop

[Guest]

The computer with a problem runs 24 hours a day. After many months I rebooted
and got "disk read error occurred - hit control alt del to reboot".

Rebooted and same thing.

I then booted with the CD and ran Windows repair. Thought it was working but
got and an "ntldr missing" message.

Was told to copy two files from the Windows XP CD and thought it was working
but now I get to the options screen asking - Safe Mode, Safe Mode with
command prompt, Safe Mode with Networking etc.

Choose Normal but machine reboots right back to that page. Tried safe mode
but boots right back to that page. Tried all modes. I am stuck in a loop.

Now I can not even access the CD drive so I am completely locked out. Bios
set to boot from CD first but will only boot to options page. Machine only
has the CD drive and Hard Drive.

No chance of any virus. Machine is not attached in anyway to internet or
otheriwse.
Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

How old is the system? Specifically, how old is the hard drive?
Has this system been running 24/7 for a long time?

Did you try the option "Last Known Good" ?

When the pc is booting up (after the BIOS has done its POST test and
before Windows starts loading),
Tap F8 Function key to get bootup options. Tap & keep repeat tapping F8 !

You will actually see "Disable automatic restart on system failure" as an option .
Select that and give it a try. This option is available if you have XP service pack 2.
** This will turn off the reboot on failure, which is what seems to be your situation. But, if it's missing boot files or a corrupted registry, then that is another kettle of problems.

When presented with bootup choices, select Last Known Good Configuration.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

The computer with a problem runs 24 hours a day. After many months I
rebooted
and got "disk read error occurred - hit control alt del to reboot".

Rebooted and same thing.

I then booted with the CD and ran Windows repair. Thought it was working
but
got and an "ntldr missing" message.

Was told to copy two files from the Windows XP CD and thought it was
working
but now I get to the options screen asking - Safe Mode, Safe Mode with
command prompt, Safe Mode with Networking etc.

Choose Normal but machine reboots right back to that page. Tried safe mode
but boots right back to that page. Tried all modes. I am stuck in a loop.

Now I can not even access the CD drive so I am completely locked out.
Bios
set to boot from CD first but will only boot to options page. Machine
only
has the CD drive and Hard Drive.

No chance of any virus. Machine is not attached in anyway to internet or
otheriwse.
Thanks for any ideas.

The last time I fixed this kind of problem, I did it by accessing the hard
drive from another system and simply deleting the pagefile.sys file in the
root directory. IIRC, I did have to change the system\hidden attributes,
too.

When I say I "accessed the hard drive from another system", I mean that I
connected the hard disk to my laptop via a USB-ATA adapter. Alternately,
I'd have taken the disk out and attached it to a USB2 external drive case
connector, or added it as a slave drive to another working system.

After deleting the file, I restarted the system in Safe Mode and then
rebooted in normal mode. Took me about 40 minutes in total, including going
back to my car to get the adapter.

You should also be able to delete the pagefile.sys file from the recovery
console, but this is not always readily possible (only a restore CD on hand,
for example). Bear in mind that it is marked hidden and system so you
must be able to run the attrib command.

HTH
-pk

 

[Guest]

How old is the system? Specifically, how old is the hard drive?
Has this system been running 24/7 for a long time?

System is abouit 1 1/2 years old. HArd drive runs for many months at a time.

Did you try the option "Last Known Good" ?

All options, any option, boots right back to the "options" page

When the pc is booting up (after the BIOS has done its POST test and
before Windows starts loading),
Tap F8 Function key to get bootup options. Tap & keep repeat tapping F8 !

You will actually see "Disable automatic restart on system failure" as an option .
Select that and give it a try. This option is available if you have XP service pack 2.
** This will turn off the reboot on failure, which is what seems to be your situation. But, if it's missing boot files or a corrupted registry, then that is another kettle of problems.

When presented with bootup choices, select Last Known Good Configuration.

Boots right back to the options page.Will not boot from CD anymore.

 

[Guest]

Thanks and I will have to try the method you suggested. Nothing else works.

I amy also have worded my problem incorrectly. The computer does not
relentlessly boot. It boots to the options page and that is as far as it
goes. No matter what option I chooose, right back to that page.

Bruce