XP BSOD Continually rebooting PC

[MaxCottle]

Hi

Max here

I have a PC which is stuck in a cycle of rebooting every time it reaches the windows screen.

I thought initially this might be a memory problem (2x 256MB cards) so I took one out and then the other to eliminate them from the equation. So the memory is fine as the problem just kept happening regardless of which mem stick I had in there.

I have tried to boot in Safe mode, I have tried boot logging, I even tried the XP restore Console, which alowwed me to access the C drive in Dos, (which leads me to suspect that it is not a failed HDD, but once I was in there (not having any Dos knowledge other than the very basic) I couldn't do anything productive.

I know what it happening, I just can't get to the why of things.

The PC is blu screening, sometimes you might catch a flash of blue so fast that if you blink it is gone. I know that XP has this feature that causes the PC to reboot on a blue screen or failure, wait for this....BEFORE YOU SEE WHAT THE ERROR MESSAGE SAYS. What Numpty came up with that nugget of wisdom.

I have tried loads of things, I went into the Bios and turned the Halt on to NO error hoping that this would stop it rebooting, it made no difference. I looked on the web for ages to see if there is a way to turn it off, as far as I can see there is, but you have to get into windows to do it.

I can't get into windows because the PC keeps rebooting.

Slightly frustrated....

Can anyone help??

Thanks

Max

[el_novato]

Hey Max

You're right...you have to get into Windows to disable the auto reboot. But if you have the XP disc, boot from it and skip the Recovery Console. Hit enter as if you were going to install XP. On the next screen, it should give an option to Repair the current installation. Run that and see if it will solve your problem.

Hth...

e.n.

[bailey]

in the bios, disable the reboot on error, then you can see the error that your getting, then post it here.

[Cricket]

Rebooting like this can be caused by an underpowered or over taxed power supply or from a faulty video card. Might also be a bad motherboard.

If you have an extra video card I would try that first.

Cricket

[MaxCottle]

Thanks for the replies guys
ok so I tried going back through the XP installation CD. It doesn't give me the option to repair the current installation, it only gives me the option of pressing R to go into the recovery console. I type in R and it brings up the recovery console as follows


Microsoft Windos XP(TM) Recovery Console.
The Recovery Console provides System Repair and recovery functionality.
Type Exit to Quit the Recovery console and restart the computer.

1: C:\WINDOWS

Which installation would you like to log on to
(to cancel press ENTER)


So here I press 1 and i get
Type in the administrator password

Which I do and I get the following

C:\WINDOWS

What do I do from here??


I have tried to disable the HALT on (failure) in the bios under general if that is what you meant, it makes no difference,

Other than that, if I go through and use the XP CD it wants to install XP on my C: drive which would blow away all of my files.

The Power supply isn't under powered, this pc has been running fine for over a year, I don't have another video card to try or anything really. Just before this problem happened the pc used to crash in that the mouse and keyboard wouldn't work so I would have to reboot it. I don't know if this is a new issue or an on going one though as this pc was not at home it was at my other half's office then, it has only been here for a week.

Any Ideas???

thanks again

[antgross@pacbell.net]

Originally Posted by MaxCottle Thanks for the replies guys ok so I tried going back through the XP installation CD. It doesn't give me the option to repair the current installation, it only gives me the option of pressing R to go into the recovery console. I type in R and it brings up the recovery console as follows Microsoft Windos XP(TM) Recovery Console. The Recovery Console provides System Repair and recovery functionality. Type Exit to Quit the Recovery console and restart the computer. 1: C:\WINDOWS Which installation would you like to log on to (to cancel press ENTER) So here I press 1 and i get Type in the administrator password Which I do and I get the following C:\WINDOWS What do I do from here?? I have tried to disable the HALT on (failure) in the bios under general if that is what you meant, it makes no difference, Other than that, if I go through and use the XP CD it wants to install XP on my C: drive which would blow away all of my files. The Power supply isn't under powered, this pc has been running fine for over a year, I don't have another video card to try or anything really. Just before this problem happened the pc used to crash in that the mouse and keyboard wouldn't work so I would have to reboot it. I don't know if this is a new issue or an on going one though as this pc was not at home it was at my other half's office then, it has only been here for a week. Any Ideas??? thanks again

You may have a failing PSU. Just because it might have been a 420+(e.g.) watt PSU a year ago, doesn't mean it can't lose it's capacity over time.

[glc]

in the bios, disable the reboot on error, then you can see the error that your getting, then post it here.

That's not in BIOS, that's in Windows - startup and recovery options.

It doesn't give me the option to repair the current installation, it only gives me the option of pressing R to go into the recovery console.

Please read a bit more carefully..........

But if you have the XP disc, boot from it and skip the Recovery Console. Hit enter as if you were going to install XP. On the next screen, it should give an option to Repair the current installation.

[MaxCottle]

Thank you

to answer
"That's not in BIOS, that's in Windows - startup and recovery options"
when I boot the PC i get the option press del to enter setup

I press del and this take me into a page headed
AwardBIOS setup Utility

On the Main Page second from the bottom i have the option "HALT On" the default for this is "all but keyboard" I have changed this to HALT ON..No Error
this makes no difference though. I appreciate that this may be the wrong option but I have looked everywhere within the BIOS to find anything that could be the correct option.

I did try it as you said, the screen i go says the following

WELCOME TO SETUP
This portion of the Setup program Prepares Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP to run on your computer



To Set UP WIndows XP now, press ENTER
To Repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console Press R.
To quit setup without installing windows XP press F3

Ok so as you said i hit enter here and it then takes me through the installation, Now from what you said I should now see the option to repair XP but I don't. I did read your post properly before I just can't find the option,
At first I get the "End User License Agreement page I press F8 to agree.

Next I get

The following list shows the Existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer

Use up and down arrow keys to select an Item on the list.

To Setup Windows XP on the Selected Item, Pres Enter
To Create a Partition in the unpartitioned Space press C
To Delete the selected partition press D

Now I have a C: Partition (1) which is Fat32 with 56447MB (29253 MB FREE)
f: Partition (2) unknown 792 MB (792 MB Free).

If I then proceed by pressing enter the next page Warns be about intsalling XP on the C drive where it is already installed. it then gives me the option to continue on this partition, select another or quit.
I also looked at the power supply in the "monitor hardware" option in the Bios I couldn't see anything untoward, I don't have another PSU to swap out and try though.

However as an aside I think I have eliminated a HDD failure as I managed to do a CHKDSK /p in Recovery console.

I appreciate your help on this do you have any more Ideas??

Cheers

Max

[glc]

At first I get the "End User License Agreement page I press F8 to agree.

The next screen gives you the option to do a fresh (clean) install or to repair the selected Windows XP installation. To run a Repair Install Press "R" at this time.
***CAUTION*** if you do not see the option to repair the selected Windows XP installation DO NOT choose the option to continue installing a fresh copy without repairing as that will overwrite your data and cause unrecoverable data loss.

[MaxCottle]

That is the screen but it doesn't give me the option, It is an XP Pro CD could that be the issue??

Cheers
Max

[Hobbes80]

Originally Posted by glc The next screen gives you the option to do a fresh (clean) install or to repair the selected Windows XP installation. To run a Repair Install Press "R" at this time. ***CAUTION*** if you do not see the option to repair the selected Windows XP installation DO NOT choose the option to continue installing a fresh copy without repairing as that will overwrite your data and cause unrecoverable data loss.

You can modify the registry to set the boot stop flag. The easier way to do this would be to pull out your HD and put it into a different computer with a running OS and adjust the registry from there. Since you said you don't have another system, you can install a parallel installation of windows in a DIFFERENT DIRECTORY. This will NOT wipe any data off your hard drive as long as you don't change the existing file system. I don't believe you can alter the registry from the command line, but if you can, you have to change the following key:

From:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CrashControl
AutoReboot=0x00000001

To:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CrashControl
AutoReboot=0x00000000

This will keep it from rebooting on the dump and will let you know what the dump is.

[MaxCottle]

I'll give that a try

[glc]

Originally Posted by MaxCottle That is the screen but it doesn't give me the option, It is an XP Pro CD could that be the issue?? Cheers Max

You have to use the CD that you used to install XP the first time.

[MaxCottle]

That's the problem, this was an off the shelf PC that my other half bought for her business, she doesn't know what she has done with any of the discs for it so I was trying to do the best I could with the XP Pro cd.

someone said something about playing with the CMOS jumpers on the board, does that sound right to you??

Cheers

Max

[glc]

Nope - you have a Windows issue, and if she can't find the media, I'm afraid she may be SOL unless something can be done using only the recovery console or other advanced trickery. It may be easiest to slave the hard drive into another XP box and recover the files she needs, wipe the hard drive, and buy and install a fresh copy of Windows.

[MaxCottle]

So, I built myself a new PC over Christmas, I put the faulty HDD in to see if I could see it once the new one had booted up, an as luck would have it I could browse to it. So I copied all the Data off it, reformatted the drive and then copied the data back. I put it back into the old PC and it works fine now.

Thanks to everyone for the help. It was very much appreciated.

Cheers
Max