Computer Constant Reboot :(

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Hi All,

I've had a friend explain a problem she has to me, her computer is rebooting itself before it loads into windows. Problem is she needs coursework from it for Friday, and of course, doesnt have any backups or any kind. My first though is boot into safe mode, then try last known good, but from what I've read, both probably wont work, and alot of articles say its most likely a virus doing this.

Would connecting the drive to another PC as a slave cause problems, if it is a virus? Im a little lost in solutions to this one, its not in my "normal" line of work to say the least.

Cheers

 

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NX - have you tried getting into safe mode?

Your post seems to assume it won't work and that it is a virus - never assume. Always try the basics first before jumping ahead.

I would certainly try and boot into safe mode or even see if you can get to the recovery consol first.

 

As an alternative to safe mode - try the boot menu entry that says 'dont reboot' so as to see any error messages.

Harry.

 

I agree with TimoftheC.

Always elimate all options before resorting to more drastic measures. If it were a virus i'd be against the idea of hooking it up to my own personal computer as it just isn't worth the risk, so if you do it, hook it up to a station with a HD you can afford to lose data from.

Rob.

 

Insert the operating system cd rom and select R for repair and then run chkdsk /p /r. I have used this on countless occassions and has worked

 

I had the same exact thing happen on the wife's machine a few months ago. Either the machine would reboot before XP loaded, or XP would load for maybe 2 minutes and it would reboot.

It turned out to be a faulty power supply. When I took the case sides off, it was EXTREMELY hot. After it cooled down I replaced it and it's been running great since.

 

I'd agree with TimoftheC and also onoski. Best to try things out rather than assume.

Another thing to think of... I had a similar situation recently, and it turned out to be a failed HD.

 

are there any beep codes? (does it beep more than once during POST)

Try safe mode

if safe mode doesn't work download a copy of memtest86 and run it.

try a multimeter on the PSU

if none of those work do what ononski says and run the repair utillity.

 

Yep, had that same exp too.

 

Lots of things to consider then!!

Thanks guys, im popping over hers tonight to take a look so fingers crossed its nothing too serious...

*will report back*

 

Me too - me too! Except for the last 3 or 4 times i've used BART PE to run the chkdsk from!!

 

Right, so over I go, no XP disk, or key... great.

I took out the harddrive and added it as a slave to an old machine of mine, managed to grab all the required docs and everything else that needed backing up just incase. Problem is, without the CD or key, theres not alot I can do regarding any sort of repair or reinstall?

So, how much is win xp these days, i'll give her the bad news !

 

No key on the PC case?

 

its about £60 for oem version of home

 

Is it a branded PC like HP or Compaq etc? If so, there may be a recovery partition on the hard drive and if you can run a system recovery (usually by pressing a function key during the boot up process) there's a good chance it wont ask for the product key.

 

Burn and boot a Knoppix LiveCD. Comes with memtest+ and can read data off NTFS partitions.

 

is this option on xp home? i am trying to help someone out and told them to select this option, they said there was not one. not seen the pc yet so i am not 100% on that. i know its on pro.

 

Nope, no key on case, looked all over, and its not a branded machine.

After a quick chat this morning, I've been told it was actually built by a family friend, which is the worst possible thing to hear at this point lol. Looks like they'll have to shell out for a copy, so I can finish off the job.

Thanks for your help guys

 

check the bios, temps, volts etc and reset it, running memtest will remove the possibility of faulty memory.

your best bet is to run the mem test and cpu burn test in knoppix as it'll stress the system more. just gotta remember the cpu test will need to be run per core so with a dual core 2 will need to be running and the memtest you'll need to remove about 200mb from the test memory for the o/s. so 1024mb of system memory set the test to say around 800mb

grim

 

I thought it was - I'll check when I get home. I believe that it either came in or got moved in the menus in one of the SPs.

Harry.