XP wont boot

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hi all

got a tricky one here. have an xp machine that wont boot. just displays the logo screen then reboots. tried a repair install and all seemed well but system will still not boot.

try to go into safe mode but get a message that windows is not activated and that i must go in to windows to activate, which i cant do.

any ideas?

 

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On the menu that includes safe-mode select the option 'No reboot on error' (or something like that). (This may not be there if it isn't at least SP2).

This should allow you to see what error is causing the reboot.

Harry.

 

done that bud but its still rebooting

any ideas

 

You can try two things.

1). Give Microsoft a ring and activate the operating system over the phone.

2.) Re-install the operating system, I'd go with the first option first and even run a chkdsk /r through safe mode or insert the win xp cd and select the repair option

It would have been nice to know how the problem came about though

 

Er - that selection is a one-time thing. It should let you see the blue-screen error.

If it doesn't even do that then I'd suggest that the quickest option is a reload of XP.

If you want to spend the time recovering it then either use a BartPE disk or a Linux Live CD to get at the data.

With the BartPE CD you may be able to run some anti-malware if that is the cause of the problem.

Harry.

 

dunno how the prob came about bud, just got handed the pc in this state and user states "dunno wot happened"

i have tried the repair option but no joy and i cant get into safe as the os is not activated and apparently you cant do this is safe mode

any ideas

 

Can you get into the Recovery console to run chckdisk? It is possible that the filesystem is shot.

Harry.

 

will try it bud n let u know

 

Hmmm, to me, it sounds like your describing a possible Windows Registry corruption, although I admit I've never come across a situation where your asked to activate XP when getting into Safe Mode - although I suppose that could also be a sign that the Registry is fubared!

You could try the MS article on recovering a corrupt Registry, although its a bit involved - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Be interested to know if you find the problem

 

if repair didnt work you need to find out if its an o/s or a hardware. if you need to keep the data on the disk the way i'd do it is:-


1. remove hard disk
2. flash bios with latest version
3. memtest
4. install new hard disk with o/s and drivers
5. thrash the s%^t out of it to ascertain stability
6. then run hard diagnostic on original hard disk
7. if you get to here you can safely say its o/s related. if you can't log into windows best bet is to connect it as a slave and remove the data and reinstall.

although if its a bog standard office desktop they should know to save it to the network drive not to the hard disk and just re-image it.

grim

 

different cd was used, same service tho sp2. would this have a negative affect?

 

OK heres where im at with this:

phoned MS and reactivated the OS so i can now login to Windows

However windows error reporting indicates a prob with the graphics card and in order for me to login into windows i need to press f8 and enable vga mode

looks like the graphics card drivers have become corrupt somewhere

but windows update shows no newer drivers and when i try to install the recommended driver it cannot find any compatable hardware

any ideas

 

Find out what make and model and download the drivers from the manufacturer website e.g. Nvidia ?

 

done that bud but when installing the nvidia driver software it says it cant find any compatable hardware

 

Is it an Nvidia card?

 

yes it is bud

im sure ive seen something like this b4 where a chipset driver has to be installed b4 the nvidia driver will recoqnise the card

 

The correct driver for the card should do it.

 

thats the thing bud, i have the correct driver but nvidia installer says it cannot find any compatable hardware

 

Have you checked the bios settings? The guy maybe tried overclocking the GPU and broke it?
Have you got any card you can test with? An old mx440 is usually good, or some cheapo PCI-E ?