Pop's computer restarting during OS load

M

Merovaeus

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 2, 2003
Messages
76
I gave my dad an old junker that I built some years ago running XP Pro. It worked fine for a couple of years but has recently started acting up. After the OS loading screen disappears the system restarts and tries again ad infinitum. Safe mode yields the same results. I checked the temps and they are normal. I can't even pin down what piece of hardware this might be. Any ideas? Thanks
 
Get a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD (free - download and burn the ISO) and fire off an overnight run of Memtest86+. Many if not most crashes during OS load can be blamed on flaky memory. After 24 hours, "no errors" is the only right answer. If that passes, fire off your manufacturer's hard drive diagnostic which is also on the disk. Run the "extended" test two or three times. If both those pass, let's go from there.

If you have a volt-ohm-meter you could take a look at some of the PS voltages while Memtest86+ is running by probing a spare drive connector.

I really like the UBCD because it'll boot up in a system without an OS and has a ton of great utilities on it. Very handy for cases like this where the OS may have been corrupted.
 
If all hardware tests pass, repair the XP installation. Proceed as if you were creating a whole new installation, but choose the same disk/partition that has the existing OS. Setup should detect the old installation and ask if you'd like to repair it. If not, then the OS should be reinstalled, along with all other apps/etc. Be sure to backup any data if needed (on another system if possible).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top