Eclipse 0 Report post Posted April 4, 2005 My friend's PC just keep restarting in an endless loop. The last major thing that was done to the PC was the installation of an update, which ended up being a Service Pack. He didn't know that the update was a service pack, but I knew it was, since before, the XP icon said XP Professional, and now it just says Windows XP. I tried booting into safe mode, and the list of drivers pop up, the usual thing. At that point, it then just RESTARTED again. What can I do? And what do I check for? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kapoutman 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2005 Try this. Boot with the Win XP CD, go to the install Windows option. Select Repair the partition when highlighted instead of formating. Usually work. If it keeps restarting, you have a hardware problem, take it to the shop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vitamin X Report post Posted April 5, 2005 This happened a while ago when I fucked up and accidentally installed two versions of Windows on the same hard drive, which it appears is what happened with yours. Find a way to get into DOS or the setup and delete one of the versions of windows, or reformat the hard drive and install the version you want to use. Situations like this are why I like to keep a backup of all the essential drivers for my computer.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
syxx2001 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2005 Same thing happened to me on Christmas Eve. Kept restarting. I think at that point I tried reformatting but ended up fucking it up so I took it to the shop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Black Lushus 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2005 that's happened to me as well...it was a virus... I've also had it where the computer will compltely shut off on it's own out of the blue...I could start it back up but after 5 minutes or so it would do it again...that too was a virus... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eclipse 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2005 Well, they ended up bringing another person in that they knew, and me and him tackled the problem. What ended up happening what that the driver for the CMOS battery in the system was fucked up. He tried opening the PC, but unfortunately, it's one of those proprietary PCs that are ultra hard to open. They called Dell, and they tried getting into the PC through their DSL connection, since it was live. For some reason, something in the PC was eating up ALL THE MEMORY, and they couldn't even run diagnostics on the PC. So, Dell just sent them a Resource Disk, so they could reset everything back to factory defaults. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Black Lushus 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2005 they didn't find a virus? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dimensions 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2005 Just give it a hug next time...you probably kick it around if its a tower and it doesn't appreciate things like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Black Lushus 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2005 See, the shop I took it to told me that Yahoo Messenger's anti-virus software conflicted with what i already had on my PC and it caused my firewalls to basically not work at all, like the two programs cancelled each other out and it pretty much left my comp open to any and every attack... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eclipse 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2005 they didn't find a virus? Heh, things must have been SO MESSED up. It wouldn't read the CDROM drive, and we put in a virus scanner to scan at bootup. I even changed the boot sequence to read the CDROM drive first, and it STILL wouldn't read the drive first. It would just go directly to the hard drive, try and boot XP, and then restart itself. Dell tried getting into the PC through the DSL, but something in the system wouldn't let it get in and they couldn't figure it out. They could have fixed the problem like that. What they found out was that ALL THE preinstalled software was corrupted. That's why they are just gonna send that disk to them. BUT, if it is a virus, I don't think that disk will erase the virus, unless I am wrong... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Black Lushus 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2005 If it's a complete system reinstall, most times it SHOULD fix the problem...sadly you gotta start from scratch with everything...been there done that...but i've had a case where I had to have my entire hard drive replace...it sucks and it's time consuming... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted April 8, 2005 See, the shop I took it to told me that Yahoo Messenger's anti-virus software conflicted with what i already had on my PC and it caused my firewalls to basically not work at all, like the two programs cancelled each other out and it pretty much left my comp open to any and every attack... Yahoo is a god damn bitch. They have caused my computer more problems than anything possible. With their stupid updates and anti-virus program that knocks off the one that actually works while disabling itself, it's a miracle I get anything done with them on my PC. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Black Lushus 0 Report post Posted April 11, 2005 hey, you get what you pay for: SHIT! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eclipse 0 Report post Posted April 11, 2005 My friend is definately gonna lose everything, and he is gonna start like when he first got the PC. Dell said that most likely, it was the usage of p2p programs like LimeWire. The Dell Rep said they can download viruses from trying to download the music there. THAT'S ALWAYS the reason they give, and that's always the scapegoat. They know someone else that knows WAY more about computers than I do, and he is going ALL OUT. It's fucked up! He is gonna put permissions on the computer! It's gonna feel like if their PC was like a PC for office workers! You only get access to certain things, etc. They are gonna put passwords on everything when he uses the PC, for downloading, for going on certain sites, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
