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CompProb - Inadvertent Reboots During Bootup

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 5:57 pm
by nigma
What could cause a computer running WinXP Pro to restart itself after a certain point in bootup -- that point being after the windows logo / loading screen? I get no beeps from the motherboard when I turn the computer on, all I get is the standard message saying "Your computer was not shutdown properly. You can... (1) Start in Safe Mode ... (X) Start using Last Known Good Configuration ... (3) Start normally." Regardless of which option I choose I am given the typical windows loading screen after which the computer reboots and the whole process is repeated. What makes this especially wierd is that I can think of nothing that triggered this. I've made no changes to hardware and only occasionally made minor changes to software (such as winupdate).

Could the power supply have been damaged and is now not able to produce enough power to start the computer?

Any ideas?

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 7:58 pm
by feyd
I think I had such an issue when a HD failed once. I think a critical driver failed another time.. or what that at the same time... hmm

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 1:57 am
by n00b Saibot
XP reboots automatically when a serious error, such as missing or corrupt driver, hardware failure, etc.

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:40 am
by JAM
I hade this occur due to bad graphics drivers. Happened after the bootlogo and at the same time as the screen resolution was about to change. I guess that the resolution change made the computer reboot.

Solved it by rebooting in failsafe and reinstall the drivers...

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:48 am
by nigma
Alright. So assuming it's a driver problem, any ideas on what could cause a driver that's been working to stop working? Could a new version of some driver have been download during an automatic winupdate and then caused a problem?

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated.

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:57 am
by feyd
it's possible, but not likely that an update caused it, directly. If possible, boot with the Windows install CD, asking it to repair the installation. If not possible, try booting in command line mode and running a few things like chkdsk. You may need to return to a previous restore point as well.. (not sure how that's done via command line at this time though.. sorry)

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:30 am
by JayBird
feyd wrote:You may need to return to a previous restore point as well.. (not sure how that's done via command line at this time though.. sorry)
Press F8 before the windows boot logo appears, then select "last known good configuration"

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:33 am
by feyd
I was referring to an even earlier restore point.. :P

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:57 am
by s.dot
I've heard of this happening on pirated versions of windows that have been unsuccessfully "cracked" or tried to update to one of the service packs

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 1:00 pm
by nigma
Feyd, I'll have to give that a shot. Thanks.