Windows XP stuck in an endless boot loop?

[Draeger]

A friend is having a bit of bother with his PC.

He went to switch it on yesterday and it booted to the screen where it tells you that Windows was not shut down properly etc. Gives options of boot using last known good config, safe mode, boot normally etc.

I had this before with another persons PC and solved the problem of taking the rather drastic measure of reformatting and reinstalling XP.

However, what problem is this indicative of ( I'm thinking it could be one of a multitude of things ), and can anyone recommend any steps to try first to fix it before I use a sledgehammer to crack a nutshell and reformat it?.

Read a few articles of using the recovery console to attempt a fix, however, my mate has no Windows CD as the PC was bought "off the shelf" from a small independent system builder, so the only Windows CD I could use to copy over the files required for the Recovery Console would be my own XP Pro SP2. Would this work if it got to that stage, especially as I'm 99% sure his version of XP is Home?.

Thanks for any advice. 8)

 

[Meatball]

use your XP Home OEM disc, it MUST be the same, ie. if he has Windows XP Home OEM the disc MUST be XP Home OEM. I've seen this problem loads of times, its always when they turn the power off when still in Windows. I solved the problem the same way as you. When I tried their hard drive in my computer it was shown not be to formatted . If you can't recover it see if you can do a file scan on it to recover their documents and simply reformat

Poss helpful links from OcUk:
PC stuck in crash / reboot loop
Computer keeps restarting
Weird XP StartUp Issues
Windows Re-booting!
Best program to test for HD ERRORS?
Blue Screen

Poss. Helpful external link:
How To Fix Windows XP Logon Screen Does not Appear and the Computer Continuously Restarts
Windows Restarts Continuously with Blue Screen
XP Continuously Restarts - Seems good

 

[zetec452]

Don't format yet.

Try taking all USB and non essential puerperal devices out of the pc. Can he boot into safe mode at all?

Its worth checking what backups have been made etc if he can get into safe mode.

Next step would be to repair windows using his XP Disk.

Not sure why everyone just immediately thinks format when XP Breaks.

 

[Draeger]

Thanks, kinda thought as much.

So, would a repair install require the same thing, i.e. XP Home to be the CD used and his own serial number entered during the install process?.

Or is it looking like I might need to wipe the lot and start from scratch?.

I've fixed this guys PC a few times before, it seems like his kids have no patience when it comes to shutting the computer down so I would not be surprised if they have just switched the power off to it as its been shutting down, like you say.

He's also one of those guys that doesn't keep discs handy. Last time I repaired it for him, I took a while to source all the drivers for his system and burned them to disc for him. Asked him last night if he still had the disc and he replied "What disc?. I dunno?. Might have been chucked out, not sure?".

@JonRohan.....He doesnt have an XP disc, thats part of the problem. As I said, it was a PC bought from a small local system builder/shop and they dont supply discs with their systems unfortunately.

 

[Meatball]

In the links I posted for you most of them seem to say the same thing: XP Recovery console and chkdsk.

A very common (but not the only) cause of this type of error is a
damaged hard drive data structure. Usually this produces an
UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME error; and if the default Windows setting to
"restart on failure" is in effect you will get the result you are
experiencing.

Boot to the Recovery Console and when it stops at the C:\> command
prompt enter the following command:

CHKDSK /R

That may fix the problem.

If not your next option would be a Repair Install of Windows XP. Boot
from the Windows XP CDROM and then follow the instructions at
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm A Repair Install
will preserve your installed applications, user data files, and
program configuration settings. However Windows Updates will all have
to be reinstalled.

If neither of these resolves the problem then post a further response
back here. There is an additional procedure that we can try but it is
a complex process involving multiple reboots etc.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

 

[Draeger]

Thanks for the links m8, I'm going through them all just now and having a read.

Still wondering about the two different types of Windows, Home and Pro. Would think if I attempt a repair install on it with my Pro CD, its going to throw a fit at some point.

 

[zetec452]

Still wondering about the two different types of Windows, Home and Pro. Would think if I attempt a repair install on it with my Pro CD, its going to throw a fit at some point.

Should work although I'd see if you can get a XP Home disk first, preferably with the same service pack. It can't really break it any more than it has done already.

You could also down load Maxtor Powertools and check the disk for errors. chkdsk would be better as it will fix errors. The maxtor tool is to see if the drive is completely banana'd.


Jon