Xp problem #2

[P_A_N_I_C]

hmpf well back again with another xp machine with an issue that's bugging me

PC reboots just before the logon prompt is displayed, then it gets stuck in a reboot loop.

XP machine logs onto a domain so you get the messages that say... prepairing network connection... applying computer settings... then it reboots.

boots fine in safe mode and vga mode

booted to erd commander and restored system back a week to the last checkpoint which made no difference.

then ran chkdsk /f /r which took about 2 freekin hours most of which was verifying free space (500GB drive), but it didnt flag up any errors that i could see. again this made no difference.

now the only thing that had any effect was when i disconnected the network cable - XP actually showed the logon prompt! you can then either logon or leave it but either way after about 20-30 seconds the pc reboots :/

i disable the onboard port and i still get the log on prompt, but still the pc will reboot.

it's pretty specific as to where it reboots, and as it loads in safe mode then this must be leading me somewhere but i'm a little bit stuck on how to resolve this. did i mention the user doesn't have a windows disk...

ran the inbuild HP diags from boot, they show cpu memory hdd are all ok.

anyway to tell what it's getting stuck on? event log isnt helping. must be a driver or application taking a dump, but which one??

hmpf

 

[Senture]

During the POST sequence, just before XP starts booting you can press F8 to bring up a selection of options. Choose "disable automatic restart on system crash" or something along those lines. Note down the message in the BSOD and the stop code then do some poking about in relation to the stop code.

 

[P_A_N_I_C]

unfortunately i did choose that option and it still rebooted :/ do you know if that option is perminant or a once only use?

 

[Nanobot]

Have you tried Autoruns in safe mode to see if there is anything unusual that may be autorunning at start up? You could try unchecking 'certain things' you dont recognise and troubleshoot from there.
If the machine is using a Ghost image or other type of image, have you tried a manual reinstall in case a component has changed. Just a thought.

 

[PistolPete]

unfortunately i did choose that option and it still rebooted :/ do you know if that option is perminant or a once only use?

Either the setting wasn't saved correctly as once it's set it stays set or something else is rebooting the machine.

Have you tried F8 and booting into the Last Known Good?