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A neighbour has got a problem with her Dell Dimension 3000 Pc which seems to be stuck in a reboot loop.
When the pc is switched on it gets to the Window s logo and then reboots itself followed by the usual "We apologise for inconvenience the ......." message before it tries to reboot again and so the cycle goes.It won't even boot in Safe mode.I have tested all the hardware and cannot find any problems.Memory and Hard drive pass all Dell Diagnostic utilty tests. I can run and use the system using a Linux Live Cd without any issues. So I know the hardware is good.which leaves me to believe the XP installation is corrupted. Now before I wipe the hard drive clean and do complete reinstallation,I just wanted a confirmation that I haven't missed anything obvious.
repair install my be your best bet, instead of loosing all that information that he has on there.
Jim R
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Does it consistantly reboot at the same point, or is it randomly rebooting?
If it is randomly rebooting the power supply may be defective.
Failing power supplies are common and can cause your symptoms.
Check your PS.
See response 4 in this:
http://www.computing.net/hardware/w...If it is consistantly rebooting at the same point, it's probably a software issue.
If this computer still has it's original Dell software installation on it....
If there is no recovery CD or CDs, if your neighbour had the sense to make a CD or CD's using Dell supplied utilities in the Programs menu that can re-install the operating system (or certain programs) originally installed on the computer, or that can start up the built in Recovery program while booting or from a CD which may have the same options, you could try that rather than have to re-install everything from scratch using a Recovery CD set.
...If this computer does NOT have the original Dell software installation on it, and Windows has been installed from a regular cd, then you can try what Beginner1 suggested....a repair install, or better termed an XP Repair Setup....
An XP Repair Setup will not harm your existing Windows installation, but it can only fix things Windows detects as wrong, and/or replace corrupted or missing Windows files that are on your original XP CD. If running it doesn't cure enough of your problems and/or the problems are caused by things not on the original Windows CD, you will probably have to make a clean install of Windows from scratch.
You will need a Windows CD of the same version as the one of your Windows installation, and the Product Key, preferably the one that was used to install it, but it can be one for the same version as the one of your Windows installation.how to do an XP Repair Setup, step by step:
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/win...If your Windows CD did not have SP1 or SP2 included, and you updated to SP1 or SP2, you will probably have to install that again to get SP1 or SP2 working properly again.
...Note that I have tried using this XP Repair Setup method to fix a HP original brand name software install, using a regular Windows CD of the same version - in that case there was no second Repair option, so an XP Repair Setup it can't be done.
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Tried to do a repair install according to the dell manual (<cntrl> <F11>) to enter set up mode but this fails. I get a keyboard error yet keyboard passes its diagnostic tests.
Also tried normal repair install by booting off the Dell XP install Cd but it fails to find the original installation to repair.The funny thing is (at least to my limited knowledge of Dell PC's)is that the HD has 3 Partitions C (unknown file system), E (FAT32) and a 55mb FAT partition which is just labelled as "-". I assume this is where dell hide their system install files?
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Tubesandwires
you posted as I was replying to beginner1.the reboot happens at exactly at the same point which is why I thought it might be a corrupt software as well.
as for the installation CDs ,she's got all the CD that came with the pc when she bought it including reinstallation cd, driver utility cd and applications cd.
Like I said in the previous post what puzzles me is why I cannot do the <cntrl> <F11> to do a Dell system restore as suggested by the dell manual
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Jam
As i said in the previous post when I try to repair install the original Installation is not detected. i only get the option to to install on either partitions C or E as fresh install and not repair install.
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So you're saying there is no "C:\Windows Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" listed on the Repair screen? Did you confirm that there is (or isn't) a C:\Windows folder on the HDD?
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"i only get the option to to install on either partitions C or E as fresh install and not repair install."
That's the same situation as I had (referred to in response 2).
"Note that I have tried using this XP Repair Setup method to fix a HP original brand name software install, using a regular Windows CD of the same version - in that case there was no second Repair option, so an XP Repair Setup it can't be done.""Like I said in the previous post what puzzles me is why I cannot do the <cntrl> <F11> to do a Dell system restore as suggested by the dell manual"
In the case of the HP computer someone had installed XP Pro on the recovery partition without wiping it out - the original installation was XP Home on the other partition - the Press F10 to run Recovery option seen on the HP boot up screen did not do anything either.
I suspect your recovery partition is corrupted - it could be because the hard drive is failing -
check your hard drive with the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics -
See the latter part of response 1 in this:
http://www.computing.net/windows95/...
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Did the hard drive diagnostic test using both Dell's supplied utility and also using the Seagate Seatools and both show no errors.
I guess it must be a corrupt registry/Partition. I have already made backup of critical folders using Ubuntu live CD. That just leaves me to do a fresh reinstall.
Thanks for all your help
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If there's nothing wrong with the hard drive itself, that should work fine.
I ended up doing a full (from scratch)restore on that HP system too, using a set of Recovery CDs I ordered from HP.
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