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A friend of mine has asked me to help with his computer. It continually reboots as is it gets to a point where it hits a blue screen. The error goes by so quick I cannot read it. Is there anything we can do other than reinstalling the OS.
Try to catch the BSOD by using the pause/break key when it happens so as to determine exactly what the error message is that is causing the problem.
At this point reinstalling the operating system may not help at all because these types of issues are usually caused by hardware problems.
Down load memtest86 and make the bootable disc and boot to it and allow it to run to check the memory sticks. Needs to run for at least 12 hours or till errors start to show...any error is not acceptable so the bad ram will have to be replaced.
You might also try to start the computer in safe mode to see if that will allow it to start....
Change Is Good
http://www.citizenlink.org/Stopligh...
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I tried the pause button a few times and couldn't see to grab it. I also tried safe mode. Safe mode does not seem to get the blue screen but it still reboots. I will try the memtest86 and get back to you. Thanks for your help.
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Hi Lurks,
The scan has been running for 23 hours now and is at pass 52. Do you know how many passes there are?
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When did the computer start rebooting? Does your friend know if it happened suddenly or if it has been a sporadic recurring problem? There are many reasons this can happen such as; spyware, viruses, faulty motherboard, bad/underpowered power supply...etc. A bit more specific information will help pinpoint the problem. Best regards.
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hi Jarvis,
This hapenned all of a sudden. He got the machine from his son and used it for 6 months and then all of a sudden one day it just started rebooting.
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Hi all
The scan ran for 90 hours with no errors so I finally hit esc to end it. Can anyone tell me if there is anything else I can do short of reinstalling the OS.
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Hi all
The scan ran for 90 hours with no errors so I finally hit esc to end it. Can anyone tell me if there is anything else I can do short of reinstalling the OS.
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... will it boot to "safe mode with command prompt!?
Grrrr
"...pentathol makes you sing like a canary"
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/...
... got brain freeze
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No that does not work either. The last message I see on the screen is "Press ESC to cancel loading of SPDT.sys.....a few seconds later it reboots.
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Grrrr
"...pentathol makes you sing like a canary"
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/...
... got brain freeze
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No that does not work either. The last message I see on the screen is "Press ESC to cancel loading of SPDT.sys.....a few seconds later it reboots.
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Hi Mavis,
Sorry for the delay. The Win XP boot cd I have does not seem to give me an option to do a repair. I can't seem to get to recovery console. I just get to a screen where I can install XP, create a partition, or delete the selected partition. I am trying to find another CD.
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The CD you have will do a repair install. When you get the option to Install hit Enter. It will then go to the next screen where setup will detect the existing installation and give you the option to repair it. Do so.
At this point you may get an error message that the CD is an older version than the one installed. If you get this it means that the operating system has been updated with a servicepack not contained in the CD. To overcome this you will need to create a new Install CD with the latest servicepack slipstreamed.
You have ruled out RAM as the cause of your problems but it could be a problem with your harddrive. I suggest you also download a harddrive diagnostic tool. These also run on bootable floppy similar to the Memtest prog. Just be careful which tests you run as some will wipe the drive.
Goin' Fishin' (Some day)
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Okay I hit enter and the next screen I get to is;
The partition is either too full, damaged, not formatted, or formatted with an incompatible file system. To continue installing Windows, Setup must format this partition.
It then gives me 2 choices....format using NTFS (Quick) or format using NTFS
ENTER=Continue ESC=Cancel
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"...A friend of mine has asked me to help with his computer. It continually reboots..."
... ya! ... thats what friends are for! ... some do'nt tell you the whole story... anyway hope you got the serial for that xp cd
... full format by the looks of it! ... all of your friends files and love letters will be "toast" after this!
... have fun! ... post back in same thread when you're done!
... unless "Richard59" wants to advocate(?)... anyone?
.
.
....
Grrrr
"...pentathol makes you sing like a canary"
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/...
... got brain freeze
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Great news. I was able to fix the problem. I went to Recovery Console and tried to do a dir. It failed on 'An error occured during directory renumeration'. I googled this message and found that I shoudl run chkdsk /r /p. I did this and it ran for several minutes and then reported that one or more errors were fixed. I rebooted the machine and viola....i was able to startup windows. Thanks everyone for your guidance. Now I am off to post my next problem with a different machine.
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