I have been having recent problems with my computer during startup. When i turn it on the computer will sometimes restart itself during boot up, or even during the Windows XP loading screen and even at the desktop right after startup. The computer experiences some delay but continues to work a little less than normal as far as speed goes. I ran scandisk for bad sectors several times, in which it claimed to have corrected them. Ive also defragged and ran several virus and spyware scans to no avail. No real problems while i use it but i am afraid that perhaps my hard drive or my windows files will become corrupt if this is not corrected. Any ides? Thanks in advance.

Virus and spyware scans work better in Windows Safe-Mode. May be had to tell what the exact cause is, because of the various points of restart. ------------ Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced tab, Settings button (Starup and Recovery), uncheck Automatically Restart. Now you should get an error message when it happens again. --------------- Or try this- How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP To help troubleshoot error messages or other issues when you cannot determine the cause of the issue, disable common startup programs, settings, and drivers to eliminate possible software conflicts when you start Microsoft Windows XP. This procedure is known as "clean booting." ------------- (Can be done by way of Windows Safe-Mode, if normal Windows does not work) A Description of the Safe Mode Boot Options in Windows XP logon as Administrator, but where it says RESTART, restart into normal Windows.) ------------- How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP Print the articles for reference. ---------------- To find out what each Startup(or Process) item does or means, and any recommendation as to if you should close the process: Task List Programs Also look here if you want: The Process Library Not all found at each place. Each advertises their software product.

You may need to run a program to check and see if your RAM is still good. There are several programs out there for testing RAM. Microsoft has one here: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp There are many other ones out there if you don't like this one.

Memory(RAM), test program for downloading: http://www.memtest86.com/

Spontaneous reboots are almost always hardware related, usually either power problems or heat. Happening 30 seconds after a cold boot is not that unusual, the CPU can overheat in 10 seconds, a weak and failing power supply can cause reboots at any time. Power problems or overclocking can cause the video card to overheat in 30 seconds or less, resulting in a reboot... those are just a few possibilities... also I have noticed that there is a Bad sector into your HDD have you tested that HDD with a diagnostic Tool from your HDD manufacturer ? also have you tried another HDD just for testing purpose ? Finally :A dust inside your Computer & a flaky memory chips can also cause random re-boots. Bon Courage..