Computer problems grinding the last of my gears

[Hero of Canton]

Well. I get home from class tonight and decide to use my computer. So I go on, no problems, working the same as usual. All of a sudden it just reboots itself. But once it gets to the Windows XP boot screen (where it loads, not the logon and past all the bios stuff), a blue screen with a visible, lengthy error message flashes for pretty much less than 1/4 a second. It goes and it reboots again, repeat error.

I can leave it up for ten minutes and I still persists. I have looked into the problem and have heard nothing useful or consistent.

The recurring solutions I found are most common with faulty ram (which I plan on testing tomorrow when I can get my hands on fresh...er ram). I have also heard that it has to do with Windows files becoming magically corrupted and I need to run a repair or reformat (which is my last resort). However to each of these solutions, I've heard others say they don't work.

Basically, in the usual way of Windows, it's a complete mess.

Also, safe mode does not work (same problem).

The blue screen flashes far too fast to even begin making out the details.

I guess I am posting this long, idiotic ramble to see if anyone has any idea what is going on and to see if anyone has any possible solutions?

[Evil Jim]

Upgrade to Windows RG (Really Good edition). I guarantee it will solve all your problems. And replace them with all new problems.

[Hero of Canton]

Sadly, that looks a whole lot better than what I've got now.

At least I can type part of a word document on RG.

And click stuff.

[Evil Jim]

MILK SPONGE indeed.

[spartanhelmet]

Possible issues - software or hardware. But seeing as you're getting what I assume is a BSOD, it's likely that weird overlap of the two, aka driver issues. First step, boot into safe mode. Hold F8 while booting to get the menu.

If not, then it's hardware. Some of the strangest possible errors can happen because of your power supply. Trust me, it's the weirdest shit possible and then some. If you can find a reliable power supply (preferably equal or greater wattage) to borrow, try using it and see if there's a difference. I wouldn't be surprised if that helps, and if so, run Memtest on your current ram seeing as it may be perfectly fine.

Happy hunting

[goat]

Possible issues - software or hardware. But seeing as you're getting what I assume is a BSOD, it's likely that weird overlap of the two, aka driver issues. First step, boot into safe mode. Hold F8 while booting to get the menu.

If not, then it's hardware. Some of the strangest possible errors can happen because of your power supply. Trust me, it's the weirdest shit possible and then some. If you can find a reliable power supply (preferably equal or greater wattage) to borrow, try using it and see if there's a difference. I wouldn't be surprised if that helps, and if so, run Memtest on your current ram seeing as it may be perfectly fine.

Happy hunting

He already said that he can't get into safe mode.

I've never gotten an actual error message due to a faulty power supply. If the PSU is bad, typically it just croaks without any warning whatsoever.

Memtest sounds like your best bet, frankly, but you've already figured that out. If that comes up negative, I'd probably try and find a spare hard drive with an install of windows on it and swap that in. If your computer makes it to through the windows boot screens, I'm betting your OS crapped.

Another thing to try would be leaving it on the BIOS screen for awhile. Say, 5-10 minutes. If that works fine, then you can pretty much rule out having mobo/PSU issues.

If it turns out that your windows install is bad, you're going to have to try booting from a disc to try and recover your files.

[gcninja]

first stop the auto reboot
1. Right-click on Computer, select Properties.
2. Click Advanced System Settings.
3. On the Advanced tab, under “Startup and Recovery”, click “settings”.
3. Under “System Failure”, uncheck the box next to “automatic restart”.

then when it does it again, you can right down the STOP code, and i usually right down any .exes or .dlls i see and jsut google it. with XP+ its usuall a driver issue which is a quick fix, or a more serious harware issue

[Lorithad]

first stop the auto reboot
1. Right-click on Computer, select Properties.
2. Click Advanced System Settings.
3. On the Advanced tab, under “Startup and Recovery”, click “settings”.
3. Under “System Failure”, uncheck the box next to “automatic restart”.

then when it does it again, you can right down the STOP code, and i usually right down any .exes or .dlls i see and jsut google it. with XP+ its usuall a driver issue which is a quick fix, or a more serious harware issue

This would be good, except he can't get into normal mode, or safe mode. This step should be done as one of the first things you do when you get a computer. Just in case such a situation occurs.

If you can't get into windows at all, there are a number of things you can try. Booting to recovery console from your windows installation cd, then doing a chkdsk /r has fixed more problems than I can count.

Really, what you should do is do a repair of windows, back up your information, and then go for a full format and reinstall.

[It's My Delorean]

Oh, I totally had this. Don't ask me how to fix it though, my computer whiz of a basement border fixed it.

[Hero of Canton]

Thanks for all the speedy replies.

Before heading into dicking around with the hardware I decided to attempt to repair my Windows install. It seemed to work overall as I am now in Windows with all of my old data.

First thing I did? Switch off automatic reboots!

Thanks again for the help, it's greatly appreciated!

[gcninja]

well if it acts up again, go with the instructions and copy the code and google it

[Hero of Canton]

well if it acts up again, go with the instructions and copy the code and google it

As I plan.

[Smidge]

Here are some quick things you can do.

1. Download the ultimate boot CD.
2. Run the Memtest86 program from the UBCD. ( not Memtest86+ )
3. Go get coffee or whatever you like to drink.
4. Watch a movie.
5. After about 6 hours of running, see if any ram errors have been found.

90% of these cases are caused by faulty ram, and memtest86 has helped me confirm this lots of times.

Get the bootable CD at: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

[Lorithad]

90% of these cases are caused by faulty ram, and memtest86 has helped me confirm this lots of times.

Anybody can make up statistics. 86% of all people know that.

Seriously though, i've never seen faulty ram cause a bsod on a previously good computer. All the faulty ram i've ever seen has been faulty on purchase. This includes my year and a half span of doing tech support for HP.

So your 90% thing is BS unless you can come up with some actual statistics. OS corruption, I could easily see being a 90%.

[It's My Delorean]

Your lucky. I tried that and it didn't work. Seems that I had gone for what I thought was a good security option and inadvertantly made it so that the Windows installer itself couldn't look at the system files. You'd think Microsoft woulda built in an oerride, but I guess they thought that would have been too efficiant.

[masamune]

anyone mind if i semi-hijack this now that the problem is (hopefully) solved? no?
okay, i had the windows 7 beta installed a while ago as a dual boot OS on a partition of my windows XP, but it didn't work properly with my graphics card, so i decided to format the win7 partition to install some games on there instead. apparently this is a bad idea. i'm currently stuck with a dual boot screen on every reboot with the option of xp or 7 (which shows an error if you select it). now, normally a pretty simple solution, but i've tried everything here. XP is the default OS, my boot.ini ONLY shows the xp installation, so i can't edit anything out of it, tried going into the 'settings and recovery' properties and unticking the 'time to display OS' option, even tried checking the boot paths in msconfig and it says everything is fine. any suggestions? it's a minor inconvenience, but it's annoying me.

[Master Gunner]

I'm guessing the Master Boot Record is still has Windows 7 down as being installed. If you put in your xp cd, one of the repair options should be to re-write the Master Boot Record. I believe the "Ultimate Boot CD" Smidge posted also has a tool to do that.

[Lorithad]

Masamune, boot into recovery console and use the fixboot command.

[masamune]

thanks guys. worked perfectly.
one less annoyance out of the way.