I have a built computer 2.5 mz with 512 ramand XP home edition. It keeps rebooting trying to load never gets to the desk top just before it gets to the desk top its shuts down and restarts, Yesterday I tried to install SP 2, stopped responding so I canceled and I continuied to sue it. I didn't shut this computer off but today I find it repeatedlly trying to restart. I just tried the xp cd, repair and I get to the point where it asks for admin. password and I type it in and says it is not valid, and before I put the cd in I went to bios setup and entered the admin password now what!!! Please can someone help me??

Paul

 

well, unless you put a password in for the admin account it is probably blank. Try just hitting OK or the enter key when it requests the password, and make sure the account name is spelled out 'administrator'.

Beyond that sudden rebooting sounds like either a heat issue or malware. Have you tried booting into Safe Mode by hitting the F8 key as Windows actually starts? Does it allow you to get into safe mode?

 

When I am able to get to safe mode option it does the same thing reboots before desk top!! I did get into repair console by leaving password blank, but not really sure what I should do here. Thought it would give some options!!

Paul

 

The BIOS password and the XP password are not the same thing.

What it sounds like is the computer is set to reboot because there is an error. You need to find out what this error is.

What type of AntiVirus software do you have? Is it updated? Do you have an antispyware software?

My guess would be that there is a bad virus or trojan on your computer that has it stuck in the reboot. There is a way to disable this in XP, but I'll have to go find it.

You need to try to boot in Safe Mode and download a good Antispyware and see what it finds.

Here are 2 you can choose from, one is from Microsoft.

Windows Defender: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx

Ad-Aware:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Here is an antivirus for you if you don't have one, or yours isn't updated. I think it will get spyware off too, I don't use it but I hear it does a decent job. TRY IT FIRST, you must have an AV if you are on the internet.
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1


You must have a good antivirus and firewall these days. If your antivirus isn't current, it isn't doing any good. SP2 has a decent firewall that will stop most things. (SP1 has it, but not enabled, that is another story)

Anyway, try to download and run that antivirus and one of those antispyware and see what it finds.

EDIT: If you cannot try the programs above because of the reboot before you get into windows, you need to run the system recovery. Once you get to a DOS prompt, type FIXBOOT and then use FIXMBR. I think your boot file might have been messed up. Either from a failed SP2 installation or something.

 

It sounds like either a heat issue(as suggested) or possibly a bad power supply.

Go into the bios and watch the temp. monitor and see how high it is getting, the MB could be shutting down the computer because temps are getting to high to keep from frying anything. If temps are ok, then check the voltages(should also have a monitor in the bios), and see if they are holding steady.

 

Is this PC build brand new or has it been workling for some time.

 

I'm going with the heat issue. check to make sure the CPU has the correct amount of thermal conductor and that the heatsink is on correctly. also, make sure all the case fans are running and that the intake and exhaust fans are blowing air in the correct ways. intake blowing and exhaust out.

I had a server once that rebooted like that. I replaced the flat 80pin IDE cables with round and the issue went away. a way to get an idea what the temp is in the case is to use a meat thermometer and place the probe into the case through a hole. BE CAREFUL OF ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS CONTACTING THE PROBE!!!!

 

It sounds like this computer has never fully booted for you. Usually with a bad power supply, it shuts off and won't continually reboot. If it does keep rebooting, it could be a current draw issue but I would expect it to be failing earlier when the computer is spinning up all the drives.
An easy check for heat problems is if you turn the computer off overnight and leave it in a cool room. In the morning boot it up and see how long it goes before rebooting, if the time to reboot is much longer than how long in goes before rebooting after being on all afternoon, it may be a heat issue.
When you describe the computer rebooting, sounds like there may be a video card problem but only if the computer has never fully booted.
Symantec has been know to cause loading crashes but you will usually get the BSOD

 

I would disassemble it down to every part. then, install the parts only needed to boot...PS, motherboard, CPU, memory, and video card. if that's working, do the CD/DVD and hard drive.

have you tried a fresh install of windows?

video could be the issue too like wilkindw suggested. I know some AGP cards need to have power conencted to them in order to boot.

 

All here are good suggestions, I wish the OP would come back and give more info.

I keep thinking this is a Master Boot Record (MBR) issue, mainly due to the failed SP2 install.

Could the power to the computer have shut off during the night (power outage or something) that caused the computer to reboot. If so, the failed install of SP2 and damage to the MBR would not have been noticed until it was restarted, which happened when the power went out. Some computers will restart after a power outage, while some won't.

I am also thinking, as others stated, this could be a heat issue. But, because of the timing with the issue coinciding with the SP2 install, I am kind of leaning more towards that.

A fresh install of Windows would fix the MBR issue. A repair install would more than likely also, and you wouldn't lose all data.

I hope the OP comes and checks the thread again.

 

It's very possible that a program, .dll file or driver is loading, and the computer doesn't like it.. Did you install anything before it started rebooting?

 

Thanks for all the replies. I was able to finally get a repair install done to XP and it works fine now. I really beleive it was the failed sp2 install because it was allways rebooting at the same place every time and before I did the repair I did let it set overnight and same thing, Again thanks for all the replies.
I really love this site!!!
Paul