PC keeps restarting

[custard218]

hi all, my pc boots up as usual but after the windows xp logo finishes the screen flashes black a few times and then it restarts, any ideas, it was working fine yesterday, it only gets used for the internet

 

[LinkedKube]

we need specifics of your pc to further help you.

 

[custard218]

we need specifics of your pc to further help you.

what kind of stuff do you need to know, i dont know much about pc's but if you tell me where to look i can find out no problem, all i know is its a e-system about a year old with 1g ram and 80g hard drive

 

[LinkedKube]

the make, model number, ram, hdd.

 

[custard218]

the make is E-S (E-system) model number is Ei 314, its got 80 gig hdd and 1gig ram, with pentium 4

 

[mflynn]

One question!

Does it do this in Safe Mode?

Mike

 

[custard218]

pass, it does not give me an option to go into safe mode, i can get into bios but i dont have a clue how to use bios

 

[Kz2]

This is how i go in safe mode, go click start, click run and type MSCONFIG. go to boot.ini and check /safeboot. Then restart your computer

 

[mflynn]

OK Custard

What Kz2 recommends will work but first you have to get into Windows and as you say it reboots before getting to the Desktop you will not be able to do that!

To get to safe mode begin tapping F8 every second after the Bios post before the XP boot (do not hold down the F8 key) and do not stop tapping until you see safe mode!

If you want to fix this lets hope you can get to the Safe Mode entry and that it does then come up.

If not it gets much harder!

Mike

 

[custard218]

well mike, looks like im doing it the hard way, i got the safe mode bit up but it just does the same, i even tried (last known good config) option, that didnt work either

rob

 

[mflynn]

OK what OS XP, XP Home?

Do you have the XP setup CD?

Mike

 

[vizion]

Have you changed any of your bios settings?

 

[custard218]

it just says windows xp on boot up, (not home or pro) and on the side casing it says windows media centre edition 2005

no bios settings have been changed, last time i just turned it on, went on google earth for 10 mins then shut it down and the next time i turned it on, this happend, but i was getting prompts about internet explorer not responding even though i didnt try to get on the net

 

[custard218]

i havnt got the xp cd either, all i got was the tower, it was from currys

 

[vizion]

maybe the spices were too hot!! If you got it from curry's there should be a system restore partition you can use. Can you boot up to the recovery console?

 

[mflynn]

What about the Computer you are using? Do you have access to an XP setup CD. Can you borrow one?

Mike

 

[custard218]

i am using my laptop which runs on vista, didnt get a disc with this either, yes i can get hold of a xp pro disc off my uncle, i can get him to wipe it and put xp or vista on but i would like to try and fix it so i dont lose all my documents and things

 

[custard218]

maybe the spices were too hot!! If you got it from curry's there should be a system restore partition you can use. Can you boot up to the recovery console?

recovery console??

 

[gbhall]

In theory, a repair installation can be performed, which does not lose data or settings, but you need the correct install CD for that 'media centre edition 2005'

You have little chance of getting this working without losing everything in the course of a full re-install. If your uncle has a minimum of knowledge, you must first take your hard disc out, put it in his PC in place of an existing primary device. Then you will be able to see everything on your hard drive, and so rescue what you need onto the other PC.

I talk about a minimum knowledge because you will need to know about IDE or SATA connections, and how to observe Master/Slave drive settings as appropriate.

 

[mflynn]

Since he has no Media center CD I am going for the UBCD4Win (that requires any XP ver CD) to build.

Once built then he will be able to do a normal System restore or a registry restore.

Mike

 

[gbhall]

mflynn, you think the poster could cope with this stuff? I'm thinking rescue the data and reinstall would be simpler.

 

[custard218]

you must first take your hard disc out, put it in his PC in place of an existing primary device. Then you will be able to see everything on your hard drive, and so rescue what you need onto the other PC.QUOTE]

if i was to do that and had a virus, would'nt the virus infect his pc?

 

[gbhall]

No, because nothing of yours is being executed unless you are careless.

It is correct however, to say that a virus may exist in some of your data files, such as excel spreadsheets, pdf's, downloads etc, and perhaps I should have mentioned the desirability of virus-checking your data afterwards. Either do it from the friends PC or after copying back to your restored PC.

In actual fact, the chances of that are very, very slight: you are equally likely to pick up an un-suspected infection from his machine !

 

[custard218]

right, i have an xp (pro i think) disc and also have a spare 20gig hdd but when i put the new hard drive in it says BOOTMGR missing??
nothings ever straight forward

 

[custard218]

i have put xp on the 20 gig hard drive and thats working fine,
im now trying to connect my 80gig hdd to the pc but when i do the dvd drive icon dissapears from "my computer" and it wont pick the hdd up, i have connected it inline with the dvd drive so could this be the problem?