My fiance has a MSI Wind Netbook
It's running XP (sp 3, i believe)

Since yesterday it has refused to start properly. It begins the loading process, but stops before too long. It says that Windows has not been able to begin successfully, and it gives some start-up options. They are:

safe mode
safe mode with network
safe mode with command prompt
last known good configuration
starts windows normally

No matter what you choose, it begins loading but quickly flashes a blue screen (BSOD?) for only a fraction of a second, and restarts. That begins the whole process all over again.

She said it began after some updates requested to restart her system. She claims it was the Avast anti-virus, but I've never seen Avast ask for a restart. She can't tell me specifically what updates they were; only that she clicked "restart later" for about a week before finally clicking "restart now."

I've been very adamant about keeping her system free of viruses and malware.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks!

I second this, it just happened to me this mourning as i woke up to the intermittent beeping of the mother board 6 or 7 times as it tried to restart itself...

POST runs successfully, doesn't show any problems, then we get the previously mentioned 5 options, then I see the windows launch screen with loading bar for half a second, then it restarts itself and the process begins again.

For what it's worth, I also have Avast, but the restart request would have happened when I was asleep, so I never saw it.

I just tried clearing CMOS (i think that's what its called) and taking out the mother board battery, but that didn't help. Ive seen that people recommend booting from a CD, but seeing how I'm in my college dorm with no access to any original CDs, I guess I'm out of ideas....

bump....

Also, I'm not getting a BSOD, it just restarts itself on the windows launch screen automatically....

bump again I guess...

@ ElliotFriend, I would go to the Virus and Malware forum her and read the UPDATED 8 Step sticky, follow the steps as given in the order given, and post over there with the three required logs. Those "updates" could very well be infections especially since they have only been occuring since they were installed.

@ Hocjoc - the reason you aren't getting any replies is a) this is ElliotFriend's thread and b) the readers are thinking you are answering the OP. You need to start your own thread. Thos beeps are your BIOS codes and their pattern is telling you what to look for. You should post in the General Hardware.

RESOLVED

I did a system recover with the disc that came with her netbook.

Fortunately, the problem seems to be software related, so a deconstruction of the machine was not necessary.

Unfortunately, the data was lost from her hard drive.

Thanks for your help!

ughhh lost all the data? I might as well just buy a bigger Hard drive and get a copy of Windows 7. Thanks for the update though.

I lost all the data right away. I am finding that there are utilities out there that can recover files from a disk format. I'm currently searching for one that delivers the best bang for the buck. They can be expensive, but all hope is not lost.

Any luck in the general hardware forum?

Or free

Have a look at [COLOR="Blue"]>>[/COLOR] these free ones:
Note: I have never paid for these programs, as the free ones work well

Hey, kimsland! Good to see you here and thanks for lending excellent advice.