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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Desktop computer reboots, need help
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AuthorThread
 12/10/2007 10:52:07 PM · #1
Hello, My desktop PC is acting up. When I turn it on it continuously reboots and never gets into windows. Anyone know what causes that?

Thanks!
 12/10/2007 10:54:14 PM · #2
Can you get into safe mode?
12/10/2007 11:01:18 PM · #3
Blaster Worm?

Message edited by author 2007-12-10 23:02:02.
 12/11/2007 12:47:36 AM · #4
It could be a failing hard drive. We've had a few come into our business doing the same thing lately.
 12/11/2007 01:26:23 AM · #5
try the following:
1. open your case outside and blow all the dust out of it. get it real nice and clean.
2. make sure all the cables are connected form the hard drive's to the motherboard.
3. get into the system bios, usually by pressing delete key or f2 on startup, and set the boot device order to HD first, then cd then floppy.
4. disconnect the lan cable from the network card.
5. startup in safemode, push f8 or f9 repeadidly when booting up. and then start in safe mode, do a clean restart, or remove whatever changes you made to your computer, if you want do a system restore to one day before the problem started to happen.
6. if all this fails, you can set the boot order to cd first and then put in your cd of the vindows version you are using and repair windows.
12/11/2007 01:33:06 AM · #6
Originally posted by Jimbo_for_life:
try the following:
1. open your case outside and blow all the dust out of it. get it real nice and clean.
2. make sure all the cables are connected form the hard drive's to the motherboard.
3. get into the system bios, usually by pressing delete key or f2 on startup, and set the boot device order to HD first, then cd then floppy.
4. disconnect the lan cable from the network card.
5. startup in safemode, push f8 or f9 repeadidly when booting up. and then start in safe mode, do a clean restart, or remove whatever changes you made to your computer, if you want do a system restore to one day before the problem started to happen.
6. if all this fails, you can set the boot order to cd first and then put in your cd of the vindows version you are using and repair windows.


thats some good advice!
12/11/2007 10:10:54 AM · #7
How far does it get? That may give an idication of where the problem is ocurring. Are you getting as far as the windows splash screen? What displays at the time it reboots?

I had my computer doing random spontaneous reboots at one time (a homebuilt Athlon 2000) and it looked like a hardware problem to me. Turned out to be a corrupted OS, as a couple of weeks later, it quit booting altogether. Reinstalled Windows to another partition and it was fine.
 12/11/2007 10:16:36 AM · #8
this is one of the reasons to partition your hard drive before storing data on it. set up a partition for the OS, so if it fails - like it sounds like it's doing - you can simply format the OS partition -w/o worrying about losing data. that's all on one or more of the other partitions.

if you back up your contacts and bookmarks to one of the non-OS partitions you won't even lose those. then all you have to do is reinstall the OS and the applications you use.
 05/13/2010 10:23:34 AM · #9
Originally posted by JeffDay:
Hello, My desktop PC is acting up. When I turn it on it continuously reboots and never gets into windows. Anyone know what causes that?

Thanks!


Often, something is wrong with the software inside the computer. This has happened to me, and my only solution was to re-install the operating system. Unless your computer has a floppy-disk drive. In that case, I can make you a boot disk that will boot your computer off the floppy for the rest of its life. Not a logical resolution if you USE the floppy drive much, but the best solution would be to reinstall the operating system. Occasionally, something will happen to the boot.ini or another system file that helps startup the computer, and without a computer that starts us, you can't fix that file...

Re-install windows.

Hope that helped!
- Jackson Gariety
 05/13/2010 10:45:54 AM · #10
Honestly, reinstalling Windows would be the last resort. If its just a matter of a card being loose and you reinstall Windows then you've lost everything AND you still have the problem.
 05/13/2010 11:19:28 AM · #11
I deal with this on a daily basis at work. You are more than likely getting a "blue screen of death". There is a setting that will stop it from rebooting when that happens but by default, windows is set up to reboot and try again when that happens. This makes the pc immediately reboot and you never actually see the blue screen appear. It is rare to be able to fix a BSOD and as suggested, you're better off reinstalling windows.

You can however attach the hard drive to another pc and get any files you need off it before doing that.
 05/13/2010 12:05:03 PM · #12
i see this almost daily. you're describing a corrupt boot sector. it's the block on your hard drive that is essentially the #1 byte of info for your windows install.

this has a relatively easy repair that works about 90% of the time. you need to get a windows XP cd (i'm assuming you are experiencing this problem in windows XP, any variation of it) boot to the windows XP cd and select REPAIR when you are asked if you want to install windows or repair existing install.

You will be brought to a prompt for which windows install you want to enter, select 1 (unless you have multiple OS's on your PC, in which case you will select the windows XP install)

you will be brought to a dos prompt. at the dos prompt type:

chkdsk /r (hit enter)

this process can take from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the hard drive size and pc speed.

When finished you will be back at a dos prompt. type exit (hit enter). windows should boot normally. if NOT you may need to run the chkdsk twice!

Joe

eta: correct spelling

Message edited by author 2010-05-13 12:07:31.
 05/13/2010 12:32:40 PM · #13
You do all realize this is over two years old?
 05/13/2010 12:55:56 PM · #14

05/13/2010 01:59:16 PM · #15
Originally posted by spiritualspatula:
You do all realize this is over two years old?


nah. didn't notice. but i still see this symptom multiple times weekly, i'm certain people are still experiencing it. can't hurt having it out there.
 05/13/2010 02:08:30 PM · #16
Originally posted by FourPoint7:
Originally posted by spiritualspatula:
You do all realize this is over two years old?


nah. didn't notice. but i still see this symptom multiple times weekly, i'm certain people are still experiencing it. can't hurt having it out there.


Yeah, I a agree that posting relevant info is useful on a forum since they're archived... but everybody was so specifically speaking to the OP. I just HAD to ask.
I still wonder how necromancers fail to realize the freshness of their subject...

ApertureJack?
 05/13/2010 02:23:23 PM · #17
Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

(snip) I still wonder how necromancers (snip)


this took me a minute, and once i got it i have been cracking up since.
05/13/2010 02:26:57 PM · #18
ahhh, i love a good necrobump :D
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