Need to boot in safemode before I can boot normal

Every time I shut down, when I start back up it gets all the way to the desktop then suddenly fails and restarts, which causes a disc check process, and after that either and endless cycle of reboots/disc checks or a BSOD.

If I boot into safemode and clean out the FILE00* left behind and run CCleaner, it boots up just fine, but upon shutdown I have the same problem the next time. A VISCIOUS cycle.

I thought it was a driver conflict issue, and thought I had resolved it, but apoparently not.

PC is clean of any adware, spyware, malware, trojans, viruses, etc.

Win2K, Avast AV, Sygate FW, and that's about it. Only used for email and research.

Thanks for any help or suggestions,
Aiko

 

By Win2k, I assume you mean Win2k SP4 Update Rollup 1. That is, you're fully patched.

The incessant disk checking is caused by your file system being FAT32 instead of NTFS. You can convert the disk to NTFS (a more robust file system) but then the disk will not necessarily be readable by DOS boot disks, Windows 95/98/ME, or Linux, so if you dual boot that may be an issue. More on how to convert to NTFS. Be sure to have a backup before you try it.

Converting to NTFS may solve your problems completely, but if you have an incorrect driver installed or configured that's causing a reboot then you still may blue screen on reaching the desktop. What, exactly, is the blue screen error message? You may be able to see it in the system Event Log (although that may only work on blue screen error under NTFS).

 

Yes, fully patched, and I'm an idiot for not writing down the error message.

What's worse, upon trying to boot up just now, the pc made the strangest sound I have never heard any pc make before (kind of like the doors opening on the Enterprise), repeatedly, and after doing that many times it finally when through the preliminary stages of booting and then presented the following error (not BSOD):

Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<windows 2000 root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Also strange, when I left this morning, I had cleaned and booted up and all was well, pc at desktop. This is my wife's pc. She called because she didn't know what to do because the pc was in Safe Mode! In my mind, it would be impossible for the pc to get to Safe Mode without user intervention, no?
A reboot, for any reason, would not go into safe mode without pressing F8 and selecting that option, right?

At any rate, now I'm thinking this pc's HD is failing, but at any rate, I will open it up, and more than likely do a clean install of Win2K and see what happens, or just hobble together a new pc for her.

I am still curious to hear any thought or feedback. Since I cannot boot, I cannot duplicate the crash and get the BSOD error.