Vista reboots at login screen

I am trying to troubleshoot this issue. I have the post here:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=157657
and was told this might be a better place to start. Thanks

 

What changes (hardware and software) if any were made before the problem occurred?

Vista is much better served than XP for recovery so first off try the Vista System Recovery. This will work from either the Vista disk or ready loaded onto the hard drive.

Do you have the Vista DVD?

If not did you manufacturer load Windows Vista Recovery via a function key? (look in your manual)

 

Yes, I took that into consideration, however, the external HDD that I normally use to back up information on will not load on this Vista machine for some reason. It pops up a window that says, loading drivers for USB 2.0 and then fails to load. Then I can't see my HDD from my computer. All my other computers see this drive fine including my laptop witch is Vista too.

Ok, system recovery, how does that differ from system restore? Or is that the same thing? Will I loose all my information?
Any clue as to why my system restarts?

 

I don't understand your reply.

I asked three questions.

None were answered.

You did also say

How can you get to 'my computer' if Vista won't load?

 

studiot, he hasn't waited until someone in malware has had a chance to see if the computer is clean.
Can you lock this thread?

 

Sorry Plodr, not wihtin my power.

However the words from the Guru (Chas) are

 

Ok, let me digress.

No changes that I am aware of. My first concern was SP1, but the last known good was 1 week after SP1 was installed according to system restore. So, I thought that I would rule that out. But, that might be a rookie mistake.

No I do not. But the machine is a HP Pavillion. They partitioned the D:\ drive as a recovery partition.

Yes, you can select F11 at startup to pull up the system recovery option.
However, it states in the manual that it re-formats the partition so that all data will be lost. Ergo my statement about the HDD.
Let me clear that up real quick. I have an external HDD in an external bay from Acomdata. It connects to the computer via USB. When I try to plug it into this machine, the one with the issue, the machine will not recognize it (the external usb drive) in my computer. So, it looks like I will have to backup profiles and data on DVD's to do this feature.

 

I can only get vista to load if I select the option of "Load last known good," at startup by pressing F8. Otherwise, It constantly reboots at the log in screen.

 

nm the previous, got to be the driver for your external