Pc Freezing, Can't Do A Repair Of Windows

I use Windows XP Pro X64

My pc started to freeze a lot yesterday so I tried running SpyBot and Avira but they kept freezing. I then tried a System Restore but there were no restore points even tho System Restore is turned and set to the max of 12%.

I then attempted to do a Windows Repair. I went into Bios and set

1st CD Rom
2nd Floppy
3rd Hard Drive

I inserted Windows CD, Rebooted

It asked me which operating system I wanted to boot to. It gave me the option of 2 XP X64 op systems or press F8 for more options. I couldn't chose anything because the cursor wouldn't move up or down. I had to wait until the timer ran out. Then it asked me if I wanted to go into Safe Mode, SM with networking, SM with command prompt. The cursor wouldn't move up or down again do I had to wait for the timer to run out again.

It then tries to get to my desktop, fails, and does the above over and over again.

Right now, I'm on a Tablet.

How can I get my pc to boot to the Windows CD?

 

Is your computer running any hotter then normal??

You got to realize this summer is going to get hotter.And Computer temps will get warmer as well.

What is the full list of what you tried to do.

Have you tried removing all Ram chips but one stick.

 

I tried running the virus programs I mentioned but when my pc kept freezing, I opened a topic in the malware forum here named "My pc keeps freezing." If you look there, you'll see every step. I tried running the programs in the list of programs there but most of them won't run on XP x64 or they kept freezing.

I then got a notice that there were MS updates. I turned off my pc, MS updates downloaded and installed, rebooted and Windows wouldn't load again.

I then decided to do a Repair of Windows. I went into Bios, changed CD Rom to first in boot order, popped in my Windows disk, rebooted, but the option to do a Repair or Reinstall never comes up. It just tried tries to boot to my desktop over and over and fails. I changed 1st in boot order back to Hard Drive but get the same result.

It's not hot here, pc not overheating. I don't think the problem is hardware related.

After I remove all Ram but one stick, what should I do next?

 

Reboot and see if the system goes into windows with one ram stick.There is a Possibility that one of the Ram sticks have gone bad.

Repeat same step with each ram stick.Test Each one.

This will help and find the ram that is probably causing the issue.

 

First replace the CMOS battery.
It should be a CR2032.
Here's detailed info.
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000239.htm

Secondly, enter the BIOS and select Default Settings, Save and Exit.
Enter the BIOS again and set the first boot device to CD ROM, Save and Exit.

Now see if you can boot from the Windows XP disc.

 

I have twin sticks of RAM. I removed one stick and my pc booted to Windows but it first ask me 2 questions:

1. Which operating system do you want to boot into? I only have 1 OS installed.
XP X64
XP X64

I couldn't move the cursor up or down. I had to wait until the timer ran out and it continued.

2. How do you want to start Windows?

Safe Mode
Safe Mode w Networking
Safe Mode w Command Prompt
Last best know configuration

I couldn't move the cursor up or down. I again had to wait until the timer ran out and it continued and it booted to my desktop.

I did this within the past 5 minutes. I don't know if my pc will freeze again.

 

Safe Mode w Networking just in case you need to download some thing.

 

Then

While in Safe Mode i would run the following.

Run Command prompt as Elevated administrator.

I would First run the sfc /scannow command,Be cause there could be Corrupted Windows files.Let us know if there are any errors on command prompt.

Then if there are no errors.I would run the chkdsk /f command.Due to the fact you could have errors on the drive as well.Make sure Say Y for yes when it ask you to reboot.

This should roughly take about 30 minutes to run depending on how fast your system is.

 

This is my motherboard. I can't see the numbers of the battery because it's behind a case fan. Are you sure that's the battery number I need? https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-EP45-DQ6-rev-10#ov



I'll go into BIOS and change the setting to Default Settings and then change to CD ROM as first boot device again. I'll let you know what happened.



When my pc booted up, it gave me an alert message on my desktop:

"Registry hive (file): SOFTWARE was corrupted and it has been recovered. Some data might have been lost."

 

If you have two
XP X64
XP X64

That means there is a Dual Boot on your system.Did you forget to wipe the drive the last time you installed XP.

And all so normally the windows will boot off the first XP x64 in the list.

The first or second boot might be corrupted.Try each one to see which will go into windows.

 

It's been about 3 years since I did a reinstall and the last time I didn't have the time so I brought it to a pc repair place so I don't know if it was wiped. I just assumed it was. It's always just booted up without asking me which OS I wanted to boot to. I can't chose the one I want. The cursor won't move up or down and I when I hit the Enter key, nothing happens. I have to wait until the time runs out and proceeds on its own.

 

Hmm that's kinda odd.

That you can't use the up and down key's to select the version you want.I never heard of this issue.Let me do some research on it.

 

I can't chose how to start. The cursor won't move up or down and I when I press Enter, nothing happens. I have to wait until the timer runs out.

 

I looked around and i think they for got to do a Full hard drive format.This could be causing one of the problems.

 

I just tried this. I bought my Windows XP X64 disk. It's the one I've always used but when I tried to do the sfc scan, I received a message that said my disk isn't the one used for the Windows OS that's installed. As I said in a post here, the last time I had Windows reinstalled, I took it to a pc repair shop. I brought my CD with me. He didn't tell me that he used his own. AGGHHHH!

If I try to do a Repair, will I run into the same problem?

 

Sorry missed that part.

Do you have the system saved and backed up.

 

Most likely the guy could have used a different version.Is your CD 32 bit.

What does the label say on the Windows CD.Does it say Windows Xp Professional x 64edition.

Or is it the home Edition.

 

I have My Documents, drivers, SP1, SP2 and .exe programs I use backed up on an external hard drive. They're the only files that I care to save,

Sorry about that. I lost internet connection for about 1/2 hour for some reason.

I have My Documents, SP1 and SP2, drivers and .exe files backed up. Do I need anything else. I've used Speccy in the past to get updates for Windows.

 

It's XP Professional X64 Edition.

 

The reason I wanted to do a Repair is because I thought that I picked up malware because, when I tried to run SpyBot and Avira, my pc kept freezing.

Since I removed a stick of RAM from my pc, it hasn't frozen and I was just able to run SpyBot. It found nothing but a few normal items so I don't think my pc picked up malware so I don't think I need to do a Repair, just buy new RAM.

My original RAM is "Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4Gb (2x2Gb) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR 2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996580"

I can't find it for sale anywhere on line. Do you know where I can buy it or what else is similar quality/speed? My motherboard is GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX IntelBIOS vF13a.

 

There's no SP3 for XP Pro x64. That's just for x64 server, which I don't have.

 

I don't think I need to do a Repair now but since the sfc scan wouldn't work because my disk wasn't used when the repair shop reinstalled Windows, if I went into BIOS, set it to boot from disk and tried to do a repair with my disk, do you know if I'll have the same problem where it would tell me that my disk wasn't used for the install so it can't be used to do a repair?

 

I cannot possible be 100% sure without seeing the battery.

There's no SP3 for Windows XP Professional 64-bit.

 

This is the RAM specifications for your motherboard.
I suggest you buy two sticks because DDR2 RAM is very scarce.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-EP45-DQ6-rev-10#sp

 

Once I replace the CMOS battery, will I have to reconfigure BIOS or will it do it by itself? If I have to reconfigure BIOS myself, how can I find out what settings I should use, like master/slave switches, etc, if I remember correctly (it's been 12 years)?

 

Thanks for the link. It found

http://www.crucial.com/ProductDispl...anId=1F1D7E6A31D926C3&langId=-1&storeId=10151

which I'll be buying.

 

Replacing the CMOS battery will reset the BIOS to the default settings (which is what you want).
All you have to do is change the order of the boot devices - CD-ROM first and HDD second.

BTW What type of keyboard are you using?
PS2, USB or Wireless?

 

Is there a procedure written here at MG for wiping a disk and reinstalling Windows? Can you supply the link?

 

It's a USB keyboard.

 

Just select Format (NTFS) when the option appears while re-installing Windows XP.

That's why the arrow keys aren't working.
Borrow a PS2 keyboard.

 

The arrow keys used to work before with no problems. They only stopped working after my pc froze around the 10th time and I chose the second X64 OS to see if that would help. After that, my pc wouldn't boot to my desktop until after I removed a stick of RAM. The arrow keys still work in BIOS.

 

They will not work while trying to re-install WinXP.

 

I never got as far as trying to re-install or repair Windows. After I changed the boot order in BIOS to 1st CD ROM, my pc kept freezing in a loop of rebooting but never getting to asking me if I wanted to repair or install Windows or booting to my desktop. It's as if it didn't recognize that the CD ROM was first in boot order or that the CD was in the CD drive. It just kept trying to boot to my desktop.

 

I asked this earlier but didn't receive a response . . .

"I don't think I need to do a Repair now but since the sfc scan wouldn't work because my disk wasn't used when the repair shop reinstalled Windows, if I went into BIOS, set it to boot from disk and tried to do a repair with my disk, do you know if I'll have the same problem where it would tell me that my disk wasn't used for the install so it can't be used to do a repair?"

Does anybody know?

 

You would have adjust. A setting in bios to make it use the usb key board work on start up.My Msi mother board has this.I don't have time to look.

 

Then you can't possibly know that the arrow keys are working.

The disk isn't working because it's WinXP without service packs. You have installed SP1 & SP2.

 

In all honesty if there is not going to be much of a loss with windows.I would do a full format and reinstall windows.

 

I wasn't talking about the arrow keys not working when I tried to do a reinstall/repair. I was talking about when it asked me first which operating system I wanted to use and then when it asked me if I wanted to enter Safe Mode, SM with networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt or Last Best Known Configuration. I used to be able to go up and down on those two menus but then, after my pc crashed several times, I was no longer able to do so.

 

After you removed that stick of ram, could you use the arrow keys....
If it all works O.K now with one stick of ram, it seems that you may not need to re-install

 

Whether or not I want to do a repair or reinstall of Windows, I can't. Even though I set CD ROM as first priority in BIOS and put my Windows disk in the CD drive, my pc just kept trying to reboot to my desktop BEFORE I removed the 1 stick of RAM. I haven't tried to see what happens since I've removed the stick of RAM. I know the CD drive works. I can play music CDs and DVDs. I just ordered the new RAM. Since my pc hasn't frozen or crashed or got stuck in a loop unable to boot to Windows, I haven't tried to do a repair or reinstall. I think it was the RAM that was causing the problem because ever since I removed the stick of RAM, my pc is booting, not freezing, not crashing and I was able to run Spybot in its entirety without it freezing and it found no spyware.

 

Yeah, it's just what I said below

I know that eventually I'll have to do at least a repair if not a reinstall. I have a huge pc, with 12 SATA internal hard drives in JBOD configuration and a SATA port multiplier with 8 more external hard drives connected for backup. I'll eventually have to rebuild but I'll need to be able to keep using these hard drives with new pc components and newest Windows. I'm pretty good with hardware, it's basically all plug-and-play. It's software that gets me confused.

 

...
On some systems, I found that you needed to use the f12 button to guarantee the boot from cd -shifting it up manually. Otherwise, I have found that it can flick through the 'press any key to boot from cd' flashing up, and if I blinked, I could miss it...

 

I'll remember to try that the next time I try to do a repair or reinstall.

 

Is that CMOS battery just an ordinary CR2032 lithium 3V battery that can be used for many things or does it have to be a battery made just for CMOS? Are these okay?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Panasoni...0947&wl11=online&wl12=233745714&wl13=&veh=sem

 

Great, thanks very much, and thanks to everybody who helped me through this problem! You've been terrific!

 

No Problem.

Still trying figure out why my desktop ant working correctly either lol.I have mine completely out of the case.