At wits end---Computer keeps rebooting

I'm new to the forum so before I get started I'd like to say hello to everyone. I have a client's pc at home that keeps rebooting. I get all the way past the Windows screen and the screen goes black with the pointer in the center of the screen. A window's looking box pops up with some message and it reboots. I can't read the message in time to tell what is going on. This is an improvement over what it was doing. At first, it would reboot at the Windows splash screen. I did the things listed below and got it to this point.

What I've done so far---
I have the restart after error turned off. I have tried booting in safe mode, safe mode with networking, last know good config, etc. with no results. I have ran chkdsk from windows repair console. I have booted with Windows cd and repaired windows. I have also tried the repair console to rebuild the boot sector.

I'm unsure if I'm dealing with a hardware issue or possible virus activity since I can't read the message box. :confused
Any suggestions on things to try or things it could be? I don't know what else to try besides reformatting and reloading windows. I am trying to avoid that since it may not be a windows issue.

 

Greetings, dragondust16, and welcome to MG.

What's the Windows version and Service Pack #, and the architecture (32- or 64-bit)?

Sounds like you've gone through the normal first troubleshooting steps. One thing you might consider trying is burning and booting to a live Linux distro (Mint and Ubuntu are a couple of good ones) - the results might give some insight as to whether this is a hardware or software issue.

 

It is running Windows XP Home service pack 2 at least possibly 3. 32 bit.

 

Couple of other quickies:

1. If you can get into BIOS, try using any 'fail-safe' settings.

2. Since you can access the Recovery Console, try this:

* Type "cd system32" without quotes when the command prompt appears. Press <Enter>, type "ren kernel32.dll kernel32.old" and press <Enter> again.
* Type "map" and press <Enter>.
* Type "expand d:\i386\kernel32.dl_" and press <Enter>. (If the Windows XP CD is inserted into a drive other than "D:" replace "D:" with the proper drive letter.)
* When the operation completes, type "exit" and press <Enter>.

The machine should then reboot - see if your symptoms change.

3. If that doesn't work, boot to the Recovery Console again. At the command prompt:

* Type "del c:\pagefile.sys" and press <Enter>.
* Type "exit" and press <Enter>.

The machine should then reboot - see if your symptoms change.

If that doesn't work, I still suggest booting to a Linux disk to see if this is a hardware issue.

 

Alright just got home and tried the recovery console tips. The first series of commands went through, however, did not correct the problem. Deleting pagefile results in "No matching files were found." The linux install would be a problem at this point. I may give it a go if all else fails.

Also, the message that is coming up at the beginning of Windows appears to be an error message of some variety. Wish I could read it. Any other suggestions on what I can do to possibly eliminate hardware issues?

 

Problem solved. It turned out to be a virus. Killed it with a reload of Windows. Now comes the rebuild because she didn't have her CDs. Thanks for the advice.

 

Damn viruses (virii?) will be the death of us all. Glad you got it sorted, and thanks for the feedback. :major