Can't get to my desktop! Keeps restarting!

I am writing this for my friend who can't get online to do it herself. She has a desktop PC. It's a Compaq Presario with Intel Celeron 7200 RMP Hard drive 512 GB MB 80 GB hard drive & she is having a problem where when she starts the computer it restarts. Once you see the "Compaq" logo, it restarts. Over and over. I told her to try to start in Safe Mode, which she tried doing. She chose "Safe Mode with Networking" but it didn't work and just keeps restarting. I had a similar problem recently but my problem was different and it turned out to be an overheating issue. I can't help her if we can't even get the computer to reach the desktop screen. Any ideas?

Not sure if this is a software/hardware issue or malware/virus issue so I posted it in this forum. It's impossible to scan for viruses since we can't even get the desktop to load to check for things.

Thanks.

 

Well it could be a form of malware or a virus that has changed some of the settings in the computer so it will not start up. I posted this reply below to a member who couldn't get past the Windows XP login screen. I also had this problem myself, and this seems to be the only solution that I know of. All you need is a blank CD. I have a feeling it has something to do with changes in the computer's registry, so if you can't start up with this CD, then your friend might have a more serious problem.

I would do some more research online to see which files have to do with their system booting problems. If it is a registry problem you can reach it by going to run, and then type regedit (that is if the CD works). Also, this CD can be used in the future if another problem similar to this occurs.

 

Thanks to everyone for your help. I am still trying to figure this out. I told my friend to run the SMART Test (since Windows won't load I figure that's our only option).

Here's the results of the SMART Self test (extended test)

Smart Extended Self-test
Target Disk
ST380011A

Test Finished - Failed
Self-test status value 7 (completed with the read element of the test failed)

Can someone tell us what this means?

Thanks.

 

I am having a similar issue on my laptop. It either keeps restarting or going to a BSOD with the following message:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the the Stop message, disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for driver updates. Try changing the video adapters.

Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remover or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Stop: 0x0000007E (0xc0000005, 0x830B7E7A, 0xF8A087B0, 0xF8A084AC)




My laptop is a HP Pavilion dx2000. Processor: Intel T1350/1860 MHz Mem: 512 MB Vid Mem: 128 MB.

I noticed that lately video had been running slow on my laptop and there was a message that I didn't have enough "virtual memory".

Can this situation be resolved by increasing the RAM?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Please be easy on me I am not that technically inclined when it comes to the computer.

 

SolitarySue

Hello once again.

It seems that S.M.A.R.T. is reporting that the hard disk drive has failed. It is not necessary, but if you wish to confirm that, download SeaTools for DOS and burn to CD. Boot from the CD and run the short/quick test and then the long/extended test and also look at the S.M.A.R.T. attributes there too.

Download SeaTools for DOS
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools

If you have data you wish to recover, or if you wish to attempt to salvage the operating system if possible, to use on a new HDD, you may wish to use the excellent advice here ...

DjLizard's data recovery guide
http://wiki.lunarsoft.net/wiki/Data_Recovery

Otherwise, install Windows on a new HDD.

'Alien