XP Computer Perpetual Reboot

Howdy folks ... I'm having a problem with a computer that keeps rebooting no matter what I do. I have a It's a Foxconn 45GMX motherboard With E2160 Dual Core CPU. The BIOS ID is 945M09-GA.F1.P.06. What happening is when booting it goes to the screen where it give the start up options of safe mode ... last know good configuration, start windows normally ... no matter what I hit ... it will not boot ... it will merely get to the logo screen then reboot. I tried using a graphic card to see if that would make a difference ... it didn'trolleyes

I use bootable disk to check the memory ... it tested good ... check the hard drive with seatool ... he check out good ... so I tried to do a repair using the xp install disk ... it loaded up ... then the computer gave me the BSD stating a problem was detected ... I tried to reboot and try again but instead of going to the cd ... it would go to the hard drive again and to the rebooting thing. I took that disk out and tried another xp recovery disk ... it loaded up ... then when I hit the R for repair ... I got another blue screen ....


"a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer."
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

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 make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need. If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options suck as chaching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information: *** STOP: 0x00000050 (0xC18C0000,0x00000000,0x807EA8E8,0x00000000) ....


So ...that is as far as I got ... don't know what's up with it crashing ...

Any idea what is going on.:confused

 

It could be you have a trashed MBR. To repair it, go to a command prompt and type the following:

bootrec /fixboot

Press [ENTER]

bootrec /fixmbr

Press [ENTER]

Then try to boot it from the system drive.

 

Do you have another hard drive to try?
How old is the computer?
Is it clean or dusty?
Re-seat the RAM, and inspect the contacts while the RAM sticks are out
Foxconn recommends "NOTHING ATTACHED TO THE USB EXCEPT THE KEYBOARD AND MOUSE" until the OS is up and running. Remove any USB devices if any are attached.

Other possible attempts:
1) reset the BIOS
2) update the BIOS
3) new heat sink compound on the CPU
If none of this works or you don't want to try them post what you have done and the results.

 

Bootrec is for Vista and later. Spirttoo is running XP. He/she also can't use the Recovery Console off of the CD because it blue screens while attempted.

Spirittoo has this error listed at some other sites as well. From what I've read, there's Windows file corruption. Spirittoo may need to wipe the drive and do a clean install.

 

Can't get to a command prompt ... all it will do is keep rebooting ... :cry

 

Yes I have another hard drive ... I build this computer earlier this year ... it's clean no dust ... re-seat the ram and tested it ... also tested the hard drive both passed. No USB devices are attached ... I can't update the BIOS because I can't get into windows at all ... not even safe mode ... all it will do is keep rebooting after it reaches the logo ... I will try the other suggestions and get back with the results ...

 

My bad :-o Should have read Spirittoo's post a bit more carefully.
In that case the command would just be:
fixmbr and press Enter (although that's a moot point).

I agree with you about the wipe and clean install. I Googled the symptoms (rebooting loop) and found a bunch of similar cases on various forums... all of which ended with reformatting and reinstalling. A few ended up having to replace the HDD when even the reformatting failed. On the bright side, the drive is almost certainly still under warranty since the unit was built less than a year ago.

 

Well I'm going to run the memory test over night and see if I get any errors ... want to make sure the memory is ok ... the hard drive tested good so I will see if I can do a clean install ... I will have to get a program to wipe the drive because windows isn't going to do it.

 

You could try to a utility boot cd, like:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/ultimate_boot_cd_(ubcd).html

It has utility programs on it that can help correct software issues, if that's what is causing this, and also some hardware checking utilities. Good resource. Just download the ISO and burn it to a CD.

 

@spirittoo,

You could also use MiniTool Partition Wizard bootable CD (the download link for the ISO is near the bottom of the page) to wipe the hard drive.

@rustysavage,

Running a Repair from Recovery Console using the XP OS install CD goes as follows:

Enter the Admin Password for the version of Windows you want to log into typically, after pressing 1 for the version of Windows.

THEN:

C:\WINDOWS> fixboot then Enter then Y or y then Enter.

THEN:

C:\WINDOWS> fixmbr then Enter then Y or y then Enter.

THEN AGAIN:

C:\WINDOWS> fixboot then Enter then Y or y then Enter (fixboot HAS to be done twice). Remove the CD.

THEN:

C:\WINDOWS> exit then Enter. The computer should reboot into Windows normally if the MBR was repaired.

I've had to follow these steps several times. Just doing fixmbr has never worked under XP.

On an unrelated thread where you suggested a person do "chkdsk /f /r /x /b", the "/b" parameter comes back as an invalid parameter. Running "chkdsk /f /r /x" from an elevated command prompt in XP invokes chkdsk 5 stage at the next reboot. It took about an hour for an 80GB drive.

 

@mdonah, thanks for schooling me (again). I've rarely used XP over the last year and should either reacquaint myself with it or just stop trying to advise those with XP related issues.

I've successfully used the chkdsk /b switch on Win 7 but haven't suggested it for some time since it's unnecessary in most cases... and timely. The /r switch implies /f so I haven't suggested the latter either. To my knowledge, /x isn't necessary when running chkdsk during the boot process, so I haven't suggested that either. That just leaves chkdsk /r, which is what I now ask people to run when indicated.

Man, mdonah, you're like an FBI agent... can't get away with anything with you around Seriously though, thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

Thanks ... I'll give it a try and report back when I have the results ... :wave

 

I download the file, but I didn't see an ISO file using NERO express. Nothing there at all ...
rolleyes

 

Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the download directory for your browser. If you did successfully download the file you should find the ISO file there. Double click on it and it should open in Nero (assuming you have Nero configured as the default program for opening ISO files). Or you can run Nero and navigate to that folder.

If you can't find it that way then click on your Start button and then on "Search" menu item to open a search session. Type *.ISO into the search box and hit Enter. If the file is on your system, the search will find it. Once found just double click on it from the search results window, or not the location and browse to it using Nero.

 

I looked all through the entire folder looking for the ISO but it was not there ...

Anyway I wiped the hard drive with the mini tool and son of a gun if it won't load the OS disk!!!! I get boot from cd ... but I don't get the press any key to boot from the cd ... I just get the one message boot from cd ... then it give ... disk boot failure insert system disk and press enter .... the bios sees the dvd drive so I don't know why it is not responding ... I had a feeling it would give me a problem but I don't know why ... :boxing:crybaby:***

 

Was the CD/DVD a recovery/repair CD or a full install CD/DVD? With no OS on the hard drive because you wiped it with MiniTool, a full install media is needed.

 

It was full ... it was just being mean to me and didn't want to work ... I had another disk with the full and fortunately that one worked ... always pays to backup software ... :-D .... So far windows is still installing ... I will start doing the installation of the virus software ... then start putting everything back on the drive ..rolleyes Hopefully I will be able to report the installation with well and the machine is up and running again.:-D

 

While you're at it, check that other DVD for scratches, gouges and dirt. If you've got a CD cleaner and or CD repair tool, use it.

 

Got her going again ... the solution to the problem unfortunately was to wipe the drive and reinstall the OS ... I use mini tool to wipe the drive, and I used the slowest setting to do it. The IDE DVD drive was totally useless so I order a SATA DVD drive from New Egg on sale for $13 to the door. Now it won't be a paper weight if the OS go out. I'm wonder does anyone have any idea what could have corrupted windows so bad like that? :confused So far I have Comodo anti virus ... Malwarebytes installed ... should I install other software protection? Should I install spybot and spyware blaster too? Thanks to all that posted suggestions. :wave
PROBLEM SOLVED

 

Your boot problems could have been caused by any number of things: Trashed MBR, corrupt partition tables, corrupt registry, malware, file system errors, failing hard drive... who knows.

I wouldn't bother with installing Spybot. When I last investigated it, there was no good data showing that Spybot actually did what it claimed it could do, other than being able to protect your browser's homepage and default search engine from being changed without user authorization. SpywareBlaster, on the other hand, is effective at augmenting browser security via several methodologies, and it won't interfere with the functioning of Comodo AV (or any other AV app for that matter).