Xp loops at log in screen

Working on a freinds pc..Cooler Master(custom build)

It loops at login (loads settings then immediately logs off and saves settings)
Tried doing a recovery (met w/ BSOD- cannot even get to repair console-referencing hd drivers or the hd itself)(Oddly-I never received this bsod before when attempting a recovery/repair install on any machine)
Booted it w/ linux ( ran a surface check it reports a I/O error at three different locations)

Thats what I have tried and I am about to call it a bad hd--but it has been a while since I fiddled with xp -did I miss anything?
The recovery partition also does the loop even admin acct)
P

 

It does appear to be a bad HD, but it could possibly be a bad drive controller on the motherboard. I'd recommend visiting the hard drive manufacturer's web site, then download their free diagnostic and run the extended in-depth scan and make sure the drive is indeed failing. Many of these diagnostic programs will also check the integrity of the drive controller on the motherboard. You could also pop the HD in a PC with a known healthy motherboard, and run the diagnostic there, or slap a known good HD in the PC with the issues and see how that goes.... how about an extended in-depth memory diagnostic? Flakey memory can cause all sorts of weirdness. Many free RAM testing apps can be found at this link. I prefer the bootable tests, and from what I can tell, you'd have to use a bootable one...
Good luck! Let us know how it turns out!
:-D

[dlb]

 

Now I am not so sure--:confused
Ran a couple of surface checks and they come back fine. (using hiren's tools)
I am now running memtest (currently 51% pass on the first scan--)
I never thought about a bad hd controller-:-o
I will try swapping drives after the memtest passes:-D

Even after repartitioning,format-trying to install still gives BSOD---so I am leaning towards a bad hd controller or fried mobo.

Geforce 7050m-m mobo--AMD 2.7ghz
geforce 8600gt
Maxtorr 250 gb ide HD
2gb memory

 

Ok Now this is just darn funny...
After running memtest(passed) chkdsk(passed),trying hd in another rig(installed and booted to an xp installation just fine.)and throwing just about every test on Hirens boot cd and it all passes.
I even went so far as to change cables(just in case)
Then just as I was about to give up, I thought what about trying to install a linux distro(no info left to lose)
Booted Mint installed and running fine(WTH?) That would be great except he wants xp(games soo... the saga continues..


P

 

Is this a new build or a was working fine until I...
I had a similar problem with a new build that turned out to be a motherboard that had issues with SATA DVD drives, unplugged the drive and problem went away, ended up just using an older drive.

 

Yes I do believe it was exactly that (frekin malware) plus a bad ide cable((did not even see the crack on the edge....) , I had a look around the hd and found lots of torrent d/l and only avg 7 in the way, so it is no wonder it is borked.

After installing Linux then repartitioning the drive to NTFS and reinstalling(xp) everything(avg,sas,zap) is right with the world and xp lives again---now if I could just find that driver disc ........

P