EggXpert

My dads computer is stuck in some boot cyle that I cant get out of. Its an old dell 8100 dimensions with a new hdd i put in a few months back. The problem is that this morning he tells me his computer is stuck in a booting cycle and that he hasnt changed any settings or installed any new software/hardware.

what happens is when it boots up, it asks to boot in safe mode, last good config or start windows normally, unfortunately all three options lead back to the same place. you pick one, it'll restart, bios screen loads, then back to the menu asking which mode you would like to start in.

i'm able to boot from the xp cd, but would like to avoid doing a reformat right now since i havnet backed up any of my dads information. any suggestions and how to get this to work?

Use the repair option in XP installation (not repair console).

Here's a guide, it 'should' not delete any documents and important files.

SergeiV:

Use the repair option in XP installation (not repair console).

Here's a guide, it 'should' not delete any documents and important files.

Though this MIGHT work, [if an added on device driver is causing the BSOD, it will not solve the problem,] likley this is not necessary.

One of the options on the Advanced Boot Options menu [pressing [F8] repeatedly on startup] is :

"Disable automatic restart on system failure"  This will, until the next boot, disable the "automatic restart" feature of WindowsXP that is often turned-on by default...but should not be.

Likely the user is getting a BSOD, but it is re-booting too fast to be noticed.

Knowing what the BSOD is...we should be able to guide you in a more accurate direction. 

Tallon41

in this case it is better to check the windows log. it might be caused by new added HDD. so try to install the new drivers.

 

The drive's been in use for a few months....so not likely, but possible.  More likely is a corrupted device driver or bad RAM.  Also MS released Updates on the 11th....two days before his post.

Tallon41