Computer doesn't go past Windows screen, some hardware problem... 1

[sm43]

My computer restarts at the Windows Start up screen. Every time it reaches the Windows (2000 Professional) Start up screen, it reboots. This always happens, hence I can never fully boot into Windows. I consulted a work associate who is in tech support and also a system admin, he said that it could be the power supply, together he and I changed the power supply. The problem didn't go away. My colleague has talked to people and has learnt that the problem might be the CMOS battery, that we might have to change the CMOS battery. We're going to change the CMOS battery later today. Frankly, I'm not too sure about this idea, and besides, I'm getting really tired of this computer not being able to stand up and run.

Does anyone have any ideas/has ever seen this situation before and might be able to tell us what might be wrong..

Thanks-in-advance..


Saad

 

[wolluf]

Almost certainly not CMOS battery. Very likely some sort of hardware problem (or possibly driver) - you don't give any clues as to when this behaviour started, what (if anything) had happened to machine between it working and this situation (eg hardware/software added/removed, virus, major crash).

Have you tried getting into Safe Mode or 'Last known good' options (press F8 when Windows starts loading for menu)?

Post back with more details (things to try on hardware are memory - run on one stick if you have more - or get a stick from elsewhere, remove all unnecessary components (sound, modem, network cards, CD writer, zip drive, second hard drive etc. swap out graphics card).

 

[paparazi]

I've just had the very same fault, mine restarts just as it's about to enter the windows screen, everytime the same time, continuous reboot loop!!
Turned out to be a bad stick of DDR memory (been in for a year running fine) two sticks of 256mb 2100DDR now down to one.
I know that a failing power supply can also cause this fault but memory is a more reason. Martin
Please let members know if there advice has helped any.

 

[sm43]

Hi,
I had Windows 98 installed on the machine in question. The computer had been running very slow (it had 64 mb of memory, which is slow, but the computer was running much slower than that)..and during operation the computer would just restart by itself...at first, it was happening, when Ctl+Alt+Dlt was pressed..but later it would happen from time-to-time when Windows booted up and we entered the username-password in the Login screen.. Finally, we wiped the hardrive, upgraded the memory to 256 (one 256 Mb DIMM RAM chip) installed Windows 2000 Professional on it. The computer has been doing the "automatic rebooting" eversince at start up.. it doesn't even get to the Login screen now..

I took the old (64 Mb) memory out..it's not here right now so i can't test out things by putting that one in and takign the 256 one out...

I just bought the 256 mb from a reliable Computer hardware place.. do you think it's that chip?

 

[Gloryhound]

This looks like a driver problem, try removing expansion cards one at a time until your down to video only and see when it stops rebooting. I've seen an incorrect device driver do this. If this doesn't work resinstall win2k pro with out any expansion cards in except the video. If problem persists then try another type of video card. Something generic. If this still doesn't resolve the issue try a different stick of ram.

God Bless your troubleshooting

 

[ANFPS26]

A lot of older motherboards don't like the 256MB sticks. I'd try two 128MB sticks, instead. This has been my experience. Please come back and let us know if your
problem is fixed and what fixed it!!

 

[digitalmaster]

Very common problem with SCSI cards...if you have one, remove it and all will be well...assuming your HDD is not connected to it of course!

 

[firewolfrl]

hold down the "shift" key and see if it stops at the logon
if it does try logging on as a different user.
you might be running into a corrupted password or corrupted user account.
you might have lost the administrator account. you have to do a repair with your win 2k CD

that happened to me.
I feel your pain....

 

[sm43]

Hi,
Thanks for all the good suggestions..I tried all them but can't seem to narrow down the problem..

I took out the 256 Mb chip and put another 256 mb in..didn't work... then tried a 128 (alone) and then the put back in the originnal 64 mb (alone)..still same problem..

I removed all the expansion cards (it doesn't have many).. took out the network card and even the video-card, one-by-one.. problem still there.. there are no SCSI cards..

We've changed the power supply, and the CMOS battery... problem doesn't go away..

We've come to the conclusion, that it has to be the motherboard.. can't seem to find any other explanation..

Thanks

Saad

 

[crwpulsar]

I know if the file "NTOSKRNL.EXE" in the systems folder is corrupt/damaged it will cause the OS to fail on load at the same screen(never known it to cause a reboot though)...before you go buying a new motherboard try reinstalling windows.
David

 

[sm43]

Hi,
I did run Windows 2000 Recovery (from the console - chkdsk /repair) but that didn't make any difference to the existing situation. so I reran install and let it install again completely - after format and everything - the problem was still not fixed..


Saad

 

[jgoudy]

What kind of cpu do you have, my reason for asking is your power supply upgrade. Did you go to a higher wattage power supply? If not, try unplugging all of your cards xcept for the video and also unplugging all of the other cd/hd/fd power cords. This will give you a better perspective for finding out if its an undervoltage issue. One interesting trial for a solution is to try to boot that hard drive as master in another pc. The rare possibilities sometimes are all that you have left when the plausible ones are exhausted. Scratched win2k install disk mebbe?

 

[sm43]

We had installed Win 2k Prof from a brand-new CD. But I did reinstall Windows 2k on that machine and the second time I used a different CD. That didn't take of the problem.

Our cpu is Intel Pentium III- 600 MHz . THe power supply we installed is the same or probably a little higher wattage than the previous one. We couldn't verify the new power supply's exact power wattage. It's neither printed on the power supply nor in the BIOS. I assume you wanted me to check the wattage and not the voltage - the second time you say "voltage" - cauz the voltage is standard right, it's 110-115 v in the United States.. We're going to try the power unplugging from all the devices and see if it's the wattage, and try booting from hardrive onto another machine as well. will post the results of the experiments.

Saad

 

[fatmander]

Try and change the IDE cables, get brand new ones that are rated to your hdd(UATA 133 etc)
Not only is troubleshooting painful,
It's getting more expensive by the post.

 

[twiztwiz]

I have a similar problem. I was messing about with my Dell Latitude CS laptop that runs on Microsoft Windows 2000, Operating System NT and accidentally chose to install Softex pccard32 software. Now when I switch on my computer, although it boots up okay, it is unable to load Windows 2000 Professional. It just sits at a blue screen. I'm trying to find a solution to removing the installation but I cannot access my computer yet to remove it. I think the only solution would be to reinstall Windows. I've tried pressing F8 at start-up where I get directed to a screen which asks me to select the operating system and show me one option [MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2000 PROFESSIONAL].
When I select WINDOWS 2000 I move onto Safe Mode screen and no matter what option I choose from this screen I always end back at the blue screen. If I press F8 a number of times it takes me to a DOS screen where it runs a list of partitions etc. but doesn't allow me to halt this screen and then it takes me back to the blue screen.

I contacted Softex direct and they advised me to try booting into safe mode and then going to add/remove programs from control panel and remove the program. They say I need to contact Dell Technical Support and ask them how to boot into safe mode on my particular machine but I believe I already know it's F8. Any ideas please?

 

[Reyn]

Twiztwiz,

What you and sm43 are suffering from are roughly the same problem,caused by two different reasons.You are both suffering the 'Blue Screen of Death'(probablly IRQ_NOT_LESS_THEN_OR_EQUAL_TO) it sounds like to me and have the recovery options set to 'Reboot on Stop Error'(this is the default setting on server at least)which puts the machine in a constant reboot loop.
Having just recently suffered thru this myself maybe I can help(or atleast add my two cents worth).
For sm43--I had a bad cpu that could no longer support an OS more complex the DOS6.22 and was getting the STOP and reboot process,since you mentioned that you have unplugged all the cards etc I would suggest trying the CPU or as you mentioned,the Mainboard itself.
For Twiztwiz--try going into advanced boot options using F8 and selecting 'Last Known Good Configuration',you DEFINATELY have some drivers in there that aint agreeing with your system.If that doesnt work try reading up on how to use the Recovery Console and going that route or if there isnt any real important Data on your HDD there is always format and reload.....which sometimes is the most headache free approach.
I do indeed wish you two good luck!!!

 

[sm43]

Ok.. yeah I do get that Blue screen of Death, sometimes but most of the times the computer just restarts at the Windows Start up screen.. I've got the Blue screen with the message "Your System BIOS is not AICP compliant. Contact your system manufacturer or visit

http://www.hardware-update.com.....".

Then it describes a way to disable AICP by pressing F7 at some point..but i can't understand where this point is (it says "when installing some drivers or something..) . This is the same BIOS that Windows 98 was running on before. Does anyone know how to surely turn off AICP mode in the BIOS... I haven't tried replacing the Motherboard or anything, as we're still contemplating if it's worth it..


Saad

 

[Tabbyb]

I may have another insight for you but maybe not. My daughter recently had the same problem on her computer. I had to manually replace her registry folder in XP. Wasn't hard but the computer (Since I didn't load the recovery console as a boot option) was just restarting continuously, just after the blue screen of death! I figured it was a virus that corrupted her registry.

Last night my computer did the same thing. Turns out the driver to the external CD-RW we were using while working fine would in an instance corrupt our registery freeze the computer and when we restarted, was a looping start up nightmare. Check out this site

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;174630

It may help some. This is the fix for win2000 which has the same problem as XP. I'm not sure if it could help you because you never actually got it running from what I can tell. But since it's a free try, it wouldn't hurt. I would suggest taking out all cards but the video and hard drive on the motherboard, do the registry fix and then one by one load the other components till the problem happens again. I would also suggest going to the websites of the motherboards and other components for new drivers to use.

Sorry it's so long! Merry Christmas!
Tab

 

[btriggs127]

I to am in this situtation and am still looking into it, but I think this might acutally be closer to the fix :

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320040

Good luck.

 

[twertman68]

have you tried win 98 again.it is possible something in your system may not work with win 2000.i had this problem with my modem and sound card.there were no drivers that would work right with win 2000 also had this problem when i changed to win xp.