This problem was caused by a power outage. I was using the laptop with the AC power plugged in because the battery is shot.
It would boot up and briefly display the XP login screen, then restart. I tried to reinstall windows. It begins the install (loads some files) and gets to the point were it says "Starting Windows". Normally the next thing it should display are some options (Repair, Install, Format and Install) but at this point it reboots instead.
In BIOS it said the hd was corrupt so i assumed that was the problem. I've installed a new hd and it still does the same thing (boots the windows install cd, loads files, gets to "starting windows" and reboots).
So could this happen because my battery is totally dead? or should i be able to load windows without the battery attached? (i've tried and it reboots at the same point)
I'm a PC guy and I don't really know anything specific to laptops...should a laptop work with just AC power and no battery?
It would boot up and briefly display the XP login screen, then restart. I tried to reinstall windows. It begins the install (loads some files) and gets to the point were it says "Starting Windows". Normally the next thing it should display are some options (Repair, Install, Format and Install) but at this point it reboots instead.
In BIOS it said the hd was corrupt so i assumed that was the problem. I've installed a new hd and it still does the same thing (boots the windows install cd, loads files, gets to "starting windows" and reboots).
So could this happen because my battery is totally dead? or should i be able to load windows without the battery attached? (i've tried and it reboots at the same point)
I'm a PC guy and I don't really know anything specific to laptops...should a laptop work with just AC power and no battery?