My PC with Win XP Pro is locked in a continuous rebooting without loading Windows. As soon as Windows tries to open a get a blue screen for a fraction of a second (too short to read) and then the PC reboots. The same process continues over and over. When the blue screen appears I can see a statement about a Registry problem but the screen goes away so fast I cannot read anything more. Can anyone help. This is the second time I've had this problem in the last 6 months. Last time the only fix was to completely reinstall Win XP PRO and all applications software.
Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!
Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
-
Congratulations TouchToneTommy on being selected by the Tek-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!
Windows XP Pro boot problem 2
- Thread starter viperbrad
- Start date
-
2
- #3
Try Safe Mode and see if it will load the "Last Known Good Configuration" option.
Lar400,
You can try running Chkdsk from the Recovery Console.
HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)
Both of you,
An easy to follow recovery console description when unable to start computer due to corrupt registry.
Click on Tutorial then the Charlie White article on XP crash.
This is a laymans version of Q307545 in simple language.
If by some miracle you get into Safe Mode you can do this too.
To get further information about the error look in your Event viewer.
Look in the System or Application folder. You can get to the Event Viewer via right click My Computer icon and select Manage.
Any errors logged in the Event Viewer can be expanded by double clicking on the error line.
Take any event error I.D. number and search for it on this site.
Also check any "Information" line that mentions "savedump" and you should find reference to "recovered from a bug check". This is the Stop Error that caused your problem.
You can also turn off "automatically restart after an error" so it will just halt at the fault and display the full Stop Error and blue screen.
Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties .
On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery .
Click to clear the Automatically restart check box under System failure , and then click OK . The error message on a blue screen should remain on the screen so you can record the error information.
Lar400,
You can try running Chkdsk from the Recovery Console.
HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)
Both of you,
An easy to follow recovery console description when unable to start computer due to corrupt registry.
Click on Tutorial then the Charlie White article on XP crash.
This is a laymans version of Q307545 in simple language.
If by some miracle you get into Safe Mode you can do this too.
To get further information about the error look in your Event viewer.
Look in the System or Application folder. You can get to the Event Viewer via right click My Computer icon and select Manage.
Any errors logged in the Event Viewer can be expanded by double clicking on the error line.
Take any event error I.D. number and search for it on this site.
Also check any "Information" line that mentions "savedump" and you should find reference to "recovered from a bug check". This is the Stop Error that caused your problem.
You can also turn off "automatically restart after an error" so it will just halt at the fault and display the full Stop Error and blue screen.
Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties .
On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery .
Click to clear the Automatically restart check box under System failure , and then click OK . The error message on a blue screen should remain on the screen so you can record the error information.
There is but you have to be able to get into Group Policy to do it.
Recovery console: Allow automatic administrative logon. Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options
Description.
Determines if the password for the Administrator account must be given before access to the system is granted. If this option is enabled, the Recovery Console does not require you to provide a password, and it automatically logs on to the system.
Default: Disabled.
For more information, see:
Security Configuration Manager Tools
The Registry path is described in this article.
312149 - HOW TO: Enable Administrator to Log On Automatically in Recovery Console
Recovery console: Allow automatic administrative logon. Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options
Description.
Determines if the password for the Administrator account must be given before access to the system is granted. If this option is enabled, the Recovery Console does not require you to provide a password, and it automatically logs on to the system.
Default: Disabled.
For more information, see:
Security Configuration Manager Tools
The Registry path is described in this article.
312149 - HOW TO: Enable Administrator to Log On Automatically in Recovery Console
IoriYagami
Technical User
Another tips to go to emergency console with out administrator rights. Boot ur WinXP system with any W2k Bootable CD. Then u can directly go to the emergency console with asking any password.
Hi ViperBrad and Larry..
Did you fix your problem ..??? because I am having the exact same one ...and I tried evrything nothing seems to be working...no safe mode or anything...I even went to system recovery ( or call it repair if you want to ) and triend to change system software default sam ...etc files and it is still on a continuous reboot !!! so any hint please !!
Thank you all !
Samer.
Did you fix your problem ..??? because I am having the exact same one ...and I tried evrything nothing seems to be working...no safe mode or anything...I even went to system recovery ( or call it repair if you want to ) and triend to change system software default sam ...etc files and it is still on a continuous reboot !!! so any hint please !!
Thank you all !
Samer.
samerco,
In Recovery Console did you try running ChkDsk? Have you installed any new hardware that might be causing this problem?
To check your RAM.
If the earlier links which involved the Recovery Console failed to work it is unlikely that repairing windows itself by running it over itself will work either because of Registry corruption. If it did you will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.
How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)
More likely you may have to Format and install XP again.
HOW TO: Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP (Q313348)
Read the paragraph,
"How to Partition and Format Your Hard Disk by Using Windows XP Setup."
In Recovery Console did you try running ChkDsk? Have you installed any new hardware that might be causing this problem?
To check your RAM.
If the earlier links which involved the Recovery Console failed to work it is unlikely that repairing windows itself by running it over itself will work either because of Registry corruption. If it did you will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.
How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)
More likely you may have to Format and install XP again.
HOW TO: Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP (Q313348)
Read the paragraph,
"How to Partition and Format Your Hard Disk by Using Windows XP Setup."
Thank you Linney,
Actually the In-place upgrade was the right solution!!!
but I still have one tiny problem by doing this it generated a new user on my computer which has no program installed for him...has no history no favorites...
it created C:\Documents and Settings\Samer.SAMERCO
but the old one (which is only Samer not Samer.SAMERCO) I still can see it by browsing in C:\Documents and settings.
But now how can I get Windows to use the files in C:\Documents and Settings\Samer for the default account Samer (because windows only see one account named Samer but uses Samer.SAMERCO files which are empty).
THank you I hope that I was clear enough.
Actually the In-place upgrade was the right solution!!!
but I still have one tiny problem by doing this it generated a new user on my computer which has no program installed for him...has no history no favorites...
it created C:\Documents and Settings\Samer.SAMERCO
but the old one (which is only Samer not Samer.SAMERCO) I still can see it by browsing in C:\Documents and settings.
But now how can I get Windows to use the files in C:\Documents and Settings\Samer for the default account Samer (because windows only see one account named Samer but uses Samer.SAMERCO files which are empty).
THank you I hope that I was clear enough.
A bit of an overkill here but see if any of these articles are of use to you.
"To copy a user profile", see Help and Support program
227575 - Cannot Copy Current User Profile
811151 - How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
Problem renaming sub-directory
thread779-604897
Error Message: Windows Cannot Load Your Profile Because It May Be Corrupted (Q318011)
HOW TO: Restore a User Profile in the Windows .NET Server Family(Q324734)
HOW TO: Delete a User Profile in Windows 2000
HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP (Q308421)
"To copy a user profile", see Help and Support program
227575 - Cannot Copy Current User Profile
811151 - How to Copy User Data to a New User Profile
Problem renaming sub-directory
thread779-604897
Error Message: Windows Cannot Load Your Profile Because It May Be Corrupted (Q318011)
HOW TO: Restore a User Profile in the Windows .NET Server Family(Q324734)
HOW TO: Delete a User Profile in Windows 2000
HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP (Q308421)
Changing ANY user password without having to know the existing password
This tweak gives a user the opportunity to use it for good or bad. It enables the user to re-password any account without having to know the existing password and also shows you every account that exists on the machine (even the ones that are hidden). This is a good tool to use if you forgot a password to say your administrator account and you needed to be logged into the admin account for any reason.
To view all of the user accounts:
1) While logged onto the computer, click on Start>Run>and type in CMD.
2) From the command prompt window, type in net users. This will show you every account that is made onto the computer whether it is hidden or not.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To change an account password:
1) While logged onto the computer to an account that has administrative rights, click on Start>Run>and type in CMD.
2) Type in net user then the name of the account then * and press enter. heres an example: net user administrator * or net user "Joe Smith" * . Put the name in quotes if it contains spaces.
3) From there it should ask for a new password. Type in your new password (type very carefully - the command window won't display what you type) and once more to confirm it. If you get the message that the command succeeded successfully you're all set!!
this is something i got off tweakxp.com , just read a post about the password. hope your not at work, and just forgot your password at home or such
This tweak gives a user the opportunity to use it for good or bad. It enables the user to re-password any account without having to know the existing password and also shows you every account that exists on the machine (even the ones that are hidden). This is a good tool to use if you forgot a password to say your administrator account and you needed to be logged into the admin account for any reason.
To view all of the user accounts:
1) While logged onto the computer, click on Start>Run>and type in CMD.
2) From the command prompt window, type in net users. This will show you every account that is made onto the computer whether it is hidden or not.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To change an account password:
1) While logged onto the computer to an account that has administrative rights, click on Start>Run>and type in CMD.
2) Type in net user then the name of the account then * and press enter. heres an example: net user administrator * or net user "Joe Smith" * . Put the name in quotes if it contains spaces.
3) From there it should ask for a new password. Type in your new password (type very carefully - the command window won't display what you type) and once more to confirm it. If you get the message that the command succeeded successfully you're all set!!
this is something i got off tweakxp.com , just read a post about the password. hope your not at work, and just forgot your password at home or such
Hi,
Thank you linney.
but nothing seems to fix my problem...as the matter of fact I can see all the programs on the hard drive in program files or in other folder...but when I click on their .exe it says that they must be installed first...of course I can go and reinstall them back again..but I am sure that there is a smarter way, I feel that the problem is that when windows has been in-place upgraded it created a new user admin account that does not have acces to these programs !
here is what I tried :
1- copied the old user account to the new one ( by the way for him they are the same user but he just ignore the old folder un c:\documents and settings and deal with a new one that he created) this way I retrieved my favorites + cookies + the files on my desktop BUT NO OWNERSHIP OF THE PROGRAMS INSTALLED IN THE OLD ACCOUNT !!!
2- I tried to take the ownership of the program files folder...but didnt change anything
SO if you have an idea I would be very gratefull.
Thanks.
Thank you linney.
but nothing seems to fix my problem...as the matter of fact I can see all the programs on the hard drive in program files or in other folder...but when I click on their .exe it says that they must be installed first...of course I can go and reinstall them back again..but I am sure that there is a smarter way, I feel that the problem is that when windows has been in-place upgraded it created a new user admin account that does not have acces to these programs !
here is what I tried :
1- copied the old user account to the new one ( by the way for him they are the same user but he just ignore the old folder un c:\documents and settings and deal with a new one that he created) this way I retrieved my favorites + cookies + the files on my desktop BUT NO OWNERSHIP OF THE PROGRAMS INSTALLED IN THE OLD ACCOUNT !!!
2- I tried to take the ownership of the program files folder...but didnt change anything
SO if you have an idea I would be very gratefull.
Thanks.
Are the programs listed in Add or Remove in Control Panel?
Are all programs having this problems or is it only non XP programs.
And what is the exact error message you are getting (most helpful to know this)?
Talking of errors, is there anything mentioned in the Event Viewer?
Are all programs having this problems or is it only non XP programs.
And what is the exact error message you are getting (most helpful to know this)?
Talking of errors, is there anything mentioned in the Event Viewer?
Thanks for your response Linney.
1)Are the programs listed in Add or Remove in Control Panel?
No there is nothing in the Add or Remove in control panel. The only thing I can see there is my update to my Nvidia video card driver.
2) Are all programs having this problems or is it only non XP programs?
what do you mean by non xp programs ? I have office XP and it does not start...I had IIS server installed and it does not start anymore ... but anything that comes basicly with the OS itself is working fine.
3) Talking of errors, is there anything mentioned in the Event Viewer?
if I click on a shortcut it says :
- this action is only valid for products that are currently installed
Now if I go in program files and I double click on the .exe file, it opens ( i.e excel ) and displays the next message and after pressing OK it closes the application :
- <name of apps> has not been installed for the current user. Please run setup to install the application.
Here is a specific different message I get when I click on Microsoft plus (path: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Microsoft Plus!):
- Microsoft Plus ! cannot start because some files needed to run it are either missing or corrupted. Please install Microsoft Plus ! for windows xp again.
Thanks, Hope it helps.
1)Are the programs listed in Add or Remove in Control Panel?
No there is nothing in the Add or Remove in control panel. The only thing I can see there is my update to my Nvidia video card driver.
2) Are all programs having this problems or is it only non XP programs?
what do you mean by non xp programs ? I have office XP and it does not start...I had IIS server installed and it does not start anymore ... but anything that comes basicly with the OS itself is working fine.
3) Talking of errors, is there anything mentioned in the Event Viewer?
if I click on a shortcut it says :
- this action is only valid for products that are currently installed
Now if I go in program files and I double click on the .exe file, it opens ( i.e excel ) and displays the next message and after pressing OK it closes the application :
- <name of apps> has not been installed for the current user. Please run setup to install the application.
Here is a specific different message I get when I click on Microsoft plus (path: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Microsoft Plus!):
- Microsoft Plus ! cannot start because some files needed to run it are either missing or corrupted. Please install Microsoft Plus ! for windows xp again.
Thanks, Hope it helps.
I had this problem with Add/Remove Programs being empty. ASR Restore would not work for me - it looked at the ASR diskette but did not "recognise" it.
So I did a Windows Backup of the full C: drive. With Volume Shadow Copy enabled it backed up all files including those that were in use at the time. But when I tried to do a full C: restore it did not restore seven files that were being used by WinXPP!
Three of them were .EVT files which are the ones you see in the Event Viewer. One was a configuration management file. The remaining three were UsrClass.DAT files. I restored them to an alternate location and had a look at them.
It must be these UsrClass.DAT files that contain the Add/Remove Programs list. Because my Add/Remove Programs list was empty none of my restored applications was officially installed and they would not work. In hindsight I could have gone into Safe Mode Command Prompt and copied them from the alternate location.
There does not seem to be a facility to scan the disk and "register" the application there as there used to be in the very early versions of Windows.
HTH
Gunny
So I did a Windows Backup of the full C: drive. With Volume Shadow Copy enabled it backed up all files including those that were in use at the time. But when I tried to do a full C: restore it did not restore seven files that were being used by WinXPP!
Three of them were .EVT files which are the ones you see in the Event Viewer. One was a configuration management file. The remaining three were UsrClass.DAT files. I restored them to an alternate location and had a look at them.
It must be these UsrClass.DAT files that contain the Add/Remove Programs list. Because my Add/Remove Programs list was empty none of my restored applications was officially installed and they would not work. In hindsight I could have gone into Safe Mode Command Prompt and copied them from the alternate location.
There does not seem to be a facility to scan the disk and "register" the application there as there used to be in the very early versions of Windows.
HTH
Gunny
Hey all,
I'm running into a similar problem as this on a friends machine, the only thing is that when I attempt to boot from the recovery disk, it gives me an End User License Agreement error, and it doesn't allow me to continue. Neither can I get into safe mode. Any advice? Please advise. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
zay
I'm running into a similar problem as this on a friends machine, the only thing is that when I attempt to boot from the recovery disk, it gives me an End User License Agreement error, and it doesn't allow me to continue. Neither can I get into safe mode. Any advice? Please advise. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
zay
zay,
You may get a better response to this query if you start your own thread and specify any details or error messages applicable to your exact problem.
See if this sounds like what you are talking about?
326673 - Error Message: Setup Cannot Find the End-User License Agreement
You may get a better response to this query if you start your own thread and specify any details or error messages applicable to your exact problem.
See if this sounds like what you are talking about?
326673 - Error Message: Setup Cannot Find the End-User License Agreement
Linney,
Thanks for your response.
I took notice of that Microsoft document shortly after I replied to this thread. The next question would be is would a recovery disk work the same? I've never tried to do such tasks in XP and I only have access to a recovery disk. Otherwise, I would need to format and reinstall a version of my own.
Thanks
zay
Thanks for your response.
I took notice of that Microsoft document shortly after I replied to this thread. The next question would be is would a recovery disk work the same? I've never tried to do such tasks in XP and I only have access to a recovery disk. Otherwise, I would need to format and reinstall a version of my own.
Thanks
zay
- Status
Similar threads