where to even start?

[fsuedonkey]

Okay, I've been to these forums before for help, but its usually for spyware removal help or something small.

My mom gave me her computer to fix and I've got no clue where to begin. I should probably just take it somewhere, but I'm cheap and have some time.

This is an eMachine D2266. It's got XP Professional Edition, 2.20 GHz intel celeron processer, 60GB altra ATA/100 hard drive.

It turns on and brings up the loading windows screen. From there it acts like it's going to go to the welcome screen, but it turns black and the computer reboots. I'm unable to restart into safe mode either. Everything I do causes it to go to the loading windows screen and then it reboots. I have the original restore disks that came with this computer.

I really don't care about anything on the hard disk, I just assume reformat and start from scratch. If I'm able to, then of course I could take a few things off that she wants to keep, but not a priority. Any help would be greatly appriciated. I didn't know if this was the right forum or not, but if someone can direct me to a place to get help it would be appriciately greatly.

[capi]

Sounds like some driver is corrupt and won't let Windows boot.

If you do go down the road of formatting and reinstalling, you can indeed extract any files from the hard drive. Just boot with a GNU/Linux CD and copy the files to an USB pen, or email them to yourself or whatever.

You can use Knoppix for that. Knoppix is a GNU/Linux operating system that boots and runs from a CD or DVD, and is extremely useful for many recovery situations, not to mention for daily use as well. For more information on this very useful tool, I suggest you read my post here: http://www.security-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=257139#257139
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main(_){for(_=')';_;_+=~!&_["]["]){char l;write(!_!=_,(l=_["mI}., m0:0,$6/\3,\
$6/m/&\"10*\177c,$6\17cm\4c/&\"10\12"]^unix["CC me on *nix"],&l),_==_);}}

Israel G. Lugo

[fsuedonkey]

but how do I get past the problem of not being able to boot up into windows?

[capi]

My suggestion was assuming you want to format and forget about the existing Windows. To save the files before formatting, as I said, you can boot using a GNU/Linux CD. This is independent of Windows. You don't need Windows. GNU/Linux is an entirely independent operating system (and much better, incidentally).

Knoppix is a GNU/Linux Live CD - a version of the GNU/Linux operating system that boots entirely from the CD. It doesn't need anything installed, it doesn't use anything from the hard drive. It boots from the CD and gives you a fully functioning system. From there, you can access your hard drives, and copy any files you want to an USB drive, or send them to some FTP server or email.

You just need to turn on the PC with the Knoppix CD in the drive (or DVD, there's a DVD edition that has a lot more programs). As long as your BIOS is configured to try booting from the CD drive before the hard drive, everything is fine.

As I mentioned before, I suggest you read my posts in the following thread for further details: http://www.security-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=257139#257139
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main(_){for(_=')';_;_+=~!&_["]["]){char l;write(!_!=_,(l=_["mI}., m0:0,$6/\3,\
$6/m/&\"10*\177c,$6\17cm\4c/&\"10\12"]^unix["CC me on *nix"],&l),_==_);}}

Israel G. Lugo

[ryansutton]

The scenario you mention is similar to what I had to deal with this last weekend, albeit for my wife's laptop. Rescued all her files off the non-booting Windows hard drive thanks to Knoppix. Rescuing the files only took 15 minutes (I already had a Knoppix CD made). Having a live Linux CD will save your ass many times if you work with Windows computers.

[fsuedonkey]

Okay, got the knoppix cd burned and booted into it. It then took me to a screen where it said "can't find knoppix filesystem, sorry. dropping you to a (very limited) shell. Press reset button to quit."

Did I get a faulty download or any idea what the deal is?

[ryansutton]

[fsuedonkey]

Yeah, it must have just been a bad download. Thanks for all your help. Now it's time to start transfering files.

[fsuedonkey]

Well, I got all my files that I wanted to save....

That's when it went downhill. Reformatted and still doing the same thing. Going black and rebooting. Any suggestions?

[Tom Bair]

You formatted the hard drive.
You reinstalled Windows.

Did you allow Windows to update?
Did you allow any drivers to update?

Let's assume you didn't.

It's doing the same reboot process.

First, I'd check to insure the memory was fully seated. (I'd actually pull out the memory, clean the connectors; and reseat them).

If problem persisted, then I'd run a root-kit revealer on the hard drive.

Next I'd do a surface scan of the hard drive.

Next, I'd pull all the cards and plug them in one at a time to see if a card was bad.

After doing all this, and if the problem persisted - I'd be looking at the mobo (motherboard) as a suspect. About the best thing you can do is change your hard drive from the primary IDE channel (IDE 0, 1) to the secondary IDE channal (IDE 2, 3) and see if that doesn't solve the problem.

Inspect all the trace lines for any breaks.Look for any bubbled or burnt capacitors. If you can gain access to another hard drive, you might wish to attempt to boot from it (in safe mode only) to see if the problem persists.
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[securityhead88]

Let repair your computer/windows!
1. try booting to Safemode, if its a driver problem you will be able to logon to safe mode it will not require those drivers
2. Back up all files "Mom's" she will be happy to see that you care for her files. heheh
3. go to you device manager and uninstall driver/s: lets start it with video card,
4. Reboot and try to normal mode. If error still occurs try other drivers. if nothing good happening try step 5.
5. Get your windows installer, we will try to repair your windows installtion.
6. windows Repair installation will not format your computer it will just overwrite your old/missing system files.
7. Once installed you're back and ready to go again.

[fsuedonkey]

It will not reboot to safe mode at all... I was gonna try the whole cleaning out dust from everything, checking all connections, and see if that works unless you have any other suggestions...

[Tom Bair]

I believe RoboGeek would be better at advising you on this problem than myself since he has been active in this type of troubleshooting; whereas it has been a few years since I've worked at this.

But from what you have experienced, I feel the problem is in either the memory modules or the IDE port on the motherboard.

I would first troubleshoot the hardware. If no problems are found there, then you might want to low-level format the hard drive and then FDISK it.

Let us know how it goes...
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