can't get to desktop, constant reboots

[substance12]

my roommate has a Dell, I can't remember what model. We can't get it to boot to desktop. First we get the "windows was not properly shut down please choose start up method" and whatever start up method we choose it reboots again. Even trying to install an winxp again doesn't work. Some blue screen error comes about.

The only solution I can think of is to ditch the HDD and install fresh on a new one and salvage the data off the original. But I really don't like that solution.

 

[yelo333]

It could be a multitude of things. The first thing I would do is try running memtest86, and see if your memory is good.

 

[Sianath]

How much work do you want to put into this?

If you really want to recover it with minimal impact to the machine and data, I'd start by booting into the Recovery Console and swapping the registry hives from the repair folder. You can check the system event log to see what stop error occured and troubleshoot based on that.

If you aren't comfortable doing that, just do a parallel install so you can gain access to the files, and check the system logs and the setupapi.log (this log shows recent hardware/driver updates, as well as anything via windows update, just look for update.exe being kicked off).

Stop errors are usually fairly involved. Not always super complicated if you know what to look for, but it can be daunting to dig through the data that's there and pinpoint the cause.

If you are lazy, you can always do an in-place upgrade and call it a day

 

[Xemus]

The stop error itself is your biggest clue as to what's wrong. Next time it happens, write down the error code it gives and google it or post it here.

 

[substance12]

we ended up just using another mb cpu and installing on a fresh hdd

but what's odd is that we couldn't get to the desktop, install windows AT ALL, and none of the safe modes worked.... but when my roommate removed the other 2 hdd's... it booted up. Someone had brought to my attention that perhaps the power supply was taking a toll on powering 3 hdds + 9800. The dell looked like it was on its last limb from just the physical appearance.