Help!

[Jester]

Hi new user.. long time friend of xpgeek, he advised I try you.. My puter died on me, whenever I switch it on it reboots, this has happened before, and I reformatted I tried to do that again and I got a message saying ohci1394.sys file was corrupt and setup failed..

I tried booting in safe mode, that rebooted, I tryed booting up from last known config that worked, that rebooted too..

I tried hitting del during setup and it is password protected, the guys that built my puter was a small time company and are now out of business.. It is a custom built machine, says Capricorn on the front of the box, I am all out of ideas and so is my guru, who I talk to online, you are my last hope, you gotta help, I am already looking at dells.. please there must be somethin else I can try.

Jester

[xpgeek]

She says it gets as far as the welcome screen and reboots itself, and same thing happens going into safe mode too. Was gonna have her run system file checker to fix that corrupt sys file but not sure how if she can't get it booted.

I tried getting her into the BIOS to change the boot order to do a real boot from the XP cd, but the BIOS is passworded, damn.

I'm unsure what the problem is, and don't think its a virus. She said it was fine yesterday and running when she left for work and was just rebooting itself endlessly when she got home.

Could be an actual hardware problem as she says the PC has been running extremely hot, too hot to touch top of case.

[Drazi-1]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341&Product=winxp

Try this also, it may help But i am leaning towards a overheating problem

[Jester]

Thanks Drazi, I looked at it, but I can't boot from the CD at all.. setup fails because that file is corrupt, I have unplugged Jacob (My computers name) :oops: and I am going to wait til he cools off, like you said and xpgeek said it may be an overheating problem, we shall see.

[Micron]

Hi Jester, Welcome to the group.

Firstly I need to know if it reboots in safe mode. Turn on the PC and after the beeps keep tapping F8, its on the same screen as Last Known Good Configuration.

In the menu, select Safe Mode.

Then let me know if it reboots. If it does then we can fix it easily, if not we will have to eliminate problems.

Thanks, and again. Welcome.

[Jester]

it rebooted when I tried to load up is safe mode

[Micron]

To remove the BIOS Password, open the case and remove the CMOS Battery. Its a big round silver battery, you cant miss it. Remove it and leave it out for about 10 seconds and pop it back in.

This will remove the password on the BIOS.

Remember to unplug all cables and touch something metal before touching the motherboard.

[Jester]

ok

[Jester]

ok he is plugged back in an ready to go

[Jester]

the password was lifted..

[Micron]

Ok, xpgeek will talk you through the BIOS Settings. If there's still problems after that, let us know.

[Jester]

ok thanks Micron for all the help

[Micron]

No worries. Still may need more help.

[Jester]

ok i have acess to the bios and its set and is still rebooting itself like before, and also it was turned off for a good half hour and is red hot again after being on for twenty minutes

[Micron]

Ok, 1 more test. After the beeps, Hold down the shift key till windows boots. This will stop all drivers from loading. You may need to do this a few times to set it to work.

It shouldn't reboot if done right. Though if it does then we'll start on a fix. I it dosent reboot, then it will be a startup or driver problem.

[Jester]

nothin, it still reboots..

[Micron]

Hiya Jester

Ok lets start trying to get this fixed for you. Im gonna go through a series of steps for you to try, if you get stuck, let us know.

Yout problem can occur if the following conditions exist:

• A fatal system error (STOP error) causes the computer to stop.
• The Automatically restart option is selected under System failure in the Startup and Recovery dialog box in System Properties.
• The Windows XP paging file is smaller than the amount of physical memory that is installed on the computer, or there is insufficient free space on the hard disk to write the error dump file (Memory.dmp).
Windows XP may encounter a problem during startup that results in a STOP error message.

Depending on the system configuration, the blue screen may not be displayed long enough for you to record the error information.

To work around this issue, alter the startup process so that you can gather important information about the STOP error message. To do this, use the following methods in the order in which they are presented.

NOTE: Before you attempt these workarounds, try to restart your computer in safe mode. This may allow you to troubleshoot the STOP error message.

OK. First try this. Then try the Methods if these steps fail. Remember were here to help if you get stuck (or annoy Mike hehe)

To resolve this issue, use the Windows Recovery Console to extract a new copy of the Kernel32.dll file from the original Windows XP CD. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start the Recovery Console. If you do not have the Recovery Console installed, start it from the Windows XP CD. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Insert the Windows XP CD, and then restart the computer. If you are prompted, select any options that are required to start from the CD.

b. When the text-based part of the Setup program starts, follow the instructions that appear on your screen. To select the repair or recover option, press R.

c. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you must access from the recovery console.

d. When you are prompted, type the Administrator password.

2. At the command prompt, type cd system32, and then press ENTER.
3. Type ren kernel32.dll kernel32.old, and then press ENTER.
4. Type map, and then press ENTER.
5. Note the drive letter that is assigned to the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD. It is appears in a format that is similar to the following format:

D:\Device\CdRom0

6. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

expand drive\i386\kernel32.dl_

Where drive is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD). For example, type:

Expand d:\i386\kernel32.dl_

Note: Include the underscore character after the "L" in Kernel32.dl_.

You receive the following message:

Kernel32.dll
1 file(s) expanded.

7. Type exit. The computer restarts.
8. Remove the Windows XP CD, and then start the computer as you regularly do.

Ok, so if that failed try these.

Method 1

1. Try to replace the registry hives from the repair directory by using the Recovery Console, and then restore the system to a current state with System Restore.

For additional information about how to restore the registry, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307545 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/EN-US/) How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from Starting.

Method 2

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

1. Install Windows XP to a different folder.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
4. Browse to the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
5. On the File menu, click Load Hive.
6. Navigate to the System file in the original Windows XP installation location.

By default, the System file is stored in the following location:
%SystemRoot%\System32\Config\System
7. Type an arbitrary name when you are prompted for a key name in the Load Hive dialog box.

The original HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive is loaded as a subkey of the current key.

8. In the arbitrary name key (where arbitrary name is the name that you assigned the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry key from the original Windows installation), browse to the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Cr ashControl
9. In the right pane of the Registry Editor window, double-click AutoReboot.

10. In the Value data box, type 0 (zero), and then click OK.
11. Click the minus sign to collapse the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry subkey.

12. On the File menu, click Unload Hive.
13. On the File menu, click Exit.

This disables the Automatically restart option in the original Windows XP installation. After you follow these steps, you may be able to gather information from the STOP error message and resolve the problem that prevents the computer from starting.

Method 3

Another workaround may be necessary if the minimum size of the paging file is set to a value less than the amount of physical memory. Windows XP requires a paging file on the system drive large enough to hold all physical memory plus 1 megabyte (MB), in order to write debugging information. You can modify the PagingFiles value of the original installation so that the dump file can be created by the STOP error message. Enough free disk space must be available on the system drive for the paging file.

To change the PagingFiles value in the System file in the original Windows XP installation location, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Browse to the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
4. On the File menu, click Load Hive.
5. Navigate to the System file in the original Windows XP installation location. By default, this is stored in the following location:
%SystemRoot%\System32\Config\System
6. Type an arbitrary name when you are prompted for a key name in the Load Hive dialog box.

This loads the original HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive as a subkey of the current key.

7. In the arbitrary name key (where arbitrary name is the name that you assigned the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry key from the original Windows installation), browse to the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Se ssion Manager\Memory Management
8. In the right pane of the Registry Editor window, double-click PagingFiles.
9. In the Value data box, edit the first numeric value after c:\pagefile.sys (where c: is the drive on which the pagefile is stored) to increase it to a number that is at least 1 MB greater than the amount of physical memory in the computer.

NOTE: Do not type a number that is greater than the amount of free hard disk space on the computer.

For example, the following value displays a minimum paging file size of 130 MB and a maximum paging file size of 256 MB.

c:\pagefile.sys 130 256

10. Click OK.
11. Browse to the following location in the registry hive that you loaded from the original Windows installation:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Cr ashControl
12. In the right pane of the Registry Editor window, double-click CrashDumpEnabled.
13. Type 1 (one) in the Value data box if it is not already present, and then click OK.
14. Click the minus sign to collapse the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry subkey.
15. On the File menu, click Unload Hive.
16. On the File menu, click Exit.
17. Attempt to start the original Windows XP installation. When the STOP error occurs, the memory dump information will be stored in the paging file.
18. Restart the computer and select the parallel installation of Windows XP. This allows the dump file to be created and you may be able to use the information to resolve the problem that causes the STOP error message in the original installation.

NOTE: The dump file is saved in the %SystemRoot%\Memory.dmp file, where %SystemRoot% is the parallel installation system folder.
19. Click Start, right click My Computer, and then click Properties.
20. Click the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
21. Click to clear the Automatically restart check box, click OK, and then click OK again.
22. Restart the computer. When you attempt to shut down the computer, the exact message should be displayed.

Method 4

Upon restart, use the new boot option Disable automatic restart on system failure. If this option is selected, you can get the STOP error codes and then continue accordingly.

Hope all this helps

[jbloggs]

Jester:

The rebooting can, amongst other things, be caused by overheating. Usually if you open up your PC Case, you will find a lot of dust/dirt in it, especially around CPU heatsink/fan.

What temperature is your CPU running at idle/full load?

Have you cleaned the dust/dirt from inside your computer recently?