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Windows problem

Discussion in 'Computers & Technology Forum' started by baptistteacher, May 25, 2009.

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  1. baptistteacher

    baptistteacher Member
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    I have a problem - computer is continually restarting itself.
    Details:
    1. Gateway laptop, Centrino Mobile. Windows XP home, SP3.

    2. Saturday I installed an audio editing/conversion program, from "Giveawayoftheday.com" I have used this site before, and no one else seemed to have a problem with this particular item.

    3. After installing, the computer restarted, which is normal for many programs. But then it restarted again, and again, etc.
    Sometimes it will fully start, and stay on for a while, but the longer the computer is on, the more often and more frequently it restarts, until it just goes into a loop.

    4. Did an "uninstall" for the program in question, but still have the same problem.

    5. Ran "Advanced System Care" free edition, checked for spyware, did a registry fix, etc.

    6. Started in "Safe Mode" - did a "System Restore" several times, am now back to May 1 settings. Still have the same problem.

    >>>>> Help!!     :BangHead:
     
    #1 baptistteacher, May 25, 2009
  2. historyb

    historyb New Member

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    Sounds like you have a virus, sounds like the "I love you" virus or a variant there of. Start in safe mode and do a complete Anti-virus scan, that might be the cause.
     
    #2 historyb, May 25, 2009
  3. baptistteacher

    baptistteacher Member
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    Thanks. Will give that a try.

    (I am using my old Mac for posting. Couldn't get the Windows to work long enough.)
     
    #3 baptistteacher, May 25, 2009
  4. exscentric

    exscentric Well-Known Member
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    What is a good mac-ite doing with a windows machine anyway :)

    If the virus scan doesn't work go to the safe mode option page and there is usually a restore to last known system or setup, give that a try.

    Also if you haven't done it try letting it boot, shutdown etc three or four times without doing anything except telling it to shutdown or boot up as needed, xp has a bit of an ability to fix boot problems itself.

    All else failed there is a download from microsoft.com that will uninstall left overs of programs. Be careful with it as it does a fast and quick job of uninstalling. Can't remember the name of it, will post it if I can find it.

    This is the program page http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
     
    #4 exscentric, May 26, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: May 26, 2009
  5. baptistteacher

    baptistteacher Member
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    Wellll... I got this because my wife needed Microsft Word for her word processing classes, and my last-century Mac wouldn't do the trick.

    >> New developments
    1. It seems to have quit continually restarting, but now I can't get it to go to Safe Mode. Tried pulling the battery out, and it just does a regular restart.

    2. I agree with the virus suspicions, as I can't get my AVG to launch. It is supposed to load automatically upon startup, but doesn't, and I can't manually start it. (Haven't tried "Kick-starting" yet. :) )

    3. Tried the suggestion given to DonnA, regarding w.bleepingcomputer etc.
    It says "FREE Download" - but after you download and run it, you have to buy it in order to actually use it. >> I don't like sites that sucker you in, and then at the end tell you about fees. Let me know up front - that's integrity.
     
    #5 baptistteacher, May 26, 2009
  6. baptistteacher

    baptistteacher Member
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    should I download a new AVG, or will that complicate things? Will it just install over my current AVG?
     
    #6 baptistteacher, May 26, 2009
  7. baptistteacher

    baptistteacher Member
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    just did another self-restart.

    Hey, it just did another self-restart. I pulled the battery while it was doing that, so I could get to safe-mode.

    Will try to get AVG to run now.
     
    #7 baptistteacher, May 26, 2009
  8. historyb

    historyb New Member

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    Okay, if you have AVG make sure it's up to date. You can get into safe mode by holding down F8 key as the computers starts.
     
    #8 historyb, May 26, 2009
  9. baptistteacher

    baptistteacher Member
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    1. Couldn't get AVG to run under safe mode. a couple of other programs would't run either.

    2. after another couple of restarts, the comp. started making a funny sound, like something scraping.

    3. It did another self-restart, and I tried holding down the f8 key.
    It took a long time to do anything, then I got the following message:

    Intel UNDI, PXE-2.0 (build 082)
    Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation

    For Realtek RTL139(X)/8130/810X PCI Fast Ethernet Controller v2.13 (020326)
    PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
    PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM
    No Operating System Found

    ~~~
    I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means.

    Note- PXE-M0F -- the 0 is a zero
     
    #9 baptistteacher, May 26, 2009
  10. historyb

    historyb New Member

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    It might, the only way out of this might be a complete reload of windows
     
    #10 historyb, May 26, 2009
  11. exscentric

    exscentric Well-Known Member
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    Pull the power, pull the battery and let it sit for a minute or two and try it.

    If that doesn't help try to get into bios and find where it says to load default settings and try that then save and reboot.

    If that does not work go into bios and there may be an option to automatically sense the hard drive, give that a try if it is there.

    To get into bios usually you press delete when you boot. There may be a message on the screen that tells you what to press when you first boot.
     
    #11 exscentric, May 26, 2009
  12. MNJacob

    MNJacob Member

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    Get a Kapersky Rescue disk. It will allow you to kill the virus without booting Windows.

    You can find a free one to download.
     
    #12 MNJacob, May 26, 2009
  13. baptistteacher

    baptistteacher Member
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    Thanks everyone.

    Never heard of the Kaspersky Rescue Disk before. Looks like it comes from - softpedia.com. Will call my Pastor to get him to download it for me, as it is too late to do it from here. This laptop is the only Windows unit in the house.

    It may be too late, anyway. And I didn't get the windows disk when I bought this unit last fall. {OOPS!}

    My son just came in from work and said he might have gotten the virus from his MySpace page. Said a friend had gotten it, and it spammed his page. His friend had to reload windows.

    I just hope I didn't lose the pictures that I had taken this year, and not burned to CD yet. A few other things I will miss, Sermons, SS Lessons, etc, but I can deal with that. But the Pictures… {Memo to self: BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP! }
     
    #13 baptistteacher, May 26, 2009
  14. baptistteacher

    baptistteacher Member
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    One more thing - any explanation for the scraping sound just before total shutdown? And now when I try to restart, it makes a clicking sound.
     
    #14 baptistteacher, May 26, 2009
  15. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    Wait. Don't do a reinstall of Windows yet. You may have to reinstall Windows, but let's not go there just yet.

    Unless you're using PXE, there's no issue here. PXE is a way to boot your computer from a network image. I'm confident you're not using PXE on your home system. Now to your real problem.

    I'm assuming you're receiving a blue screen of death, but you're just not seeing it. You need to find out if it's the blue screen of death, or something else.

    By default, Windows reboots on a crash, aka blue screen of death. Please do the following to turn automatic restarts off.

    Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, System.
    Click the Advanced Tab.
    Click Settings.
    Click off "Automatically restart".
    Click Ok.

    Now, when your computer reboots, you'll be able to see the error message when it goes to a blue-screen of death. You can actually see these in the System Event Log, but it's better to see them at the time that the computer crashes. Regardless, when it crashes, write down the error message. The Stop error code is the most important. Then, go to support.microsoft.com and put in the Stop code. It should help you figure out what the problem is without reinstalling Windows.

    Please feel free to post the Stop code, or any errors you're seeing and I'll do what I can to help.
     
    #15 ccrobinson, May 26, 2009
  16. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    Indeed, backups are a very good thing. However, I see no reason why you should lose anything. Even if you have to reinstall Windows, there's no reason why you should have to delete everything on the drive to do it. Anybody who says you have to wipe your drive before installing Windows doesn't know what they're talking about and their computer advice should be ignored.
     
    #16 ccrobinson, May 26, 2009
  17. exscentric

    exscentric Well-Known Member
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    Scraping sounds like maybe the drive failed. The only other item that could cause it would be the cd drive if there was a cd in it or the fan, but the fan probably doesn't run all the time.

    Clicking is normal drive noise to a point, rather depends on how loud it is. If it is searching for the system it would be doing some clicking.

    If the bios tricks don't get it going I'd guess drive problems but only a guess.
     
    #17 exscentric, May 26, 2009
  18. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    The fan had better be running all the time so the heat generated by the CPU can be expelled from the system. The only way it would be the CD drive is if a CD had been placed in the tray improperly and, if that were so, the drive would have spit the CD back out. It's possible that it's the hard drive, but unlikely. My guess is it's the fan.
     
    #18 ccrobinson, May 26, 2009
  19. exscentric

    exscentric Well-Known Member
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    "The fan had better be running all the time so the heat generated by the CPU can be expelled from the system. The only way it would be the CD drive is if a CD had been placed in the tray improperly and, if that were so, the drive would have spit the CD back out. It's possible that it's the hard drive, but unlikely. My guess is it's the fan."

    Laptop fans cycle on and off as needed with temp - on all I have owned anyway. CD drives may or may not spit out a misplaced cd but many do not.
     
    #19 exscentric, May 26, 2009
  20. ccrobinson

    ccrobinson Active Member

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    Ah, I missed that it was a laptop. You're exactly right. Sorry about that.
     
    #20 ccrobinson, May 26, 2009
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