Endless restart loop - and cannot boot into Safe Mode

The computer is a friend's Advent DHE X22 running Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2006. The PC is caught in a never ending restart loop.

At switch on the computer confirms that it could not start up properly at
the last attempt to boot - with the usual screen suggesting that I can
start in 'Safe Mode', 'Safe Mode with Networking' etc. My intention was to
boot into safe mode and disable automatic restarts to try to troubleshoot
the problem. But selecting any of the options available from 'Safe Mode' to
'Start Windows Normally' simply repeats the cycle of restarts.

The only Windows disk available at the moment (until he finds his recovery
disk) is my own standard Windows XP Home SP2 disk. When I turned on the
computer with the Windows Home disk inserted, I was able to start the "boot
from CD" process, progressing to the stage at which it asks whether I would
like to re-install Windows etc. At this stage the computer does not reboot
itself, indicating (I think) that the problem is not hardware related, but
probably driver or registry related.

I stopped at that point as I'm not sure of the consequences in trying the
Windows Home 'repair install' routine on a Media Centre PC. Is there any way
I can get the computer to start in Safe Mode so that I can at least start
the trouble-shooting process without a Windows Media Center Disk or the
original recovery disk?

--
Falcon:
fide, sed cui vide. (L)

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:34:06 +0100, Falcon wrote:

> The computer is a friend's Advent DHE X22 running Windows XP Media Center
> Edition 2006. The PC is caught in a never ending restart loop.
>
> At switch on the computer confirms that it could not start up properly at
> the last attempt to boot - with the usual screen suggesting that I can
> start in 'Safe Mode', 'Safe Mode with Networking' etc. My intention was to
> boot into safe mode and disable automatic restarts to try to troubleshoot
> the problem. But selecting any of the options available from 'Safe Mode' to
> 'Start Windows Normally' simply repeats the cycle of restarts.
>
> The only Windows disk available at the moment (until he finds his recovery
> disk) is my own standard Windows XP Home SP2 disk. When I turned on the
> computer with the Windows Home disk inserted, I was able to start the "boot
> from CD" process, progressing to the stage at which it asks whether I would
> like to re-install Windows etc. At this stage the computer does not reboot
> itself, indicating (I think) that the problem is not hardware related, but
> probably driver or registry related.
>
> I stopped at that point as I'm not sure of the consequences in trying the
> Windows Home 'repair install' routine on a Media Centre PC. Is there any way
> I can get the computer to start in Safe Mode so that I can at least start
> the trouble-shooting process without a Windows Media Center Disk or the
> original recovery disk?

I *strongly* recommend against using the wrong OS to repair the computer...

--
Gene E. Bloch letters0x40blochg0x2Ecom

Gene E. Bloch wrote:

> On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:34:06 +0100, Falcon wrote:
>
>> The computer is a friend's Advent DHE X22 running Windows XP Media Center
>> Edition 2006. The PC is caught in a never ending restart loop.
>>
>> At switch on the computer confirms that it could not start up properly at
>> the last attempt to boot - with the usual screen suggesting that I can
>> start in 'Safe Mode', 'Safe Mode with Networking' etc. My intention was
>> to boot into safe mode and disable automatic restarts to try to
>> troubleshoot the problem. But selecting any of the options available
>> from 'Safe Mode' to 'Start Windows Normally' simply repeats the cycle of
>> restarts.
>>
>> The only Windows disk available at the moment (until he finds his
>> recovery disk) is my own standard Windows XP Home SP2 disk. When I
>> turned on the computer with the Windows Home disk inserted, I was able
>> to start the "boot from CD" process, progressing to the stage at which
>> it asks whether I would like to re-install Windows etc. At this stage
>> the computer does not reboot itself, indicating (I think) that the
>> problem is not hardware related, but probably driver or registry related.
>>
>> I stopped at that point as I'm not sure of the consequences in trying the
>> Windows Home 'repair install' routine on a Media Centre PC. Is there any
>> way I can get the computer to start in Safe Mode so that I can at least
>> start the trouble-shooting process without a Windows Media Center Disk
>> or the original recovery disk?
>
> I *strongly* recommend against using the wrong OS to repair the
> computer...

Thanks Gene, that's why I stopped :-) My intention was to go just as far as
to see if the OS was causing the reboot, i.e. whether it was being caused by
the hardware or software during start-up. I just haven't come across a
machine I couldn't get into safe mode before now. (Lucky me!)

--
Falcon:
fide, sed cui vide. (L)

If you need to save data, then you need to remove the hd and connect it to
another sys, as the recovery cd may not be able to do anything but a
destructive recovery

"Falcon" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> Gene E. Bloch wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:34:06 +0100, Falcon wrote:
>>
>>> The computer is a friend's Advent DHE X22 running Windows XP Media
>>> Center
>>> Edition 2006. The PC is caught in a never ending restart loop.
>>>
>>> At switch on the computer confirms that it could not start up properly
>>> at
>>> the last attempt to boot - with the usual screen suggesting that I can
>>> start in 'Safe Mode', 'Safe Mode with Networking' etc. My intention was
>>> to boot into safe mode and disable automatic restarts to try to
>>> troubleshoot the problem. But selecting any of the options available
>>> from 'Safe Mode' to 'Start Windows Normally' simply repeats the cycle of
>>> restarts.
>>>
>>> The only Windows disk available at the moment (until he finds his
>>> recovery disk) is my own standard Windows XP Home SP2 disk. When I
>>> turned on the computer with the Windows Home disk inserted, I was able
>>> to start the "boot from CD" process, progressing to the stage at which
>>> it asks whether I would like to re-install Windows etc. At this stage
>>> the computer does not reboot itself, indicating (I think) that the
>>> problem is not hardware related, but probably driver or registry
>>> related.
>>>
>>> I stopped at that point as I'm not sure of the consequences in trying
>>> the
>>> Windows Home 'repair install' routine on a Media Centre PC. Is there any
>>> way I can get the computer to start in Safe Mode so that I can at least
>>> start the trouble-shooting process without a Windows Media Center Disk
>>> or the original recovery disk?
>>
>> I *strongly* recommend against using the wrong OS to repair the
>> computer...
>
> Thanks Gene, that's why I stopped :-) My intention was to go just as far
> as to see if the OS was causing the reboot, i.e. whether it was being
> caused by the hardware or software during start-up. I just haven't come
> across a machine I couldn't get into safe mode before now. (Lucky me!)
>
> --
> Falcon:
> fide, sed cui vide. (L)
>
>
>
>
>

On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:18:55 +0100, Falcon wrote:

> Gene E. Bloch wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:34:06 +0100, Falcon wrote:
>>
>>> The computer is a friend's Advent DHE X22 running Windows XP Media Center
>>> Edition 2006. The PC is caught in a never ending restart loop.
>>>
>>> At switch on the computer confirms that it could not start up properly at
>>> the last attempt to boot - with the usual screen suggesting that I can
>>> start in 'Safe Mode', 'Safe Mode with Networking' etc. My intention was
>>> to boot into safe mode and disable automatic restarts to try to
>>> troubleshoot the problem. But selecting any of the options available
>>> from 'Safe Mode' to 'Start Windows Normally' simply repeats the cycle of
>>> restarts.
>>>
>>> The only Windows disk available at the moment (until he finds his
>>> recovery disk) is my own standard Windows XP Home SP2 disk. When I
>>> turned on the computer with the Windows Home disk inserted, I was able
>>> to start the "boot from CD" process, progressing to the stage at which
>>> it asks whether I would like to re-install Windows etc. At this stage
>>> the computer does not reboot itself, indicating (I think) that the
>>> problem is not hardware related, but probably driver or registry related.
>>>
>>> I stopped at that point as I'm not sure of the consequences in trying the
>>> Windows Home 'repair install' routine on a Media Centre PC. Is there any
>>> way I can get the computer to start in Safe Mode so that I can at least
>>> start the trouble-shooting process without a Windows Media Center Disk
>>> or the original recovery disk?
>>
>> I *strongly* recommend against using the wrong OS to repair the
>> computer...
>
> Thanks Gene, that's why I stopped :-) My intention was to go just as far as
> to see if the OS was causing the reboot, i.e. whether it was being caused by
> the hardware or software during start-up. I just haven't come across a
> machine I couldn't get into safe mode before now. (Lucky me!)

OK, I got it (finally!).

--
Gene E. Bloch letters0x40blochg0x2Ecom

Thanks DL.
I do wish people would learn to back-up their data before something like
this happens.

--
Falcon:
fide, sed cui vide. (L)

DL wrote:

> If you need to save data, then you need to remove the hd and connect it to
> another sys, as the recovery cd may not be able to do anything but a
> destructive recovery
>
> "Falcon" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>>
>> Gene E. Bloch wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:34:06 +0100, Falcon wrote:
>>>
>>>> The computer is a friend's Advent DHE X22 running Windows XP Media
>>>> Center
>>>> Edition 2006. The PC is caught in a never ending restart loop.
>>>>
>>>> At switch on the computer confirms that it could not start up properly
>>>> at
>>>> the last attempt to boot - with the usual screen suggesting that I can
>>>> start in 'Safe Mode', 'Safe Mode with Networking' etc. My intention was
>>>> to boot into safe mode and disable automatic restarts to try to
>>>> troubleshoot the problem. But selecting any of the options available
>>>> from 'Safe Mode' to 'Start Windows Normally' simply repeats the cycle
>>>> of restarts.
>>>>
>>>> The only Windows disk available at the moment (until he finds his
>>>> recovery disk) is my own standard Windows XP Home SP2 disk. When I
>>>> turned on the computer with the Windows Home disk inserted, I was able
>>>> to start the "boot from CD" process, progressing to the stage at which
>>>> it asks whether I would like to re-install Windows etc. At this stage
>>>> the computer does not reboot itself, indicating (I think) that the
>>>> problem is not hardware related, but probably driver or registry
>>>> related.
>>>>
>>>> I stopped at that point as I'm not sure of the consequences in trying
>>>> the
>>>> Windows Home 'repair install' routine on a Media Centre PC. Is there
>>>> any way I can get the computer to start in Safe Mode so that I can at
>>>> least start the trouble-shooting process without a Windows Media
>>>> Center Disk or the original recovery disk?
>>>
>>> I *strongly* recommend against using the wrong OS to repair the
>>> computer...
>>
>> Thanks Gene, that's why I stopped :-) My intention was to go just as far
>> as to see if the OS was causing the reboot, i.e. whether it was being
>> caused by the hardware or software during start-up. I just haven't come
>> across a machine I couldn't get into safe mode before now. (Lucky me!)
>>

I find that people do learn, after they've lost critical data and have to
pay a couple thousand to a data recovery company to retrieve it.

--


--
"Falcon" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Thanks DL.
> I do wish people would learn to back-up their data before something like
> this happens.
>
> --
> Falcon:
> fide, sed cui vide. (L)
>
> DL wrote:
>
>> If you need to save data, then you need to remove the hd and connect it
>> to
>> another sys, as the recovery cd may not be able to do anything but a
>> destructive recovery
>>
>> "Falcon" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>>
>>> Gene E. Bloch wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:34:06 +0100, Falcon wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The computer is a friend's Advent DHE X22 running Windows XP Media
>>>>> Center
>>>>> Edition 2006. The PC is caught in a never ending restart loop.
>>>>>
>>>>> At switch on the computer confirms that it could not start up properly
>>>>> at
>>>>> the last attempt to boot - with the usual screen suggesting that I
>>>>> can
>>>>> start in 'Safe Mode', 'Safe Mode with Networking' etc. My intention
>>>>> was
>>>>> to boot into safe mode and disable automatic restarts to try to
>>>>> troubleshoot the problem. But selecting any of the options available
>>>>> from 'Safe Mode' to 'Start Windows Normally' simply repeats the cycle
>>>>> of restarts.
>>>>>
>>>>> The only Windows disk available at the moment (until he finds his
>>>>> recovery disk) is my own standard Windows XP Home SP2 disk. When I
>>>>> turned on the computer with the Windows Home disk inserted, I was able
>>>>> to start the "boot from CD" process, progressing to the stage at which
>>>>> it asks whether I would like to re-install Windows etc. At this stage
>>>>> the computer does not reboot itself, indicating (I think) that the
>>>>> problem is not hardware related, but probably driver or registry
>>>>> related.
>>>>>
>>>>> I stopped at that point as I'm not sure of the consequences in trying
>>>>> the
>>>>> Windows Home 'repair install' routine on a Media Centre PC. Is there
>>>>> any way I can get the computer to start in Safe Mode so that I can at
>>>>> least start the trouble-shooting process without a Windows Media
>>>>> Center Disk or the original recovery disk?
>>>>
>>>> I *strongly* recommend against using the wrong OS to repair the
>>>> computer...
>>>
>>> Thanks Gene, that's why I stopped :-) My intention was to go just as far
>>> as to see if the OS was causing the reboot, i.e. whether it was being
>>> caused by the hardware or software during start-up. I just haven't come
>>> across a machine I couldn't get into safe mode before now. (Lucky me!)
>>>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Gene E. Bloch wrote:
> On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:18:55 +0100, Falcon wrote:
>
[snip]
>>
>> Thanks Gene, that's why I stopped :-) My intention was to go just as
>> far as to see if the OS was causing the reboot, i.e. whether it was
>> being caused by the hardware or software during start-up. I just
>> haven't come across a machine I couldn't get into safe mode before
>> now. (Lucky me!)
>
> OK, I got it (finally!).

How did you manage that and does it now boot into Normal Mode?
Let us know how it goes from there.
Thanks,
Buffalo

Gene isn't the one with the (re)booting issue, which has not been reported
as solved yet.

Gene wrote that he "got it", meaning (I believe) that he got what Falcon
approach was to solving the problem.
--
James
Orlando (Goofy says "Hey"), Florida

"Buffalo" <> wrote in message
news:hbpolo$vtq$...
>
>
> Gene E. Bloch wrote:
>> On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:18:55 +0100, Falcon wrote:
>>
> [snip]
>>>
>>> Thanks Gene, that's why I stopped :-) My intention was to go just as
>>> far as to see if the OS was causing the reboot, i.e. whether it was
>>> being caused by the hardware or software during start-up. I just
>>> haven't come across a machine I couldn't get into safe mode before
>>> now. (Lucky me!)
>>
>> OK, I got it (finally!).
>
> How did you manage that and does it now boot into Normal Mode?
> Let us know how it goes from there.
> Thanks,
> Buffalo
>
>

When you hear the single beep as Windows boots and press F8, are you not
getting the "Disable The Automatic Restart On System Failure" choice on the
Advanced Options menu?

The other option (depending on your comfort level) would be to download and
burn an alternate boot CD (like the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows), use that
to boot the PC and use the Remote Registry Editor tool to kill the Automatic
Restart.

The download mirrors for UBCD are here:
http://www.ubcd4win.com/downloads.htm -- it's an ISO file with lots of
tools, so it's a huge download, however lots of goodies for future use.
The Key is: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Cr ashControl
The Value is: AutoReboot, set it to "0" (for no reboot)
--
James
Bart: "According to creationism, there were no cavemen."
Homer: "Good riddance! Their drawings sucked and they looked like hippies."



"Falcon" <> wrote in message
news:...
> The computer is a friend's Advent DHE X22 running Windows XP Media Center
> Edition 2006. The PC is caught in a never ending restart loop.
>
> At switch on the computer confirms that it could not start up properly at
> the last attempt to boot - with the usual screen suggesting that I can
> start in 'Safe Mode', 'Safe Mode with Networking' etc. My intention was to
> boot into safe mode and disable automatic restarts to try to troubleshoot
> the problem. But selecting any of the options available from 'Safe Mode'
> to
> 'Start Windows Normally' simply repeats the cycle of restarts.
>
> The only Windows disk available at the moment (until he finds his recovery
> disk) is my own standard Windows XP Home SP2 disk. When I turned on the
> computer with the Windows Home disk inserted, I was able to start the
> "boot
> from CD" process, progressing to the stage at which it asks whether I
> would
> like to re-install Windows etc. At this stage the computer does not reboot
> itself, indicating (I think) that the problem is not hardware related, but
> probably driver or registry related.
>
> I stopped at that point as I'm not sure of the consequences in trying the
> Windows Home 'repair install' routine on a Media Centre PC. Is there any
> way
> I can get the computer to start in Safe Mode so that I can at least start
> the trouble-shooting process without a Windows Media Center Disk or the
> original recovery disk?
>
> --
> Falcon:
> fide, sed cui vide. (L)
>
>
>
>
>
>