[brozozo]

Hey, guys, long time no see. Hope everything is well. I've got a problem, and HLP has helped me out in the past.

Problem description: I gave an old video card to a friend, and after installing it, the the system won't start Windows. The computer is stuck in a loop consisting of the power on splash screen, asking me which mode I want to start Windows in, the Windows loading screen, and asking me whether I'd like to go to Windows or the recovery console. Selecting safe mode displays a huge list of .sys files. I can't remember the last time I used safe mode in XP, so I don't know if this is a good or bad thing.

Attempted fixes: I checked in BIOS to see if there any relevant settings, and I noticed something to the effect of Primary Display Device. It had three settings: PCI, PCI-E, and Onboard. Previously, it was not set on any three of those. I tried it with PCI-E, and I've removed the card and set it to Onboard. No such luck.

Recent changes: Secondhand video card that lead to this post: Radeon X700.

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Operating system: Windows XP Media Center Edition

System specs: HP Pavilion A1620N

I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes

(copied/pasted from another forum)

[Bob-san]

Do you have an adequate power supply for it? The x700 may be drawing more electricity than the HP's crappy PSU can give it--thus causing crashes once it's out of "basic" mode.

[colecampbell666]

Hey, guys, long time no see. Hope everything is well. I've got a problem, and HLP has helped me out in the past.

Problem description: I gave an old video card to a friend, and after installing it, the the system won't start Windows. The computer is stuck in a loop consisting of the power on splash screen, asking me which mode I want to start Windows in, the Windows loading screen, and asking me whether I'd like to go to Windows or the recovery console. Selecting safe mode displays a huge list of .sys files. I can't remember the last time I used safe mode in XP, so I don't know if this is a good or bad thing.

Attempted fixes: I checked in BIOS to see if there any relevant settings, and I noticed something to the effect of Primary Display Device. It had three settings: PCI, PCI-E, and Onboard. Previously, it was not set on any three of those. I tried it with PCI-E, and I've removed the card and set it to Onboard. No such luck.

Recent changes: Secondhand video card that lead to this post: Radeon X700.

--

Operating system: Windows XP Media Center Edition

System specs: HP Pavilion A1620N

I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes

(copied/pasted from another forum)

The loop thing happened to me a while ago, for no reason at all. (other than uninstalling SW:EAW, which royally screws any PC when you uninstall it) I had to reinstall Windoze, hope you don't.

[Prophet]

When you say "install", do you mean plugged in or was there software installation (drivers) at some point. If there was software installation, then it would propably be easiest to cave in and reinstall windows.

If there was no new software installed, then Bob-sans assessment seems likely.
If the power is in abundance, the one possibility might be hardware incompatibility. Sometimes when you put things together the results may be erratic. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative or even a bit creepy.

[ShadowGorrath]

Help me !
I have the same problem: windows starts loading, up to the 'Windows XP' loading page, then some dark blue page with some text appears for a moment, and then my PC restarts.

Old PC. One time, it got fixed by scanning the PC for errors. But I can't do it now, and don't think it would work again.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 ( the pre-release one ).

[Wobble73]

I've had similar problems in the past, turned out to be a dodgy strip of memory, something to do with latency or speeds or somesuch! Any other changes to the computer recently?

[ShadowGorrath]

No new hardware ever since I got the PC.

Only thing - yesterday I installed a game and had to find a crack for it . Doubt it is a virus, but there's a chance it is.

Help, please. It's kinda urgent. I'm writing from my phone, cause the PC doesn't even fully load windows.

Maybe there's a way to run the ckhdsk ( or whatever it's called ) without windows fully loading ?

[Bob-san]

Try using a Linux livedisk. IF you have an old Windows CD, you can run chkdsk that way.

[Jeff Vader]

Experience has taught me that here at HLP "an authentic Windows CD" is like a curse word. Or an explicit lie.

[brozozo]

Thanks for the help, guys. I figured it out though.

The power supply was a theory of mine, but it turned out to be the hard drive (). It would encounter an error along the lines of UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME, and would automatically restart, hence the loop. You couldn't do anything with it, and I didn't have a Windows disc, so I hooked it up to my computer to run CHKDSK. It works fine now, but I'm letting my friend know it would be wise to backup his stuff and invest in a new drive.

[ShadowGorrath]

But... What am I supposed to do ? I DON'T have the Windows CD. How can I run CKHDSK ( or whatever it's called ) another way ?

[colecampbell666]

But... What am I supposed to do ? I DON'T have the Windows CD. How can I run CKHDSK ( or whatever it's called ) another way ?

Plug the HDD into another PC.

[ShadowGorrath]

Great . . . Now I need another PC . . .

[colecampbell666]

Great . . . Now I need another PC . . .

Use a friend's.

[Bob-san]

Experience has taught me that here at HLP "an authentic Windows CD" is like a curse word. Or an explicit lie.

I've got one authentic Windows CD--for Vista HP 64-bit. It set me back $112, though I prefer to stay legal with stuff like that.

[colecampbell666]

Experience has taught me that here at HLP "an authentic Windows CD" is like a curse word. Or an explicit lie.

I've got one authentic Windows CD--for Vista HP 64-bit. It set me back $112, though I prefer to stay legal with stuff like that.

An authentic Windoze CD can be pirated, as long as it can be validated.

[Stealth]

Maybe there's a way to run the ckhdsk ( or whatever it's called ) without windows fully loading ?

boot from a Windows CD

enter the Windows Recovery Console (i.e. select to "repair existing windows installation", or something like that)

run chkdsk

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Can you hit F8 and get the boot menu?  If so try safe mode or VGA mode.  You might need to wipe out the old video drivers. 

As for the blue screen / reboot problem there should be an option to disable auto restart on error or something like that option.  Try that so you can get the exact error on the blue screen.

[Bob-san]

Experience has taught me that here at HLP "an authentic Windows CD" is like a curse word. Or an explicit lie.

I've got one authentic Windows CD--for Vista HP 64-bit. It set me back $112, though I prefer to stay legal with stuff like that.

An authentic Windoze CD can be pirated, as long as it can be validated.

Making a copy of a Windoze CD or DVD is perfectly legal. Using it on more than one computer is what's illegal. And yes, I also have a "pirated" Windows CD as well, though that's because the CD was lost/destroyed/something. The way I see it is the computer still had a valid and legal Windows 98SE, regardless of what CD key I put in.

[Stealth]

The way I see it is the computer still had a valid and legal Windows 98SE, regardless of what CD key I put in.

wow... you're still running windows 98SE?! ?!?!?

i got rid of that nonsense in 2003!