Windows XP endless start/restart cycle

[stephenm52]

I am running WinXP  Home on a Asus A7V8X motherboard with a AMD Athlon processor.  A few days ago the computer would suddenly stop then restart at random.  I've checked the fans on both the proscessor and on the power supply. They are both working. Last night the computer would start to load XP and got hung up then restarted. The first couple of times I got a message from the BIOS setup saying something was set incorrectly( did not write message down). It did however say that it wasn't booting so that it would protect the CPU. AT this point the only thing that is happening is the computer is stuck in a cycle of starting restarting and nothing else.  Any suggestions

[Raptor]

You could try to install a new Power Supply Unit.

Have you recently modified your hardware?

[stephenm52]

No I have not modified the hardware at all.  I will give  a new power supply a try. Thanks for your input, I'll let you know what happens.

Steve

[merlin_2]

re-boot and hit the  f8 key safe mode control panel/system/advanced/settings >startup and recovery>/system failure/uncheck-automatically restart.

[stephenm52]

I've replaced the power supply this evening, the computer is still in the continous restart cycle. I cannot even boot to the OS in safe mode so I can't uncheck automatically restart option you've mentioned.

Here's what I also did after replacing the power supply. I put another hard drive in the box. The drive had Win 98 and the PC got to the OS without restarting or hanging. Is it possible the hd with XP on it is defective?  

One thing I hadn't mentioned since I thought this was all hardware related.  A day before I started having this problem I upgraded iTunes software to version 4.6.  I was also prompted to update the software on my iPod 3rd generation since I was on version 2.1 and the latest version is 2.2  ( not sure whether this was conincidence or not what do you think?)

thanks!

[Raptor]

You can attempt to remove all Ipod related files by booting into Windows 98 and then removing them from the other disk.

I believe the Ipod is a Mp3 player, correct? How is it connected to your computer?

[stephenm52]

Yes, the iPod is an  MP3 player and it is connected via IEEE 1394 firewire.  

I have all data i.e. iPod files, photos etc.  backed up on a 2nd drive in the PC, so I'm not in danger of losing any important files.

[Raptor]

You could remove programs related to the Ipod (Not files you wish to keep such as Music or photos). I have no idea if this will help you solve your problem, but it could take away your doubts.

I suggest you use the Windows XP CD-ROM to boot and then select the repair option.

Have you taken a peek at your BIOS? Perhaps something is not configured correctly, as your computer mentioned, and now causing problems.

[troubled]

ok same problem as his on my home xp..we have not changed ouy hardware or anyhting and we were downloading some windows updates and it said for it to restart to make the changes work we did and it just loads ms and then it restarts in an endless cycle

[merlin_2]

winxp does not like mass storage devices....best to check with apple on this one...

[stephenm52]

Here's another twist to the whole thing. I've fdisked  and formatted the drive( . Since XP home is an upgrade I first installed Win 98 SE on this  drive successfully no crashes at all!  As I write this I'm now loading XP I got down  the message that tells me I have about 23 minutes left for the install and as in my original post the computer shut down and restarted and brought the install back to a point that indicates I have 39 minutes left for the install.  Once again the install of XP has crashed this time with about 18 minutes left. Got a blue screen indicating there is a dump of physical memory.   Restarted one more time XP appears to be loading ....setup is being restarted back to the point that indicates 39 minutes remaining.  

[merlin_2]

what bsod erro message like stop..irq_less_equal something like that...bsod normally mean a hardware fault...

[stephenm52]

Yes, the message I got was similar to what you've written i.e.
stop..irq_less_equal something like that.

Ok, so it is hardware error. My plan this evening is to try the install with a different hard drive altogether.

[merlin_2]

this may be the answer to your problem>http://nh2.nohold.net/noHoldCust40/Prod_4/KnowledgePortal/KPScripts/framesams.asp?ies=no   type irq in the search box....irq_less than_equal is related to easy  cd............

[stephenm52]

New hard drive did not solve the problem.  Will try your link melin2