XP Home keeps rebooting (XP Home)

[ASD]

I was applying SP 1 and it seemed to be going okay. Right at the end, it froze up. The dialog window said it was installing the helpctr.exe. Now it keep rebooting when I try to get it going. It comes up with the Windows XP Home screen and then when it goes blank and should display the sign in page, it reboots. I tried to boot in the safe mode, the last good configuration modes and it doesn't change. Earlier I had updated the Norton Anti-virus and scanned the hard drive. I turned it off when I was applying the updates. Unfortunately I don't have the XP Home disk here with me (its a friend's computer and she left it at home in another state). AN option would be to put XP Pro on the computer. Would it upgrade the XP Home? I would like to stay with the XP Home if possible.

[SMBP]

Alan--

Try this:

Untick the checkbox "Automatically Restart" in Start>ControlPanel>Systems>Advanced>Startup and Recovery, then you should be able to see what caused the problem. Next time it crashes you will see a blue screen with the error code, instead of automatic restart.

You can also get there by hitting the Windows + Pause Break key>System Properties Advanced Tab>Settings under Startup>Take the check out of Automatic Startup on System failure.

There are a number of reasons this could happen, including various hardware problems, but this should stop it. If you click on the Subject heading in the XP or Windows section, you can probably find a number of past posts on this reverse alphabetically. I'll look later.

Also see this helpful reference on Jim Eschelman's site:

Windows XP Shutdown and Restart Troubleshoting

SMBP

[ASD]

Thanks for the quick response. My problem is that I can't get into Windows at all. I keep looping without ever getting to the Windows Users window.

[SMBP]

Oh, I see.

I'd try this. I'd try to make sure I can't F8 to Safe Mode because I'd sure want to run System Restore from a command prompt--it's one of my favorite ways to save my um OS when I'm in boot to Windows trouble.

If you just can't get into Safe Mode, (and Last Known Good unfortunately statistically just does not work a high percentage of the time in everyone's hands from a lot of reading on it), the try a Repair Install since you say you want to stay with Home. You certainly can upgrade from Home to Pro however. I highly prefer Pro for a number of reasons, but to each their own.

Boot with the XP CD in--and make sure you configure it first in the boot order in the bios. You can also boot with a Windows 98/Me Startup disk with CD support and run WINNT.EXE in the I386 folder on the CD Press any key to boot from the CD. Don't press "R" to enter the Recovery Console if you do get your hands on an XP Home CD. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement. Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP (in your case, the one you wish to repair) is selected in the box, and then press the R key to repair Windows XP. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Setup.

If you can't get the friend or someone to overnight the XP CD, you can try to boot from a 98 or ME CD as above.

SMBP

[ASD]

I did have a Win98 start up disk but it can't read the NTFS file system. I am guessing that I can't make a book disk from a XP Pro computer or use the XP Pro setup disk to repair the XP Home installation. If I install XP Pro on the computer, will it create a dual boot system?

I appreciate all your responses!