PC Won't boot - returns to BIOS from Windows XP

[spartan92]

I'm completely stumped and looking for enlightenment. My PC was working fine on Tuesday evening, shut down, went to bed and when I turned it on Wednesday I have a problem all of a sudden.

What happens is that the PC starts up like normal, you see the BIOS screen and then the Windows XP screen with the little blue progress bar below the logo. After a bit of time processing, it returns to the initial BIOS screen and freezes up. Tried everything I can think of. Anyone experience this before and know what I can do to fix?

Thanks for any help.

 

[rgeist554]

What happens when you boot in safe mode or "Last Known Good Config"?

 

[spartan92]

Safe Mode worked once, but once in there, I don't know what to change.

When trying Last Know Good Config, it just does the same thing of going through the Windows XP logo screen and returning to the BIOS screen and freezing.

I guess I will probably end up trying to boot from the disc and doing a reinstall, but I've never seen the PC do this before, so I was wondering what is causing.

 

[rgeist554]

Have you installed anything new? (Hardware or Software)

Things to try in Safe Mode:

1. Go to Start -> Run -> type "msconfig" -> click the "Startup" tab -> click the "Disable All" at the bottom. Reboot into normal mode.

2. While in Safe Mode, check out your event logs. In XP it's Start -> Help and Support -> Under "Pick a Task" click the "Use tools to view your computer information... blah blah.." -> Check Application and System logs for items that cause the crash. (Should appear as a red ! or X around the time you failed to boot)

3. If you've added any new hardware or software REMOVE IT!

Other than that, you can try a repair install if you don't want to lose all your data or the full format / reinstall.

 

[spartan92]

Thanks for the tips! I'll give those a try. Only new thing that was installed prior to this happening was an update to Adobe Reader from version 8.0 to 8.1 something. Guess that could be the issue, but I've never had any problems with that program before.

 

[spartan92]

Ok, did an XP Repair install and things are working again, however, the system isn't letting me install the following security updates:

Security Update for Windows XP (KB928843)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB890859)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB944653)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB914389)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB920683)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB908519)
Update for Windows XP (KB894391)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB943055)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB935839)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896428)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB913580)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923689)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB905749)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB908531)
Update for Windows XP (KB930916)
Critical Update for Windows XP (KB886185)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB943485)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB935840)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB920213)
Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP (KB944533)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB938127)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB900725)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB888302)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB941568)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB926255)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB918118)
Security Update for Outlook Express for Windows XP (KB941202)
Update for Windows XP (KB922582)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923191)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB901214)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB905414)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB917344)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB914388)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB919007)
Security Update for Windows XP with Windows Media Format Runtime 9.5 and 11 (KB941569)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB930178)
Update for Windows XP (KB942763)
Update for Windows XP (KB920872)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB926436)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB890046)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB902400)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB918439)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB891781)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB920670)
Cumulative Security Update for Outlook Express for Windows XP (KB929123)
Security Update for Windows Media Player Plug-in (KB911564)
Update for Windows XP (KB910437)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 6.4 (KB925398)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896358)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB938829)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB946026)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB941644)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB924496)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB873339)
Security Update for Windows Media Player 9 (KB936782)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB931261)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB924270)
Update for Windows XP (KB900485)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB896423)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB924667)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB911562)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB936021)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB911280)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923980)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB893756)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB920685)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB933729)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB899591)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB901017)
Update for Windows XP (KB942840)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB911927)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB931784)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB928255)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB937894)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB923414)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB885835)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB922819)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB943460)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB927802)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB927779)
Security Update for Windows XP (KB899587)

Obviously, that's quite a list and I'd like to make sure I take care of those. Any ideas on why it won't let me install these?

 

[rgeist554]

What is it telling you when you try to install the updates?