Windows xp virus gets blue screen then restarts

[logana60]

Hello,my aunt gave me a computer and its broken she said there was a virus on it. whenever i start it says media test fail test cable or something simalar than it start normal except i cant move the mouse then after a few minutes it gets blue screen then restarts then it repeats.

 

[Alaskan_IT]

The error media test fail is most likely the computer trying to boot off the LAN. Anyway, I would recommend running some hardware diagnostics (memtest86+, DFT) to verify the functionality of the machine. Then see if your aunt has the recovery media for the machine. Might as well start fresh.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Can you boot into safe mode? Once in safe mode, right-click on my computer and select properties. On the advanced tab, click the settings button under startup & recovery. Uncheck the "automatically restart" under system failure. Click OK to everything until exitited out. Now when it blue screens, instead of rebooting it will stay at the blue screen so that you can read the error message.