Windows xp setup is restarting

[Guest]

I am currently trying to do a fresh install of XP Pro on an old Emachines box with a P4 and 2GB of ram.

I realize that my first problem may be that I'm trying to use an old Emachine, but the specs work for what I need. I have tried 3 DIFFERENT HDD's and still have had the same result each time. I've tried an 80GB a 20GB, and an 8GB drive. Just to see if I could get it to install on any of them.

It gets through the driver and network installs, goes to reboot the computer, and as soon as it tries to load into Windows to complete the setup, it says it needs to restart.

I've pulled out the graphics card to make sure it wasn't something driver related with that, but I'm still not sure exactly what could be causing it.

I've also tried several different Windows XP Pro discs. Some SP2 and some SP3. Even tried the old OEM copy for the machine just to see if any of the hardware was tattooed.

I'm Thoroughly confused and frustrated. I can't imagine that ALL of these drives have physical errors, and based on what I am seeing, I have a feeling that it has something to do specifically with the computer itself.

I am going to try some of the suggestions in the following thread link, as well as switching out the IDE cables to make sure they haven't gone bad.

But I'm just hoping for some advice/suggestions.

(This is the thread I found)
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/236955-45-windows-repair-install-hangs-setup-restarting

 

[soundguruman]

I am currently trying to do a fresh install of XP Pro on an old Emachines box with a P4 and 2GB of ram.

I realize that my first problem may be that I'm trying to use an old Emachine, but the specs work for what I need. I have tried 3 DIFFERENT HDD's and still have had the same result each time. I've tried an 80GB a 20GB, and an 8GB drive. Just to see if I could get it to install on any of them.

It gets through the driver and network installs, goes to reboot the computer, and as soon as it tries to load into Windows to complete the setup, it says it needs to restart.

I've pulled out the graphics card to make sure it wasn't something driver related with that, but I'm still not sure exactly what could be causing it.

I've also tried several different Windows XP Pro discs. Some SP2 and some SP3. Even tried the old OEM copy for the machine just to see if any of the hardware was tattooed.

I'm Thoroughly confused and frustrated. I can't imagine that ALL of these drives have physical errors, and based on what I am seeing, I have a feeling that it has something to do specifically with the computer itself.

I am going to try some of the suggestions in the following thread link, as well as switching out the IDE cables to make sure they haven't gone bad.

But I'm just hoping for some advice/suggestions.

(This is the thread I found)
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/236955-45-windows-repair-install-hangs-setup-restarting

It's possible to look in the bios setup, see if there is a setting for the drive file system, make sure it is set to IDE. Make sure the hard drive is set to master, and that any other device on the same IDE cable is set to slave.
There's one more thing, If you reformat and fresh install again, make sure there is an internet connection, select the option as windows installs to find updated versions, it connects to microsoft and finds installation updates, that may help
There's one quirk. On older machines, sometimes the bios is not updated to handle a large hard drive. Depending on the capacity of the drive, you may have to update the bios first. Well, hope some of that will help, and good luck.

 

[Robert in Los Angeles]

Re: Windows XP Repair Install Hangs at "Setup is Restarting

Hello!

My success with "How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545:
I only did "Part 1" and got my Windows XP Pro - OEM to restart.
How I did it was - I moved the HD from the crashed PC to mine, created the "regcopy1.txt" file as instructed, and copied it to the crashed HD at C:\Windows.
Then placed the HD back into the non-booting PC, ran "Recovery Console" with the OEM Installation CD , then did "Batch regcopy1.txt.txt" (no quotes).
Why the txt.txt? Somehow, somewhere, Windows added it after starting "Recovery Console".
Leaving the OEM Installation CD in the Optical Drive, I restarted into "Safe Mode" first, so that I could grab my files unto a Flash Drive. Next was normal boot. Took my system about 30 minutes both ways to finish to the Desktop, so be patient.

Now, that said, do not expect a perfect Windows OS, despite doing a full "chkdsk /p /r" with the "Recovery Console", so that damaged files could be replaced from the OEM Installation CD.

Why Microsoft would instruct us to do Parts 2 and 3 for new registry hives is beyond me, because once one does Part 4, firstly turning off "System Restore" then immediately back on by clearing the check box to get rid of old bad restore points, is beyond me.

Even though I plan to do a clean re-install, I am pleased to get my files back.

Now, if your OS looks healthy and usable, then consider yourself very lucky, because mine is highly corrupted, even though it boots up.
Maybe running more "chkdsk /p /r" passes will fix it?

Sincerely,

Robert in Los Angeles

 

[Zoron]

What is the exact message you're getting when the computer wants to reboot? What happens after you reboot? Does it go back into setup? Do you have any other options? Does it just hang when you get the message?

Check your motherboard's capacitors... they should be nice and flat on top. If you see any that are bulged or seem to have a crusty material around them (leakage), then that is the root cause of your issues. It wouldn't hurt to run Memtest on your RAM either.