# Computer keeps rebooting during Windows XP installation.



## _AngeL_ (May 8, 2005)

I got an old computer from a friend. He used Windows 2000, but he formatted the hard drive. I want to install Windows XP Pro from a cd. Installation started perfectly. The hard drive still had 2 partitions, which I removed and replaced by one. I formatted that partition as NTFS and installed windows on it. Everything looks fine until it says that it needs to reboot in 15 secs. After the reboot the installation should continue. The computer reboots and then when reaching the loading Windows animation it reboots again and again and again etc.

What is causing this???


The stats aren’t great but good enough to accommodate XP:
P3 800 MHz
128MB
40GB hdd
nvidia geforce4 mx420 64MB


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## Ritespeed (May 3, 2005)

I once had the same problem with an install on my older computers. You might want to try using a newer cd rom drive that can read the data at the speed the XP disk is requesting; also you might want to get the hard drive manufactor's format disk from their website and try a low level format. These are just solutions that have worked for me in the past. Good Luck!!! Mike

1. Swap the cd rom drive with a newer one just to load the OS
if no dice
then
2. Low level format the hard drive it might have some crud on it.
if no dice
3. Ask one of the tech's that moderate this site they have great solutions I am just a geek by birth rite trained in the field of Economics with a passion for computers


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## _AngeL_ (May 8, 2005)

Thanks for the input Mike.

I’m not sure if the cdrom drive is the cause. It seems to install perfectly from the cd. But the problem starts when windows loads for the first time. I think it loads from the hard drive and it doesnt use the cd anymore. Or do you think that the files werent copied properly?

I will have a look at the speed of the cdrom anyway. If it is very slow I will try to replace it. (I’m not home, so I can’t look right now).

I will also try your second suggestion, although you would think the disc had been sufficiently formatted: first with Format.com from a floppy, then I formatted the disc during installation several times (fast and slow). 

Fingers crossed -razz:


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## waffleweed (Mar 25, 2005)

hi angel,

you can try fixin the master boot record and see if that helps. boot up with the windows xp cd again and in the the main console, choose repair. then the computer will ask you for an admin password and if you dont have one, just simply hit enter.

then on C: type in "fixboot" or "fixmbr" without the "". both are the same thing, type either one. it should only take a second and after that is finish, reboot the computer and try to boot into windows normally. if that doesnt work, then try a low-level format. good luck


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## Chevy (Jul 25, 2003)

Memory errors ... that's what I usually find .... download Memtest86, create the floppy, boot to it, and let it run for a couple of hours.


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## _AngeL_ (May 8, 2005)

OK, ive downloaded a tool from the manufacturer of my hard disc (maxtor) so I can low level format the drive.

I got the memtest util (I did swap the memory once, but you never know) and I also got a sh*tload of manuals about formatting. :grin: 

I will let you know if i get it working.


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## _AngeL_ (May 8, 2005)

I tried the following steps:

1) Swapped my cdrom drive of unknown speed by a 40 speed drive. Installed Windows. Problem remained

2) Tried the repair option from the installation disc. Made a new bootsector with “fixboot”, but it didn’t work either.

3) I ran memtest for nearly 5 hours while I was gone. It made 15 passes. I didn’t understand what it was doing, but I did understand the part where it said 0 errors.

4) I used the hard drive tool from Maxtor. It had an option called quick test and I passed it. Then I did a full low level format. The whole disc was successfully rewritten with zeros. Installed windows again, but problem remained!

Can we cross the hard disc off the list of culprits? 

My suspicion is now focused on the graphics card (nvidia geforce4 mx 64MB). I tried 2 other ancient cards (one being 3D Blaster GeForce2 Titanium and other one unknown with 32 mb), but both failed to deliver an image. I don’t even know if they are good enough for XP. Any ideas to test the card?

Or can the outdated bios cause the problem (AMIBIOS version 1.21f)?


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## manoo (May 9, 2005)

*Change the memory card(RAM)*

I recommend you to remove the current RAM and replace it with another with the same type and speed. I hope it will work.


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## TheShape (May 10, 2005)

_AngeL_ said:


> I got an old computer from a friend. He used Windows 2000, but he formatted the hard drive. I want to install Windows XP Pro from a cd. Installation started perfectly. The hard drive still had 2 partitions, which I removed and replaced by one. I formatted that partition as NTFS and installed windows on it. Everything looks fine until it says that it needs to reboot in 15 secs. After the reboot the installation should continue. The computer reboots and then when reaching the loading Windows animation it reboots again and again and again etc.
> 
> What is causing this???
> 
> ...


Im pretty sure just stop "Press any key to boot from cd..." and youlll be fine if thats your problem....


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## _AngeL_ (May 8, 2005)

TheShape said:


> Im pretty sure just stop "Press any key to boot from cd..." and youlll be fine if thats your problem....


Im not sure what you mean. So when it reboots I shouldnt press a key to boot from cd? and in stead boot from hard disc?

If thats what you mean then I can tell you that I have been doing that, but when it boots from my hard disc it keeps rebooting at the "loading windows" screen.

and to manoo:
I can try to swap the 128MB with 2x64MB. i dont have another single 128 stick.


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## blaiseman (Mar 17, 2005)

Remove all unnecessary hardware from the computer. This means sound cards, modems and everything except the video and network card (if present). Next try moving the network card to another slot. Disconnect all external hardware such as printers, scanners, or anything else external.


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## _AngeL_ (May 8, 2005)

Ive already tried to install with a minumum of hardware. :sayno: 

I also tried to install windows 2000, cause the computer had worked fine with that system, but i had the same problems: it kept rebooting. 

This is my first clean install of windows. am i forgetting something crucial here? do i need to do something before i put the installation cdrom in? like install drivers or change the bios? :4-dontkno

--
During the setup of windows xp you have the option to press F6 to install RAID or SCSI drivers or other 3rd party drivers. I always skipped it cause I have no clue what it means. do i need to install a driver for my asus motherboard or something? who could enlighten me on this subject?

thanks in advance :tongue:


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## fezr (Jan 6, 2008)

Hi there, I'm having the EXACT same problem as angel. Does anyone know the solution?


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## Xs395 (Dec 31, 2007)

_AngeL_ said:


> Everything looks fine until it says that it needs to reboot in 15 secs. After the reboot the installation should continue. The computer reboots and then when reaching the loading Windows animation it reboots again and again and again etc.
> 
> What is causing this???


the EXACT same thing is happening to me at this very moment, except I can't leave setup mode now  EDIT: woah alot of people are having this problem


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## fezr (Jan 6, 2008)

I just tried putting Windows 98 on it and it's doing the same thing... keeps on rebooting. I'm soooo sad


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## Xs395 (Dec 31, 2007)

dang, i almost regret buying a windows pc, the mac im on right now has been fine for almost 13 years! no problems :/


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## Xs395 (Dec 31, 2007)

since more people view this thread, imma try to reach out. my thread is in need of help. same problem, except i cannot keep it from rebooting, even if i quit setup! my only option is to install a fresh copy of windows XP pro but Elf told me to do repair


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## fezr (Jan 6, 2008)

I thought that it was my hdd so I but in an old one that i had laying around but it's doing the same thing, it just keeps rebooting during the install


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## mrdavester (Aug 2, 2008)

i was having a similar sounding problem, that was a result of sheer stupidity. The computer didn't go into a reboot loop tho, but it would if you didn't select the cd drive as your primary boot device.

I reformatted using the xp disk, it continued to install some more drivers or whatever at the same blue screen for a few seconds. then it said that this portion of the install was complete and started a 15 second reboot countdown. THEN it rebooted using the cd (set as primary boot) and came to same blue 'screen' as i started out with in the first place before the reformat. it looked like it wanted me to start over again.

But if you actually read the screen, it gives you an option to continue using an existing installation, select that and windows starts installing normally using the gui.

NOW, i've installed windows probably 25 times in the past and i don't remember ever having to make this additional selection. It wasn't until my brother in law, who knows nothing of computers, walked by and actually read the screen and pressed the right key, ..while i was reading this thread, ready to give up on it. geez

d


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## BluAngelEyes23 (Aug 2, 2008)

mrdavester said:


> i was having a similar sounding problem, that was a result of sheer stupidity. The computer didn't go into a reboot loop tho, but it would if you didn't select the cd drive as your primary boot device.
> 
> I reformatted using the xp disk, it continued to install some more drivers or whatever at the same blue screen for a few seconds. then it said that this portion of the install was complete and started a 15 second reboot countdown. THEN it rebooted using the cd (set as primary boot) and came to same blue 'screen' as i started out with in the first place before the reformat. it looked like it wanted me to start over again.
> 
> ...


Don't know if your still having trouble or not. But I would like to say, I was having the same problem with one of my D-Link wireless cards that I had been using for years before. All of the sudden computer was continuously rebooting. Even after I formatted and cleaned out the system (Dust), and no change in functionality. Finally I ran into this article here. It explains how to turn off the auto reboot and how to troubleshoot what piece of new or existing hardware may be needed for removal in order for Windows to function properly.

Everyone will usually point to new hardware. This is very frustrating because in my case, it wasn't new hardware and everyone was so sure it was something new I installed, when this isn't the case all the time!

Good luck. These kind of problems suck but help is out there. :wave:


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## mrdavester (Aug 2, 2008)

no my problem was solved by actually reading the screen. my new problem is my other computer. I heard a loud buzz from it, then it shut down on its own, and won't power back up. Its flatlined...uh oh.


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## BluAngelEyes23 (Aug 2, 2008)

Skerrrt zooom keee crack. Good luck, with that...:4-dontkno


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## 5aclockshadow (Feb 19, 2009)

I had a similar issue...the pc had 3 sticks of 1 GB ram (3 GB of RAM total) and it had a USB 2.0 pci card installed. I remove 2 GBs of RAM & the USB 2.0 pci card and the PC stopped the endless reboot loop.


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## shaileshjobid (Sep 4, 2009)

_AngeL_ said:


> I got an old computer from a friend. He used Windows 2000, but he formatted the hard drive. I want to install Windows XP Pro from a cd. Installation started perfectly. The hard drive still had 2 partitions, which I removed and replaced by one. I formatted that partition as NTFS and installed windows on it. Everything looks fine until it says that it needs to reboot in 15 secs. After the reboot the installation should continue. The computer reboots and then when reaching the loading Windows animation it reboots again and again and again etc.
> 
> What is causing this???
> 
> ...


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