[NChick]

My desktop is in a loop.

I was Firefoxing and it hung. Nothing unusual about that lately (Firefox seems to be getting less and less stable).

Pressed restart button on the front of the machine and I get the "choose which option you want to start Windows" (XP) screen - Safe Mode, Networking with command prompt, etc etc. No matter what I choose, it tries to carry out the task but gets no further than a blank screen past the one with the options on it... then it restarts itself and goes back to POST. This just goes on, over and over.

I can't afford to go have it fixed (I've got two quotes, one is slightly more reasonable than the other), so the question is this... what's wrong, and how do I fix it? I have another machine I should be able to put the Windows HDD in, if necessary.

[Nathannelson]

Hello NChick
It seems that windows has got some corrupted files or your hard drive could be damaged. Try running a windows repair using the XP install disk, Google Windows XP repair for a more step by step guide on how. If the repair doesn't work the only thing left is to reinstall windows and start fresh.

As for putting another hard drive in that system there is a high chance that it will not work because of the old system having different drivers then the system you will be putting it in to. It will just be stuck in a BSOD loop.

Regards
Nathan

[NChick]

Thanks for your reply.

I can't run the Winduhs XP disc because it's been lost - I moved into my current residence just over a year ago but I've still not located my disc.

My data is my main concern - there are many precious and valuable items on there that can't be backed up (besides the self-restarting problem, the DVDRWs have gone belly-up). I've been worried that the data is at risk - would moving the HDD to another machine as a secondary disk keep it safe for now?

[Nathannelson]

Hey
Yea if you can use the HDD as a slave (or secondary) in another machine you can get the data of no problems as long as the HDD is not badly damaged. Even keeping it unplugged should keep it safe.

[NChick]

Hmm, well, obviously this is not ideal (going from burning DVDs, rendering 3d, and playing the Sims 2, to a machine with Winduhs ME and an AMD Duron... well, it's quite a step down), but it's my only option.
I'm getting mighty tempted to buy a new machine I've seen and just put my graphics card and HDD in it (something not beyond my abilities, luckily).
The PC in question has been off the desk since the incident occurred, so it has been at least without power... I'll try and get the HDD into the Duron tonight as a secondary, and see if I can get the Duron PC's DVDRW backing up.
Any further advice / things I can try?

[Nathannelson]

There is one more thing, if u really wanted to keep the HDD in a new PC you can get software that will default all the drivers for the motherboard on that XP install so you can use it in a new machine with out it blue screening. I do use one at work but last time i checked it was worth $3000, I am sure there is others. If you where to buy a new machine your local computer store should be able to do it for you they might charge a little bit but you would have all your data on the new machine.

[NChick]

Thanks - data transfer and defaulting a lot of settings? Should be able to manage that myself. Well, if I could just get into Winduhs, that is >.<''
The new machine shouldn't cost any more than £150 and it's a lot better than what I'm using - although what I'm using is more than enough for me, repair costs + labour (etcetera etcetera) are approaching half that cost, so... well.