Computer keeps rebooting

[kenny_hwang]

When i boot up my other computer it stays on the welcome screen and if i don't press Esc, F1, or F10 it just reboots. What do i do to fix this?

[zep516]

Boot to safe mode see how it functions there,

1. Restart your computer.
2. When the machine first starts again it will generally list some equipment that is installed in your machine, amount of memory, hard drives installed etc. At this point you should gently tap the F8 key repeatedly until you are presented with a Windows XP Advanced Options menu.
3. Select the option for Safe Mode using the arrow keys.
4. Then press enter on your keyboard to boot into Safe Mode

If you get that far do this below;

1. Navigate to the Control Panel in Windows XP by left-clicking on Start, followed by Settings and then choosing Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel window, open System.
Note: In Microsoft Windows XP, depending on how your operating system is setup, you may not see the System icon. To correct this, click on the link on the left-hand side of the Control Panel window that says Switch to Classic View.
3. In the System Properties window, click on the Advanced tab.
4. Locate the Startup and Recovery area and click on the Settings button.
5. In the Startup and Recovery window, locate and uncheck the check box next to Automatically restart.
6. Click OK in the Startup and Recovery window.
7. Click OK in the System Properties window.

reboot back to normal mode see what the results are.

[kenny_hwang]

I'm pretty new to computers and when i say Welcome screen it says HP. And at the bottom are three options.

Also I didn't get pass the Welcome screen.

[zep516]

I understand your new to computers,

Just turn the computer off then turn it on as soon as you turn it on keep tapping the f8 key ok. We need to see the windows advanced option screen once you get that screen you will see the selection for SafeMode.

Then Follow instructions in first post I made above.

If you are unable to get this far that is boot to safe mode at that point we would have to consider a hardware problem ram, or power supply something like that...

Have you made any changes to the computer such as adding software or hardware?

What is the make & model# ?

[MrDarn]

Just to make it that little bit clearer again, when your tapping F8, stop when this screen (or similer) appears:

This is the screen Zep wants you to select Safe Mode at.

Should you see the highlighted option: "Disable automatic restart on system failure"
Then please choose this option. Once you choose this option, you will be asked which operating system you want to boot to, there should be just 1 option. Press [Enter] to choose it.

If you encounter a screen like this one:

Please note down what it says, and include it in your next post.

IE: the information from the above screen we would require would be:

• Caused by the following file: aries.sys
• PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA
• Technical Information:
  ***STOP: 0X00000050 (0XFFFFFFF8, 0X00000000, 0XF9CF5C88, 0X00000000)
  *** aries.sys - address F9CF5C88 base at F9CF5000, Datestamp 424bb23f

Or as much as you can note down.


Again, if you get stuck, post back and we'll try and explain a little clearer.

We wereall new to this at one time or another!

[kenny_hwang]

Well when I start up my computer it stays on the first screen unless I press Esc to go to the Boot Menu, F1 to go to the Bios Setup. There is also System Recovery (F10) but when I press that button nothing happens. So any other button I press doesn't work so I can't get into Windows Advance Options.

I have a HP Pavillion a1247c.

[MrDarn]

I appreciate the option is not displayed on the first splash screen, even though other options are.

The universal way for all computers to access this options screen is F8, whilst other options such as bios, and system recovery can be a number of differing ways.

The exeption to the rule (and there alwasy is one!) is some PC's use the F5 button :doh!:

Can you try both of these methods, and let us know the results please?

1. Turn off the computer if it is currently running
2. Wait 30 clear seconds
3. Press the power button, as you would normally. IMMEDIATLY after it is pressed, tap the F8 key repeatedly, once every second or so, untill the options screen appears, or the computer boots/reboots
4. If there is no options screen at this point, retrace steps 1-3, this time switching the F8 key for F5
5. Once at the options screen, continue with previous recommendations.
6. If the options screen is still not available, please post back, and we'll try another option.

I appreciate this can be frustrating, but we need to be sure you cannot enter safe mode, and that this is not a simple error, as the lack of a safe mode option points to something far more complicated, although not overcomable!

[kenny_hwang]

I did as you said MrDarn and my computer still stayed at the same screen. I tried both and neither worked.

[MrDarn]

So...to recap:
when you boot the PC, you hear no beeps (except perhapt 1 normal startup "ok" beep).
The screen shows the PC brands logo, but goes no further in the boot sequence.

F5 and F8 do not bring up safe mode.

You say pressing F1 and F10 does something, and that there are 3 options on the HP splash screen.

Please:

• What are the options listed on the splash screen?
• What does F10 bring up? Is it a recovery console?
• What happens when you press F1? is it a BIOS options screen?

Here's my thinking so far, it may not mean much to you, but may trigger something with another tech: (highlight to read)

The machine is booting past BIOS self-test, but sticks at the point of loading the operating system. This could be 2 reasons: 1, no harddrive detected, 2, operating system corrupted.
The system is in 'quick boot' mode, so does not display the normal test sequence, displaying if the harddrive is attached. this is covered by the HP splash screen
If F10 is booting to recovery, this is a good sign the harddrive is attached, and that it is a OS issue, which the recovery console can repair or destructive reinstall. The lack of safemode says the os may be in a state that is completly unbootable, so the next question should be, is there anything on the harddrive the OP wants recovered before trying repair?. If any of you see i'm completly off with this, jump in


The main next question has to be: is there anything on the drive you cannot do without? as it looks like we may need to be going down the system recovery route, which may end up completly reinstalling your operating system.

Also, what disks do you have available for this PC?

[arraknid]

Do you hear any beep sounds at startup? If not, start thinking about getting the power supply tested. What you describe is very symptomatic of a dead PSU.

If you do hear beeps, how many? Are they long and short?