Continual Reboot - Cant get into safe mode

Okay, first off let me say hello to everyone, I havent logged onto this website for a long, long time. Doubt any of you remember me.

Anyway, my long break from this website has killed all of my troubleshooting knowledge, etc.

Basically here is what happened:
-Accidentally plugged in new hardware on startup, I think the registry has an error now.
-Computer reboots right before windows 2k starts
-I cannot boot into safe mode by pressing F8, but 5 seconds before I can press delete and get into the bios..wtf?

I am seriously stumped here, why the safe mode wont start...its not my timing, I've started pressing the button before the bootup screen even appears.

can you boot off of any device? like a cdrom? if you can, try getting to the Win2k recovery console and do a chkdsk /r

I cannot boot into safe mode by pressing F8, but 5 seconds before I can press delete and get into the bios

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If you have a keyboard that uses the F Lock key, make sure it's used to enable the F Lock function...otherwise pressing any of the "F" keys during POST won't have any effect. You may also need to tap the F8 key repeatedly in order for the OS to recognize the keystroke.

Okay, before I managed to get it into safe mode, but whenever I tried to open anything, the computer gave me a message that explorer had failed.

Now that's not good, at least I dont think so. I tried the last known configuration option, but that restarted too.

I just reformatted this stupid thing a week ago, and now this happens.

EDIT: Now if I just let the computer keep restarting eventually a STOP ERROR bluescreen will appear that says *** Address BFEFA713 base at BFEF0000, DateStamp 3a638242 - Ntfs.sys

Dont know if that will help or not but..

Alright, now I'm getting @#$%*&^ ****ed. I managed to get into safe mode again, but when I clicked to open the control panel the computer restarted

I also ran the chkdsk and after it finished it said it had corrected 1 error, but the problem of restarting still occurs.

Okay, the most current restart said that windows was going to shut down because of service32.exe or something, it went away too quick for me to write it down

From the DOS prompt, after booting with the floppy, type in FDISK

Have you tried booting at stock speeds?

run memtest. try a different stick of ram.

and yes, you should run at stock speeds, for ram and CPU, for the time being.

Cyrix_2k said:

Have you tried booting at stock speeds?

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Yes, I have been running at stock speeds, and its not the ram because I already tried them separately in a different computer and they ran fine.

And its not the ram because I already tried them separately in a different computer and they ran fine

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Just because the RAM appears to work fine in another computer doesn't necessarily mean that it will work in your own system without problems. I would suggest taking Know Nuttin's advice if you haven't already, and run Memtest on the RAM. You can find Memtest86 at the following site...

http://www.memtest86.com/

Did you try Know Nuttin's suggestion re: booting to the Recovery Console, and typing chkdsk /r ?

Description of the Windows 2000 Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;229716

CHKDSK

chkdsk drive /p /r

This command (where drive specifies the drive to check) checks the drive, and if needed, repairs or recovers the drive. It also marks bad sectors and recovers readable information.

The /p switch instructs CHKDSK to do an exhaustive check of the drive even if the drive is not marked with problems, and then corrects any errors that are found. The /r switch locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. Note that if you specify the /r switch, the /p switch is implied. The chkdsk command may be specified without arguments, in which case the current drive is implied with no switches. Optionally, the listed switches are accepted. The chkdsk command requires the Autochk.exe file. Chkdsk automatically locates this file in the bootup folder. Typically, this folder is the Cmdcons folder if the Command Console was pre-installed. If the folder cannot be found in the bootup folder, Chkdsk tries to locate the Windows CD-ROM installation media. If the installation media cannot be found, Chkdsk prompts you to provide the location of the Autochk.exe file.

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How To Use Recovery Console on a Computer That Does Not Start in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;301645

It may just be a BIOS related issue, not necessarily a hardware problem. Try resetting CMOS, and loading either "Optimized Defaults" or "Failsafe Defaults" in the BIOS (the "Defaults" setting name may be called something different...maybe something like "Load Factory Defaults"). Afterwards, change only what BIOS settings are absolutely necessary for Windows to load and still recognize all of your hardware...memory timings (DRAM Timing by SPD) should be set to "By SPD", "CPU Core Voltage" should be set to "Auto", "AGP/PCI Frequency" should be locked at 66/33, etc.

yanks111 said:

I think the registry has an error now

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If you think that you may have a corrupted registry, MS offers a Registry Repair Utility for W2K which you can download here...

Windows 2000 Registry Repair Utility
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...01-2C68-4DE8-9229-CA494362419C&displaylang=en

Registry Corruption in Windows 2000 can prevent your system from booting. The Windows 2000 Registry Repair Utility is a tool that can help to recover a Windows 2000 system from registry corruption. This utility can be downloaded on to floppy disks and then run on the system with the corrupted registry. Six floppy disks are required for downloading this utility. The utility will attempt to repair the corrupted registry and allow your machine to boot again.

Click to expand...

As a last resort, you may want to perform a Repair Install...

Manual vs Fast Repair in Windows 2000
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kb...Shooting/ManualvsFastRepairinWindows2000.html

Okay, thanks for the help.

But, I turned my computer on this morning, loaded the fail-sfae defaults.......and it turned on fine, didnt even restart You can only imagine how #$^@$%&@$%& ****ed I was

Heh, now I'm afraid to turn it off again

EDIT: New problem: Firefox crashes every tiem I try to open it, and other programs close randomly. Photoshop works until I open a picture, then it crashes and a message appears that says the program could not be closed if it is being debugged close the debugger first.

yanks111 said:

New problem: Firefox crashes every tiem I try to open it, and other programs close randomly. Could my computer have a virus?

Click to expand...

You may very well be infected with a virus and/or malware, and as such I would strongly suggest you scan your system. If you don't have a scanner installed, Symantec offers a free online security check...

Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym

...as does Trend Micro:

HouseCall
http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp

In addition, access the error logs ...Start | Run | Type eventvwr.msc and click OK | Highlight "Application" and "System" independently in the LH pane | Right click any error message(s) (critical errors are in Red), and select "Properties" | Write down a couple of the latest critical error messages exactly as they appear under the "Description" field, and post them in this thread. If you don't feel like writing them down ...when you right click an event and select "Properties", an "Information Properties" window will open. In the upper RH corner of the window is a button (just below the up/down arrow buttons) that when pressed copies the details of the event to the Clipboard. You can then paste the Clipboard contents of the logged error(s) in this thread.

In regards to repairing the reboot issue by loading Fail Safe defaults in the BIOS, you obviously had one or more BIOS settings incorrectly set. AFA the problem you're having now re: programs closing, it could still be related to the BIOS settings even at Fail Safe default settings. Go through and check every setting in the BIOS, and make sure everything looks OK ...leave Vcore and RAM timings at their default (AUTO or "By SPD") settings for now.

sounds like ram problems to me ... but hey .. i guess he already fully addressed that ..

Okay, after a restart Firefox is now working fine.

I scanned my computer and nothing came up as far as viruses.

In the error logs there are lots of errors, mostly witht he SErvice Control manager.

Here is an error from the Application Log:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Microsoft Internet Explorer
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 7/17/2005
Time: 12:35:59 PM
User: N/A
Computer: MIKE
Description:
The description for Event ID ( 1000 ) in Source ( Microsoft Internet Explorer ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. The following information is part of the event: iexplore.exe, 6.0.2800.1106, flash.ocx, 7.0.19.0, 00024119.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 69 65 78 ure iex
0018: 70 6c 6f 72 65 2e 65 78 plore.ex
0020: 65 20 36 2e 30 2e 32 38 e 6.0.28
0028: 30 30 2e 31 31 30 36 20 00.1106
0030: 69 6e 20 66 6c 61 73 68 in flash
0038: 2e 6f 63 78 20 37 2e 30 .ocx 7.0
0040: 2e 31 39 2e 30 20 61 74 .19.0 at
0048: 20 6f 66 66 73 65 74 20 offset
0050: 30 30 30 32 34 31 31 39 00024119
0058: 0d 0a



I have no clue if that means anything, but it said it was an error.

You never mentioned whether or not you actually tested your RAM, so like Xtreme Barton mentioned, and as Know Nuttin and myself previously suggested ...run Memtest on your RAM before doing anything else.
In my experience, a Flash.ocx error related to IE is a pretty good indication of a RAM related issue (RAM timings, Vdimm, faulty RAM, etc.).

man sounds like a virus or a damaged local Disk

Alright, I have memtest running right now, we'll see what happens.

What I found out before: Computer will restart with RAM at 133, whereas the computer runs fine when it is at 100. So much for the ram working right

Okay, memtest finished while I was out and found no errors.

Now I'm really at a loss as to how to fix this (Reformatting is not a choice, I just did it a week or so ago dangit)

Did you ever try the Registry Repair Utility like I suggested ? Did you ever run chkdsk /r from the Recovery console, like what was suggested ? In addition, which BIOS version are you running ...and have you tried resetting CMOS ?

Computer will restart with RAM at 133, whereas the computer runs fine when it is at 100

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Is there a 100/133 FSB jumper onboard, and if so ...what position is it in now ?