nielsen4683 said:
My computer turns and I am able to log on, but then after about 2 minutes
it
reboots. I can access files and folders for a minute, but then it freezes
and commences to rebooting. I want to get some pictures off the drive and
then reformat.
Does it behave this way in Safe Mode? If not, stop the automatic restarting
so you can get the Stop Error (blue screen). Once you get the Stop Error,
you can research it at the link below. Looking at the information at the
link will also show you what details of the Stop Error to include in a
newsgroup post if you need more help with it.
http://www.aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm - Stop Errors
Control Panel>System>Advanced tab>Startup and Recovery>Settings and under
System Failure uncheck "Automatically Restart".
Some OEM machines also have a link at the same menu where you find Safe Mode
to stop the automatic restarting.
To get into Safe Mode, repeatedly tap the F8 key as the computer is starting
up. This will get you to the right menu. Navigate using your Up arrow key;
the mouse will not work here.
There is always the possibility that your computer is experiencing hardware
issues, but we can't know that without the Stop Error, its behavior in Safe
Mode (if you can get in), and possibly the answer to The First Question of
Troubleshooting (what changed between the time things worked and the time
they didn't).
If you can't get into Safe Mode and/or the computer still won't stay up long
enough to get the data, pull the hard drive. Put it in an external drive
enclosure or slave it in a working XP computer and copy the data off that
way. This assumes the hard drive is physically sound, of course.
After you've done all that, if you still need more help then please supply
the missing details about your computer and its recent history.
Malke
