Hi, Terry.
The default setting for what WinXP is to do on "system failure" is to
"automatically restart". That often fixes things, since so many computer
glitches are solved by simply rebooting. But, when that does not solve the
problem, we are left with no clue as to the cause. The fix is to change
that default setting.
Go to System Properties | Advanced | Startup and Recovery Settings and
remove the check from the Automatically restart box. Next time, instead of
rebooting, your computer should Halt with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) full
of cryptic codes. You'll still have to reboot, but you'll have plenty of
time to write down those codes. If you can't interpret them, post them
here - verbatim - and some guru (not me!) can point you in the right
direction.
Of course, you can't do this if you can't boot WinXP in the first place.
:>( But you should be able to boot into Safe Mode by pressing <F8> just as
WinXP starts to load.
If you still can't boot, tell us - step by step - what happens when you
start the computer. For example, does it get as far as showing the Desktop?
RC
