I recently had to do a Windows XP recovery on my daughters computer, as it

had totally crashed due to a virus enfection; no virus protection had been

installed at that time :(

 

After several tries, I got it up and runnning (humming, actually) and she

downloaded all the updates including SP2. Virus protection installed and

everything was running smoothly for several weeks. She said it was like a new

machine.

 

Suddenly yesterday, without warning, she turned it on and could not get

Windows to start. It looked like it was starting normally, but then after

long minutes of nothing happening (Windows XP screen that you first see when

starting), the screen goes black. Then it tried to restart.

 

We had a momentary power failure (about 30 sec) the prior day; but she is on

battery back up (??). She had turned the computer off after that, and it was

on startup the next day that this problem occured.

 

I'm in the process of doing another Recovery, as there seemed to be no other

option (first couple of times, could not get the control panel features to

open so I'm doing it again).

 

Any clues here what might have caused this? The machine had been running

very well.

--

Bill

Momentary "Brown Outs" are a threat to PCs. Most folks understand

the need for surge protection but not for UPS. Every summer I replace

several Wireless routers as these are particularly sensitive to drop outs.

 

Are you sure the UPS monitor is installed and connected (USB) to the

PC so it can monitor the line voltage ?

 

One suggestion is to get a Imaging program, such as Acronis True

Image. For ~$35 you can protect both the System state and user data.

Doing Repair installs and Recoveries can get to be a hassle after you've

done it a few times.

 

"Bill O" <BillO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:0FA1CC10-BABF-4030-AA5E-B7C5ED477FF9@microsoft.com...

>I recently had to do a Windows XP recovery on my daughters computer, as it

> had totally crashed due to a virus enfection; no virus protection had been

> installed at that time :(

>

> After several tries, I got it up and runnning (humming, actually) and she

> downloaded all the updates including SP2. Virus protection installed and

> everything was running smoothly for several weeks. She said it was like a

> new

> machine.

>

> Suddenly yesterday, without warning, she turned it on and could not get

> Windows to start. It looked like it was starting normally, but then after

> long minutes of nothing happening (Windows XP screen that you first see

> when

> starting), the screen goes black. Then it tried to restart.

>

> We had a momentary power failure (about 30 sec) the prior day; but she is

> on

> battery back up (??). She had turned the computer off after that, and it

> was

> on startup the next day that this problem occured.

>

> I'm in the process of doing another Recovery, as there seemed to be no

> other

> option (first couple of times, could not get the control panel features to

> open so I'm doing it again).

>

> Any clues here what might have caused this? The machine had been running

> very well.

> --

> Bill

"Bill O" <BillO@discussions.microsoft.com>

>I recently had to do a Windows XP recovery on my daughters computer, as it

> had totally crashed due to a virus enfection; no virus protection had been

> installed at that time :(

>

> After several tries, I got it up and runnning (humming, actually) and she

> downloaded all the updates including SP2. Virus protection installed and

> everything was running smoothly for several weeks. She said it was like a

> new

> machine.

>

> Suddenly yesterday, without warning, she turned it on and could not get

> Windows to start. It looked like it was starting normally, but then after

> long minutes of nothing happening (Windows XP screen that you first see

> when

> starting), the screen goes black. Then it tried to restart.

>

> We had a momentary power failure (about 30 sec) the prior day; but she is

> on

> battery back up (??). She had turned the computer off after that, and it

> was

> on startup the next day that this problem occured.

>

> I'm in the process of doing another Recovery, as there seemed to be no

> other

> option (first couple of times, could not get the control panel features to

> open so I'm doing it again).

>

> Any clues here what might have caused this? The machine had been running

> very well.

 

 

This is one possible fix for this startup problem:

Windows XP logon screen does not appear and the computer continuously

restarts

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310396

 

Resources for troubleshooting startup problems in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308041/en-us

 

I second R McCarty's recommendation of using Acronis True Image version 10

to image the system to an external hard drive. Make an image of the base

system when it is running well and set that aside, then regularly image for

backup. In the case an OS reload is needed for something you can't fix

restore the most recent known good image and in about an hour or so the

system is running with all data and programs intact.

 

ATI images can be full, incremental or differential, imaging can be done on

a drive or partition basis, and restores can be done on a file, folder,

drive or partition basis. It also does file backup and disk cloning. Look

around for the best price. You can get it cheaper at a discount software

retailer such as Newegg.com than through Acronis.

 

--

Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

This wasn't a "brown out", but a total power failure. There was no storm or

anything, so no lightening; just a momentary power failure of about 30 sec.

 

I don't know what you mean by "UPS". What's UPS? UPS monitor?

 

Doing a recovery definitely is a hassle, especially downloading all those MS

updates again, which took several days (at least) to complete using automatic

updates.

 

Her system is up and running again today, and we are ready to (once again)

download the updates and reinstall other software. But hey, I'm learning a

lot through all this!! LOL

--

Bill

 

 

"R. McCarty" wrote:

> Momentary "Brown Outs" are a threat to PCs. Most folks understand

> the need for surge protection but not for UPS. Every summer I replace

> several Wireless routers as these are particularly sensitive to drop outs.

>

> Are you sure the UPS monitor is installed and connected (USB) to the

> PC so it can monitor the line voltage ?

>

> One suggestion is to get a Imaging program, such as Acronis True

> Image. For ~$35 you can protect both the System state and user data.

> Doing Repair installs and Recoveries can get to be a hassle after you've

> done it a few times.

>

> "Bill O" <BillO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:0FA1CC10-BABF-4030-AA5E-B7C5ED477FF9@microsoft.com...

> >I recently had to do a Windows XP recovery on my daughters computer, as it

> > had totally crashed due to a virus enfection; no virus protection had been

> > installed at that time :(

> >

> > After several tries, I got it up and runnning (humming, actually) and she

> > downloaded all the updates including SP2. Virus protection installed and

> > everything was running smoothly for several weeks. She said it was like a

> > new

> > machine.

> >

> > Suddenly yesterday, without warning, she turned it on and could not get

> > Windows to start. It looked like it was starting normally, but then after

> > long minutes of nothing happening (Windows XP screen that you first see

> > when

> > starting), the screen goes black. Then it tried to restart.

> >

> > We had a momentary power failure (about 30 sec) the prior day; but she is

> > on

> > battery back up (??). She had turned the computer off after that, and it

> > was

> > on startup the next day that this problem occured.

> >

> > I'm in the process of doing another Recovery, as there seemed to be no

> > other

> > option (first couple of times, could not get the control panel features to

> > open so I'm doing it again).

> >

> > Any clues here what might have caused this? The machine had been running

> > very well.

> > --

> > Bill

>

>

>

UPS = Universal Power Supply ( Battery Backup ) supplies power when

line voltage is lost. Usually has a USB to PC connection and a small app

that monitors status. Small units ( APC ES350 ) can be bought for ~$35

that should maintain power for 5 minutes or so.

 

80 Windows updates really needs a Roll-Up ( Single module with all of

them included ). Thanks for posting that the machine is back up and running.

 

"Bill O" <BillO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:7EEAD15C-D594-4665-91BD-CCCCB6F9E490@microsoft.com...

> This wasn't a "brown out", but a total power failure. There was no storm

> or

> anything, so no lightening; just a momentary power failure of about 30

> sec.

>

> I don't know what you mean by "UPS". What's UPS? UPS monitor?

>

> Doing a recovery definitely is a hassle, especially downloading all those

> MS

> updates again, which took several days (at least) to complete using

> automatic

> updates.

>

> Her system is up and running again today, and we are ready to (once again)

> download the updates and reinstall other software. But hey, I'm learning

> a

> lot through all this!! LOL

> --

> Bill

>

>

> "R. McCarty" wrote:

>

>> Momentary "Brown Outs" are a threat to PCs. Most folks understand

>> the need for surge protection but not for UPS. Every summer I replace

>> several Wireless routers as these are particularly sensitive to drop

>> outs.

>>

>> Are you sure the UPS monitor is installed and connected (USB) to the

>> PC so it can monitor the line voltage ?

>>

>> One suggestion is to get a Imaging program, such as Acronis True

>> Image. For ~$35 you can protect both the System state and user data.

>> Doing Repair installs and Recoveries can get to be a hassle after you've

>> done it a few times.

>>

>> "Bill O" <BillO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>> news:0FA1CC10-BABF-4030-AA5E-B7C5ED477FF9@microsoft.com...

>> >I recently had to do a Windows XP recovery on my daughters computer, as

>> >it

>> > had totally crashed due to a virus enfection; no virus protection had

>> > been

>> > installed at that time :(

>> >

>> > After several tries, I got it up and runnning (humming, actually) and

>> > she

>> > downloaded all the updates including SP2. Virus protection installed

>> > and

>> > everything was running smoothly for several weeks. She said it was like

>> > a

>> > new

>> > machine.

>> >

>> > Suddenly yesterday, without warning, she turned it on and could not get

>> > Windows to start. It looked like it was starting normally, but then

>> > after

>> > long minutes of nothing happening (Windows XP screen that you first see

>> > when

>> > starting), the screen goes black. Then it tried to restart.

>> >

>> > We had a momentary power failure (about 30 sec) the prior day; but she

>> > is

>> > on

>> > battery back up (??). She had turned the computer off after that, and

>> > it

>> > was

>> > on startup the next day that this problem occured.

>> >

>> > I'm in the process of doing another Recovery, as there seemed to be no

>> > other

>> > option (first couple of times, could not get the control panel features

>> > to

>> > open so I'm doing it again).

>> >

>> > Any clues here what might have caused this? The machine had been

>> > running

>> > very well.

>> > --

>> > Bill

>>

>>

>>