Windows XP Windows XP Reboot Loop

[Zack777]

Hello, I just found my old pc and it has windows xp installed on it, last time I used it, it worked perfectly and now a few years later it don't work! Whenever it tries to load windows xp it always reboots and starts over, even in safe mode. Can someone please help, thanks in advance!

 

[Neemobeer]

Unless you're going to use this computer completely disconnected from the network I wouldn't bother with it. XP went EOL years ago.

 

[Zack777]

I know its just cause a want to play some of my old disc games on it.

 

[kemical]

If your not going to use it on the net and just for games then if you have a copy of xp you could try booting from the disk and trying the repair feature.

 

[Zack777]

I did try the repair feature, on my disc there is 2, 1 of them is the recovery console, and the other tries to actually repair it, but my machine shuts down every time I try the second one mid installation.

 

[Zack777]

I might use it for more than games though, if I can get it completely working!

 

[kemical]

Do you have a different hard drive with which you could test to see if windows will actually run?

 

[Zack777]

No, the only other one I got, is a SATA hard drive, the one in the machine is an IDE hard drive.

 

[HenkB]

..... but my machine shuts down every time I try the second one mid installation.

Heat? Are the fans running? Vacuum clean?
You can test the drives with Seatools see: http://www.seagate.com/nl/nl/support/downloads/seatools/ Seatools for Dos is a bootable CD

 

[Zack777]

My fans run just fine, I know because I cleaned them and I made sure they were plugged in and I saw them spin so I know they work.

 

[kemical]

If nothing is on the drive worth saving then why not download the drivers you need and pop them on a USB stick or something. You could then pop into the bios, change the boot order so that you can boot from CD/DVD and then boot from the XP install disk. Install a fresh copy and see if that works.

 

[Zack777]

where can I find the drivers, and how do I delete windows xp off the partition.

 

[kemical]

where can I find the drivers

If you know the name of your motherboard and other associated components then you can usually access drivers on the manufacturer's support page.
So for example, if your motherboard is something like an Asus P5B-V then simply google for the support page and up it pops:
Link Removed
(As I said this is simply to give you an example on what to look for)
Same goes for your graphics card, find out what you have and then google for the drivers (or ask here).

Do not become tempted to use a driver finding application as they often cause more issues than cure.

how do I delete windows xp off the partition.

How To Clean Install Windows XP

 

[Zack777]

So just the graphics card and motherboard, or do I need to get more?

 

[kemical]

If you have a sound card attached then you might need that too or you may have a onboard solution with the motherboard.

Do you have any idea on what model the pc is?

 

[Zack777]

Only the motherboard

 

[kemical]

Which is?

 

[Zack777]

FSB 400 Motherboard

 

[nmsuk]

Got a full model number as thats the speed of it's front side bus

 

[Zack777]

K7N2