PC just auto reboots all the time 1

[skycharger]

this is an addendum to an (posted here) earlier fault, i have tried to reload Win2K, but machine wont complete re-install ( same as before) it just goes in to reboot mode, this time whilst installing devices ... is there anything else i can try ? what makes a machine just reboot?

 

[skycharger]

And it always reboots in exactly th esame spot every time, ...weird or what?

 

[pbxman]

Not really weird, but designed that way. Your PC is rebooting because it encounters a STOP error (like a blue-screen crash), and is set to automatically reboot when a stop error occurs. If it crashes while installing devices that most likely means the PC or devices you're using aren't Windows 2000 compatible or aren't on the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List. You can change that behavior by right-clicking My Computer/Properties/Advanced/Startup and Recovery, and uncheck the "Automatically Reboot" option.

We have Gateway E-1400's at work that will NOT run after installing Norton Antivirus, so it's possible you had just installed software that will cause it to crash as well. Other times, Windows 2000 will install a "default" IDE controller and/or Graphics controller and not actually the correct driver for the devices you are using. If you can get in safe mode - remove sound card and other hardware one at a time before continuing and then remove the hardware physically as well. It might take some playing around, but eventually you will find the device or hardware card that is causing your problem. If it's software - based..the only thing you can do is reformat, reinstall, and not install that software again. In the case of Norton her at work - even uninstalling the software will not fix it. It needs to be reformatted.
For the cause of that - the reason is a different NTFS.sys included in Windows 2000 vs. NT4. It writes data to the drives in a different manner, and often times after rebooting a Windows 2000 computer after installing system-level software (such as Norton Utilities or NAV), the change is written to the drive after the reboot, and corrupts it. In return you get an ERROR:Inaccessible_Boot_Device.

Thats probably more info than you needed, but i just wanted to throw a few possibilities on your plate and let you sort out what makes the most sense based on when this started happening/changes made, etc..

Good luck, and reply back if you need more help. =) pbxman
Systems Administrator

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[1976aquaman]

Good explanation pbxman! I could not have said it better myself. Hooked you up w/ a star too... he he