Win XP wont boot

[Kleffman]

All of a sudden today my computer will not boot although it was fine yesterday. Safe mode, "last known good config" and all those will not help at all. It gets to the loading screen with the moving progress bar and after a couple seconds the computer restarts. So it keeps trying to load windows, then restarts itself. I need ideas, I'd rather not reformat and reinstall if possible...thanks!

Win XP professional is my operating system.
can windows just get corrupted all of sudden and stop working?

 

[linney]

"can windows just get corrupted all of sudden and stop working?" Yes, software or hardware are not infallible.


307545 - How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from Starting

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

An easy to follow recovery console description when unable to start computer due to corrupt registry.

http://www.mediaworkstation.com/htm/homeset1.htm

Click on Tutorial then the Charlie White article on XP crash.
This is a laymans version of Q307545 in simple language.

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp

If it's hardware related your Drive Manufacturer will have free Diagnostic Tools for you to check your drive out.

You can check your RAM here.

http://www.memtest86.com

Other things you can try.

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors but do it from the Recovery Console.

Q305595 - HOW TO: Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q305/5/95.asp

You could try repairing windows itself by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp