XP - Reboot cycle

[Ai Haibara]

At some point before 5AM this morning, my sister let Windows Update automatically install (an) update(s), and now, her XP system won't boot; it'll soon reboot and end up at the Safe Mode/Last Known Good Configuration/Start Windows Normally screen. It does this even if I try to go into Safe Mode, or the Last Known Good Configuration.

Yes, I know this sounds very much like the SP3 reboot-cycle error... but I was sure she already installed SP3 on that system. She lets it install every update as soon as it appears, and she gives it permission to do so. SP3 wouldn't wait until this morning to show up on her tower, would it? (She'd already installed it on her (XP) laptop a long time ago; she's not sure about the tower, however.)

Unfortunately, due to the way she lets Windows install updates, she has no idea what this morning's updates were. Is there some way I can get the system to boot normally, or at least kick it back to the Restore point WU probably set up before installing the updates? I can get into the 'advanced' menu by holing F8 on startup, but I'm not sure if I can do anything about the problem there.

[Krispy Kritter]

It could still be SP3. Mine only recently pulled and installed SP3 in the last couple of weeks (last week if memory serves me correctly).

[redwudz]

If you could get into Safe Mode or boot into the OS, you can use the Add or Remove Programs page in the Control Panel to list what Windows put in there and usually remove it without resorting to system restore. There's a check box on the upper R side that will enable MS updates to show.

My first guess is that MS installed something that's not compatible with one of the regular software programs on the computer. This could have also resulted from a partially installed or corrupted update that needs a reboot to function.

It would also help if you can disable auto restart so you can take a look at the error. That's in 'Control Panel>System>Advanced>Start up and Recovery.

Worse case, set the BIOS to boot to CD ROM and get a Linux or Bart PE disc and go in and edit out the problem, if you can locate it.

[Ai Haibara]

Disabling the automatic reboot, I can do (there's an option for it in the menu that pops up with F8 on startup).

The STOP error I get is:
*** STOP: 0x0000007E (0xC0000005, 0xBAAA8756, 0xBACC3430, 0xBACC312C)

Hmm... it could well be SP3, as Krispy mentioned (and I feared). I asked my sister, and she said the updates did take a little while to install, as well as popping up a wizard.

(Did anyone ever post a verified-working solution to the SP3 reboot problem? Yes, the tower in question is an HP tower. )

[jman98]

This is a perfect example of why I personally NEVER turn on automatic updates and why I don't recommend that people I know turn them on either.

HP is the company responsible for most of the endless SP3 reboots due to some careless action on their part when preparing XP images for installation.
It seems to mostly (or maybe only - not sure) be a problem for AMD machines. So if her PC is an HP with an AMD chip, it might be the notorious SP3 problem. There's some info here on this problem and what to do:
http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesper/archive/2008/05/08/does-your-amd-based-computer...ng-xp-sp3.aspx

Note that VideoHelp is chopping the URL into 2 lines on my screen as I type this, so you may have to manually copy each line and string them together. It's supposed to be
.../does-your-amd-based-computer-boot-after-installing-xp-sp3.aspx
all together and not chopped into 2 different lines.

[minidv2dvd]

is there anything else listed after the error numbers?

[minidv2dvd]

if it is the (hp) amd sp3 problem here is m$'s solution
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888372

[Ai Haibara]

Well, I apparently managed to get it to work (so far), using the Recovery Console method from the page jman98 linked to. I was worried because it stated you'd need to boot to the Console from a retail XP install disc (which, of course, didn't come with any of our OEM computers, and I wasn't looking forward to have to look for and buy another XP setup package. ), but I tried it, anyway, and it does seem to be working.
jman98, and everyone who helped, thank you.

Yeah, I never enable Automatic Updates, either. I could never convince my sister NOT to have it enabled, though. But when SP3 finished installing, it popped up a screen with the option to disable Automatic Updates, so I did just that, and told the Security Center not to complain about it.

I'd thought/hoped Microsoft would have come up with a workaround to the SP3 reboot 'problem' by now, though. Surely, they could have used a method like the one on the page jman98 linked to, to detect whether or not intelppm was enabled AND the architecture was a desktop HP/AMD system, then take appropriate action. Maybe it's not that easy, I guess.