Windows rebooting constantly before logo on a Packard Bell machine

JRX · 14-10-2008, 08:33 PM

Packard Bell IMEDIA 1628
Windows XP Home
No BackUp CD's or Master CD's just the built in partition recovery thingy.
Not Safe mode nor any other choice works on F8, just reboots before the windows logo comes up.

When I start the recovery console by holding F11 at reboot there are 2 choices:
1. Windows XP System Restore (grayed out)
2. Recovery Program

When I click On Nr2 there are 2 choices:
1. Partial Recovery (grayed out)
2. Complete Recovery (wipes out everything so no use)

Took the HD out and put it in my other PC, Scanned for viruses, run CHKDSK. There were no errors or viruses.

Allegedly this has happened after Norton Upgrade to 09 version, after it installed the update it asked to reboot and since then the above is happening.

Was wondering if this has anything to do with MBR and ran windows recovery console from a spare XP Home CD. After issuing command "FIXMBR" I got a scary message stating
"This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record. FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause all the partitions on the current hard disk to be inaccessible. If you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue. Are you sure you want to write a new MBR?"

Didn't want to mess things up, so I thought I'll better check with someone who knows how to fix MBR on these Packard Bell machines before I go ahead and mess up all the partition tables and what not.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ghostman 1 · 15-10-2008, 01:19 PM

How did it get this way ? It sounds like it is pretty messed up, I would just fdisk a install a fresh copy of Xp...

JRX · 15-10-2008, 01:27 PM

Allegedly this has happened after Norton Upgrade to 09 version, after it installed the update it asked to reboot and since then the above is happening.

I was afraid that the only solution would be to back stuff up on to the other HD and do a factory reset which would be a real pain since there is a lot of progs installed and configured.

Ghostman 1 · 15-10-2008, 01:48 PM

Norton always ask to reboot almost always after one of there installs, I NEVER use any Norton software from pass experience's...If you do not want to do a total fresh install and want to TRY and save what you have, then you will have to start your pc in safe mode
f8 , next, once you are at your desktop,if you make it that far, you have to remove Norton..If you cannot remove Norton then you will have to do a fresh install..

JRX · 15-10-2008, 02:59 PM

Not Safe mode nor any other choice works on F8, just reboots before the windows logo comes up.
I guess it will have to be the hard way. Spent an hour on chat with symantec rep yesterday, bloody waste of time. He was clueless.
Thanks anyway.

Ghostman 1 · 16-10-2008, 07:20 PM

Did it work before you installed Norton ? I would try a fresh install of XP...

14-10-2008, 08:33 PM	#1 (permalink) Top
JRX Geek Trainee Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3 Status: Offline	Windows rebooting constantly before logo on a Packard Bell machine Packard Bell IMEDIA 1628 Windows XP Home No BackUp CD's or Master CD's just the built in partition recovery thingy. Not Safe mode nor any other choice works on F8, just reboots before the windows logo comes up. When I start the recovery console by holding F11 at reboot there are 2 choices: 1. Windows XP System Restore (grayed out) 2. Recovery Program When I click On Nr2 there are 2 choices: 1. Partial Recovery (grayed out) 2. Complete Recovery (wipes out everything so no use) Took the HD out and put it in my other PC, Scanned for viruses, run CHKDSK. There were no errors or viruses. Allegedly this has happened after Norton Upgrade to 09 version, after it installed the update it asked to reboot and since then the above is happening. Was wondering if this has anything to do with MBR and ran windows recovery console from a spare XP Home CD. After issuing command "FIXMBR" I got a scary message stating "This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record. FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause all the partitions on the current hard disk to be inaccessible. If you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue. Are you sure you want to write a new MBR?" Didn't want to mess things up, so I thought I'll better check with someone who knows how to fix MBR on these Packard Bell machines before I go ahead and mess up all the partition tables and what not. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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15-10-2008, 01:19 PM	#2 (permalink) Top
Ghostman 1 Ultra Geek Join Date: May 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 730 Times Helpful: 34 My Mood: Mellow Status: Offline	How did it get this way ? It sounds like it is pretty messed up, I would just fdisk a install a fresh copy of Xp...

15-10-2008, 01:27 PM	#3 (permalink) Top
JRX Geek Trainee Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3 Status: Offline	Allegedly this has happened after Norton Upgrade to 09 version, after it installed the update it asked to reboot and since then the above is happening. I was afraid that the only solution would be to back stuff up on to the other HD and do a factory reset which would be a real pain since there is a lot of progs installed and configured.

15-10-2008, 01:48 PM	#4 (permalink) Top
Ghostman 1 Ultra Geek Join Date: May 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 730 Times Helpful: 34 My Mood: Mellow Status: Offline	Norton always ask to reboot almost always after one of there installs, I NEVER use any Norton software from pass experience's...If you do not want to do a total fresh install and want to TRY and save what you have, then you will have to start your pc in safe mode f8 , next, once you are at your desktop,if you make it that far, you have to remove Norton..If you cannot remove Norton then you will have to do a fresh install..

15-10-2008, 02:59 PM	#5 (permalink) Top
JRX Geek Trainee Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3 Status: Offline	Not Safe mode nor any other choice works on F8, just reboots before the windows logo comes up. I guess it will have to be the hard way. Spent an hour on chat with symantec rep yesterday, bloody waste of time. He was clueless. Thanks anyway.

16-10-2008, 07:20 PM	#6 (permalink) Top
Ghostman 1 Ultra Geek Join Date: May 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 730 Times Helpful: 34 My Mood: Mellow Status: Offline	Did it work before you installed Norton ? I would try a fresh install of XP...

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