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Windows XP: computer starts up, then shuts down and restarts.?
This is usually on the first couple of screens after switching on - gets caught in a vicious cycle loop of switching on, going so far, powering down, switching on again, getting so far, powering down... what is causing this and how to put it right?
When issue started, I was reporting a dubious poster to a systems admin on a site I frequent - I cut and pasted the offendinbg ewmail intending it as evidence. The offending email had a link in it, but I was not clicking on the link directly - is even copying and pasting enough to activate a virus?
2 Answers
- 9 years agoFavorite Answer
There have been reports of buffer overflow exploits for the Windows clipboard feature (copy & paste), but I never saw those exploits confirmed so it is very unlikely that you were the victim of such an attack.
Assuming you did fall victim to some sort of attack that infected system files, you might try one or more antivirus LiveCDs. (see 1st link below)
Alternatively, your Hard Disk Drive may have started failing. If this is the case, you can take the computer to a Data Recovery & Rescue specialist. When my HDDs fail, I use GNU ddrescue in the PartedMagic LiveCD to make a rescue clone on a new HDD and then try to salvage what I can from the new HDD before doing an OS reinstall. (see 2nd link below)
Alternatively, some hardware on your computer may have started failing. If this is the case, you can start shooting it with a shotgun and buy a new computer because I highly doubt you would successfully identify the failing hardware. If you have a laptop, there is very little you can do about failing hardware. If you have a desktop and are a masochist, you could try getting a new Power Supply Unit or remove PCI & AGP boards or disconnect CD & DVD drives until you get somewhere.
Source(s): http://livecdlist.com/purpose/windows-antivirus http://partedmagic.com/doku.php?id=downloads - 9 years ago
I had the same issue with another computer running XP thought it was the power, so I replaced the power transformer with 50 more watts of power with no difference. Checked all bios information and tried to make the computer work in command mode, it did not work. So I shot it with a shotgun and bought a new computer.
