here's what happens my friends pc will boot like normal when you click on the user name the pc acts like it's loading then all of a sudden just totally reboots this is the thrid time now it's done this, a friend of her husbands seemed to fix the problem, it came back again and I reformatted the pc it worked again for a few months and now it's saying you have to re-load windows. My friend tried to re-install windows but it didn't work I don't know if she did it right or it just didn't work. I'm starting to think it might be a hardware problem. She has Avg anti-virus and she scans everyday it hasn't picked up any viruses. Since I don't know myself what's wrong with it I thought I would ask for some help.
It would help if we knew what operating system your friend is using, what version of Windows, otherwise we are just guessing. Have you tried booting into safe mode, (hold down F8 key as Windows loads?) see here http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chsafe.htm If you can at least boot into safe mode you should immediately check for viruses and spyware. Just because AVG says no virus, doesn't mean she has no viruses.
sorry I forgot to tell you the system she's running windows xp I was there tonight and once again have reinstalled windows she was getting a message saying the \windows\system32\config\system is corrupted or missing I hope this adds to the information needed.
So, with the brand new install of Windows XP, does it still reboot when you try to log in? If it is still happening, this may point to some kind of hardware problem in my opinion. If it happens every few months, maybe she has a flaky memory module or a connection somewhere is less than perfect. Either way it might be worth opening it up and (gently!) checking that all the memory modules and any cards eg display are seated nicely and the cables to disk drives are firmly plugged in at both ends etc. Let us know re. the above.
so far so good I am marking the date down this time to see how long it lasts, would it be worth taking in for once over or would that be a waste of money?
Well, it depends on how old the PC is. A lot of people wouldn't bother if the PC is (say) 4 years old. I mean, what cost me $1500 four years ago I can buy for $500 now. I suppose it might be worth paying $50 to get it checked over... If it does this thing once every year, and a new install cures it, maybe decide whether to ditch it next time?
the pc is back to rebooting over and over again, my friend had another friend makes sure the connections were on in place so that's not the problem, he thinks it migh tbe the power supply but I don't see why the power supply would cuz windows to keep rebooting over and over again.
It sure can, believe me. It has happened to me. It is quite a common situation. The hardware of the computer, the disk drives, the motherboard which contains the cpu, memory chips, and other things, the display and sound chips, need to be fed with clean stable power if it is to work properly. Everything depends on this. Everything! You are not talking about your average wall wart here. There are a number of low voltage DC lines which feed the motherboard. If even one of these dips slightly, or there is a blip in the voltage, the computer will malfunction. The cpu may halt, or start processing garbage, or the contents of memory might get scrambled. Whatever. Windows detects this and takes action. This is normally a reboot. It is possible in Windows XP to change this so the computer just halts, displaying an error screen, the famous "blue screen of death", but since you can't even log in, you aren't going to be able to change that setting. Some budget computers have el-cheapo power supplies that might last a year or two if you are lucky. Sometimes the power ratings of these PSUs are very optimistic. Often they go bad over a period, and can't handle the load they could handle when they were new. The computer boots up, everything looks good, then something happens to draw just a little more power, a disk spins, whatever, and that tips it over the edge. Or the owner adds a second hard drive or DVD drive, a power hungry graphics card or a whole bunch of usb drives, and the cheapo flaky power supply gets too near the edge. The power supply may not be the cause of the reboots, but it could very easily be. Does it get hot? Is the fan clogged up with fluff? Does it smell of hot plastic? Is it a cheapo Chinese model? When buying a new power supply, look for some kind of Intel or AMD certification. Heavier is better. Lighter and cheaper is worse. Let's face it, if it isn't the PSU it's gonna be something else, and your friend will be that one step nearer his next computer, with his brand new good quality power supply.
lol after posting that last message I googled the problem see what options there were many ppl are sayingit could be the power supply and they explained why and now I know better of the options I can advice her to take tyvm. I also have found some other things it could be I guess now it's just going to be to pin point the problem starting with the easiest and cheapest and going from there.
