Trouble with computer at startup; looping restart

Recently, I tried installing Bluetooth drivers on my main PC. After the first installation failed to recognize the bluetooth device, I attempted a reinstall. This was all without a restart/shut down up to this point.

However, after the second install, I was informed that I needed to restart for it to work. Keep in mind that it still failed to recognize the device.

Anyways, I attempt to restart, and go do something else. When I returned an hour later, it would appear my computer had been restarting constantly since when I left. It would make it to the Window's XP screen everytime before going black and restarting itself. I've attempted to boot my hard drive first, or start it in safe mode. No success on either part.

I seriously suspect the drivers are the issue, but I cannot be certain. I did a clean install a few months ago, and downloaded all new drivers... there may be conflict with some missing drivers.

Below is what I HAVE tried. Feel free to post any other suggestions.

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Quote:Use the F8 key just before windows loads (before the windows logo appears and after POST) to enter the diagnostic startup menu (which contains Safe Mode, among others. Select the option "Last Known Good Configuration".

I tried that; I guess these constant restarts aren't technically 'bad' so it just continues looping.

Quote: If that doesn't work, enter the same menu, and select "Safe Mode" and completely uninstall all Bluetooth devices and drivers (you must have a Bluetooth transceiver to use Bluetooth, and this is usually a small USB key that you can just remove). Restart the computer.

As I said before, safe mode once again loops the Window's XP screen

Quote: Lastly, if you have System Restore active, you can restore your computer to the most recent restore point, hopefully early enough to not encounter this problem, and late enough so you do not lose too much information.

Is there any way to access this without getting to desktop? As I've said, Safe Mode hasn't been working for me.

Quote: If all else fails and you are still stuck in a constant loop, try using your installation disc to perform a Repair Installation. You will not lose any non-system data, but you will likely need to reinstall most programs and drivers. Consult your manual.

It may come to this. I was planning on doing some upgrades tomorrow, so you can imagine the timing of all this is something of a hassle.

• Safe Mode stops at ...system32\btkrnl.sys
  Last Good Configuration does not work
  C: is clean

Mine did the exact same thing, except it stopped the Safe Mode at a dif. point.

Honestly, I don't remember what I did, or if I even did something. Turn the comp off for a few minutes, and then turn it on again.

If you have Service Pack 2 installed, you can use 'turn off automatic restart on system failure' from the F8 boot menu. This will enable you to read the error message and then you can at least do a google search to find out what the problem is.

It may be that you do need to do a system restore, which although you can't do from within Windows (as you can't access it ;-)), you can do a pseudo-system restore from the 'Recovery Console'. You will only be able to do this if you have an original Windows CD, as a System recovery disk from the manufacturer is unlikely to include the recovery console.

- Boot from the Windows disk, press a key when prompted, and wait for the Windows disk to stop loading stuff.
- Press 'R' to enter the recovery console.
- When you can access the console, you need to copy two files from C:System Volume Information_Restore...RP###snapshot (the will be a long hexadecimal number in place of ..., and a set of numbers in place of ### - choose the most recent RP### folder), called _Registry__System and _registry__software, to C:WindowsSystem32config. In this folder, rename the file 'system' to 'system.old' and 'software' to 'software.old'. Then rename the two copied files to 'system' and 'software' respectively.
- Now type 'exit' to reboot and see whether Windows boots...

If you're lucky, this will sort the problem, if not try asking here again...

J