After udate from Avast system keeps restarting!

Hello all and thanks for any help.

I have avast home edition installed on my win xp pro sp2 sys. This morning it informed a new database had been installed(normal). Then there was notification that I should restart to update, so I did.

Immediatly after that the desktop would not load. It just restarts continuously. I have tried my oem winxp pro cd, my slip streamed winxp pro w/ sp2 cd, those 6 winxp boot disks, and anything else I could think of. The sys just go's to the desktop wall paper and hangs there, or more often just spontaniously restarts after the windows logo appears. I have spent some 12 hours just watching the machine restart. The desktop wall paper loads and the start button, the time and "quick launch" are blacked out. The mouse go's back and forth from busy to arrow....endlessly.

The sys will not load start up or recovery from the CD. I can't get into safe mode. The only option(with a hard boot) is "start windows normally ". Then it does the same thing again-restart and cycle through restart over and over. It is unlikey that I have a virus since I have run avast continuously for about three months and ran a full system scan just a day ago.

I have had NO problems whatsoever on my machine untill this incident. Please help me to get to my files-I am desperate!

Thank you all so much in advance!
Karen

 

Hi Karen,

Can you try logging in under a different profile? If you do, and you can then get into the system, then the problem is purely software and not hardware related.

If you still have the same problem, then it is most likely that you have a hardware problem.

George

 

Hi there and thank you so much for the reply.

No I cannot get into ANY profile. I know it is software related because it happened right after I (restarted) updated the anti-virus.

I know it isn't hardware related since I built the machine myself and am familiar with all its workings and quirks.

Thanks so much. I am desperate. It is so DEPRESSING.

Karen

 

XP Boot Problem fixed!

Well an update here-

After fussing around in the bios I found that I had the usb legacy support disabled! I *think* when I enabled it I could get into my desktop again. Oh DUH sometimes it is the most simple things that answer serious problems!

Thank you so much for the help!

 

Hi Karen,

It is VERY odd that the USB support would cuase issues. Also, how did it change if all you did was to update your anti-virus program?

Legacy USB support only means that you can run your USB devices (assuming you had the drivers loaded) from DOS. It should not have caused you to keep rebooting.

Can you give us a clue as to how the USB support for Legacy devices got disabled?

(I presume you have a USB mouse and keyboard - IMO, it is not a good idea to have USB devices for standard stuff since they consume much more CPU time servicing the ports than would the standard keyboard and mouse)

George